Last time on Quantico, the nuclear bomb was taken by the mastermind behind all the terrorist plots — Liam. He shot Miranda, who was following up on her own suspicion that Liam was “the voice.”
In the season 1 finale of Quantico, titled “Yes,” the NATS graduate from Quantico after all their hard work. In the future, Alex finally confronts the terrorist who has been wreaking havoc on the lives of her and her friends.
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One Last Assignment
It is graduation time at Quantico. Alex may be leaving her training program with no friends, but she has Ryan. They are planning to spend the next two weeks on vacation together. Shelby asks Clayton why Caleb has landed a plum assignment like San Diego, since he was just de-programmed. Clayton assures her that his son will spend his entire career chained to a desk, which is music to Shelby’s ears.
Liam has one final assignment for the class. They are to report to The Old Settler, which has been rented out for the NATS and Quantico faculty. Liam congratulates Alex and lets it slip that she must be disappointed about Ryan’s decision not to go to Washington, DC. Alex is shocked to find out that her beloved will be working in Texas.
At The Old Settler, the NATS are getting their party on. Alex quizzes Ryan about his new position in DC. They share a dance, and Ryan finally spills about his new position when Alex lets him know that she is aware that he is withholding information. Ryan wanted to tell Alex right after graduation, but all Alex can see is that Ryan is lying to her again. Ryan points out that he does whatever she wants because he loves her. He wants them to use their trip to figure out if they are truly able to make a go of their relationship. Alex digs in her heels, and once again the relationship is over. Sigh.
A Shelby Scorned
Shelby calls the San Diego office pretending to want to send Caleb a gift at his new location. She is far from pleased that Caleb will have a corner office with an ocean view. So she sees Claire Haas at The Old Settler and offers her concerns about what Caleb has been doing lately.
Nimah and Raina spend some sisterly bonding time as the gravity of their situation sets in. They won’t be able to see or talk to each other for at least a year while they are undercover in the cell.
On the day of graduation, Shelby gives Caleb his graduation gift — neither of his parents are attending after Shelby gave them an earful of their son’s latest exploits. Liam also spends a moment talking to Alex and says, “I have plans for you, Alex Parrish.” Well, isn’t that the understatement of the year?
Pieces of the Puzzle
Back in July 2015, Liam is complaining to Miranda that he is being blamed for the Chicago fiasco and is going to be fired. Miranda comes to the rescue and offers him a job at Quantico. From the moment that Liam sees Alex’s photo and file, his wheels have been turning. He put video recorders in the NATS’ rooms so that he can gather intelligence on them. Not creepy at all, right? He hones in on Simon’s plans for Grand Central. We also learn about how Liam painstakingly set up Alex to take the fall. He even blackmailed Elias to snatch Alex and hide her in a huge duffle bag so that Liam could bring her to the site of the blast.
It’s the present day, and Miranda asks Liam why he hasn’t killed her. He ominously replies, “I thought you’d enjoy watching it all burn down to the ground with me.”
Alex meets up with Caleb, Shelby, Simon and the Amin sisters. They all think that “the voice” is Miranda. Nimah blames Simon for this whole situation since he helped make the bomb. Raina points out that only Simon knows how this technology works. Liam jets in and rallies the troops to find Miranda before the bomb goes off.
Liam chats with Alex about Miranda’s motives, from the FBI passing her over for promotions to the death of her son. Alex questions why Miranda would have planned the operation the way that she did, so Liam tries to sell her on the belief that Miranda knew that once Alex was caught, all the FBI high-ups would come to New York. Liam tells Alex that Miranda needs to be taken out, and Alex reluctantly agrees.
Ryan calls Alex after going to Miranda’s apartment. He finds a camera and wonders who was watching Miranda.
Caught on Camera
While the team tries to ping her cell phone, Miranda kicks her way out of the trunk of a car. She is still tied up, but maybe she can turn her phone on if she still has it. Just as she tries to turn it on, Liam reaches in and pulls it away, but not before getting blood on his shirt from Miranda’s gunshot wound. As Liam tries to walk out of the parking garage, Ryan asks him to stop. Ryan asks Liam why he is in the parking garage, and Liam responds that he is getting his duffle bag. Ryan knows that Liam is behaving strangely, and when he asks Liam to turn around and face him, Liam punches him in the face.
