Quantico: Answer has a swings and roundabouts feel to it this week as one man leaves the training academy and another literally comes in out of the cold. Entering back into the madness of Alex trying to catch the ones responsible for the bombings and the deaths of Elias, Natalie and Duncan. At the end, Asher agrees to help, but can he really be trusted?
Back at Quantico, Parrish is bonding with Drew Perales (Lenny Platt), Raina and Nimah are drifting further apart and Raina mistrusts her sisters actions and motives and vice versa. Wyatt and Chang (Li Jun Li) continue to annoy each other and Caleb has formed an uneasy alliance with Will (Jay Armstrong Johnson).
At the academy the NATs question actors who play suspects who were never punished. The cases are unsolved and this is the candidates’ chance to see if they can finish/solve these puzzles. Meanwhile, Nimah impersonates Raina and discovers a huge cache of weapons at a house in the suburbs. Haas is either working some sort of scam, or a bust on the side. Will Olsen catches Caleb “working” and he investigates.
Nimah meets a man in the house and he believe that she is Raina. As Nimah closes the door behind her, Raina sends a text to the man.
In the present, Miranda is trying to find out where Vasquez is and she approaches Ryan and Nimah asking about the agent. So far, the only person who can answer that question is Alex and she has gone to Vermont to meet with Simon.
Asher is in a bad place, before Parrish arrives, he places the barrel of a revolver in his mouth but is unable to pull the trigger. Alex arrives. They talk initially but their conversation soon turns into recriminations on Simon’s part and he tells Parrish to leave.
Grabbing a rife, the former agent explains that he needs to hunt for food. Alex invites herself along. The two have a confrontation in the snow-covered woods. She reveals that Elias was telling the truth and that the people who killed him are now after her. She also explains what happened to Natalie Vasquez (Annabelle Acosta). Simon offers to take Alex’s pain away and points the rifle at her.
At Quantico, Parrish asks Liam (Josh Hopkins) about the Chicago sting that went wrong and he reveals that a shipment of Panther Oracle AR-15 combat rifles went missing when the operation went south. O’Connor approved using the weapons in the operation and gave them to the cell. Alex tells Drew and it is revealed that his pregnant fiancee was killed by one of the missing weapons. He blows up at O’Connor in the middle of training.
Before Perales erupts on the “stand” Wyatt and Cheng fall apart as a team when Shelby sabotages their testimony. Afterward Cheng angrily confronts her partner and tells Shelby to never “screw” with her career again.
The moment Drew mentions the weapons Liam knows that Alex has betrayed his trust and Perales ends up being washed out because of the information that Parrish passed on. In the snowy woods, in the present, Simon seems ready to shoot Alex after she asks him to help her get justice by going after the people who have killed three of their number and countless civilians.
Nimah and Ryan head up to Vermont to find Alex. The twin explains what happened between Miranda and her and Nimah tells Ryan that they are all haunted by their actions and beliefs. The two agents arrive to collect Alex and she tells them that Simon is not the man he once was.
At the academy Shelby confides in Cheng about the half-sister scam and Cheng reveals that they left behind an aunt who, she believes, was put in prison after her family left Shanghai. Alex questions Liam’s actions and they argue.
Olsen reveals that he knows of Caleb’s “alter-ego” Mark Raymond, just after Haas calls him “Mr. Robot.” An apt comparison although Will still seems more “Rain Man” than Eliot Anderson. Miranda confronts Liam and reveals she knows he slept with Alex and she demands his resignation.
Simon sets his winter cottage alight and back at the academy Shelby calls Caleb/Mark and he is with the con-artist “half-sister” that Wyatt could not find. Olsen takes a picture of the meeting with his cell phone. Booth calls Alex and the two mend things between them.
Asher arrives at Alex’s apartment offering help and somewhat suspiciously the burner phone that Parrish was given by the terrorists, rings. Simon gives his medal of valor to Alex and when the phone rings, he plugs something into the device after telling her she can trust him.
The two main suspects are still Caleb and Simon although there is that female sounding voice on the scrambler. Raina could be working with one of the two, although if she is in this equation, Simon shoots to the number one spot of suspect.
Quantico has finally gotten serious. Gone are the “cutesy” physical attraction games that were so annoying and distracting at the beginning. While these agents still look like they would be more at home on the pages of a glossy magazine or the catwalk the storyline, at least, has gotten grittier.
Priyanka Chopra let rip last week with some massive chops and the whole cast have clearly brought forward their ‘A’ game now that the series has gotten darker. As usual, the show leaves the viewer fearing the next installment.
Drew, angrily firing his weapon at the range and Simon showing up to help Alex feel like forewarnings of more deceit and or death. While the episode was titled “Answer” the players are still quite some way from learning the one they all seek.
Quantico airs Sundays on ABC.
