How Quantico season 3 episode 4 shows what might have been

Quantico season 3 episode 4 is the first episode of the ABC series airing in its new timeslot Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. Unfortunately, there is little to no hope at the moment in regards to a season 4 — the ratings just weren’t there, and the timeslot didn’t really give it all that much of a chance from the start.

Yet, the episode tonight was a good reminder of maybe what this show could have been, provided that it had drifted in this direction a little bit sooner.

What we did like about the first two seasons of the show was the ambition of it all — yet, in the process of that it felt like there was mounting pressure every single week to try and make Quantico bigger and crazier with huge twists every single week and shock endings. With the multiple timelines the story became convoluted, and it became difficult in turn to get more viewers hooked onto the concept and the idea of the series.

However, the series has a structure now that feels a little bit easier to dive into — the characters do still have some depth, but there is only one timeline (that technically changed midway through last season) and the cases are a little bit procedural in nature. You can miss an episode, come back, and not be altogether confused. While the super-serialized nature of the first season and a half would work well for a streaming service like Netflix, it didn’t fit perfectly what ABC as a network likes to do.

With tonight’s episode featuring some good story (and also hints that Owen may have a thing for Jocelyn!), what we wonder is this: Had Quantico been accessible in this way from the start, could it still be on the air?

What did you think about Quantico season 3 episode 4 as a whole? Be sure to share right now in the comments!