There’s a scene in the second episode of Quantico , where the recruits at the FBI Training Academy are made to solve a crime scene, which was dummy to begin with, and it is Priyanka Chopra’s character, Alex Parrish, who isn’t just the first among her peers, but the first in the history of the Academy to solve it. If someone were to have narrated this scene to me, I’d have rolled my eyes and made a mental note to never watch this show, but when I saw it unfold on screen, I bought it. Quantico is well worth your time.
I had watched the first eight minutes of the show when it leaked online, and yes, I found it entertaining, but I still had many apprehensions — with the hype around the show, it seemed like it would be one that was poised to become the television event that I would love to hate. I’d already had half a column written in my head which had the words “wasted potential”, and “Priyanka Chopra should have stayed in Bollywood,” but now, four episodes in, I’ll eat my words. Quantico is tremendously entertaining and Priyanka Chopra is not merely good, but entirely believable as Alex Parrish — the intelligent, bold and tough FBI agent, who is wrongly accused of being a terrorist.
The screenplay is fast and furious: it shifts back and forth from the past, where Alex Parrish is training in the Academy, and the present, where she is accused of being the prime suspect in the bombing of New York’s Grand Central Station, and the transition is seamless. Alex gets to know that it is one of her classmates from the Academy who is responsible for the bombing and is framing her for it, and must find out who it is before it’s too late. Could it be Shelby Wyatt (Johanna Braddy), the pageant queen who nurses a secret vengeance? Or is it Simon Asher (Tate Ellington), the Jewish guy with a murky past?
Every character has a back story that deserves it’s own television show (the Nimah Amin story, in particular), and the writing is such that it’s impossible to judge any of them as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ upon first glance. There are also lots of little surprises about the characters that keep popping up during the course of the show, surprises which really pull you into watching, and ensure that you’ll be waiting for the next episode.
Finally, Priyanka Chopra’s accent in the show. It is not American, yes, but so what? The show has an explanation for it even. After a traumatising incident which happens in the family (her father is shot dead), Alex is sent to India for 10 years to finish her schooling, out of which her mother only knows where she had been for nine. And just like that, her accent becomes a part of the story. Truth be told, I’ve heard far worse accents from family and friends who have spent a brief time in the US, so Priyanka’s is really not bad.
There is still some room for improvement in the show — some of the dialogues are really cheesy, and the show does get over the top from time to time, but it’s an action soap opera, so that’s expected. What was unexpected for me, though, was how much I enjoyed watching Priyanka Chopra play Alex Parrish. I suppose it’s time now we stop focussing on her accent, and instead start writing about how she’s well on her way to becoming a legitimate star on American Television.
( Quantico is presently running on Star World)
