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Five Thoughts on The Gifted: “eXodus”

By | October 17th, 2017
Posted in Television | % Comments

Clarice/Blink is all healed! Which is good timing, because the mutants are going to need all hands on deck to get Lorna out of jail, and apparently track down Caitlin and the kids (who have taken it into their own hands in this episode’s opening act to go on the run). But Reed’s getting ready to take down the Mutant Underground as he has been assured he will get back to his family, which is going to put a crimp in the Underground’s plans. And what’s this about another pair of mutant siblings from the 1960s?  Read on to find out how some of these threads come together in The Gifted‘s third episode, “eXodus.”

(Warning: spoilers contained herein.)

1. Mutants Meet Cute

You expected a mutant first date to be dinner and a movie? Lorna/Polaris and Marcos/Eclipse’s first meeting three years prior to the current events involved literal floating on air and an aurora borealis. As we’ve only seen Lorna on the defensive, it’s nice to get a brief moment of her happier, carefree side. I hope she can hold on to those memories and remember the joy she had with finding another mutant to love as Sentinel Services is making her choose between a rock and a hard place — help take down the Underground, or she’s off to someplace much less comfortable than her current jail cell.

(Side note on the Sentinel Services: our readers in the United States may have noticed, like I have, that Sentinel agent Jace Turner looks an awful lot like Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey. I wonder if Senator Booker knows about his government bad guy twin?)

2. The Five Stages of Mutant-ness 

While Caitlin and Lauren are hoping this is just a rough patch of their lives and it’ll be back to school dances and breaking curfews (albeit in new and creative ways), Andrew has reached that infamous fifth stage called acceptance, sending a message with an assist to some bent parking meters that robbing banks and living on the edge of society is their new normal. While Lauren may be the Strucker most adept at her powers, Andrew is the one that understands the implications of those powers on their lives, though Lauren does get that wake-up call after seeing her home vandalized on social media.

3.  Redefining Family

While Caitlin was the unsung hero last week in the hospital, she goes the expected and not-so-smart move of asking her brother Danny for help. He opens his home and his pizza to the Struckers on the run, but it’s a very short-lived welcome…he can’t take the risk of mutants under his roof. Given popular opinion on mutant culture, this was not one of Caitlin’s smarter decisions. She should have known better, even before the group of “concerned citizens” shows up looking for the family (no doubt motivated by a six-figure bounty on their heads). Danny does come around at the end, offering a vacation home as a safehouse, but that offer smacks of “too little, too late.”

Reed also sees this lesson hard and fast as he meets up with a mother and daughter also on the run (as part of Sentinel Services’ plan to take down the mutant underground) who take the time to heal him from the immobilizer put on him. Their compassion (“hey, we all have to stick together”) changes his mind on the mission, letting the mother and daughter go free by jumping out of the van they were all in — the same van that Sentinel Services was conveniently tracking.

Bottom line, to quote from another favorite TV show of mine, Supernatural: family don’t end with blood.

4. Stars of the Week: Lorna and Andy

With so many mutants in this ensemble, it can be hard to get to know everyone and their unique powers, so the writers thus far have (wisely) chosen to spotlight one or two mutant powers to show their full potential. Last week we saw what Lauren could do; this week it is all about Lorna and Andy. Lorna’s magnetic manipulation proves both romantic (in her early meeting with Marcos) and destructive (that jail cell door didn’t see it coming). Andy’s powers are the perfect metaphor for the teen angry at the entire world and he bends anything and everything that comes his way, parking meters to sports trophies. Honorable mention here goes to Dreamer, who can plant altered memories in people’s minds with a puff (or several) of pink smoke.  (We’ll get to her powers and their aftermath in just a bit.)

5. The Power of Love…?

Clarice/Blink’s still recovering from her near death experience in the last episode, and her powers are still rather awry, along with her confidence in them. Jelly donuts can’t even motivate her to get a good portal going. It takes a reminder of the power of love — in her case, love for Johnny — to get her back on her feet and the Strucker escape team out of harm’s way. Here’s the catch: that romantic interlude of Johnny and Blink isn’t really of the two of them; it’s an altered memory from Dreamer, Johnny’s real love interest. Short term stimulus leading to long-term complicated love triangle? From the look on Johnny’s face, he’s not too happy with his girlfriend’s decision…for now, at least.


//TAGS | gifted

Kate Kosturski

Kate Kosturski is your Multiversity social media manager, a librarian by day and a comics geek...well, by day too (and by night). Kate's writing has also been featured at PanelxPanel, Women Write About Comics, and Geeks OUT. She spends her free time spending too much money on Funko POP figures and LEGO, playing with yarn, and rooting for the hapless New York Mets. Follow her on Twitter at @librarian_kate.

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