Pilot Review: Quantico

Quantico (ABC)
Premiered September 27 at 10pm

This is undoubtedly one of the buzziest new dramas of the fall, and this premiere doesn’t disappoint in terms of its intrigue factor. A massive terrorist attack that took down Grand Central and was apparently perpetrated by some new FBI agent is a solid premise, especially with one of the brightest new recruits framed as the prime suspect and forced to rack her brain to figure out which one of her classmates might have actually been behind it. This show feels right on ABC since its theatrics are right out of “Grey’s Anatomy,” with its recruits seeming much more like oversexed teenagers than federal agents in training. I have some issues with the believability of the first assignment given to the recruits, since letting every agent know every deep, dark secret of its other agents seems foolhardy. Additionally, it’s absurd just how much the FBI missed, namely Alex having killed her father, Brian J. Smith’s now-deceased Mormon having gotten a teenager pregnant while on his mission before she died following her abortion, and Nimah actually being two people! How Director Shaw ends up being Alex’s one ally should be interesting to find out, even more so because Deputy Director O’Conner is completely on the opposite side, fully certain of her guilt. This show has an appeal even if it’s not entirely solid or logical, and I think it has the right spirit and pacing to become something stronger and watchable as it progresses and drops more bombshells about this immensely corruptible agency and its suspect recruits.

How will it work as a series? Flashing back to everything that has occurred between the time Alex arrived at the FBI to the Grand Central attack allows for plenty of holes to be filled in, and the knowledge of certain inevitabilities should increase the opportunity for easter eggs and red herrings which should make watching this show more fun.
How long will it last? The future is bright for this show, which opened very strong and much better than other programming on ABC. Priyanka Chopra clearly is a draw, and I think that ABC is going to want to invest in one of its buzziest and freshest programs. A renewal shouldn’t take long.

Pilot grade: B-