Quantico: Run

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n among ABC’s legendary Shonda Rhimes productions, such as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, a few new shows have surfaced. Quantico, focused on new agents-in-training for the FBI (as if we really needed more shows about America’s federal agency) is just one of many.

While some of its content so far may feature the tried, tested and proven to succeed, and it might be joining a long list of FBI-centred shows, I wouldn’t rule it out just yet.

Where its predecessors have focused on the cases driving the bureau of intelligence or the experiences of agents undercover, Quantico has taken a far more insular approach, and doesn’t shy away from carrying a diverse cast on the ride with it

Starring well-known Bollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra, as its lead, Quantico takes us on a wild ride over the course of six months of training, where would-be agents are pitted against each other, and the culminating terrorist attack which uproots Parrish’s world. Only this terrorist attack is not perpetrated by an outside force but one on the inside – and Parrish is the prime suspect.

Priyanka Chopra, Photo: Flickr / b316728

The first episode, ‘Run’, opens with Chopra (as Alex Parrish) lying on a piece of rubble in the middle of a decimated street – conveniently big enough to fit her whole body – and, before we have a chance to gather our bearings, we’re catapulted back into the past. Nine months back, in California, to be precise. Again, in a running trend for the fast-paced episode, we only manage to catch Parrish lying to her mother (the scandal!) enough to gather she’s not getting a train before we’re transported to the plane where she meets potential love interest, Ryan Booth (Warrior’s main marine, Mark Bradford, in case you couldn’t place him).

With a winning smile, Booth tries, predictably, to win Alex over only to woefully point out that he’s suddenly “out of [his] league” when she claims to be a doctor without borders. While amusing and gratifying to see him falter, the audience doesn’t get to watch him wallow in his confusion as we’re quickly taken to Alabama and then Ohio to witness a petrol station owner’s discrimination of hijabi, Nimah Amin (Yasmine Al Massri) – another member of the leading cast.

A refreshing and realistic take on the Muslim experience in America, the audience watches in shock as she’s told the toilet is out of order, seconds before another patron sets the key down on the counter. Instead, she’s told she has to buy something. As a testament to just how common this discrimination is, Amin hardly bats an eyelid before she buys a keyring and snatches up the key to the toilet.

However, the diverse cast’s storyline is not always refreshing as, from this moment onwards, Quantico’s quality drops into the realm of lazy writing. With Parrish sleeping with Booth, probably in an effort to let the viewers know she’s not like ~other~ brown people (though her amusing one-liners and epic shutdown of Booth are commendable); plus being falsely accused of terrorism; a hijabi looking distinctly unconcerned by a man seeing her when she’s not covered (she just stands there); and a Mormon with a dirty secret, culminating in one of many plot twists for the first episode, it appears these characters’ actions, conflicts and ‘compelling storylines’ are mainly summoned from the shallow end of their personalities, mostly religion or race.

This is not to say that there aren’t some more commendable parts, though

Defying dominant narratives, Parrish is only accused of terrorism and promptly acquitted (by one character); this provides a refreshing take on brown people on American television. After all, who doesn’t know about Homeland’s first-season opener with a big, bad, Arab terrorist who tortured someone into converting to Islam? Not to mention the countless others littering US TV?

Sense8 has been hailed for a diverse cast, but still uses English in the place of native languages, Photo: Flickr / annei0403

In a similar vein of diversity, Quantico should be commended for using actual subtitles for non-English parts, veering away from the dominance of English in TV. It’s certainly long overdue to represent other languages, when non-English languages are dominant in the world! I’m only pointing this out because other shows commended for diversity include Sense8, which uses English while characters are supposed to be speaking native languages. What’s up with that? Quantico, I salute you.

Even so, there are a few stereotypes which did grate on me. From the hijabi, Nimah Amin, who is purposefully supposed to come across as ‘distant’ – according to her character biography – and the completely unnecessary abusive dad storyline, Quantico does have some slack to pick up. After all, the whole Muslim cut off from society storyline is so overdone and only contributes to negative perceptions in real life. However, with the plot twist at the end with Nimah, one can only hope that she’s slated for bigger and better things and this fact will veer far away from stereotypes to give her the rich background she deserves.

Rather than continue to hint at (or spoil) big events in the episode, I do have to point out that, in a constant back-and-forth, the episode leaves the viewer with a form of whiplash; it rushes through introductions to get to the meat of the episode. Which happens to be a five-course meal, instead of the one-course dinner you were expecting. Between revelations about almost all of the lead characters – causing many ‘WTF’ moments – and many a climax, the episode utilises flashbacks – moving from the training at Quantico to the present where Parrish is the prime terrorism suspect – to an almost nauseating degree. There is barely enough time to truly process all we are told.

It seems Quantico’s placed all of its eggs in the same basket, regarding plot

We could well have waited for Nimah’s revelation, for example, until later, when the evidence was only too apparent. Instead, I’m left wondering: can they really sustain this pace? Did they reveal too much? Or is this just the start of many varying plotlines (and plot-holes)?

And, among all of the action which almost made no sense, there are some questions which desperately need answering: why was Miranda driving that van?! What in the world is going on with Nimah and why? If Alex Parrish is not a terrorist, who is? How did they decide (and who decided) she was the terrorist?

There are so many questions. And, despite everything, I can’t wait to get a hold of more answers in Quantico’s next episode.