Quantico Season 2 : Premiere Review

So, this time around, Priyanka Chopra aka Alex Parrish is training at the CIA since she is no longer part of the FBI. Or so they’d like you to believe. Season 2 of the ABC crime drama that premiered last night, takes off from where it left off — Alex is approached by the CIA to join them, but thrown behind a desk and ignored. Fortunately, her love life is going better than her professional one, with Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin) about to pop the question. Switch to now and the two have decided to part ways over an apparent lack of trust.

Ryan is now in the President’s detail at the G20 summit with world leaders, while Alex has no crime fighting position (CIA or FBI).

Alex has an inkling of a terrorist attack when she notices a man she killed during training, alive and kicking. Within minutes, blasts go off, blocking the summit and taking national leaders, including the US president and the First Lady, hostage. The rest of the episode switches from present (terror attack) to the past where Alex is training at the CIA but in reality is undercover for the FBI to hunt down the coup leader persuading trainees to [join] a whole different kind of CIA. Besides Ryan, Miranda (Aunjanue Ellis), Shelby (Johanna Braddy) and Nimah (Yasmine Al Massri), everyone else is new in Alex’s life.

The switch between time makes it gripping, but also confusing. Of the new characters, we like Lydia (Tracy Ifeachor), who deals Alex her first blow. First, by infiltrating the CIA training, posing as a new recruit, then switching sides to announce she is actually their trainer.

At CIA, Alex is made to unlearn everything she did at FBI. They don’t need heroes here; just someone who can lie and get the job done. The change in values is unsettling and seeing Alex struggle adds a fresh touch.

We cannot end the review without discussing Ryan and Alex’s chemistry – expect a lot more from them this season.

We are now waiting for Tom Hiddleston to make an appearance, to see how that changes the game. Season 2 has shock value, a few surprises, a new terrorist attack and Alex right in the middle of everything.