The Gifted: eMergence - Sep 25

And so, ‘The Gifted’ S2 aired. Yay?

Well, it is a mixed bag, to be honest. Alternatively, more precisely, it is something of a reboot already. To elaborate?

S1 of ‘The Gifted’ was straightforward: mutants vs. Sentinel Services. S2…is also straightforward: the Mutant Underground, (such as it is), vs. the Hellfire Club, or, more precisely, the Inner Circle, as the ‘initial’ Hellfire Club was slaughtered in the opening scenes of ‘eMergence’, (aka the episode 2x01), led by the Frost triplets and – Reeva.

Reeva is a new character in the series; she is based on her namesake character in the comics, where there is a coup of the Hellfire Club, led by one Shinobi Shaw, son of Sebastian Shaw, one of the original members of HC, and Reeva is one of the younger Shaw’s followers. In ‘The Gifted’, there is no Shaw, any Shaw, yet, and Reeva is the one in charge. Go girl power, and she is a P.O.C. too, so – extra points for political correctness, perhaps?

So far, so good, but somehow this scene feels like the embodiments of ‘The Gifted’ reboot – and an unnecessary one; S1 of ‘The Gifted’ worked fine, even with the Hellfire Club thrown into the mix in the second half of the season; without arguing about the details, ‘The Gifted’ S1 worked because it was simple, straightforward, and basic; it had some social commentary and it did its’ best to create a ‘noir’ atmosphere with a WWII taste. As ‘eMergence’ has shown, S2 also has that, but in general 2x01 feels more like an introductory episode, one where the scriptwriters, the crew, and even the cast were more interested in showing where everyone re-positioned themselves rather than doing anything else.

Yes, ‘eMergence’ introduces what is probably the main story arc of S2: Lorna gave birth to her baby. Well, her and Marcos’ baby, but so far she and Marcos are being kept apart, (by fate and its’ agents, no doubt), so right now the baby is all hers.

Now, again, the acting is one of the stronger aspects of ‘The Gifted’, and 2x01 delivers here, as the actors, well, act, and do their best to deliver to the audience members as to what is going on out there is real. Well, real-ish, since this is a world of mutants, robots and God knows what else.

Speaking of robots, Jace Turner, (agent or ex-agent of Sentinel Services) was notably absent this episode, which is one of the reasons as to why ‘eMergence’ suffered: without the dichotomy, ‘The Gifted’ – as a TV series – just does not work. It tried to work without the dichotomy back in S1, and it did not really succeed. Same goes for now: throughout ‘eMergence’, the Inner Circle crew did their own thing regarding Lorna’s pregnancy and baby, (and Andy got to be the godfather; Sirius Black and Severus Snape look from their afterlife and pat him on the shoulders: he’s in a tough spot now!), while the Mutant Underground was all over the place, as the episode tried to show Caitlin’s growing concern about Andy, right there with Marcos’ concern regarding Lorna, Reed’s emerging mutant powers, (whatever they are), and Clarice and John’s attempts to find a missing mutant.

Yes, in itself this is not a problem, but again, in S1 ‘The Gifted’ was built along three main plotlines: the Strucker family, Jace doing his ‘lone wolf’ thing in the Sentinel Services, (especially after the Frost sisters killed his partner and best friend in the second half of S1), and Marcos, Lorna, Johnny and Blink/Clarice. In ‘eMergence’, as it was already said, Jace was absent completely, while the Struckers and the foursome were all over the place, both in the Mutant Underground and the Inner Circle/Hellfire Club. It isn’t a bad idea entirely, but in ‘eMergence’? It did not really work.

That said, ‘eMergence’ does signify that ‘The Gifted’ S2 will be quite different from what it was in S1, even regardless of the appearance of the Morlocks, (who will be discussed at another time). One thing for certain, however – it is going to be interesting.

…And this is it for now – see you all soon!