Quantico Recap: “Kubark”
After a snoozer of an episode last week, Quantico came back hard with revelations and a deception I didn’t see coming.
Director Keyes, Miranda, Alex and Ryan are at the safe house discussing the bug found in the trainees’ house. Owen’s name gets thrown around because he could be bugging the recruits that are perfect for the AIC. Miranda is ready for the mission to end, but Director Keyes has to see it through. He believes that if they don’t stop the rogue agents, they’ll soon infect and become the Agency.
Thought being bugged was bad news? It gets worse for the recruits. Dayana gets a call saying she could be disbarred for messing up a case. Leon finds out that, Anaya, a bad guy from the Mexican prison escaped, and oh yeah, could be coming for him. Ryan receives a key to Liam O’Connor’s P.O. box and Alex is at the bottom of the ‘murder board.’
Owen informs the class that this week is all about concealing emotions. He will be testing them throughout the week to see who can remain calm. The recruits are given bands that range green, yellow and red. If they slip into the red, they’re out.
Of course the trainees will be tested in a high-stress environment and what’s more stressful than Langley? They must remain calm when talking to case officers who will test and evaluate them. Director Keyes gives Alex a cell tower simulator that will clone Owen’s phone. Once cloned, Alex and Ryan will be able to monitor the recruits’ heart rates and figure out who is working for the AIC.
This entire party was a sham from the start. Leon speaks with one agent who said Anaya didn’t escape prison, he was released. One guy tells Dayana being disbarred isn’t the worst thing when she has the CIA to fall back on. The mind games are in full effect. Dear reader: If you’re throwing this kind of party, you can definitely leave me off the list.
In Ryan news, he’s being manipulated by Lydia. She asks him what he got from Liam’s estate and he admits it was a key. He ends up leaving the party because Lydia’s interest sparked something inside of him. Inside the box, Ryan finds a CIA hat with a note from Lydia that reads, “Hope it fits.”
In the end, the recruits learn that it was all yet another test.
Back to confrontation; Ryan barges into Lydia’s house saying he’s not haunted by Liam and that they didn’t expose his weakness. Alex, on the other hand, has struggled the entire night to clone Owen’s phone. In her final attempt, she asks Owen if she belongs. He admits she is special and that he recruited her himself. With that, Alex not only got her answer, but a cloned phone too.
At the safe house Ryan admits to Alex that Liam isn’t his weakness, Alex is. How precious. Their moment gets overshadowed when we learn that newcomer and over-confident mom Leigh is the bugger after seeing her stress levels hit high red when asked about ever using a bug. Cue the suspenseful music.
Back to the present, the key hostages have now been relocated to a basement, but there are still 1,700 other hostages at the Federal Building. These 1,700 are putting a strain on the terrorists. Raina is taken away and Alex, still in her terrorist gear, follows making sure she remains safe.
Shelby is still dealing with back-stabbing Miranda. While she is briefing the FBI on AIC, Shelby is interrupted when Raina appears on TV. The FBI has one hour to trade professional hacker, Eric Boyer, for the lives of the 1,700 hostages. Reminder, this is the same Eric Boyer the president already pardoned. If they don’t comply, more will die.
In Alex news, she is able to trick a guard into leaving and giving her alone time with Raina. Since the terrorists are using Raina as their mouthpiece, Alex tells her they can’t hand let the terrorists get Boyer. They obviously don’t care about the other hostages, just the small group in the basement which includes Lydia and Ryan to name a few. The longer the terrorists hold the other 1,700 people, the weaker they get, an advantage Alex needs.
She tells Raina to give Miranda a code ‘like the boiler room down here’ which is where they found Liam’s bomb a year earlier. However, little does she know Miranda will most likely ignore the code.
At headquarters, Shelby and Miranda are going back and forth on the trade. Miranda wants it, Shelby doesn’t. It’s going down and the tension is building. In the end, Miranda wins and the two hunt down Boyer. Miranda shoves Boyer into the car, without Shelby, where she confronts him about not “living up to your end of the bargain.” Boyer says it is suicide to turn him over and all Miranda can say is, “not for me.”
Outside of the car, Boyer apologizes to Shelby for hacking her company in 2012. He says he didn’t read her personal emails, but she should. Is this a clue or just a guilty conscience?
Now outside in an alley, we have Miranda and Boyer at one end, Raina and the terrorists at the other with Alex watching from a dirty window above. For every ten hostages the terrorists release, Miranda and Boyer will take one step. After the 1,700 hostages are safe Raina comes face-to-face with Miranda and gives her the code. All Miranda says is ‘I don’t understand’ and hands over Boyer. That’s when Alex starts shooting and everyone flees.
Back at headquarters, Miranda and Shelby go head-to-head once again. Mad and done with all the bullshit, Shelby remembers what Boyer said and logs into her company email. Back in 2012 she finds one labeled ‘Miranda.’ Plain and simple the email reads, “She’s one of them.”
Cut to Boyer who is now in the basement hacking away for the terrorists. He frantically claims it wasn’t supposed to go this far and the lone terrorist watching over him says it’s not up to them. In one swift motion, Boyer responds with ‘But this is’ as he grabs the terrorist’s gun and shoots himself in the head.
Wow. All I can say is whenever Quantico starts losing me; they come back full force with last minute jaw-droppers. Thank you, writers, for stepping up your game this week.
Ship of the week: Dayana won’t be disbarred and Leon doesn’t have the cartel after him, which is good because I’m shipping these two and hoping the writers will do the same. Their chemistry is electric and c’mon, they’re already at that stage in their relationship where they eat ice cream together at midnight. LeAna (at least that’s what I’m calling them) is too cute for words.
