S01.E02: America

[The Kings Foot]

I thought she said she was the first one in THE years they've done it to figure it out, meaning she was the first.

 

As a brown person, I lol'd when they described Alex as having dark skin. She does NOT have dark skin.

 

 

Brown people see shades of brown.  White people only see white,  brown and black.  Both brown and black qualify as dark.

 

And I'm not being pejorative here. I think people who dont have regular interactions with different shades  seriously cant see shades of brown.

 

 I'm medium  brown  but  in College I had white friends with a tan insisting that they were the same shade as me. 

[Bruinsfan]

How did the FBI manage to find the shadiest group of people in America? Its not a good sign when pretty much anyone who is in training to be in the FBI can totally be two seconds from terrorism. 

I wonder if it could be that the entire class is bogus, with the FBI collecting them all to keep an eye on them as possible threats?

[itainttippithebird]

Re: Team "Nimah" - Closed captioning identified the twins' names as Amin and Raina - neither is actually named Nimah, if cc can be believed.

 

I'm curious about the show's longterm plan, if there is one - this mystery is currently paced as a one season arc - but if we catch up to the bombing timeline, then they'll be several months out of Quantico. What will be Quantico about Quantico if next season they're full on agents? Hmm.

 

Whatever, I'm enjoying it immensely at the moment, even as I can tell it can't possibly hold up to this much plot churning for long.

[Free]

even as I can tell it can't possibly hold up to this much plot churning for long.

 

I say it pulls a HTGAWM and it lasts for the season only, then come up with something else next season.

[tomatoflyer]

I'm black and I definitely was weirded out by Alex being described as dark skinned - her skin is olive to me. White people are so strange sometimes.

[Lady Calypso]

Natalie has some sort of  receiver hidden in the fake scar

 

Right now Gay analyst dude is the best character simply becuase he's thew only one who doesnt  come of as smug smarmy and entitled. Latin Police chick is my  number 2  becuase she sees right through Alex's BS.

 

NIma/Mina is losing points becuase you'd think they'd talk about thier day  so thier stories are straight. 

 

Did she? I'd have to go back and look. If she does actually have a receiver (which I'm not sure that she does), maybe it's because she has hearing loss in one, or both, of her ears? Maybe she thinks having some kind of hearing aid is going to help her.

 

I'd think that the twins would have to talk to each other about their day, but I agree that it seems like they do shit all when they're switching, besides snarking on each other. Not very good twins, and not twins that Miranda should have chosen, clearly. 

 

Wow!  And I totally disgree.  He walked up to Simon and was all, "Hey there, gay dude!  I'm sure you're gonna want us to hang together..." and put his hands on him. And despite Simon blowing him off several times, he still kept coming back.  Frankly, the last person who wouldn't stop touching me, I broke their finger and pushed a burning cigarette up their nose.  (That was a long time ago.  I'm far more mellow now.  These days, I'd only do one or the other, not both.  Besides, I don't smoke any more.)

 

I agree. I love Rick Cosnett because of The Flash, but Elias comes off too creepy and too forward. Unless he's undercover or is from Simon's past somehow (though I doubt it, since he was surprised to hear about Simon's connection to Gaza), he shouldn't be so direct to a recruit about sexuality, especially not during their first official meeting. Ease into it. I'll blame the writing, though. It was pretty bad. I get Elias wanting to talk to the only openly gay FBI agent, or whatever, but he needed to not throw himself at Simon. I would have been taken aback if I was Simon, even though Simon's creepy and secretive and clearly hiding something.

[formerlyfreedom]

Let's be careful about making generalizations or stereotypes about entire groups of people, please. Everyone has had different experiences, and there are some statements being made as fact in here that are really opinions.

 

Thanks for your cooperation.

[KaveDweller]

Wouldn't the anchor have described Alex as Indian or Indian American? Usually they don't describe people as "dark" and "light" because they mean different things to different people.  They usually say white, black, Hispanic, etc.

