Quantico Review: Turn (Season 1 Episode 15)

Sometimes a show does a whole bunch of things that all come together by the end of the 40 minutes, and I think just how beautifully that episode was written.

Unfortunately, this episode of Quantico, entitled “Turn” does not follow that routine.

It seems like the episode bit off more than it could chew.

We start off with Simon sitting in Alex’s apartment as they answer the call from the terrorist. We finally have Simon back! It bums me out that he wasn’t there for the majority of the episode! We only really see glimpses of him as he hides out in Alex’ apartment.

Between Alex’s new mission of switching out a bottle of pills from the senator’s purse to the flashbacks in Quantico — where so much happens, I just can’t keep up. Everything feels too rushed, and I couldn’t sit down and take the time to really care about some of the situations these characters have gotten themselves into.

One is the lockdown.

When I saw the trailers for ‘Turn,’ I was so excited! Remember when there a training exercise about them being in lockdown- with a bomb in the room? That was one of my favourite scenes! So of course I was excited.

But the whole situation ends too quickly and all that really comes from it is that Drew somehow redeems himself in Liam’s eyes by saving his life. Which is great… because Drew was becoming a bit too much. Everything he does puts Liam on the spot and it honestly just ends up looking a bit childish.

Another plot point that’s hard to wrap my head around is that of Shelby’s parents. Shelby has been one of my favorite characters since the beginning of the show. I’m not 100% sure why, but she handles romance and training a lot better than Alex.

This week, however, she finds out that her parents are alive and Caleb knew! The whole situation unravels rather quickly, and yes, Johanna Braddy plays a distraught and betrayed NAT very well… but I couldn’t just revel in her acting or her situation.

A performance I could revel in, if even for a second, comes from Aunjanue Ellis as Miranda.

Once she realizes that Charlie may have helped a terrorist group infiltrate Quantico, she tries to help him at every turn. And when he doesn’t hand himself over to the cops after shooting the man who takes them hostage, she shoots him in the leg, right before SWAT shoots him.

Aunjanue Ellis’ crying over her son’s body gave me chills. Bravo!

And lastly… Ryan.

Why does Alex pick now to call Ryan? Why is she potentially compromising his cover?

And why- after so long of not talking to him, does she meet with him, only to break up with him? He admits that he’s in love with her, and it’s not romantic, or even nice, but it seems true. He seems to be grasping at straws, at anything to just make her stay. There’s no evidence to prove that Alex is right about her hypothesis that they’re bad for each other.

She’s been on top of her game while Ryan was in Quantico, and even after he left. Her superiors still have respect for her and still say she is one of the best students. So… I’m not sure why and how Alex came to this situation… but she did, and I guess that’s what makes Ryan run into Natalie’s arms.

Aside from too much information from the past, in the future, we see Wyland finally show up at Alex’ door, and join her team to take down the terrorist… because maybe, just maybe, Alex is telling the truth.

It’ll be interesting to see how many more people join Alex’s team before taking down the mastermind behind all of this.

I only wish that more episodes focused on storylines, rather than trying to cram all the storylines into one episode.

What did you think of this episode of Quantico? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Quantico airs Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.

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