A new character on Quantico has been revealed as queer, as was promised! But did the writing really deliver the way it was expected to? Not all fans are convinced.

In terms of diversity, Quantico is ahead of many mainstream television shows. Consider: the main character is an Indian girl (played by a well-known Bollywood actress, in fact); there is a black woman in authority at the FBI in the form of the gift to mankind, Aunjanue Ellis; and even a pair of Muslim twins who are intriguing, well-rounded characters. There has been praise for the representation, especially when it comes to Nimah and Raina Amin, with young Muslim women thankful to see Muslim representation onscreen in a way they haven’t before.

Unfortunately, the show’s attempt to cover LGBT characters has not been quite as successful. Last week, the hard-as-nails and yet hilarious-under-pressure Hannah Wyland was revealed to be a lesbian (or bisexual, depending on how you take her reveal).

Check out some fan responses to Hannah’s coming out last week:

The overall feel from viewers is the expectation that Hannah Wyland would or will die. Perhaps the reason for this is the treatment of the other two queer characters so far on the show, Simon Asher and Elias Harper. The very first scene with Simon is fun, and extremely interesting — he meets up with a boy expecting a date in NYC, takes a cute picture, and leaves. Obviously he’s hiding something, and on a show about spies, that’s perfect! But, it turned out that what he was hiding was that he was… well, not gay. But it was honestly okay at the time, because Simon’s shenanigans had brought out another, fully realized gay character — Elias Harper!

Elias is cute, fun, and understandably irritated that Simon was only pretending to be gay. He had the makings of a great character; seeing someone make light of his own situation could have driven him to really make a name for himself as an agent, or, as Caleb did, become more than an analyst (not that there’s anything wrong with analysts, of course). He did fall into the “predatory gay” stereotype for a few minutes, but there are ways out of that.

And then, he became the villain. Of course, in Quantico so far, everyone revealed to be the villain is actually being manipulated by the villain, and so he isn’t completely at fault. But after some questionable character choices, his death meant there was no longer a clear queer character on the show.

And now, Hannah — such an amazing character! Initially serving as an obstacle for Alex and Ryan’s on/off-it’s-complicated-relationship, and then as one for Alex’s mission, she and Alex develop a rapport and end up allies. She’s funny, intelligent, kick-ass, and important. And the way she came out is brilliant. Offhand, casual… essentially, not in a way that defines her whole character (how Elias’s sexuality nearly did when he started almost-stalking Simon in that weird plot line), but still in a way that helps you understand more about her. This couldn’t last, however. In the end, Hannah loses her job and leaves Alex to… do nothing. It’s better than jumping out of a window, at least.

Openly out showrunner Joshua Safran has been quoted as saying “as diverse as the show is” he wishes it was “more so.” Hopefully this means more Hannah Wyland in the future, or seeing Simon explore his fluid sexuality, or simply introducing and keeping a queer character without writing her/him off.

Do you think ‘Quantico’ needs better LGBT representation?