Simon has done some work on Miranda’s timeline, and it doesn’t match “the voice” at all. Miranda can’t be “the voice,” and now no one can locate Ryan. They pull up the camera feed from the garage and realize that something is wrong. A moment later, Alex notices that Liam is missing. Alex goes to his apartment and runs into his daughter, Louisa. She thinks that Liam is still in DC, and Louisa and her boyfriend are planning to crash at Liam’s pad. When Alex mentions that she thought Liam was in New York, Louisa responds that he called her an hour earlier from DC.
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A New Class Graduates
Alex knows that the terrorist is Liam, and she calls Shelby to fill her in. Liam wouldn’t have put his daughter in danger, so Alex thinks that Liam is headed to Quantico. If Liam kills all the new NATS on their graduation day, he can symbolically destroy the FBI. Simon thinks that Liam would place the bomb in the dorms to cause the most damage. Simon begs Alex to stay out of sight because this entire mess is his fault, but Alex isn’t listening to him. They will fix the situation together.
Caleb hacks into the camera system at Quantico, but there is no sign of Liam. Raina and Alex check out the dorms and find Ryan and Miranda tied up. Ryan relates that Liam left a minutes ago with the nuke. Before they split up, Alex grabs Ryan and kisses him.
Liam talks to Alex over a speaker system. It is her fault that the bomb is at Quantico because she was supposed to get caught with it in the truck. He wants to kill the FBI before it poisons the whole country. Liam gets the drop on Ryan from behind and puts a gun to his head. Ryan urges her to shoot Liam, and Liam says that she will never find the bomb in time.
Liam tries to get into Alex’s head by saying what a good man her father was. Liam and his partner both wanted to come forward after the Omaha debacle, but the FBI pressured them to stay silent. Liam thinks it is sort of poetic that Alex was never punished for shooting her father, but she was tailor-made to be framed for the bombings.
Simon Says
Liam pushes Ryan aside and tries to shoot Alex. She fires at the same time, as does Ryan, and Liam falls to the floor. Now they need to find the bomb. They locate it on an empty level in the dorm building. Simon can’t stop the bomb from detonating, and there is no time to evacuate. He can remove the uranium core, but he can’t stop the plutonium trigger. Yikes! They need to get the bomb as far away as possible in case Simon fails. I have a feeling that he might not be successful. While they argue about where to take the bomb, Simon goes into stealth mode and takes off with the bomb.
Alex calls, and he admits that he can’t remove the core. If the bomb is 100 feet underwater, there will be no fallout. A tearful Simon begs Alex not to hang up, and she puts him on speaker. Raina tells Simon that she always knew that he would save them all. Simon regrets not spending more time with Raina. Alex bursts into tears and tells Simon that she loves him. Simon floors the accelerator and drives the SUV into the water. A few second later, his friends watch a mushroom cloud rise from the water.
The gang gathers for Simon’s funeral. Ryan briefed Congress, and Miranda is named the new deputy director. Miranda gives Shelby her credentials back, and Shelby is stunned. Miranda hopes that someday she can also restore Alex’s badge. Will arrives and is in much better health, except for the burned skin on his hands.
A New Accusation
Alex excuses herself to speak with Claire Haas. Alex has discovered that Claire doesn’t have high blood pressure, so she never used blood pressure medication. Alex wants to know why Liam would have her swap out the phony pills. Claire maintains that she wasn’t involved with Liam O’Connor’s plans, but Alex doesn’t buy it. She believes that Claire worked with Liam to stage a fake nuclear bomb attack right before the election. Alex believes that the plan was for her to be arrested with the bomb in the car, with Claire assisting Liam in rebuilding the FBI. When Claire deviated from the plan by calling Alex a hero, Liam went rogue. Claire reminds Alex that Alex is no longer an agent and can’t come after her. Claire maybe should have noticed Caleb, her son, standing behind her listening and quite possibly wearing a wire.
A couple of weeks later, Alex and her friends are packing up her apartment. Since she is a national celebrity, Alex agreed to leave the FBI since going undercover would be impossible. Ryan comes to see Alex with flowers and a proposal that they finally go on that vacation that was scrapped after Alex’s graduation.
Two months later, when Alex is out for a run, a limo pulls up next to her. Inside is Matthew Keyes, who makes Alex a job offer to serve her country. The hitch is that she must decide before she leaves the car. As she is thinking, Ryan calls. So which will Alex choose?
I did enjoy the finale of Quantico. Some parts, like Simon sacrificing himself, were a bit predictable. But all in all, it was a great first season.
(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.
