In season 2, Quantico may be dipping in the ratings, but it’s never been better at taking on real-life politics. Just a few weeks after trolling Internet trolls and fake news, the ABC spy soap is taking on a "fictional" Muslim registry. The move comes after America elected a real-life man who advocated for such a policy during his campaign and attempted to enact a "Muslim Ban" a week after his Inauguration.
The looming threat of a Muslim registry no longer feels impossible — although the administration denied the chance of one — and Quantico showed the dramatic, dystopian way we could get there.
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The thriller's team is currently trying to unmask a shadowy group of terrorists from the highest classes of society. The cabal’s aim in "Odyoke" is to pass the Muslim registry currently sitting in Congress. Although, the legislation isn’t technically called a "Muslim registry." Instead, it's a "system to allow Homeland [Security] to register and track non-citizen visa holders from countries of concern. Those countries just happen to be exclusively Arab, or Muslim," exposition machine Clay (Hunter Parrish) explains, because that all sounds far less intolerant.
The Islamophobic proposition has failed in Quantico’s Congress twice, but that malevolent faction has figured out a way to end up with a winning vote. They orchestrate a deadly bombing in an Ohio shopping center and frame a Muslim immigrant woman, inciting fear across the country. The patsy ends up being Quantico hero Nimah Amin’s twin, Raina (both sisters are played by Yasmine Al Massri), whose home has been covered with blueprints and anti-American propaganda.
This kind of national terror makes it impossible for "law and order"-supporting Republicans to vote no on the conservative bill, even if they’re on the fence. It’s equally hard for conscious-heavy Democrats to turn down the registry, especially if they’re from "red states" like Rep. Hassane (Farah Bala), a female Sikh who can’t seem weak on terrorism. Still, the Quantico team pushes forward, reminding Congress people of the fact a registry could make America more vulnerable to violence and the double standard between Muslim and white-perpetrated terror.
Their pleas fall on deaf ears — the law passes Congress and makes it to the president’s desk, where it’s vetoed. Yes, the Islamophobic law will not be enacted, yet a majority of America’s Congress still proved they thought it was a necessary measure. In real life, it's highly doubtful a faction of Illuminati-like evildoers is plotting a long-game terrorist attack. But, Quantico did prove how easily fear can turn into dangerously reactionary and prejudiced policies.