[luvly]

Re: Team "Nimah" - Closed captioning identified the twins' names as Amin and Raina - neither is actually named Nimah, if cc can be believed.

 

According to the ABC site, it's Nimah and Raina.

 

Call me crazy, but I'm actually liking the show. It's not going to be up for an Emmy any time soon but it's fun and fast-paced and that's enough to keep me interested.

[Netfoot]

I'm black and I definitely was weirded out by Alex being described as dark skinned - her skin is olive to me. White people are so strange sometimes.

 

It's because of all the mayonnaise.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Netfoot

[laprin]

I can't decide which is worse, the acting or the writing.

[twoods]

Eddie from the Flash! I squeed then got sad because that neans they won't bring Eddie back this season? I like that he picks up on things quickly. Simon is probably some international spy or something (maybe Mossad? There tends to be one on each spy show). He seems really interested in Nimah so don't know why he's pretending to be gay, unless he really is and doesn't like hot guys hitting on him.

Priyanka is good in the Quantico scenes, but terrible in the current ones. I haven't seen her in current Bollywood movies so don't know if this is her baseline. So her and Nathalie both love Booth? And Cougar Town loves Alex too? Please don't let Alex enter special snowflake status.

What cracks me up is that in the previews they keep showing sexy times scenes, yet we have seen none of it. Stop enticing us with eye candy if you're just giving us confusing plot lines. Luckily for them, I want to know where this is all going so will watch to the bitter end.

[slayer2]

I asked 3 questions; I didn't really say anything.  Are you saying that Alex Parrish the character is Pakistani?  When did we learn that?

 

 

Maybe the show figures 5'8 is a better height for an FBI agent?  And actors are often required to 'play' taller as they generally look bigger on screen anyway.

 

 

 

 

CarSex was referenced as having a 'family' to go back home too but I'm wondering if that's ambiguous.  Does it mean his immediate family or what.

 

And as for the latter, yeah I think they are doing more than giving the impression; they're flat out saying it.  Alex claims to Natalie to "love" Booth in the present tense and Miranda (?) told Cougar Town he fell in love with Alex too.

 

She's Indian-American. She said she lived in Mumbai and her mother was very obviously not white.

[Just Here]

How do you track a handy-talkie if the transmit button isn't pressed?

I have no clue what type of radio was being used as a prop, but modern first-responder radios (such as this Motorola model) have built-in GPS.

[Crim]

Please don't let Alex enter special snowflake status.

Enter? She is already settled there with a cup of Earl Sue tea after "you are the best" during the gun training, and "Alex is the first recruit in the years we've run this exercise to figure it out. Clearly, her instincts are very strong.", and "You're never gonna catch her. She's too good." The love triangle and possibly the instructor guy falling for her is just the grossly sweet icing on the cake. The cherry on top: she has a mysterious, possibly relevant father.

 

I'd give the show a benefit of a doubt if there was any indication that they weren't writing a Mary Sue. Vasquez besting her a few times in flashbacks doesn't matter because (a) she is The Rival, (b) she is a cop, so starts with some pro skills, but Alex has more than caught up to her, as seen in the present-day fights, and © they are also competing for Carsex, but Alex is obvs winning. The show is not even trying. We didn't even spend 15 minutes with Alex not being better than someone.

 

(Side note: Is there a point in starting an Alex topic? The show might not be popular enough for that many posts. I know I will probably give up after an episode or 2.)

Edited October 6, 2015 by Crim

[Accidental Martyr]

If Booth isn't in on whatever is going on, why did they have that picture of him on the ground, looking dead, that they showed to Alex?

[Brian Cronin]

If Booth isn't in on whatever is going on, why did they have that picture of him on the ground, looking dead, that they showed to Alex?

 

I'm not saying Booth ISN'T in on it, as I think that that is a very real possibility (if only out of some deluded sense of "protecting Alex" or something stupid like that so that they can get both the betrayal AND get to keep him around as a protagonist), but I don't see how the picture of him on the ground goes to show anything. He WAS shot, right? So that's why they have a photo of him shot. 

