After 10 episodes that have taken Juveria and I on a roller coaster ride and made Quantico the crown jewel of our blog, we have arrived at the Quantico Winter Finale. Surprsingly this time around Juveria and I were split on this episode. She somewhat liked it and felt answers were questioned. I, on the other hand, hated it and almost clawed my eyes out. Read our takes below and you can decide which side you lean on.
Juveria: Fall finale time! I actually found myself looking forward to this because I really did want to see what the answers the writers would give us. And they didn’t disappoint, we did get some, but got thrown some new tidbits which only lead to more questions.
The Quantico timeline provided more insight in the NAT’s personal lives. Namely, that four of them all lied about going home for the holidays. Alex, Shelby, Nimah, and Natalie got to have a girls’ weekend in the deserted halls of Quantico. Admittedly, some of this was fun to watch since we get to watch the agents unwind, like we did in Guilty. It gives you something to root for when it comes to these characters. Though I could’ve done without Nimah’s constant reminders of how she doesn’t want to spend all weekend in the kitchen cooking for the men in her family. But what would this show be without it’s stereotypes?
Of course, despite all the drunken fun, the men in their lives aren’t too far from their minds. Alex has been wanting to call up Booth ever since he’s left, but doesn’t have the guts. So, Natalie(!) helps her out with an app that disguises her number so he’ll definitely pick up. When he does though, he’s not alone. Alex needs a drink. But the wallowing doesn’t last too long because from that heartbreak, we open the door to Caleb in a tux! Caleb needs Shelby at side for his mom’s NYE shindig, and it’s totally adorable, guys. Totally adorable. Shelby looks out for her girls though, and gets Alex and Natalie an invite. (To note, at this point, Nimah is in Miranda’s office, and no one thinks to invite her.)
Party time! Our girl are all dolled up, Caleb still looks great in a tux, and we’ve got people to meet. Alex meets Hannah (Eliza Coupe) who is basically who Alex wants to be when she grows up as an agent. Hannah has her dream job and a husband! She has it all, and Alex wants it. Not realizing she literally wants her life, because Hannah is Booth’s ex-wife! Booth is at the party undercover with Hannah, and Alex is jealous. I want to point Hannah is a great character. She’s not the jealous ex-wife, but a straightforward “this is how it is” type of woman. No drama with her. Eliza Couple always does no-fuss women really well. (Sidenote: I miss Happy Endings.)
Shelby, on the other hand, is a ball of nerves as she meets Mama Haas (Marcia Cross, the queen of melodramas). But Shelby’s got nothing to worry about because Mr. and Mrs. Haas seem to have been trading notes and they are all for Shelby in Caleb’s life. Wait, the Haases are talking to one another?! Caleb smells something fishy. Turns out, they’re giving their marriage another go and everyone is happy about it. Not Caleb though, especially since he’s found out his mom is on the VP shortlist. What I initially thought was Caleb’s dad using her to further his own ambitions, turned out to be her using Caleb’s dad to portray a candidate with strong family values. Way to switch it up on me, show. Needless to say, after Caleb decides to point all this out, it does not go well. Except, it’s not his parents that break up, it’s Shelby and Caleb! (Noooooo.) Shelby can’t take all the meddling he does to expose people. His parents, her sister. Turns out when he was with the cult, he was willing to blow himself up to expose the truth. And that tendency is still a part of him, as we learn in the present timeline.
Shifting back to present day, there’s still no sign of where the second bomb could be. Not until Elias shows up. Let’s remember, the last we saw of Elias, he was cholorforming Simon so clearly he’s up to no good. He shows up with a scar on his head and some crazy story of feeling threatened and thinks something is about to happen. Clearly, no one told him about the second bomb. He gets everyone to pick up Simon’s scent and believe he’s their main suspect. They do eventually find him in a hotel room, where there is a Democratic fundraiser hosted by Caleb’s mom, strapped to a kill switch. Simon pleads for his innocence while Elias continues to blow holes in his story. Eventually, the truth comes out, it was all Elias from the get go, but he wasn’t the mastermind. He was blackmailed into doing it and had had no idea it would involve a real bombing. Under the pressure of coming clean and being arrested, Elias says he’s not afraid anymore and kills himself from throwing himself out of the hotel window. At least, they found the bomb.
Or did they? After diffusing the bomb in the hotel, Alex tells Simon he can let go of the kill switch. Simon, gratefully, does and then we hear an explosion. As the agents run through the streets, we come upon the latest bomb site: the FBI command center. The same building all of the guests from the hotel, including Caleb’s mom, had been evacuated to. And we know at least one other member of the Quantico class was there: Shelby. All the people Caleb cared about. Speaking of Caleb, we get a last minute flashback of him in disguise entering the bank that would become the command center and asking about the bank vault. Say it ain’t so, Caleb, say it ain’t so!
- I want to talk about Rick Cosnett, the actor who played Elias. I know Nadia was happy to see him on the show because of his stint on The Flash, but boy, was he awful on this show. Frankly, I don’t know if he’s a really bad actor or he was trying to play Elias so transparently so we would all know he’s the culprit. Either way, I’m okay with him falling out of a window.
- For all of his woes, Caleb has a lot people in his corner. Loved when Mama Haas came across Shelby and could care less about the affair with her husband. Instead, she is pissed about Shelby breaking Caleb’s heart and promises to absolutely destroy her. Of course, they both have to live through that explosion in order for that to happen.
- If anyone cares about Miranda’s storyline, she finally sees how wrong she is about her own son when he ends up all bruised and bloodied on her porch.
- Liam and Alex were being gross again.
