Quantico

I wanted to like this show. I saw the trailer/teaser for it and I was intrigued.

Sadly, the real show doesn't stand up to the excitement generated in the trailer.

The good thing - the show is technically well made. The photography for the most part is well done, the sound is good, etc. The women are beautiful to look. They are trying to create lots of mystery to draw the viewer in for the long haul.

The bad - the story is just stupid. The premise and the way the characters interact to keep her on the run even though they know she is innocent is silly. The acting is so-so to pretty poor. It's hard to really believe any of these people are FBI trainees. And the actual classes at Quantico are unbelievable - in a bad way.

I have lasted 2 and half episodes and I am done. I have given up.

I don't think it's worth the time to watch the entire season to solve the "mysteries" they generated,

The 1st season was very good: glamour, thriller and much more. The 2sn season started to lose appeal. The 3rd season, 1st episode is good, but soon Quantico get boring.

No more fil rouge: each episode is self-conclusive; you can watch nr. 3 then nr. 6 then nr 2 and so on...

(the same error of "Designated Survivor").

The characters are pretentious, the story lines ridiculously out of touch with reality, and the acting is pretty poor.

First, the lead character, is definitely easy on the eyes, but acting abilities...not so much. The show itself, seems to have zero fact base in what the FBI does and mixes it up with NSA/CIA type operations, and on top of it they would like you to believe that FBI recruits come out of the academy, with super human abilities, super human intelligence, and are immediately given positions above all those serving in the field for many years. Not to mention everyone in the academy is a terrorist, has terrorist ties, is a suspected terrorist, or has some desire to act as a terrorist. Apparently the TV FBI is worse at vetting than a potato.Apparently Quantico is just a college dorm full of annoying but cute children, the only thing missing is STD's. Or maybe the pretty is all that matters...

The show focuses around one agent and it is as though she is the complete center of the world. At first this fits because hey, every show has a star but this show does it in such overblown annoying way that you just scream "WTF!" every 2 mins.

Excessive dialogue is used to cover shoddy acting but that actually makes it worse. The only thing this show has going for it is pretty actors, and a fast pace. Other than those 2 things...it's crap.

I am a former FBI Agent; I went through the FBI Academy, and even have written a nonfiction book about my experience ("Eyes Pried Open: Rookie FBI Agent"). I am also a frequent TV watcher, although my tastes definitely gravitate towards the more edgy cable offerings than the big network shows (that quite frankly are usually somewhat "dumbed down" to be appropriate for the masses). Due to my former profession, I felt compelled to watch this show, although I assumed I would be completely disappointed and would find flaws throughout.

Well, the pilot exceeded my expectations. No, the depiction of the Academy is not perfect, but some of the scenes were eerily similar to what I experienced. While most viewers would assume that surely the romances and flings in the show are purely silly fantasy fluff, I can assure you that those types of behaviors did occur at the FBI Academy (infrequently, yes, and with much more average looking people, yes). Funny enough, my biggest gripe was how "nice" the instructors are in the show; I cannot begin to imagine what would have happened if someone was talking on a cell phone at the firing range. FBI Academy instructors in reality are incredibly tough; I still have scars on my knuckles to prove it (but they are some of the best and most dedicated individuals on the planet). But minor gripes aside, the feeling of being back in college in a dorm but with the structure (physically and mentally) of boot camp is what it was really like.

Sure, the storyline is far-fetched, but this is a fictional TV show. It is not the next Homeland; I do not expect it to clean house at the next Emmy Awards show. But for what it is, it is well done, and feels like the show writers at least had enough input to keep the story in line with the "real" side of the FBI.

In summary, this is an admirable effort, especially for a major network; the pilot gets a nice 8 out of 10 from me. If the show goes downhill (which is definitely possible; it seems like one of those shows that might be best as a one-season-only run), I will update my review accordingly. But for now, I will continue to be entertained for an hour each week with the escapism that the show offers.

*** UPDATE ***

It saddens me to have to update the review, but I feel it is my responsibility to do so since I have elected to stop watching the show. Bottom line, it feels like this was written by somebody who is paid by the plot twist, and at some point it cheapens the show to not being watchable. Also, I have to agree with another commenter who felt like the show must be a Shonda Rhimes production (nothing against her, but the show looks and feels much more like Grey's Anatomy than Homeland). I finally had to stop watching because of the gross inaccuracies about the lives of the NATs at the FBI Academy. The show still has entertaining moments, but with so many great shows out there, I am having to pull the plug on this one to make room for others. I suspect that will be the fate of this show; it started strong and has a full season 1 order, but I would be surprised if it made through a 2nd season. But then again, Grey's Anatomy is still on ...

I guess I've always thought of the flashback as a shortcut in story telling. The continuous back and forth of this show is interfering in my enjoyment of very interesting current story line. It's interesting enough that I'll continue, until I can't. I really think the series could have cut the flashbacks almost in half and told the same story.