The Gifted: oMens - Feb 26

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, but sometimes you can manage. Now, onto ‘the Gifted’. It is done for its’ second season. Yay!

What can be said about the S2 finale? There was a lot of action and fighting in it, but…

But it was spread unequally – unlike, say, AoS, ‘the Gifted’ had to work on a more limited budget, especially when it came to CGI effects, and it showed. John’s fight with the Purifiers was the first and the most low-key…and what was with his ethnic make-up? Yes, John Proudstar/Thunderbird is a Native American character, but somehow, the S2 finale – ‘oMens’ – made it feel less Native American and more like Street Fighter of some sort. John looked authentic here, but also ridiculous…but hey, he made his peace with the Morlocks’ leader, who helped John defeat Jace and the Purifiers. Yay?

Well, yes – now the Morlocks’ leader, as well as the Morlocks in general, seem to have become more proactive than how they’ve been in the past, so that’s good for the mutant-kind, since in the last scenes of ‘oMens’ Marcos and co. admit that they are the Mutant Underground these days literally. However, Jace is still around – John had not killed him because of his inner goodness – but Reed is gone, his powers blew him and Reeva and Reeva’s penthouse HQ up. Remind me, what is the official U.S. stance on suicide bombers and the suicide bomber stereotype? Subverting it in ‘the Gifted’ took guts.

This brings us to the next point – the fight of Marcos, Lorna and Caitlin against Reeva’s mercenaries. It was impressive. It also used a lot of stock footage and out-of-camera actions because reasons. Budget reasons. The way that the Inner Circle’s invisible assassin died was one of the least impressive scenes in the episode – that guy was more incompetent than he appeared to be: he already been captured by the Mutant Underground once, and now the Mutant Underground – in the person of Mrs. Strucker – had killed him. The building explosion was nice though.

This brings us to the other big building takedown of the episode – Lauren & Andy’s destruction of the Sentinel Services’ HQ. Technically speaking, the sentinels are evil – remember S1 – but still, the way that the Strucker siblings are forgiven is something else. The way that AoS had dealt with Grant and Kara was bad, but the manner in which all the deaths’ that the siblings have caused are dismissed, is just as bad. Yes, Esme and her sisters had been mentally dominating them all along, but so had Hydra in regards to Bucky in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ movie, and it still caused a rift between Steve and Tony in ‘Captain America: Civil War’, with the rest of the Avengers piling on. Now, in part it was because Tony likes Steve, Steve likes Bucky, neither man handled their feelings very well, and the rest of the Avengers piled on because they were bored…while claiming that it was all about the Sokovia Accords instead. What has come out of them, BTW? …But another part of it was because brainwashed Bucky killed Tony’s parents, and Steve just wants to let him go. That did not go well, especially at the last quarter of the movie…and on the other hand, we have the Strucker parents and friends dismissing and forgiving Andy and Lauren using precisely that excuse – they were not themselves. And then they went and had a fight with Reeva’s mercenaries – they took out the Frosts by then – and Reed died.

…Some people have suggested to me that initially Reeva’s character was somehow related to the Struckers because Reed and Reeva sound somewhat similarly. Maybe, but this sort of reasoning is better applied to AoS – ‘the Gifted’ is knitted together more tightly and has done less restructuring of itself, especially in the past, so…

So ‘oMens’ exposed the flaws and the compensations of ‘the Gifted’. On one hand, it has a small, tight cast that works marvellously together and generates plenty of drama and interactions. On the other, it makes scenes with numerous people dicey, because it does not have enough of recurring characters – most of them are episodic instead, so when they are killed off there is no investment into them from the viewers. Yes, this makes a death of a main character – i.e. Reed or Reeva – only more poignant, but on the other hand, the Purifier that Reed killed last week was Ted, Jace’s Man Friday, and as we wrote before, no one, not even Jace, seemed to care that Ted is gone, aka dead.

Back to Jace? Again, as we had written, he is no Ward with whom AoS’ scriptwriters played, making him good or bad, depending on how they wanted him without any respect for his character, the other characters, or the audience. Jace is more consistent, but he is diminished because he has fewer lines these days and his role on ‘the Gifted’ has also shrunk.

Again, the strength of ‘the Gifted’ lies in the actors and their acting – the plot, and the script – itself can be very thin indeed, so when the actors cannot properly act, the show suffers, because unlike AoS it cannot really go for cool special effects or epic fights: John’s fight with the Purifiers showed that in particular: for an angry mutant-hating mob they certainly acted nobly (cough) attacking John one at a time… and it’s doubtful that they even wanted to gun him down at all… That line of Jace – ‘kill me’ – came completely out of the left field, and unlike AoS, ‘the Gifted’ do not swing this sort of curveball very well.