 

I thought that this episode was okay, but Vazquez's character made me laugh often. We know she can't be THE terrorist, because she wasn't in the first episode, but then they also had to overload us on her early on to make up for her not being in the first episode but then she can't be as good as Alex, so there's no tension - we know she wasn't going to be a real threat to Alex, so what was the point? When her entire role is to be almost as good as Alex but not as good, it seems kind of pointless. Actually, on that point - "Someone from your class is the terrorist" So you see someone from your class and you try to reason with them? While we know Vazquez is not the terrorist, Alex can't know that, and yet she kept trying to reason with her - she'd be one of the LAST FBI agents I would be trying to reason with - I'd presume she might want to kill me to help with the cover-up (in part because the former assistant director just TOLD me that the conspiracy wants to kill me). 

[itainttippithebird]

 

According to the ABC site, it's Nimah and Raina.

 

Call me crazy, but I'm actually liking the show. It's not going to be up for an Emmy any time soon but it's fun and fast-paced and that's enough to keep me interested.

 

Weird! IMDB has her listed as Nimah Amin, so yet ANOTHER weird combo of the three names - I guess perhaps Amin is their last name? ABC's closed captioning is almost always right, so I'm surprised they messed that up.

 

Anyway! I completely agree that this show is super fun so far - I don't mind that it's far-fetched and soapy, given that's what it's trying to be in the first place. I don't even really mind Alex's Mary Sue-ness, because she seems to be pitched as a female Jason Bourne type, and those kinds of (male) characters rarely get labeled Mary Sues. I'm fine rolling with her super spy status.

[twoods]

Yes, Amin is her last name. I also like the Nimah actress and character, and like that the boss hired them for some purpose.

[darkestboy]

Second episode was okay. Everyone's hiding something or another and it's amusing/potentially frustrating depending on how things are handled though.

 

Slightly less interested in the flash forwards at the moment than the present stuff. Alex was framed - some people believe she did it, other don't for whatever reason there is.

 

I did like the addition of Elias into the mix. Simon's faking a lot but I'm hopin he's not faking being gay though. The twins are interesting with the way they deal with him too.

 

Caleb has another identity and Shelby a foreign friend but honestly I don't think any of the six main characters or even Natalie who seems to hate Alex's guts will be the terrorist though. 7/10

[Free]

Here on the other hand, it's just one random pop song after another.

 

It took the Grey's Anatomy approach on that one.

[peachmangosteen]

Damn, this show is really bad. I love it! Like it's definitely gonna be a really fun guilty pleasure. For awhile at least. Just like GA, HTGAWM, and Scandal. I watched them until they just got too bad and dumb and weren't fun anymore and I'll do the same with this.
 

One more thing. "There is such a thing as a gay virgin?" W.T.F.

That was so offensive and awful. Really everything with Simon is. The fact that Nimah/Raina and everyone were acting like him being a virgin was so awful in the first ep was actively offensive and then that line. I don't get what they're going for with this.

Edited October 6, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Needs Of The Bureau
It seems like a lot of the recruiters are just in it for the free, insanely well-fitting henley.

[Crim]

That was so offensive and awful. Really everything with Simon is. The fact that Nimah/Raina and everyone were acting like him being a virgin was so awful in the first ep was actively offensive and then that line. I don't get what they're going for with this.

Even if the plot will make that guy an asshole like Caleb, I'd rather not hear a line like "There is such a thing as a gay virgin?" followed by tacit approval. It is the "but if you never had sex with a wo/man, how would you know?" awfulness. What's next? "Have sex with me to make sure."? Shonda does well with LGBT stuff in her shows, so this came as an unpleasant surprise.

 

Alex was framed - some people believe she did it, other don't for whatever reason there is.

The reason was stated: Alex is too awesome and trustworthy to be a terrorist! She couldn't have done it because she is too good of a person. 

