Quantico - Go - Review: "Your country thanks you for your sacrifice"

The recruits at Quantico were given an explosive mid-term exam in Sunday's episode that led to some people leaving the academy for good. In the present, the FBI got close to finding Alex and her allies.

Overview of events
Since the recruits are now at one-third of their training, they are given a mid-term exam that will decide who continues their training and who doesn't. They are given a piece of paper right before Miranda leaves the room. Surprisingly enough, the paper is empty. After collecting all the papers, it turns out that one of the 61 NATs did not get an exam. Surveillance reveals that Brandon did not get one and he says that he thought he had been cut from the program and this was Miranda's way of telling him. He subsequently storms out of the classroom, at which point the power is cut off and all of the doors are closed. Using surveillance once again, the recruits discover that Brandon placed something in the classroom. That something turns out to be a bomb. Luckily, Simon knows how to disarm one so he pulls some wires and all that. The doors are then unlocked, but the timer doesn't stop counting down. Fortunately, those recruits that are too afraid can run away, including Elias. Shelby, Alex, Ryan and even Nathalie help Simon disarm the bomb, while Caleb and Nimah/Raina stand by and watch. However, their attempts are fruitless as the timer only starts counting down even more rapidly, until it gets to 00:00. At that point, nothing happens except for Miranda stepping in the room. Brandon was in on the assignment and did what his superior asked him to do. Those who ran away are cut from the program, while the NATs that stayed get to continue. Also, for the analysts this wasn't a mid-term exam, but rather their finals. That means Elias is completely out of the picture, while Caleb has graduated. Caleb surprises Shelby, however, when he announces that the FBI wants him as an agent rather than as an analyst. Also, Nimah and Raina come clean to the entire class about being twins.

In the present timeline, Alex and Simon look for the twins and find Raina in an apartment alone. Alex asks why she was at Grand Central Terminal two days before the terrorist attack, to which Raina responds that it must be her missing sister. Raina hasn't heard from Nimah in a few days after infiltrating a terrorist cell across the street. Nimah got close to the cell leader to gather intel on an upcoming terrorist attack. Simon deduces that Nimah is still in the building across the street, and Raina swaps places with her sister. Meanwhile, Ryan blows his cover when he talks to Miranda about contacting the twins, and Shelby does the same when talking to Caleb. They head out to Simon and Alex to warn them that the FBI is coming so they must go. However, Raina is still with the cell leader so Nimah quickly gets her sister. At that point, the FBI, led by Nathalie, are storming in and arrest Shelby and Simon. Alex and Ryan manage to make it out, but the FBI sirens put the terrorists on high alert and a gunfight ensues with the FBI agents. While most of the terrorists are killed, Ryan is also hit with a bullet. Alex helps him up and they run towards an alley where they encounter Nathalie. Alex is willing to surrender, but Nathalie decides to let them go.

Character board
In this week's episode, we learned the following about the characters:
-Alex continues to confront Ryan about his undercover operation and after he tells her the truth about Chicago, she confronts Liam and demands he gives Ryan his job back, which he does.
-Shelby met Caleb's father at Quantico, though their introduction was rather awkward. Upon hearing that Clayton wanted his son out of the academy, she confronted him.

-Nimah and Raina finally tell everyone that they are twins. However, according to Miranda the twins have changed a lot since leaving Quantico. They are still on a mission to infiltrate a terrorist cell, though it's not known if that is the same terrorist group as the one Miranda's son is a part of.
-Nathalie is still using her fake scars. More importantly, after selling out Ryan last week, she finally jumps on team Alex and allows Alex and Ryan to run away from the FBI.
-Ryan reveals to Alex what happened in Chicago. An operation went wrong and Ryan took the blame instead of his superior Liam. After Alex confronts Liam, Ryan gets his badge back and leaves Quantico. In the present timeline, Ryan is once again shot.
-Caleb is, according to his father, "a greater danger to himself". His father said he saved Caleb's life multiple times. However, despite his father's offer of giving him money when he drops out of Quantico, Caleb manages to pass the analyst exam and is back as an agent in training.
-Simon knows how to disarm a bomb, even though he still fails disarming the fake bomb. When Elias is forced to leave, Simon allows Elias to kiss him.
-Elias is kicked out of Quantico after running away from the fake bomb. He subsequently says goodbye to Simon and kisses him.
-Brandon helps Miranda with setting up the assignment. He was probably acting when he said he had done terrible things. Also, he apparently was good enough to not do the test himself.
-Liam let Ryan take the blame for the Chicago operation gone wrong. After pressure from Alex, Liam gives Ryan his badge back.
-Miranda organizes the entire assignment of this week and asks for Brandon's help in doing so. In the present, she shows she is still on team Alex when she gives Ryan the phone number to contact the twins, even though she warns him that the twins have changed.
-Clayton wants his son to drop out of Quantico, believing Caleb is a danger to himself. Clayton even offers his son money to drop out of the program, but Caleb doesn't bite.

