by Diana Vaccarelli
QUANTICO is a show full of conspiracies. It also is a new series with lots of buzz. What made me look forward to the show the most was the conspiracy angle. I love shows with twists and turns that shock the audience.
The first episode begins with a terrorist attack even more horrifying than 9/11. We focus on Alex (Priyanka Chopra), as she awakens in a pile of rubble that once was New York’s Grand Central Station. As she picks herself up off the ground, the show flashes back to her attending the FBI academy in a class of new recruits.
The story then quickly flashes forward to the scene of the attack where Alex is helped into a building and starts being questioned. She is being treated as a prime suspect in the crime and realizes that it’s time to get out of Dodge.
From that point on, the whole show unfolds in a series of flashbacks and flash forwards as Alex escapes and tries to clear herself by finding the real culprit, only to realize that the only way this could have gone down as it did is if one of her classmates has framed her.
While I do enjoy flashbacks and playing with timelines, QUANTICO doesn’t work for me the way, say, OUTLANDER does. Writer Joshua Safran goes way too far for me, making the story much more confusing than intriguing. I would have liked to see QUANTICO start with the attack and Alex’s arrest and then flash back to the academy, with the storyline staying there for most of the episode before returning to Alex’s investigation.
That said, Priyanka Chopra does indeed shine as the lead. She brings a combination of toughness and vulnerability to the role. I love to see kickass chicks, and Alex is one of the best kickers anywhere.
QUANTICO airs every Sunday night on ABC after another new show, BLOOD AND OIL, which isn’t doing much for me one way or another. Sorry, ABC.