 

Also, the fake glasses thing is one of the most stupid things I've seen so far - quite a challenge there. What benefit could he get from them that outweighs the possibility of the glasses being discovered as fake? Is he wearing a camera? But the asshole checked his glasses twice - wouldn't a camera be visible on such close inspection? A transmitter? Why not wear it in a watch or phone? It's not like they strip search them and confiscate their possessions.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Crim

[itainttippithebird]

 

Even if the plot will make that guy an asshole like Caleb, I'd rather not hear a line like "There is such a thing as a gay virgin?" followed by tacit approval. It is the "but if you never had sex with a wo/man, how would you know?" awfulness. What's next? "Have sex with me to make sure."?

 

Ah! Wow, for some reason I interpreted this as "because gay men are sluts" rather than "how can you know you're gay if you're a virgin," but of course! Why didn't that interpretation occur to me (a sexualities professor/professional queer person)? :)

 

Either way, it's fucked up, but you're probably right. Ugh.

[henripootel]

The reason was stated: Alex is too awesome and trustworthy to be a terrorist! She couldn't have done it because she is too good of a person.

Which falls in line with why she's so great - she follows her gut, like all great investigators.  Uh, no, pretty sure that at FBI school, they teach you to follow FBI procedure, no matter what your 'gut' is telling you.  Good luck putting it in your report (to say nothing of testifying in court) that sure, the evidence made the guy look guilty but your gut told you otherwise.  Boring old procedure says that if arrested, you should go with the process to prove your innocence, cuz running means people will have to expend resources chasing you which aids the actual terrorist.  Unless, of course, you're just sure that you can do more to catch the guilty party as a fugitive than the actual FBI can.

[Bort]

Shonda does well with LGBT stuff in her shows, so this came as an unpleasant surprise.

Shonda doesn't have anything to do with this show. Quantico is pretty much a copycat of her style.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Which falls in line with why she's so great - she follows her gut, like all great investigators.  Uh, no, pretty sure that at FBI school, they teach you to follow FBI procedure, no matter what your 'gut' is telling you.  Good luck putting it in your report (to say nothing of testifying in court) that sure, the evidence made the guy look guilty but your gut told you otherwise.  Boring old procedure says that if arrested, you should go with the process to prove your innocence, cuz running means people will have to expend resources chasing you which aids the actual terrorist.  Unless, of course, you're just sure that you can do more to catch the guilty party as a fugitive than the actual FBI can.

 

 

Sure, in real life. But Miranda specifically said that "evidence lies" and that it can be made up, so you need to also use and trust your gut! Which is what Alex did, and guess what? She was right to trust her gut!

 

And if it's not clear, yes, I'm being sarcastic.  In reality, I think it's a combination of both.  Since evidence can be made up and people can be framed.

[formerlyfreedom]

Also, the fake glasses thing is one of the most stupid things I've seen so far - quite a challenge there. What benefit could he get from them that outweighs the possibility of the glasses being discovered as fake? Is he wearing a camera? But the asshole checked his glasses twice - wouldn't a camera be visible on such close inspection? A transmitter? Why not wear it in a watch or phone? It's not like they strip search them and confiscate their possessions.

 

I got the impression Simon replaced the glasses, so that the second time Elias looked at them, they were prescription/minus any possible spy gear? I'll have to rewatch that part again.

[Chrissytd]

How was it that Ryan was able to call Alex's unknown number?

[jay741982]

Wow, out of context the peroxide blonde guy who is hitting on Simon and the peroxide blonde guy who has been demoted to Analyst look pretty alike.

 

They introduce this girl Natalie in the second episode out of nowhere?  Was she in Episode 1?  And apparently both Natalie and Alex are in love with Booth?

 

What was the significance of Caleb (?) looking at his own (?) Facebook page where he has a picture of Catcher in the Rye?

 

One twin is very attracted to Simon and the other hates him?

