Mikes Film Talk

This episode of “Quantico,”  titled “Drive,” spends a good portion of the episode  throwing bucketloads of suspicion toward Special Agent Booth.  The flashbacks to academy training  starts by bringing back up the disastrous mission in Chicago.  Reminding viewers of  Booth taking the blame for Liam’s sin,  while  the NATs undergo their final two weeks of training.

As Shelby Wyatt and Parrish run around in the present trying to find Simon (who is still missing)  they turn up Drew who is suffering the same radiation sickness that Will is exhibiting. Olsen is not dead from his poisoning yet and Perales claims that Ryan Booth is the terrorist.

Back at the academy, the NATS are sent into the field to shadow real agents and the twins are put to the test. The  trainees are given what seem to be pointless jobs that turn out to be more important then they first appeared.

There are several threads in this episode. The arrest of a child pornographer, the fall-out between Shelby and Caleb (as well as Iris Chang’s clear dislike of and vendetta against Haas)  and Ryan’s backstory. There is also Booth’s near paranoia about Alex’s role in the terrorist plot.

Raina and Nimah continue to  work against one another and this discord almost stops their work in the field before it begins.  Booth reveals what really happened in Chicago and later he tells Liam that he is tired of taking the blame and wants the truth to come out.

The storyline of Shelby and Caleb still leaves things wide open as to why they are so close now and oddly, in the flashbacks, Vasquez is missing; apparently still on that sabbatical that Miranda sent her on.

Drew, it seems, is the puppet master terrorist.  He misleads both Wyatt and Parrish by setting up Booth and giving Alex a thumb drive with a virus on it to crack Ryan’s passwords on his laptop.

Ryan catches Alex in the act and the two fight, mirroring the sparring match the two undertook in the flashback. Interestingly, Alex tries the move Booth used in the academy match and while she does not accomplish the move successfully it allows her to win the second, more desperate, fight with Ryan.

Alex escapes from Booth and Drew (minus the voice modulator) directs Parrish to Ryan’s truck, which has the nuclear bomb in it. He orders her to drive the vehicle even though the entire building is on lockdown. The last frame shows Alex driving to the exit with the gate down.

Before the “cliffhanger” end, back at Quantico,  Shelby calls Caleb’s father and tells him of her parent’s betrayal and explains  she wants them to pay for their crimes.  In the present she gets a text from Alex telling her that the voice is Drew and she rushes to the hospital room to find Perales missing.

It remains to be seen whether or not Simon is  working with Drew or merely another pawn in Perales’  game. Regardless of the outcome, it is apparent that the FBI in this verse all have secrets and cover up each other’s mistakes. While the “new” bureau seems to be all about keeping America safe, it appears  that this class of NATs have all be made accessories to Drew’s machinations.

Simon has not been seen for a couple of episodes now and it would not be overly surprising to learn he is in league with Perales.

With only two episodes left in season one, it will be interesting to see how this storyline is resolved.  Now that the “voice” has been identified odds are very good that Perales will be caught.  Although Simon’s status as victim is still in question and Will may not survive his radiation sickness.

“Quantico” airs Sundays on ABC.