Quantico S1 E9 “Guilty”

Last Sunday, Juvi and I were reprieved from watching Quantico, allowing our tolerance to the show to reset and quite frankly regenerate some of our brain cells. Dare I say, I personally enjoyed this episode?? Granted this is Quantico so silly moments galore. And my head was spinning by the end, but hey no one has been stereotyped 2 episodes in a row!! Progress people, it is all we can ask for. So, what happened in the aftermath of Alex turning herself in:

Juveria: Either this show is getting better or I’m becoming numb to its flaws. Either way, I found this episode to be the best of the series so far.  Granted, the threshold is pretty low here.

In present day, which we find out is actually in 2016, Alex has turned herself in. And while they discuss interrogation tactics, the same ones they trained Alex in, her legal counsel arrives!  Unfortunately, it’s Elias.  Okay, he’s not a terrible lawyer by TV standards, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him.  Of course, all of this is for naught when the High Value Interrogation Group (HIG) arrives.  No idea who these people are but they are there by Executive Order.  And no one is happy about it.  It’s the one group Team Alex  and Liam’s revenge squad (aka  the FBI) can all agree on as someone they don’t want anywhere near the investigation.

Which is good, because regardless of what the FBI has taught Alex, she can’t handle torture that well. Specifically, the torture of someone else: Booth.  Last we saw Booth, he was on a helicopter out of the country.  Clearly, he didn’t get very far since HIG was able to intercept him.  In a surprising turn of realism, Booth’s bullet wound that Alex operated in is actually infected!  Good job, show!  I did not see that coming.  Unfortunately for Booth, the HIG agent (Oded Fehr, who’s imdb is basically filled with government agent roles) keeps digging into the wound to torture him.  Alex is a mess.  And basically starts to give in.

But wait! Team Alex is on the case. So much so, they get Natalie to join them and are able to find evidence to exonerate Alex.  This team, filled with former trainees and rookie agents, found the evidence in what feels like twenty minutes.  Imagine how quickly the investigation would’ve gone if the seasoned agents actually did their job.  Team Alex hold a private meeting with Liam to present their findings.  And Natalie, of all people, calls out Liam for his stubbornness.  Next thing we know, Liam is busting in to whatever conveniently available boiler room Booth’s torture is going down in to save the day.  Or at least, to get Alex back into FBI custody.

Then things get weird. Liam actually apologizes to Alex for not believing her.  So the cartoon villain acting from the last few episodes was supposed to just be a zealous FBI agent doing his job?  I don’t think so.  Especially since his plan is to get her to publically plead guilty so as to find the next bomb.  See, Alex might buy into this plan, but I think Liam is still playing her.

In the Quantico timeline, which I guess technically is present day for us, we’re learning to profile. Visiting lecturer, and TV pundit, Dr. Langdon (Anne Heche) is there to teach the NATs how to profile a serial killer.  No exercise at Quantico is complete though without some of the NATs struggling with some personal issues.  As the agents team up, Simon picks Nimah, not Raina, to be on his team, and Raina can’t help but feel slighted.  But sweet little Caleb actually steps up to include Raina on his team.  (Guys, full disclosure, I’m a Caleb fan.)  Natalie can’t handle the images of a dead child, especially on the day of her daughter’s 4^th birthday.  Booth is jealous of Alex’s relationship with Liam. And last but definitely not least, Simon has a nagging feeling something is amiss with the evidence presented to them as part of their profiling exercise.

But with the exercise complete, the NATs are treated to drinks at a local bar and, dare I say it, act like likeable people. Caleb and Shelby are super public about their relationship, which I’m 100% in support of.  Natalie is surprisingly normal, despite Shelby pushing her about her discomfort during their earlier exercise.  Raina is a bit of a drunk.  Simon, though, is all business and keeps pushing Dr. Langdon about his suspicions about one of the crime scenes.  And to no one’s surprise, Langdon admits to falsifying evidence to catch the serial killer.  She then proceeds to basically try and kill Simon, but, thanks to nosy Booth, gets thwarted.

But the aftermath of their night out takes a weird turn. Natalie admits to Shelby about her daughter.  Booth tells Alex he’s leaving because he doesn’t understand why she’s helping Liam, the man who tried to destroy them both.  And Simon turns in Langdon! But all the NATs are mad at him because of it, since it’ll result in the release of the serial killer.  (If they charged him with the other murders, wouldn’t he still be in jail, just not for this one murder? I do not get the TV justice system.)  This reaction is enough to get Simon to reach out to his old bomber buddy, who hands him blueprints to every US train station.  Dun-dun-dun!

A few loose ends:

• Miranda is convinced it was Charlie who stabbed her. But the DNA doesn’t match up. Stop blaming your son! Also, no one, including the show, really cares about this storyline.
• Liam is a drunk. Like Alex’s dad. So Alex is helping him like she did with her dad. But with weird flirty undertones, making it officially gross.
• We also learn about blind spots this week. As they are helpful in exonerating Alex and helping kill Simon. Wow, multipurpose lesson!
• Did I mention how much I like Caleb and Shelby? But aren’t they supposed to keep things quiet since it’s against the rules?
• I’m convinced Liam is still going to screw over Alex. Since she publically pleaded guilty, there’s no proof to the trap they’ve set. She’s going to get buried.
• But he is not going to keep her hair down. Seriously, what volumizing shampoo is she using?