 

Are both of Alex's parents played by white actors?  Don't tell me Alex Parrish is supposed to be a white character.  Is this the person playing her mom?  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0451039/?ref_=tt_cl_t11

 

I really like the opening song this episode.  It is "Ruin" by Cat Power.  Apparently her song "Peace and Love" was used for the end.

I think the significance of Caleb looking at his FB page is that his name isn't Caleb it's Mark

[Free]

Shonda doesn't have anything to do with this show. Quantico is pretty much a copycat of her style.

 

Exactly, this show followed the Shonda Rhimes playbook to a tee.

[Crim]

Shonda doesn't have anything to do with this show. Quantico is pretty much a copycat of her style.

You are right, of course. I just realized, with disappointment, that it didn't also copy the genuine inclusion/diversity. I don't know, something rubs me wrong about this show. For me, it's the gay stuff, and all racial diversity being in the female cast (even more so now with the addition of Vasquez). But there was also the talk about Alex's whitewashed name, and the "dark skin" description... and it's been just 2 episodes. It doesn't seem to me like these show runners and writers are able to copy enough of Shonda's truly good thing (imo).

Ah! Wow, for some reason I interpreted this as "because gay men are sluts" rather than "how can you know you're gay if you're a virgin," but of course!

Oh, that's very likely, considering the fact that the guy came on to Simon pretty strongly. That's a winner right there. The one unambiguously gay character will jump the bones of the main character at first sight. If Simon is just pretending to be gay, we might get quite the lovely story line. A real treat!

Edited October 6, 2015 by Crim

[SunnyBeBe]

For such a good premise, they sure screwed it up.  Getting good writers must just cost too much money.  Though, I think it might work just as well if they asked the clean up crew to toss out ideas and email them to the rehearsal room. Why not?  

 

I think it's hilarious how this super great FBI candidate who is so outstanding couldn't even tell a white lie when she's standing with the shop owner across the street from her apt. reviewing that video.  The woman confronts her and she gets this OMG, I'm caught look.  lol  I could have covered better than that.  It's like she's an 8 year old, not a well trained FBI agent.  

[Cool Breeze]

So, Alex is so good "you'll never find her"?  

Exactly how long is she supposed to have been an FBI agent?  I'm sure the Academy at Quantico lasts for at least a few months so where has she perfected these skills that will help her evade capture from agents with decades of experience?  Did we have a five- to ten-year time jump?

 

Maybe the part where she put a baseball cap on to cover about 1/10 of her hair, hair that's about four times thicker than everyone else's?  Yeah, great disguise.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Cool Breeze

[Cara]

So, Alex is so good "you'll never find her"?

Exactly how long is she supposed to have been an FBI agent? I'm sure the Academy at Quantico lasts for at least a few months so where has she perfected these skills that will help her evade capture from agents with decades of experience? Did we have a five- to ten-year time jump?

The academy lasts for 5 months and they said she had been out of the academy 9 months.

[Free]

Exactly how long is she supposed to have been an FBI agent?

 

Long enough to keep doing the flashback format.

[miracole]

They should just rename this  9021Quantico.  I'm still looking for one of my eyes after how hard I rolled them when she said to random hater chick "Why would I shoot the man we're both in love with?".  Speaking of random hater chick, no just no.

 

The only SL I'm even a little interested in is Simon and the twins. I guess I'll be able to watch this show in about 10 minutes now.

 

Miranda had on better clothes this episode.

 

 

Maybe the part where she put a baseball cap on to cover about 1/10 of her hair, hair that's about four times thicker than everyone else's?

I was so happy when she finally put that mane in a ponytail, but then I think she immediately pulled it back out to cover up her "dark skin"(don't even get me started on that terrible description).

[fauntleroy]

Yea the hair couldn't stay in the hoodie or under the baseball cap. Never mind her color, look for a woman with enough luxurious lustrous glorious hair for five regular people. Or, Janet Jackson wearing a big FBI jacket.

