Quantico - S2E11 - ZRTORCH

Previously on Quantico, “JMPALM”

Are You Right About This, Alex?

Owen is not ready to believe that his daughter, Lydia, is part of the largest organized act of treason in U.S history, leading the AIC,  just because Alex said it’s so. Even as Alex provides evidence, Owen doesn’t want to believe it, brushes it aside, and tells Alex to let it go. Of course, it is impossible for Alex to let anything be and she even has Shelby help her with getting more proof. Before Alex can present any evidence to Owen, the recruits have to go to Germany for their next mission to get an operative out of the country alive.

Upon arrival, they find out the operative is Owen.. Owen is out there using his real name and whatnot and has a target on his head. On top of that, he ditches the recruits to see if they can find him before the German intelligence or anyone who has a vendetta against him. Alex is able to find him. Owen has a bit of a death wish because even after Ryan saves the two of them from being jumped in an alley, Owen tricks Alex to take him back to his hotel room. There they find Daniel Sharp pointing a gun at them.

Daniel is the son of the deceased Helen Sharp, who was an informant for Owen in his CIA days. Unfortunately, her cover was blown before Owen could get her out and she was killed. Daniel is only there because Owen let him know. At this point Owen is ready to die and tells Daniel to do what he came to do. Listen, the way he was yelling at Daniel to pull the trigger I was ready to pull it for him. This show has a strong supporting cast and Blair Underwood did some of his best work this season in this scene.

Alex is able to talk Daniel out of killing Owen, and Daniel gives Alex his gun and runs off. Once they return to the states, Alex lets Owen know that Lydia may have been in Germany since Ryan, Leon, and Dayana had a mission. The only way to get his daughter back is to treat her like a criminal and catch her; they can try to rebuild their relationship after that. Through Alex’s invitation Owen decides to meet with Alex and Shelby to compare evidence and work to take down Lydia and the AIC.

Central (lack of) Intelligence Agency

In present day, Will spewed a ton of exposition on why the FBI is trying to stop the AIC by these extreme means; extreme by the way of killing the operatives at point blank range depending how they answered specific questions. Will is usually the smartest person in the room, so why did it take Ryan to question if the operatives themselves are innocent? Will should not have needed to take a dramatic pause (and a commercial break) to ponder what to do if the operative is innocent.

Leon was able to put this to the test when he answered the questions about whether he’d been on a mission for the AIC and he answered with a mission Dayana was on. Will’s algorithm confirmed that the events happened, but that it was done by a woman and not Leon. Those events lead to the rest of the hostages being freed, but the remaining FBI terrorists that were there took off their tactical gear and blended in with the rest of the hostages per their protocols. So, the episode ended with Alex, Raina, and the rest of the crew leading the hostages out of the building.

This episode cleared some major hurdles and got a lot accomplished as Owen finally joined with Alex and Shelby to stop Lydia and the AIC. The tension back at The Farm between Dayana and Leon has hit its boiling point. We still have quite a few episodes left, so it will be interesting to see what happens next in present day now that the immediate crisis of freeing the hostages has apparently ended.