Quantico Season 2 Episode 9: Cleopatra Review

If you would like to read my recap of the last episode, click here.

Quantico is back and now on Mondays. I’m not exactly sure the reason for the day change but here we are. The whole terrorist subplot has held the season back so far and both timelines lack any payoff. The mid-season finale, however, hinted at possible resolution. Let’s see if it will be a step in the right direction.

Synopsis: The recruits are schooled in the art of seduction, which Alex sees as a perfect opportunity to get closer to Owen, but will it threaten her relationship with Ryan? In the future, Alex finally gets the answers she’s been looking for about who and what the terrorists are on. (Quantico Wiki)

Writer: Marisha Mukerjee

Director: Gideon Raff

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 42mins

Well that was a tad disappointing. The mid-season finale ended on a cliffhanger and this episode did not go back to that but the end did shed some more light on the story.

Most of the episode was Alex, captured by the FBI, talking to Ryan’s ex-fiance Hannah Wyland (Eliza Coupe) about her past mission within the CIA and how it was related to the terrorists, like a recap of sorts. Just like before, Hannah didn’t believe a single word Alex was saying but conceded that this was just like before where she didn’t believe her and she ended up being right. As soon as Alex mentioned that Ryan was a terrorist, then she started listening.

The new lesson for the recruits was seduction. For their test, they had to attend a wedding reception and sleep with whoever their mark was. This task was definitely easier for some of the recruits than others. Ryan and Alex got the bride and groom respectively and Sebastian had a harder time with the task as it conflicted with his strong religious beliefs. Harry didn’t believe he could do it but he wanted to prove himself and everyone else wrong.

Leon, Ryan, and Dayana were still reeling to different degrees from their first AIC assignment. Leon is on edge after what they did, waiting for the next call but Ryan and Dayana seem to be fine. He is one edge for the entire episode, not participating in any of the assignments and in learning about seduction, is starting to suspect that Jane/Shelby may not be who she seems. Of course Shelby managed to save herself but the doubt is still there. Dayana’s mark was an assignment from the AIC and she called in Leon to clean it up. She didn’t think he was worthy of the group because he was weak.

This was also the first episode where Alex and Ryan started to work apart since she quit the FBI during their mission because she didn’t want to leave. She is now just a CIA recruit but she is still determined to find the truth. Miranda, Shelby, and Nimah are worried about Alex but Ryan assured them that she would not be a problem. Ryan told her that he’d tell her whatever she wanted to know if she stopped investigating on her own but we all know that didn’t happen.

Alex and Harry are sort of working together now. She wanted to go back to Owen’s house and get those secret phones but they’re gone because Ryan, Leon, and Dayana have them. Alex wanted to take advantage of Owen’s current state after Lydia leaving him. With the help of Harry, Alex manages to drug Owen’s drink during the wedding exercise and gets him to her room. She doesn’t get anything from him but the drug was actually just a tag so he and Alex could track him for the next week. Harry also managed to get one of the secret phones and gave it to Alex who confronted Ryan with it.

If this episode gave us something, it was the start of the collapse of Alex and Ryan’s relationship and more about Miranda and the terrorists. Shelby and Hannah didn’t know about Miranda’s involvement in everything but she was lurking outside the interrogation room, seemingly the whole time until she came in and took Alex away because she wanted to talk. She confessed to being a terrorist and that Alex would be too after their conversation. We also learn that Hall is currently in prison so he had nothing to do with terrorists and that the hostages were not the target of the terrorists, the AIC were.

Overall, this was a good episode which didn’t advance the story as much as it probably should have. Alex and Harry were fun to watch together but it didn’t give us much in the present. It took a long time to get to the point but when it did, we  still didn’t get an update about Ryan but we saw cracks in the past that may have led to the events in the present.

Score: 7.5/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.