As promised, there were answers last week on Quantico. But there’s one big question that arose.
It’s been all over the fandom: where was Caleb in the flash forward of the return episode? He was, of course, in the past. He helps Shelby with her Samar problem, and at the end gets snatched by Iris like a fly in a web. But as for the future? The answer might be simple; but it might not be, too.
We know he was in the command center when Alex found Simon and Elias. The bomb went off, and we now know that his father Clayton was killed in the same place. We were also told 32 agents were killed in the explosion. Truth be told, in the first half of the episode so much was happening it was almost easy to overlook Caleb being gone. Somehow even seeing his mother being broadcast with her snide remarks at Alex didn’t trigger anything immediately. But then seeing him in the past, still pining after Shelby, it became obvious he wouldn’t or couldn’t be involved with the testimony back in the future.
Obviously, with no other explanation, it seems easy to assume he’s been hurt or killed. However, even before Joshua Safran went on record saying Caleb is still alive, the absence of anyone even mentioning him was suspicious. Dead Caleb would surely have inspired a few lines; but injured Caleb potentially could have too. Safran has gone On to say, “we won’t be seeing Caleb for awhile”… so what does that mean? And why?
Realistically, Caleb was probably injured in the bombing. But I don’t think he was seriously injured. Most likely, Caleb isn’t back in the fold because he chooses not to be. I mean, who can blame him for not wanting to spend hours upon hours with the ex who was dating his late father, really? But on top of that fun drama, the show has only minimally delved into Caleb’s cult life and history.
Each character still has an equal chance at being the terrorist, even after the writing seemingly “dismisses” them. I mean, we can safely exclude Alex and probably Natalie at this point. Unless Natalie is working with the terrorist against Alex, but that’s a whole other idea. The way the writing left him, Simon likely isn’t the bomber, but it was left open-ended. No one was truly proven innocent, however unlikely the circumstances. There are certainly more interesting choices for who the terrorist may be, since (at least right now) Simon looks too obvious to be the one manipulating everyone. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a recall to Simon at the end of the season, in the style of “fooled you!”. Which brings me to my main point: Caleb could absolutely still viably be the mastermind.
We have some parental drama, which is nice and juicy and filled with divorce and romance and politics. But we still only have the bare bones of his cult past. We understand the why; a lonely kid needing a place to fit in. I know I’m not alone in wondering on specifics, though. What were the ideals, the morals, and the motivation of the organization? What exactly was Caleb involved in? The writers seemed to back off the possibility of Caleb being the terrorist on the basis of his being “just a troubled kid.” They seem to be moving on to a new tangent, and likely a new suspect. But doesn’t that feel like the perfect foil?
Maybe Caleb isn’t around because he’s lying low under the premise of being heartbroken or hurt. Maybe Caleb Haas is both of those things, and reacting to them in the worst, most violent way. He’s turned to extremes for comfort before; he could definitely take steps back after losing Shelby and being distanced from his parents.
Under this cute little disguise, of course:
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