Last time on Quantico, when Alex disobeyed a command from “the mastermind,” Nathalie paid the ultimate price when a bomb detonated. A hysterical Alex went to see Ryan, and he thought that she was having some sort of mental breakdown. He offered to check her in to a facility to get some help. Alex bolted when she got a photo of Ryan embracing her in his apartment. She took a call from “the mastermind,” and he had another job for her. Poor Alex!
This episode of Quantico, titled “Answer,” has the NATS undergoing defensive driving training. That doesn’t sound particularly spellbinding, but let’s see where this goes.
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A Little Information Can Be Dangerous
At Quantico, the NATS get a close-up look at TEVOC (Tactical Emergency Vehicle Operations Center). Each NAT will have one turn as a driver and one turn as the assisting agent. Alex and Drew are paired together, and their flirting hit a high note earlier that morning when Drew removed his shirt after the gym. Alex can’t help but notice the name Alicia tattooed on his torso. At the driving center, Alex tells Drew that she knows Liam was involved in the case in Chicago that led to Drew’s girlfriend’s death. Ummm … oversharing much, Alex? Drew is furious and responds that he isn’t there to go over the past, but rather to train. This is not going to end well.
Will overhears Caleb in the shower talking on the phone. He says to tell someone that Mark Raymond called, and he will have the money very soon. Is Caleb referring to the money Shelby lost trying to rescue the con artist, Samar, who pretended to be her sister?
During class, Miranda’s lecture is about obtaining evidence to get a conviction and justice for the victims. In order to do that, the NATS will work in teams to learn how to conduct an interview. So, a merry band of actors are brought in to play very bad people who have done very bad things. In fact, the actors are portraying actual suspects who went free when their case fell apart.
Sisterly Spying
Alex apologizes to Drew, and he has decided that he too wants answers. Alex gives him a mystery file, which I assume is about Alicia’s death. Drew has read everything in it, so Alex offers to try and get more information from Liam.
Meanwhile, Nimah is parked outside of the house that she saw Raina leaving. When someone drives away with a child, Nimah dons her head scarf and sneaks into the house. It is packed with weapons. When a man returns, he greets her warmly as Raina. She leaves in a hurry, and the man is perplexed when he gets a text from Raina. Later that evening, Nimah confronts Raina about being involved with a terror cell. Raina seems relieved to tell her sister that she is undercover, and it is with the group that kidnapped Miranda’s son, Charlie.
Tell Me About Chicago
Alex goes to see Liam in his office. She wants to know what happened in Chicago. She shares that Ryan told her it was a sting that turned out badly. Liam confirms that it was, and they were trying to catch a militia group. One of the informants on the case tipped off the group. Ryan offered to take the blame for selling the group assault rifles so that Liam wouldn’t lose his job. Alex is relieved that no one died, so Liam must not have been involved with Alicia’s accidental death.
Caleb, who left the class when he receives a phone call, heads to a crumbling part of Quantico and opens up a large plastic tote filled with clothing. He dresses up, puts on some fancy glasses and breaks out his laptop. He tells Mr. Keller that he has the money that Mr. Keller requested. Caleb wants to bring it by in person, and it sounds as if Mr. Keller is running some kind of cult. While Caleb changes out of his dress clothes, he is unaware that Will overheard the conversation. Is eavesdropping the number one recreational activity at Quantico? After Caleb leaves, Will checks out his laptop.
Drew Gets Confrontational
Back in class, Miranda and Liam cross-examine each NAT to see if their information will hold up. Iris goes first, but when her partner, Shelby, states that she feels as if the case requires more investigation because a body has not been found, you can see that Iris is not a happy woman. Miranda dresses down Shelby, and their team has failed.
Drew finds Alex, and she apologizes and explains that Liam wasn’t involved in Alicia’s death. Liam was involved in selling some Panther AR-15’s to the militia group. From the look on Drew’s face, it is obvious that this is a big problem. Drew takes a seat as Liam begins to cross-examine him. Drew takes Liam on about entrapment and mentions Chicago and the assault rifles. Drew runs down the timeline. The police found a man on the L-train with an assault rifle, and in the ensuing shoot-out, Alicia was killed. She was also pregnant with Drew’s child.
