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Five Thoughts on The Gifted’s “hoMe”

By | January 16th, 2019
Posted in Television | % Comments

This week The Gifted started to feel even more like an “X-Men” comic than before, for better or worse, as allegiances shifted, entangled, and turned back on each other. But at the same time, our heroes still forgot the first rule of comic book death. Let’s dive into five thoughts on The Gifted’s “hoMe!” Warning: here there be spoilers.

1. What’s going on with Caitlin Strucker now?

Caitlin’s been getting on my nerves all season, but this week was one step beyond. After doing 25 (or more, she didn’t count) pull-ups, she comes up with the idea of dragging her brother back into the Strucker family affairs. She “sells” her master plan with the intensity of a dope addict that just figured out that that the government puts fluoride in our water so we can’t see the free tachyon particles they pump into public libraries. She refuses to listen to reason from Reed, and marches off with Lauren in tow.

Her plan fails. Now the government now knows they survived Atlanta. Her brother has lost his job if he’s lucky. If not, he’s going to prison, too! Well done, Mom.

She also, for the second week in a row, encouraged her daughter to turn her powers on the police. Yes, the police in this world serve a tyrannical state, but would the Cait from last season have done that? She’s embraced violence a few times lately. I don’t think she would have last season.

There’s something going with her. Is she sampling her own medical bag?

2. Lauren continues to level up.

Lauren has surpassed Andy, if not in raw power than in control. It felt good to see her get the best of him, right up until the Frosts took note and decided that Lauren needs to either join the Inner Circle or be taken off the board. Also, it was odd to see her lecture Andy about being on the wrong side after she bullied the landlord last week. Maybe I expect too much from a teen, but she crossed the same line she’s accusing her brother of, even if she didn’t go as far.

The scene in Andy’s bedroom and its transition to the sisters’ room made me feel like I was whisked into an old “X-Men” comic. Their smooth segway from checking on Andy to “we need to get Lauren” was worthy of the White Queen during the early days of the New Mutants/Hellions rivalry. At the same time,  the quibbling between the sisters is what mutants do.

3. Habeas Corpus?

The big event this week was supposed to be Evangeline calling the heads of the various Underground factions together. Instead, it was the attack on the meeting that killed all the leaders. Are we supposed to believe this? Where are the bodies? Instead of approaching the building and taking a look, the heroes stood on the sidelines and squabbled.

The squabbling was the second moment that took me into old (and newer) “X-Men” comics. The only thing mutants enjoy more than beating on their enemies is beating on their allies. But while the fight between Erg and John was telegraphed several episodes ago, it unsuccessfully covered for the fact that they never really bothered to check to see if there were any survivors.

4. How did Reeva know about the meeting?

I’m not sure if I trust Evangeline, but there’s no reason to think she’s stupid. How did Reeva know the time and place of the meeting? I expect Reeva to have contacts inside the Underground. But, wouldn’t Evangeline plan for this, too? Doesn’t she have a secure way to contact the other leaders? Even if she couldn’t keep the meeting a secret, couldn’t she delay revealing the exact location until the last minute?

Instead, the mutant mercs hop into a chopper, fly to the meeting, and slaughter everyone quicker than Erg can say “Not my fight.” I find this hard to accept. Or, I should say, I find it hard to believe without accounting for yet another conspiracy. Someone leaked the location to Reeva.

Did I mention I don’t trust Evangeline? Would a burning building really be a problem for her?

5. Clarice gives up?

This episode had a whole lot going on, but the best scenes were the flashbacks into Clarice’s past. In just a few minutes we saw how she became the tough survivor she is, and why Erg’s message resonates with her. She has no reason to trust humans. It’s more of a surprise that she helped the Underground than it is that she would consider joining the Morlocks.

But it still hurt when she did. I get it; I understand why someone like Clarice is not going to let herself get dragged down by someone on a suicide mission. But it hurt, and there’s no reason not to think that this will make John worse than he already is.

That’s a wrap for The Gifted’s “hoMe.” What are your thoughts? Will Clarice stay where she is now? Will Lorna’s efforts at being a double agent blow up in her face? Will the Frost sister’s recruit a new member for the Inner Circle? Let us know in the comments!


//TAGS | gifted

Eric Goebelbecker

Eric is a software engineer who lives and works in the NYC metro area. When he's not writing, he's reading. When he's not writing or reading, he is displeased. You can find his personal blog over here.

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