Quantico (S02E04) “Kubark”

Review:  Well once again Alex and Ryan’s relationship has to rear its head and although this episode didn’t result in an sort of altercation or break up Ryan did admit that his love for Alex is his biggest weakness. Being a CIA operative that’s really not the sort of thing one wants when it can be easily found out, taken away, and exploited. So basically Ryan spoiled us all by telling us that in some future episode this very weakness will make for some drama. Obviously.

Miranda orders Alex and Ryan to lay low due to the fact that it appears that someone staged the suicide of a CIA operative in Berlin and she suspects that the rogue faction is connected. 

All of our future agents receive troubling news because when one struggles they all do right? Dayana is having trouble at work while Harry receives  medical results, Leon is being targeted by a drug lord possibly .  Ryan gets an envelope containing a key left to him from Liam O’Connor. It opens a safe deposit box, and Ryan spends most of the episode wondering about the contents and letting it stew in his mind.

 Owen passes out biofeedback monitors and tells the recruits to get to know the current agents in order to see how stressed they get without actually getting stressed. Basically reiterating that CIA operatives most be as tough as steel.  Alex  and Ryan run a counter-op by cloning Owen’s phone that contains the recordings of the monitors. Ryan uses questions geared to see which topics make their heart rates spike.

The results lean towards soccer mom probably being the one who planted the bug we learned about in the last episode. And it turns out that none of the stressful situations the recruits encountered are real.  Owen was just trying to see how they’d react under stress.  Ryan misses out  on the counter-op to open Liam’s safe deposit box.  Inside is a note from Lydia and a baseball cap. Ryan was being tested and he failed.Ryan tells Alex “If we’re gonna succeed at this thing, they can’t see how connected I am to you,” which she gets. How can she not, all their training warns against such relationships doesn’t it? Honestly I foresee so much trouble ahead for our couple but I digress. 

In the present, Alex is able to makes contact with Raina. The CLF wants to get rid of a bunch of hostages, and they want to trade them for the hacker the terrorists wanted pardoned in the season premiere.  Alex suggests that Raina somehow pass on the code “boiler room” to Miranda. 

Back at the FBI, Miranda wants to make the trade. Shelby does not, Paul is the deciding factor and sides with Miranda.  Miranda and Shelby find the hacker, Eric Boyer, and arrest him. When Miranda is alone with him she makes it clear that she’s obviously hiding a lot more than we could imagine, “You didn’t live up to your end of the bargain,” she says. After some words are exchanged behind closed doors he agrees to the trade, then tells Shelby to check her work email from 2012.

The trade happens and  Raina gets close enough to mention “boiler room,” but if Miranda knows what Raina’s talking about, she doesn’t let on. And when Alex opens fire from a window above, she alerts everyone to her presence.

Once in the CLF’s clutches, Boyer says, “It wasn’t supposed to go this far,” he grabs a gun and blows his head off. The CLF raids the building Alex is in, who pulls down her mask, puts down her weapon, looks them in the eye and says ” Let’s Do This.”


Back at the FBI headquarters , Miranda and Paul celebrate their win, Shelby remains unconvinced and goes to findd the message Boyer planted. Subject line: Miranda. Body of email: “She’s one of them.” Dun Dun Dunnn