The main selling point of Quantico is its twists and big reveals. All season long, we’ve been teased with a mystery: Who is the terrorist on the inside? You know, the person who bombed Grand Central and FBI HQ in New York? That disembodied “Voice” who has led Alex and Co. around by the nose for the second half of the season? Well, it looks like the mystery has been solved in a surprisingly casual manner. It’s downright weird how casual this reveal is.
Also, I called it last week — and I’m pretty mad about that.
That’s right: Drew Perales appears to be the Voice, outfoxing the best performers from Team Blake Shelton and Team Adam Levine to win this year’s competition.
Oh, sorry. Wrong Voice.
Drew joins the present-day plot as Shelby and Alex hunt down the only lead they have: Simon Asher. Since he ostensibly helped Will build the nuke, they figure he suffered the same radiation sickness as Will. When they check hospital records, they find a John Doe who matches Simon’s basic description.
Except it’s not Simon — it’s Drew, which is why we haven’t seen him in the present until now. (Nice way of pretending he was a part of the show all along, Quantico.)
Anyway, Drew tells Alex that Ryan is behind everything, and gives her a USB stick loaded with a program that will search his computer for evidence. When she breaks in and uses it, though, Drew calls and tells her it did the opposite: It planted evidence on Ryan’s computer so he’d take the fall. Turns out Drew has another step to his plan. Alex has to drive Ryan’s car to the location that he gives her, as Miranda and Ryan chase her. And the nuke is in the car. And Shelby is the only one who knows that Drew is the Voice now.
If Drew actually is the Voice — and I am loathe to say anything definitive because there are two episodes left and it’s very possible that ONE HUGE TWIST might turn this on its head again — it raises more questions about Quantico than about Quantico’s plot. Did the show’s writers change their minds during the winter hiatus? It seems like they pivoted from one character being the terrorist (probably Caleb), then introduced someone else to complicate Alex’s relationship with Ryan. (Ergo, Drew.)
Ultimately, this twist makes Alex look like the biggest chump. It’s bad enough that Quantico’s main character has spent the back half of the season answering an anonymous terrorist’s every beck and call, but if the big villain turns out to be her former spurned lover? Who was one of the first people she checked out? That seems like a bad idea.
Other Notes:
- What’s in the box? This week’s Quantico set story is fun, but a bit fragmented, so we’re gonna break it down over here. First up: This week’s physical-training exercise is really cool, with the NATs practicing close-quarters combat in a plexiglass box that’s roughly the size of a small hallway. It’s a well staged sequence with confident choreography, all of which is flashier then what Quantico usually does.
- Field trip. This week’s assignment is more about giving the NATs a taste of what a Day in the Life is like after graduation, so O’Connor takes them to the FBI field office in Richmond. The main plot involves Alex getting roped into a child-porn sting run by that office’s Agent Kent. It primarily exists to call Ryan’s integrity into doubt, since Kent hints that what happened in Chicago between O’Connor and Ryan might have been shadier than suggested. It’s all a red herring, though, meant to dovetail with the present-day suspicion Drew casts on Ryan earlier in the episode.
- Caleb Haas, terrible boyfriend. “Drive” does a lot to fill in the details of Shelby and Caleb’s imploded relationship. Shelby finds out Caleb has been lying about her parents since meeting them, since he thought she was too fragile to handle the truth. She’s right, by the way — Caleb writing letters as her parents is really creepy, and a serious dealbreaker. In the end, however, it drives Shelby closer to Caleb’s father. She calls him to report her parents now that she knows they want to shake her down for money, and asks to work with Agent Haas to bring them in.
- The Secret Twins can’t stay secret. One of the more fun assignments in the Richmond office involves the Twins. Someone in the office was told about their existence, and it’s their job to make contact with whomever it is without getting made. Unfortunately, they blow it — and it really looks like Nimah sleeps with the agent who would’ve reported their failure to preserve their cover, which just feels awful. The Twins really can’t win lately, can they?
- Oh look, a Trump joke. For a show about domestic terrorism and law enforcement and big government, Quantico works overtime to avoid making overt political statements. I can’t decide if this is a good idea — the show’s tonal-whiplash problem doesn’t do it any favors — but for the most part, Quantico has stuck to its guns. It’s a soap first, a spy show second, and everything else is negotiable. So, it’s really funny to see “Drive” slip in an offhand Trump reference when Kent accuses Ryan of betraying his team in Chicago. “I love this country,” Ryan growls. “Isn’t that what they say when they’re about to attack it? Make America great again?” Kent retorts. I see you, Quantico.