Quantico

We're left with just a sense of promise. And Quantico is a hell of a promising pilot.

Pacing is a problem for most pilots--so many characters to introduce, meaningful stakes to establish--but Quantico, from "Gossip Girl" producer Joshua Safran, does this effortlessly, with at least one deadly effective twist you won't see coming. Just don't come looking for subtlety.

After its unpromising beginning, the pilot has nary a dull moment, and Chopra alone would be reason enough to watch.

Writer Josh Safran (season two of “Smash”) allows Quantico to bubble with questions and craftily gives all the characters motives. It’s a crackerjack, character-driven mystery that showcases a uniformly attractive, United Colors of Benetton cast.

The series premiere of Quantico is never dull. Chopra is charming, and so is the rest of the well-assembled cast.

The plot is intricate and compelling, the characters magnetic and mysterious at the same time.

If Grey’s Anatomy set at Quantico with a long-term terrorism plot sounds bad to you, proceed no further: This is not your show. If it sounds kind of appealing, as it does to me, Quantico may be your least execrable show of fall.... The pilot doesn’t dwell on the senseless carnage, and if you don't either, what’s left is sexed-up spy games.

If you're expecting Quantico to be another "Grey's Anatomy," you could be disappointed.

The difference between Quantico and other new dramas is that Quantico totes its bullshit with a sense of wit and style.

Prior to the ludicrous escape, the pilot had done an admirable job keeping up the pacing, the interest and certainly the excitement level. That alone should get you to watch the second episode.

This show knows what it wants to do and it churns through its story with efficiency and the gloss that comes from executing the ABC house style with energy and a bit of flair.

It is an odd mix of horrific terrorism and popcorn thriller. But, at least in the first episode, it somehow works.

There are times when Quantico feels a shade mechanical, in moments when you can practically hear the plot gears moving. But it accomplishes what the opener of a whodunit needs to do: establish a wide range of plausible suspects and spark our interest in the mystery and the hero. Which means, so far, they got away with it.

If the first hour is any guide, though, there will be enough action and interplay and people to feel safe around, or suspect, to keep it constantly entertaining.... So far, paying attention to all that is exciting.

Sure, it’s all sort of dumb, but Quantico also doesn’t mess around.... Chopra brings a sincere, centrifugal force to this swirling story line. You leave the first episode wanting to know what happens next and where this conspiracy leads.

As much as it adheres to formula, from its photogenic cast to its overly dramatic musical cues and insistence on flashback as a legitimate narrative device, the series is also a great deal of fun, at least in this early stage, blending its ingredients together with commendable gusto.