Liam and Drew take the discussion to Liam’s office, where Liam calls Drew a “crusader” for his lawsuit against the NFL. Drew is tossed out of Quantico. Alex accuses Liam of being a jerk for throwing Drew out. Liam even stoops so low as to yell that Alex wants justification that she was right to shoot her father and didn’t want to hear that he was a hero. She storms out, and Liam sees Miranda glaring at him from her office. She is beyond furious that Liam would endanger his career, her career and the NATS. She wants his resignation on her desk in the morning.
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Meet Mark Raymond
Will goes to see Caleb with a site that shows Caleb as Mark Raymond. Raymond is from Iowa and telecommutes for a company called Dystech. Caleb demands that Will keep his mouth shut and not ruin this for him. Shelby calls when Caleb is sitting at a diner with Samar. She stole money from her husband, Khaled, and wired it to Caleb. There’s one catch. Caleb has agreed to do something for Samar, and she gives him an envelope. Will, of course, is doing what he does best — stalking and filming the encounter.
Depressing Cabin, Party of One
Back in the present day, we find Simon in Holland, Vermont, in a hunting cabin in a blizzard. He is pointing a gun at his head but chickens out at the last moment. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Simon is doing rather poorly. He has to shake it off as he finds Alex on his doorstep. She tries to give Simon back his medal of valor, but he doesn’t want it. He also is somewhat bitter that he lost his house when he lost both his jobs. Ouch! Since no one will talk to him, Alex fills him in on the gang’s activities. Raina returned to Michigan, Nimah works in the New York office of the FBI, Shelby is back at McGregor-Wyatt and no one has heard from Caleb. Simon doesn’t want anything to do with Alex or his former NAT friends. He needs to go hunting to catch dinner.
Alex tells him that she also knows how to hunt and begs him to let her come along because she doesn’t want to leave just yet. As they hunt, Simon admits that he cannot shake off all the blood on his hands. He becomes irate with Alex because she told him to take his finger off the trigger and the Emergency Command Center blew up. Alex tries to explain about Nathalie and “the mastermind,” and now all of her friends are in danger. Simon demands to know if she is there to lead the killer to him or warn him of the threat. Simon has some valid points.
Alex confesses that he is the only one she can turn to — the only one she knows is completely innocent. Simon instead offers to end her pain and points his shotgun at her. He thinks that he has been carrying Alex’s guilt, and killing her might help him end his pain. He orders her to walk ahead of him. She refuses to and instead stands her ground. After all, if Simon truly wanted her dead, he would have shot her by now. Alex thinks that they can discover what “the mastermind’s” weakness is, which can give Simon a way out of this snowy hell he is living in.
Miranda Seeks Answers
Miranda approaches Ryan and asks if he has heard from Nathalie. Miranda received an e-mail from Nathalie asking for an emergency leave of absence. Alex is also a no-show at work, but Ryan swears he hasn’t heard from her. When Miranda leaves, Ryan tells Nimah that he did see Alex the night before at his apartment, and he is worried for her safety. Nimah and Ryan somehow trace Alex’s phone and find out that she is in Vermont. I wonder if Nathalie is really dead?
Nimah and Ryan drive up to Vermont to search for Alex. Ryan asks Nimah why she and Miranda have such a chilly relationship. Nimah explains that Raina got close to Hamza Kouri during their time in his terror cell. Nimah knew that her sister was emotionally involved, but Miranda didn’t agree. Nimah chose to tell the FBI.
When they arrive, Alex sadly states that Simon is no longer the person that they knew. Ryan takes the truck back, and Nimah drives Alex. She reports that Ryan still cares for Alex, even if he tries to hide it under wanting to check her into a psych ward.
Alex phones and thanks Ryan for trying to help her. She adds that she has reached out to get some help. There is a knock on the door and it is Simon. He is there to help Alex, which is a big relief because the last time we saw him, he was dousing his cabin with gasoline and lighting a match. When Alex gets a call from “the mastermind,” Simon puts some sort of device on her phone and tells her to answer it.
I really enjoy Quantico as a whole, but it is very difficult to keep track of everything, especially with all the time jumps.
Quantico airs Sundays at 10pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Kim has been covering television entertainment since 2013. She is addicted to Real Housewives, Pump Rules, Dancing with the Stars, and many more shows.