- This show wants us to believe Alex wakes up with that hair. You’ve tried to feed me a lot of lies, show, but this one takes the cake.
- Anecdote time: last week, at my place of employment, we were treated to a lecture on security by a bonafide FBI agent. At one point, she discussed how her job is not like it is in the movies. And then asked us if any of us watched Quantico. Her response: “Please don’t, the FBI is nothing like that.” Pure vindication.
It’s been, guys, see you all in March when our show returns and Alex’s hair is as voluminous as ever.
Nadia: When a show promotes a winter finale as “shocking, your questions will be answered, and so on” , well I expect that much. I want drama, tension, suspense, and everything a else a finale should be. What I got instead was an upgrade from Sweet Valley High to Sweet Valley College Years. I’m just jumping into this because I’m all snark and no inspiration:
Thoughts/Rants (Nothing mused me this time)
- I’ll start off with the current timeline. We last saw Simon kidnapped by Elias. As Juveria mentioned above, I enjoyed Rick Cosnett on The Flash. However, in last night’s episode, that was acting 101 if I have ever seen it. Clearly the NAT’s did not take a behavioral class because Elias’s shifty eyes, his high pitched voice, and overall wordiness were clear signs he was lying. Listen, I am not the most observant person, and I observed this in between my annoyed tweets, it was obvious. After leading the FBI ladies to a bomb strapped Simon, we learn Simon is the mastermind behind Alex and Simon’s framing and kidnapping. But wait, he is only a blackmailed puppet as a result of fabrciating some of his cases to his favor. Once again, like Simon’s fake bomb idea, a ridiculous decision he made. Listen, I get wanting to protect yourself, but is digging yourself into a federal felony hole worth it? Elias can’t handle the pressure and the FBI Charlie’s Angels (they only look good holding a gun) let him throw himself out the window. For real why didn’t they secure the window in the 1st place.
- By the way, why didn’t our Charlie’s Angels call the bomb squad right away? Ridiculous fail of protocol.
- Also again with the gun pointing everywhere!! My “Office” picture is relevant and making another appearance:
- Now for the part of the episode that Juveria contrast in our opinions. The whole flashback segment of the FBI Charlie’s Angels ( my reference to them now) annoyed the hell out of me. I am not opposed to female bonding segments, and actually up until this point , I have appreciated the camaraderie between the women. However this is the winter finale, and that screentime could have been filled with discovering and dismantling of the 2nd bomb during the current timeline. Instead we got Sweet Valley: The College Years with keg parties, the ladies lamenting over their men, dance parties, and overall drunkenness. If this segments was in previous weeks episode, I would have tolerated it. However, not at the expense of a winter finale. On top of that, the dialogue was cheesy and something out of a Judy Blume novel. Sorry if my references predate most of the readers, I am that old, about to be a year older in several days.
- Since the twins have outed and assumed their own identities, we have barely seen Raina. In fact Raina went home (Per Nimah), to Dearborn, for the 3 day break to cook for the men in her family. Two things:
- Nimah referenced Dearborn, Michigan twice. For those of you who aren’t aware, Dearborn has a highly populated Arab community. I have been there and it is a fantastic place. I recommend Shatila bakery for some of the best desserts you will ever eat. You can even order online. The show was overdue for its sterotype of the week, so here it is. Because obviously the Arab hijab wearing woman is the one who enjoys to cook and perceivably subservient to her family. Here is a thought, maybe she misses her family, likes to cook, and wants to spend time with them. I do resent the implication that because she is an Arab Muslim woman that any other explanation besides oppression is inconceivable. I understand if it isn’t Nimah’s thing and that is fine. Let’s not imply though that things at home are so bad.
- In the efforts to contrast the twins, the writers have made Nimah a hard core drinker. She shares some drinks with Miranda, and in the only part of the show I enjoyed, she lays some truth out. She states to Miranda that post 9/11, it has been difficult for Arabs to fit in and they are constantly looking over their shoulder. This was a great and appropriate statement to make in light of current events.
- I still like Caleb. He is my saving grace for this show. I like the cult storyline that is starting to take shape, and how it may relate to current day events. I understand Shelby was upset at Caleb for calling his parents out, but I get why Caleb did what he did. He has lived his whole life in the middle of a messed up marriage. He has only ever heard lies, observed deceit, and God knows what else. There comes a point where you look at your parents and say enough is enough and call them out. In Shelby’s defense, she had the opportunity to speak with Caleb’s mother and objectively can see the other side. I know she loves Caleb, and wants him to be happy, but sometimes you just need to be supportive. But, she isn’t. In fact, as much as she loves Caleb, she can’t handle his black and white attitude to make things rights and dumps him. My heart broke for Caleb.
- I can’t deal with Alex. She is becoming my least favorite character, only behind Natalie. Which is saying a lot. Stop crying over Ryan already. I loved Ryan’s ex-wife and her tell it like it is attitude. I don’t feel she was possessive over Ryan or still in love with him. Just dropping some real talk with Alex. I mean she complimented, how many times? I hope we see more of Ryan’s ex because she could catapult to the top of my favorite characters list.
- Liam and Alex—Gross. That is all.
- Caleb and Shelby dress up nicely and are a super cute couple.
- Shelby should have known better than to Cross ( see what I did there) a Desperate Housewife. No one messes with her Caleb!!!
- I woke up this morning and my hair did not look like a Pantene commercial, it looked like a birds nest. Just saying.
As Juveria stated above, the actual bomb was located at FBI command central which if I trusted this show, means many implications come March. But I don’t trust this show, so the wait will not be agonizing for me. The only agonizing thing for me is where will unleash my snark for the next 3 months?? Sound off below on your thoughts!!
your viewing party 