Quantico type TV Show network ABC

The NATs’ pasts are drudged up again — this time in service of granting them security clearance. Drew might be caving under the pressure; he appears to have a tremor in his hand. And in the future, Caleb’s whereabouts are finally uncovered: he’s basically staging a Grey Gardens adaptation with heroin playing the role of Little Edie. But what is he trying to pull over on Alex? Quantico showrunner Josh Safran answers our burning questions from the latest episode below:

The Voice was absent in this episode. Is he or she off taking a nap?

The Voice told Alex that the last mission was last week and that is true. The Voice is over.

So no one wil be hearing from The Voice going forward?

That is correct.

Technical question: How is The Voice actually made?

The entire cast records The Voice every episode. And then the sound mixing team blends them together. If there’s, like, three lines in a row, everyone cycles through in pairs and trios. It’s actually really complex, but it’s beautiful.

The episode begins with Shelby opening a letter from her parents. But is the letter really from her parents? That seems a risky move for a pair of war criminals on the run.

You’re an astute watcher, and that will be answered in the next episode. It’s funny, you know, you’re supposed to pretty much have an inkling when she gets those letters — somebody is watching her read them. I think that’s pretty much an indication of where those letters are coming from.

Ah, yes, Caleb! His other Quantico ally didn’t fare so well this week. Having seen Will in the future timeline in last week’s episode, we know he survives the beating from Caleb, but what are the ramifications for Will?

You will not see Will again in Quantico. That beating is real. I don’t know if you’ll see Will in the future either…

Speaking of the future, we saw Caleb working Alex, and he appears to be a drug addict…

He is a drug addict. He’s not faking it.

So is this just a very Method long-con?

No, he’s a drug addict — that aspect is not a con. He’s clearly speaking to someone on the phone at the end of the episode. And by the way, who that person he’s speaking to, you’ll find out in the first 10 minutes of the next episode. It’s not something that we drag out. But he did turn to drugs. He watched his father die. All of that is real.

He’s a very high-functioning drug addict, then?

Well, the next episode… you’ll see. The answer is coming up quickly.

Back to the Quantico timeline: Iris is the last major player not granted security clearance. What are next steps for her?

She’s going to wonder whether or not she’s actually going to make it as an agent because she does not have security clearance. It is resolved before the finale, one way or the other. But as you know, you have not seen Iris in the future, so that might be an indication.

Miranda’s fist-pumping glass-ceiling speech to Alex really resonated with me — as I’m sure it did with many other women. What was the inspiration for that?

I think the show itself is a very feminist show, and that is one of our goals. We all talk about it in the writers’ room every episode. When it comes down to it, every aspect of the show deals with… all these characters are women and what it’s like for them… It’s based on the fact that, for a lot of women in power — I mean you heard Claire [guest star Marcia Cross] say that women are judged more harshly than men. That’s just the way that it is, and it’s true. You can see that politically right now. You can see that every day.

Does Liam have something on Clayton? Or was this another example of a man getting preferential treatment?

It’s what Miranda was saying. It’s the boys-club thing. Liam says, “What’s this about your son?” And Clayton says, “Please look the other way.” They do favors for each other.

The end of the episode provided an interesting development for Drew: He appears to have a bit of a tremor. Is that a remnant of his NFL years?

You’ll learn a lot more about that in the very next episode, and the question is, like with CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy], there’s no way to really prove it. Is it too much caffeine? Is it anxiety? Is it symbolic of a bigger, deeper problem in terms of blood flow, stroke? All these things are going through Drew’s mind, and you’ll learn about them in the next episode.

What else can we expect in next week’s “Fast”?

In the next episode, you will learn more about why Shelby was the one seen driving that car. It’s a good one. And also, the end of the next episode, the very last moments pretty much — not pretty much — tell you directly what the rest of the season is going to be. From the very end of 19 on, we’re pretty much in real time in the New York storyline and the master plan is revealed.

Quantico airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.