DVD Review: Quantico The Complete First Season

Release Date: September 13, 2016
Rating: TV14 DLSV
Running Time: Approximately 946 minutes (22 episodes/5 discs) (excludes bonus)

Television’s most riveting mystery unfurls against a backdrop of steamy seduction, maddening conspiracies and nerve-shattering suspense in ABC’s Quantico – The Complete First Season.

People’s Choice Award winner, Priyanka Chopra stars as Alex Parrish, one of a diverse group of young recruits at the FBI Quantico Base. Despite intriguing personal secrets and complicated pasts, Alex and her fellow “NATs” (New Agents In Training) are the best, brightest, most thoroughly vetted candidates in the U.S., so it seems impossible that one of them could be a traitor. However, when Alex is framed for masterminding the most lethal attack on New York City since 9/11, she must race against time – and betray her closest friends and colleagues – to somehow identify the real culprit and prevent further carnage… because the bomber appears to be working from inside the Bureau.

Revel in the thrill of the chase with all 22 action-packed episodes – plus captivating bonus features – that let you navigate the dangerous labyrinth of twists and turns that is Quantico.

***

In the series premiere, Quantico immediately became one of my favorite new dramas of the 2015-2016 season. From the very beginning, this show served grade A+ episodes every single week, I repeat, every single week.

There were such jaw dropping, entertaining, and emotionally gripping developments with story and character arcs, and such well crafted storytelling from two timelines – after the terrorist attack that our main character, Alex is accused of being responsible for and before when Alex is training to be an FBI agent in Quantico. The secrecy, the mystery, betrayal and distrust were at full throttle and really created such a thrilling and all round fantastic hour of television each week.

I loved the cat and mouse chase, I loved never knowing who was a true ally, and even having the people you thought were allies disappoint. For example, the FBI causes Alex’s own mother to doubt and distrust her. That’s deep. Along with all of the mystery and action and growth from agent in training to agent in question, there were a host of fierce women to look forward to watching every single week. A group of diverse women, each strong in their own right, which was greatly appreciated. What a wonderful cast, also really appreciated the great mix of familiar and new to me faces.

Another aspect of the show that I absolutely loved was being thrown into situations in Quantico when the agents are being trained and not only learning as they learn but have the lessons that they learn be intertwined with what’s happening in the present day. Talk about storytelling at its finest. The writers on this show get an A+ all around.

The guessing game was exciting, trying to figure out who the true terrorist was, all while rooting for Alex to not get caught anymore in the crosshairs than needed as she figures out how to prove her innocence. This wasn’t easy as some of the people she even trained with in the FBI weren’t willing to see from her perspective and trust her truth when it was presented to them. Obstacle after obstacle after obstacle…talk about high stakes. This show always kept the viewers on their toes and delivered one of the most captivating dramas, if not the most captivating new drama of the 2015-2016 season. Quantico season one was absolutely dynamite and I highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone. No spoilers here about the ins and outs of each episode, because you really should just go along for the ride and enjoy every second like I did. This is a must see. Enjoy!

Bonus Features:
Spoiler Alert: The Following bonus features reveals important plot details from later episodes in Quantico Season 1. For the best viewing experience, we advise against watching the bonus features prior to viewing all of the episodes in this collection.

* Video Commentary – The video commentary (split screen) is for the series premiere “Run” episode in which Creator/Executive Producer Joshua Safran and cast members, Priyanka Chopra, Jake McLaughlin, Yasmine Al Massri, Johanna Braddy, Tate Ellington and Graham Rogers participate. It is the best commentary of this year. This cast is so fantastic. Their chemistry is off the charts. I love this cast and this wildly fun video commentary is a testament to that. This is a must watch for all Quantico fans.

* Welcome to Quantico (18:54 minutes) – Priyanka Chopra takes viewers on the set of the season finale and this footage (which isn’t much) is intertwined with interviews of the creator and cast of the show as they talk about working on the show and with each other. I especially loved hearing Joshua Safran talk about wanting to make a show from the POV of a woman in the FBI, surrounded by great women in the FBI. Not to mention, diverse women. Interesting fact, the real Quantico is not as diverse as the show makes it out to be. Anyway, the physical demands of the job, Yasmine Al Massri playing twins, costume design, and technical advisement from a former FBI agent (of 30 years) are also discussed. It’s a really fun feature, so if you love the show as much as I think you do, you should check out this and all of the bonus features.

Appearing in This Feature:
Creator/Executive Producer Joshua Safran
VFX On-Set Supervisor, Gunmar Hansen
Costume Designer, Samantha Rattner
Technical Advisor, Veronica Maxwell
Cast Members, Priyanka Chopra, Jake McLaughlin, Josh Hopkins, Aunjanue Ellis, Johanna Braddy, Yasmine Al Massri, Graham Rogers, Tate Ellington

* Who Did It? False Leads, Theories and Red Herrings (8:10 minutes) – In this feature, the cast talks about guessing who the terrorist was and theorizing each week that they got a new script, including making bets on who the terrorist was. Tate always thought it was Miranda. Johanna thought it was her character for at least the first half of the season. The actor who plays the terrorist talks about finding out it was them. Fun feature! I only wish we got to hear even more of their theories!

Appearing in This Feature:
Creator/Executive Producer Joshua Safran
Cast Members, Jake McLaughlin, Josh Hopkins, Tate Ellington, Johanna Braddy, Priyanka Chopra, Aunjanue Ellis, Yasmine Al Massri, Graham Rogers

* Deleted Scenes (Approx. 20 minutes total) – There are 28 deleted/alternate/extended scenes on the DVD with the option to play all on each disc; (Disc One) “Applicant: Elias Harper,” “trying to Match,” “Find A Way In,” and “No Hard Feelings,” (Disc Two) “Something’s Wrong,” “A Good Guy,” “Caught Lying – Alternative Line,” “Blown Assignments,” “Suspicious of Ryan,” “Double Trouble,” “New Roommates,” and “O’Connor’s Daughter,” (Disc Three) “Welcome Back Miranda,” “Directors at Odds,” “Badass Speed Ramp,” and “Mr. Nice Guy,” (Disc Four) “Chatter,” “Selfish,” “Perspective – Extended Scene,” “Locker Room Chat,” “Loyal Twin – Alternative Version,” “Another Round,” and “Un-American?” (Disc Five) “Twins,” “Recruit,” “Switching Assignments,” “RIP,” and “We’re Done.”

All of these scenes were actually fine acting wise and for the most part, writing wise as well so I can only guess these scenes were either cut for time or based on the aired versions of the episodes these scenes would have been in, I can see why they didn’t make the cut as they just didn’t flow as well. But they’re definitely still worth the watch! I really want to know why “Un-American?” was cut. Loved that scene.

* Bloopers (4:14 minutes) – This is by far one of my favorites, if not my favorite blooper reel of the season. I love this show, I love this cast, and based on what I’ve seen, I love the vibe on set behind the scenes. The bloopers make me love all of the above even more.

Own Quantico: The Complete First Season on DVD today.

Watch an all new season of Quantico Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.