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Nad:  First I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!! Personally I did. I spent very little time watching TV, but rather spending time with my friends and family. Particularly my nieces and nephews who teach me the best life lessons.  I will admit by the end of tonight’s episode, I needed to take a moment to regain my balance from all the flip flopping occuring. Natalie, Liam, Alex, Ryan, take your pick. The only person not changing her mind about anything was Raina because she was only in 1 scene of this episode.  Finally this show should have been titled “Blindspot” for the amount of times the word was dropped.  Juvi, as always, succinctly recaps the show and here are my rambling thoughts:

Musings/Thoughts:

• Jumping back and forth from the training timeline to the bomb timeline is really starting to confuse me. To be honest, sometimes the only way I can tell which timeline we are in is by Shelby’s haircut. If Shelby isn’t in the scene, I’m confused. It takes me a minute to reorient myself. There has to be a better formula to handle the 2 timelines.
• Anne Heche guest starred tonight!! I’m surprised I didn’t hear about this because there have been other casting updates in recent news. My exact tweet after tonight’s episode “Can we keep Anne Heche on #Quantico? She is delectably creepy.” 
  • Inviting your students for drinks may not be the best of ideas, and really should have been our 1st hint that something was off with Dr. Langdon. Was I the only who found the game of “Name the serial killer and how many victims?” over shots a bit disturbing. Way to pay respect to the victims. I am sure they appreciate being reduced to a victim number to be associated with a serial killer name.
  • The problem with being a profiler of serial killers is that becomes easy to think like one. Dr. Langdon didn’t even blink an eye when she calmly details how Simon could suffer a pulmonary embolism and no one would notice because she knows where all the camera blindspots in the bar are. However, like every egomaniac serial killer, she didn’t account that Booth could be observant, follow Simon and her out of the bar, and save Simon’s life.
• I have mentioned several times that I find Simon’s story the most intriguing and this week the intrigue went up a notch. Simon is emerging as a bit of an egomaniac himself. He does not like being wrong. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to have belief and conviction, but today’s episode tackles the old addage “Do the ends justify the means?” He knows that there were 2 false victims in the Welfare Mom case, and if it means he has to buy Dr. Langford burgers and fries to prove he is right, well then you do what you gotta do.
  • Turns out Simon was right and closer to the truth. Dr. Langdon did alter one of the crime scenes which ultimately led to the arrest of the Welfare Mom Serial Killer. In typical Simon, and quite frankly all trainee fashion, consults no one and heads straight ot the authorities leading to Dr. Langdon’s arrest. Also leads to the Welfare Mom serial killer being potentially released. I’m amazed that in 2 days time, the FBI were able to reopen the case, debunk Dr. Langdon’s crime scene, collect all new evidence, and exonerate the serial killer.However, this is Quantico, so if Alex’s case can be solved in 20 minutes, then 2 days is a loooooong time.
  • Simon sees the world black and white. Right or wrong. Someone should have told him that working in any government agency might not be the best fit then. Simon’s smugness over Dr. Langdon’s arrest doesn’t go over well with his fellow trainees, and he is shocked which then turns into anger. Simon now has possession of the NYC train station blueprints, and I find Simon infinitely more intriguing.
• I want to talk about Caleb, who like Juveria, has become my favorite. This is what I call great character growth. I really thought he was a useless person in the beginning. However his experiences have allowed him to mature.  I love that he took charge of Alex’s investigation and did what no one else could do, fill in the gaps (or blindspots!!) and solve the case. Shelby better be taking notice because this is a man (unlike his father) who is not running away from problems.
• Please don’t get mad that Booth’s torture scene may have been my favorite. Only because it looked that painful. I will give the show kudos for the wound being infected, but it didn’t look that infected. Also, if Booth was indeed septic, he shouldn’t have been able to speak. But this is Booth, so lets say he has that superpower, the minute HIG guy placed his hand in the wound, he would have gone into shock. Side note: My physician friend was appalled that HIG guy didn’t use a glove and placed his uncovered hand into an infected wound.  Alex and her fabulous hair almost confessed, but Booth was saved in time.
• Alex wasn’t a standout for me this episode. Well her hair was, and that needs to stop. Charges are being dropped against Alex and everyone will be reinstated, however Liam wants Alex to stay caught so the real perps feel comfortable with their plan and they can draw them out. She ends up pleading guilty and I’m shaking my head. This is not going to end well for Alex.  Elias, you fail at being a lawyer.
• Natalie is still irrelevant to me. Pick a side already, I cannot handle this level of flip flopping!!  And  yet she is dropping truth bombs to Liam in Alex’s defense. I was not buying that as it was out of character for her. Past Natalie recounts that it was her daughter’s 4th birthday. She hasn’t seen her in 2 months and that her baby daddy filed for full custody because she joined the FBI. I am trying to feel for her, but everything about Natalie has been disjointed and so are my feelings for her.
• I like Shelby and Caleb together, they are growing on me. But really you guys, you need to make out during your run in the woods?? Oy vey.
• I’m not sure if the writers are intending to create some romantic tension between Liam and Alex. Because if they are, please don’t. It is super creepy.
• Booth is so jealous, Alex calls their relationship a “friendship”, and Ryan leaves the FBI. Sometimes I feel I am watching an episode of Sweet Valley High.
• In a storyline i don’t care about: Miranda accuses her son of the stabbing. Liam visits Miranda and finds out that the prints on the knife do not belong to Charlie and this may be a kidnapping.
• Do you know what a blindspot is? if you don’t then you did not watch this episode. refer to Juveria’s recap for an explanation.
• Hahaha Caleb calling Shelby Amanda Knox. Past Caleb receives a phone call from his dad with information that Shelby’s half sister in fact may not exist.

I actually enjoyed this episode and have slight hope that we are seeing a turn for the better. Maybe we will graduate from Sweet Valley High School years to the College Years soon!! Sound off below on your thoughts!!