Who’s The Terrorist?

After the explosive first episode, the identity of Quantico’s culprit is anyone’s guess. We weigh up the suspects…

Quantico Who done it?

So, that was Quantico episode one. New York's Grand Central station has been blown to smithereens and according to officials, the terrorist culprit is a new federal agent who joined the FBI at the exact same time as the main heroine Alex Parrish, as seen in the flashback scenes.

In other words, our big bad villain is very probably one of the main characters we've already become acquainted with. Now, we're only at the beginning of the series and there are plenty more game-changing revelations to come, but that doesn't mean we can't weigh up what we already know...

Alex Parrish played by Priyanka Chopra.

Alex Parrish played by Priyanka Chopra.

ALEX PARRISH

Let's clear this one up straight away: Alex Parrish is most definitely NOT the terrorist. While she's certainly been framed and forced on the run, it's frankly unthinkable that the main protagonist of the show will turn out to be the villain. That's the kind of shocking twist you might get in a particularly devious movie thriller, not a glossy saga like Quantico. While we're there are probably plenty of surprises about Alex in store (we already know she shot her abusive father), she's more likely to turn out to be a Martian in human disguise than some secret terrorist.

Ryan Booth played by Jake McLaughlin.

Ryan Booth played by Jake McLaughlin.

RYAN BOOTH

Ryan Booth made his first appearance as Alex's romantic conquest after the two met on a plane. She ditched him straight after their quick fling, only to realise he was another recruit in her class at Quantico. Which was awkward. The truth is more complicated, however. Turns out, Ryan isn't a trainee at all: he's a fully-fledged FBI agent tasked with going undercover as a newbie to get close to Alex. We don't know why, but he seems like a thoroughly good egg who genuinely cares about Alex. His chances of being a terrorist are about the same as Alex's: roughly around zero.

Shelby Wyatt played by Johanna Braddy.

Shelby Wyatt played by Johanna Braddy.

SHELBY WYATT

Golden girl, Southern belle, pampered princess... There are many ways to think of Shelby Wyatt, one of the new recruits at Quantico. Yet it would be a mistake to underestimate her, seeing as she's a sharp shooter who'd make ideal sniper material. Plus, there's the trauma of her past - both of her parents died in 9/11, and she still carries a piece of the plane from that fateful day. All in all, she doesn't seem like she'd have been behind the bombing. It looks like she's out for vengeance against Islamist terrorists, but we'll have to see how her story pans out in episodes to come.

Caleb Haas played by Graham Rogers.

Caleb Haas played by Graham Rogers.

CALEB HAAS

The phrase "wisecracking douchebag" summed up Caleb Haas for much of episode one. And that's if we're being kind, because at times he was an out-and-out bully, picking on his fellow recruits and strutting around like he owned the place. Of course, underneath all that bravado he's a scared boy who knows he hasn't got what it takes to be a good FBI agent, and his antics even led to a classmate blowing his own brains out in the first episode. Could this, along with Caleb's sense of insecurity and fear, lead him down a dark path to terrorism? We can't really see it yet, but who knows? There could be a lot more to Caleb than we can possibly predict.

Nimah Amin played by Yasmine Al Massri.

Nimah Amin played by Yasmine Al Massri.

NIMAH ANWAR

Nimah is a Muslim recruit who's had to put up with plenty of casual bigotry. That's almost all the back story that was revealed in the first episode, but then came the big, massive plot twist that made our jaws hang open. You know, the one about how she's actually got an identical twin sister who is sharing her identity at Quantico, right under the other classmates' noses. Now that's the kind of behavior that should set off alarm bells, unless of course it's all part of an official plan for the greater good. There's no way of calling this one quite yet, but it would be pretty cool if one of the twins was good and the other was evil...

Simon Asher played by Tate Ellington.

Simon Asher played by Tate Ellington.

SIMON ASHER

One of the new recruits at Quantico, Simon isn't quite what he appears to be. We first saw him kissing an apparent stranger on a street while taking a selfie, later putting the photo on prominent display in his room at Quantico as if to "prove" he has a boyfriend. Why would he do that? Is it simply because he wants to look cooler and more sexually experienced that he actually is, or is it part of an elaborate cover story? And there's the fact that Simon - a Jewish lad from a vehemently pro-Israeli family - travelled to Gaza to live with Palestinians for a period. He may have just been doing that for humanitarian reasons... Or perhaps his secret Palestinian sympathies have led him down the path of radicalisation?

Liam O'Connor played by Josh Hopkins.

Liam O'Connor played by Josh Hopkins.

LIAM O'CONNOR

Liam's a tutor at Quantico rather than a recruit, so technically he shouldn't be classed as a suspect. Unless that whole "the terrorist is one of the classmates" thing is a red herring. Either way, he certainly seems suspicious enough. We know he's got a very shady past and seriously jeopardized his career at the FBI. We know he's a drinker. And we know he's very, very interested in Alex Parrish, having deployed Ryan Booth on an undercover mission to get close to her. Has all of this been part of a plan to set Alex up to take the blame for the Grand Central bombing? Angry, bitter and seemingly vengeful for reasons unknown to us, O'Connor has to be one of our top suspects so far.

Miranda Shaw  played by Aunjanue Ellis.

Miranda Shaw played by Aunjanue Ellis.

MIRANDA SHAW

Miranda Shaw is the other big FBI official we met in episode one, and she's got a juicy history with fellow supervisor Liam O'Connor. The pair definitely dated for a while, but now she's more like his handler. Or, as he puts it, "You feel like a warden." Miranda is certainly hard as nails, but she appears to be on the side of angels, and helped Alex escape after the latter was framed for the Grand Central bombing. So we're pretty sure Miranda is a goodie... unless that's what the show wants us to think? Get your thinking caps on, everybody.