 

For an actual disguise, how about trying to be non-fabulous for a brief time. Just to try it out. Maybe a skirt, glasses, scarf.

[Minneapple]

So, Alex is so good "you'll never find her"?  

 

Well, for a time there she was "hiding" around the corner a block away and kept peeking around the building. With her shampoo commercial hair hanging out of the baseball cap. So I'm guessing she's not *that* good. Maybe Liam and the rest of the FBI and police force are just that stupid?

[The Kings Foot]

This is going to be a show that people follow just to rag on it , isnt it ?

[KaveDweller]

How was it that Ryan was able to call Alex's unknown number?

 

I think it just was saying unknown because she's not in his contacts, but that a number still was listed.

 

The academy lasts for 5 months and they said she had been out of the academy 9 months.

 

I thought the initial time jump showed the academy scenes as "9 months earlier."  Alex said she'd been an agent for a few months in the pilot.

[txhorns79]

I am confused by why Alex was Booth's mark before she even got to Quantico.  I feel like I need a flowchart to make sense of all the connections and who is who.

 

I feel like this must be the sketchiest batch of recruits the FBI has ever taken in.  I know some of it is just done to so we'll think the person could be the terrorist, but jeez. 

 

 

 

For skin colour? I would have said medium or olive, maybe.

 

Whenever I hear "olive" used to describe someone's skin color, I automatically wonder how a green person is running around without drawing attention.  I know it means something else, I just always associate that. 

[Free]

This is going to be a show that people follow just to rag on it , isnt it ?

 

It depends on how the show ends up, I already have another show to rag on.  This one, I'm more on the fence for, it's basically Shonda-lite for me at this point.

[Cara]

I thought the initial time jump showed the academy scenes as "9 months earlier." Alex said she'd been an agent for a few months in the pilot.

You could be right. I just know that in RL(of course that's has little to do with this show) the academy last 5 months and I remembered 9 months being mentioned. But it could have been 9 months since they started at Quantico.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Cara

[wanderingstar]

After watching this, I'm sort of angry at myself for wasting an hour on it.

 

Give me back the X-Files version of the FBI. Yes, they sheltered extra-terrestrials and bred super soldiers, but at least they were entertaining and not nearly as obnoxious as this crew**

 

Also - I hate how cloying the soundtrack is on this. Reminds me of the worst of Grey's Anatomy.

 

I am still interested in that Nimah/Raina twin story *hangs head*

 

ETA: 

 

Natalie and Alex are in love with Booth?

 

This topped my list of most vomit-worthy revelation of the episode. Really - those 2 supposedly badass women are in love with that walking piece of driftwood? Of course!

 

 

*Though God knows Mulder had his moments.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Gillian Rosh

[Accidental Martyr]

I'm not saying Booth ISN'T in on it, as I think that that is a very real possibility (if only out of some deluded sense of "protecting Alex" or something stupid like that so that they can get both the betrayal AND get to keep him around as a protagonist), but I don't see how the picture of him on the ground goes to show anything. He WAS shot, right? So that's why they have a photo of him shot. 

 

It just seems like they would be more concerned with getting him medical attention than taking his picture.

[slayer2]

This is going to be a show that people follow just to rag on it , isnt it ?

Gah! I hate that. I'm enjoying it, and she has beautiful hair, I don't get the haterade chugging on her luxurious locks. What's she supposes to do, put them in knots? I'm reminded of a Kelly Lebrock commercial.

[Texasmom1970]

 

Agent Cougartown, worst manhunter ever.  Alex was so close she could have beaned him with her walkie, and she slips away despite the huge crowd of agents looking for her.  

He wouldn't be able to see her even if she were closer with his little beady, rat eyes!

[Sandman]

Or as CTU was on 24.  There was a sure-fire way for bad guys in custody to escape.  Get taken to CTU headquarters.

Or just get CTU to set up one of their sieve-like cordons around a crucial area; that pretty much guarantees a clean getaway.