Review
This episode was much better than last week. There was way less focus on the relationships and in fact, most of the couples are on the odds with one another. Ryan seems to have left Quantico altogether, while Nathalie has obvious trust issues with Brandon after the assignment. Only Caleb and Shelby are still intact. But again, I'm glad this episode didn't focus that much on the hook-ups as last week did. Instead, there was much more action and intensity. Obviously we all knew that the bomb was not going to kill anyone, but it was not until the scared recruits ran out that I realized that the assignment was really about sacrifice. Although it was not addressed, I do see some parallels with the present timeline. Alex has sacrificed so much in the hunt for the real terrorist, while Simon, Shelby, Ryan and now even Nathalie are willing to sacrifice their jobs, their careers and their lives to prove Alex' innocence. Nimah and Raina are prepared to sacrifice everything for their mission by infiltrating the terrorist cell. This episode also featured some interesting developments, like Elias being kicked out and the twins exposing themselves to the entire class. Ryan has also left, although I doubt he will not return to the Quantico timeline at some point. I am glad we also got to know Brandon a bit more, even though we still don't know that much about him.

Terrorist wall
Here's this week's terrorist wall, including a ranking of every suspect and a change in the ranking compared to last week.
-Alex: 1/5 (no change compared to last week)
Alex is not the terrorist.
-Shelby: 2/5 (-1 compared to last week)
Shelby seems more and more innocent to me. She has now been arrested and she would have to have a big master plan of sorts to have her arrest be helpful to her endgame. No offense to the character, but I just don't see her being capable of doing that.
-Nimah and Raina: 2/5 (no change)
Soon, I might split these two into separate characters. It could be possible that one of them is responsible for the terrorist attack without the other's knowledge, and we still don't really know what Nimah was doing at Grand Central Terminal. For now, I believe the really are on a mission to prevent another terrorist attack.
-Nathalie: 2/5 (no change)
Nathalie let Alex and Ryan go, which finally made her a bit more sympathetic. It also made me doubt how Nathalie could be behind all this, so I think she is not.
-Ryan: 2/5 (no change)
Ryan was shot again and left Quantico. He might return to the academy, or he might use the rest of the nine months to plot a big terrorist attack. I consider that unlikely though.
-Caleb: 3/5 (no change)
I don't know why Caleb is a danger to himself, but he is dangerous enough for his father not wanting him to become an agent. He's looking most suspicious of all the recruits at this moment, even though I'm still not convinced it's him.
-Simon: 2/5 (no change)
No real indication to change my ranking of Simon here.
-Elias: 2/5 (no change)
Elias left Quantico, which would make him even more unlikely to be the terrorist. Or, like Ryan, he was planning the whole thing in the nine months. Still, I don't see Elias as a terrorist.
-Brandon: 2/5 (+1 compared to last week)
Brandon helped Miranda pull of the explosive assignment of this week and even though he was acting a lot, I think some of it may be true. Still, I feel like I don't know this guy at all.
-Liam: 3/5 (no change)
Of the three bosses, Liam is the one I suspect least. He's certainly not the best agent the FBI has, but I feel like he's just a puppet in the game. I'm not yet changing my ranking of him though.
-Miranda: 3/5 (no change)
Miranda said the twins were not the same after they left Quantico. Did the infiltration of her son's terrorist group go wrong? Or is the terrorist cell they are watching the same as the one of Miranda's son? I don't know, but somehow I believe Miranda plays a bigger role in this.
-Clayton: 3/5 (no change)
I don't trust Clayton for one bit. Maybe it's because he's played by Mark Pellegrino, or maybe because he wanted his son gone from the academy so badly that he even offered him money.

What did you think of "Go"? Did you see it coming that the bomb was part of the assignment? Were you surprised both Elias and Ryan left afterwards? Do you think it was a smart move to expose the twins to the entire class? What do you think they are up to in the present timeline? And lastly, do you still suspect that one of the recruits is the terrorist? I would love to hear your thoughts and theories in the comments below.

The next episode airs Sunday at 10/9c. Watch a promo for "Over" below.

About the Author - Daniel van der Veer

Daniel van der Veer is a Dutch university student studying Psychology. On SpoilerTV he is a reviewer of NCIS, The 100, Madam Secretary and Quantico. He also enjoys LOST, Arrow, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Nikita, The Blacklist, Scorpion and How To Get Away With Murder.

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