The Quantico mid-season finale was jam-packed with information, action and emotional character moments.
If you looked away from Quantico season 2, episode 8, “ODENVY,” for even a second, there’s a good chance you missed something, or maybe even several things! Just when things were supposed to become a little more clear, they got about 100 times more complicated. Let’s dive in and see what we’ll be contemplating over the show’s winter break.
The Farm
The 3 stooges
We found out in the last episode of Quantico that Ryan was recruited to the AIC, and it turns out he wasn’t the only one. Léon and Dayana were also brought into the fold. The AIC took a page out of the Black Mirror playbook and had the three recruits each conduct one piece of a murder, with Léon being the one who actually pulled the trigger. Even though he was the only one to touch the gun, they’re all equally complicit, and the AIC has video footage to prove it
The question is, why did these three get recruited, and what does it mean for them, going forward? Will the AIC force them to work with them, or are they free to do as they please, as long as they don’t betray the people behind the texts? It’s possible that the FBI would be able to clear Ryan of anything he did for the mission, but it definitely wouldn’t be good if those videos got into the wrong hands.
The mission is evolving
Alex has suspected that her colleagues were moving forward on the mission without her for a while, but that probably didn’t make hearing it from her friends any easier. While Ryan and Miranda remained supportive, Shelby took things to the next level. Stubbornly, Alex is going to stay at the Farm and try to catch the AIC anyway. From what we’ve seen, so far, in the future, it’s not going to go so well.
Shelby is actually making some progress with Léon, but I’m becoming more and more confused about where their relationship is going. She’s trying to bait him into having deeper conversations with her, and it’s obviously working since he told her about what he had to do for the AIC. I just can’t figure out if Shelby actually has feelings for him, at all, or if she’s just loving being out in the field!
Family ties
While most episodes of Quantico season 2 have centered around a lesson at the Farm, the lesson was stunted this week to make room for all the other drama. Their mission over the Thanksgiving break was to cut ties with the “one person who can’t let it go.” Except for Dayana, nobody really dealt with this issue, so it will probably come up again when Quantico returns.
You said yes, right?
Ryan got down on one knee, yet again, and this time, Alex let him get the words out. Oh yeah, the words were, “marry me!” Despite the trust issues they’ve been having at the Farm, she said yes. I love a good proposal, but honestly, this one was difficult to get invested in since we already know that something is going to break these two apart very soon. We already know the engagement is null and void, so what’s the point?
Brexit strategy
Harry has done a lot to earn Alex and Ryan’s trust over the past few episodes of Quantico, but it looks like he might not deserve it as much as we may want him to. He returned to London over the Thanksgiving break to visit Elliott’s family, and apparently he’s at the Farm for more than a pilot program with MI6.
I was initially so taken aback when they mentioned Brexit in their conversation, since you don’t always expect such current, real world issues to find their way into fictional TV shows. Elliott’s family is looking to get sources inside US intelligence for when Britain formally leaves the EU. They’re looking forward to a time when they’ll be able to “operate selfishly again.” Harry didn’t seem completely on board with the family, but he might be forced to comply with their wishes, making him difficult to trust.
The hostage situation
Office chit chat
Miranda and Shelby haven’t been seeing eye to eye in the hostage situation, but there is one thing they have in common: neither of them want General Richards anywhere near it. The US Northern Command was brought in to put an end to the terrorist crisis, but their methods are less than desirable. To get rid of the threat of the terrorists, they want to kill everyone in the hostage zone! Unfortunately, there are a few people that we’d kind of miss in there, so hopefully Shelby can turn things around, quickly.
Someone on the inside
The mission to rescue Alex and Dayana turned into a full scale mission to rescue everyone in Quantico season 2, episode 8. Together, Alex, Harry, Sebastian, Dayana and Léon planned to kill the biological weapon before the terrorists have a chance to detonate it. Sebastian, Harry and Alex went to do so, and Léon and Dayana stayed behind, which was highly suspicious, given what just happened at the Farm!
It turns out, the biological weapon was a fail safe to be detonated if something went wrong with the AIC’s plan, and was meant to only kill the people inside the hostage zone. Just as they figured that out, however, the ended up surrounded by the AIC, which included…Ryan Booth!
It’s difficult to reconcile this reveal with Ryan’s actions so far in the hostage situation, which included staging a fight with Harry to unmask an AIC operative, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together in the second half of Quantico season 2.
We know that the AIC has something on Ryan, so he could be blackmailed, but it’s also possible that he, like Nimah, believes in their goal. He did lead Alex out of the danger zone where her friends were being confronted, so he could still be trying to protect her. If he was working against Alex in a way that could harm her, that would be a huge shock!
Twin talks
Nimah gave us the most information we’ve ever gotten on the AIC in the form of her plea to her sister in Quantico season 2, episode 8. Apparently, Nimah joined the “Citizens Liberation Front” six months prior to the hostage situation and Raina had no idea.
The CLF believes in liberation from America, and the “lie they sold for centuries.” What is that lie? That there’s such a thing as freedom and that it only exists in America. So, what’s the solution? To “fight as dirty as everyone else.”
I absolutely loved Raina in this scene with her sister. I’ve really missed the relationship between the two sisters in Quantico season 2, and it was so amazing to see Raina’s confidence and strength in the face of everything her sister was telling her.
It was equally beautiful to see Nimah breaking down after she informed the AIC that Raina’s “not one of them” (whatever that means!), but I am really worried about how they’re going to save her character from this move. I hope she can find some redemption in the second half of Quantico season 2 and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Nimah and Raina’s relationship.