So, what happens next? S2 of ‘the Gifted’ is done, and we are back to waiting – both for ‘the Gifted’ S3 (if it happens) and for C&D in April 2019. Until then, see you all soon!

The Gifted: Monsters - Feb 19

Let us start with the obvious: real life… well, sucks. However, it is also confusing, and messy, and then there is the financial angle…but the less is said about money and taxes and the like is better. Let us talk about ‘the Gifted’ instead.

This week we learned… well, actually, we learned that Netflix is done with Marvel – even JJ and ‘Punisher’ are cancelled, done, finished. Why that is happened is another story, Disney is likely to be involved, but after the SW fiasco, Disney isn’t likely to be openly involved in another mess, especially one that involves money, (yes, money, again), so odds are that we won’t hear about ‘the Defenders’ or any of their associates for a while now, at least until all the copyright and ownership kinks are smoothed out.

Secondly C&D is returning this spring, (AoS is returning this summer instead). The S2 trailer showed us…not just Ty and Dy, but also detective Mayhem, who returns a full-on vigilante with her own powers, and odds are? She is going a) to rock, and b) cause more friction between Ty and Dy. (That said? The chemistry between them is great, and was part of the reason as to why C&D S1 was a success to begin with).

Finally, on this week’s episode, ‘Monsters’, we learn…that the strength of ‘the Gifted’ lies in the actors and acting and the drama that they manifest in their characters, as the plot itself can be holey. The most obvious hole in ‘Monsters’ is the time skip: one moment Lauren and Caitlin are hiding in an abandoned building during the day, with no one in sight, the next moment it’s night and there are cops outside of it already. The cops, of course, are right there with SW’s storm canonic troopers – lousy shots and are scared off by some feeble return gunfire too. Reed and Marcos were able to free Caitlin and Lauren by burning a hole in the building’s back wall without any interference. Score one for the mutants.

The second point is for Ted. He is dead. Reed killed him. With his powers. Considering that Ted had been the closest thing that Jace had had in the Purifiers for a friend you would think that he would be genuinely affected by Ted’s death, but instead? No one in the Purifiers seem to realize that Ted is dead, and Jace is having his doubts regarding the Morlocks’ massacre. Of course, he is right to do that, as the Purifiers are being manipulated, or even managed by Reeva, who is THE mutant villain of the S2, but still…Ted is dead and no one cares about him, not even the other Purifiers. Poor Ted.

Of course, Clarice is also dead, and the Morlocks are gone, their leader has schooled John in the ways of leadership again. Mind you, John is not a villain, he is a genuine good guy, but he is a terrible leader and had spent almost the entirety of ‘Monsters’ doing nothing but mourning Clarice. This makes him sympathetic and a figure of pity on some level, but also? Something of an annoyance…and a failure as a leader. There is a good reason as to why this corner of Mutant Underground fell apart when Lorna left them for the Hellfire Club/Inner Circle, and John is a part of it.

Speaking of Secret Agent Lorna? Sigh. Her and Andy’s escape from the Inner Circle was something else. Basically, the two of them just up and left – Lorna because she was planning to do with Marcos a while by now, and Andy because he had a pep talk with his father. The actors do their best to liven the lackluster departure and the CGI nighttime storm setting helps, but somehow? It still feels ridiculous. Reeva even had the nerve to be surprised when she, Esme, and Esme’s sisters discovered Lorna and Andy’s escape. Seriously, just who did she think she is? Other than a fantastic manager and manipulator? Mesmero the mind-bending telepath?

Of course, the Mutant Underground itself isn’t much better, plot-wise: the way that Lauren, (well, her character) mourns Clarice? It is impressive, but it does not negate the fact that ever since S2 of ‘the Gifted’ began, Lauren and Clarice spent less than two or three full episodes and did not even properly interact with each other at all. ‘the Gifted’ is an amazing show, but it still has limitations, sadly…

Anything else? Andy is back with the Mutant Underground, ditto for Lorna, and John…either heard Clarice say his name or he’s began to hallucinate. Either way, he owns the most impressive tomahawk (Native American battle-axe) that I have seen ever since DW S2 episode ‘Comanche vs. Mongol’ – but that is another story. For now let’s just accept that the Mutant Underground gang is together again, (almost), Jace is having his issues, and Reeva is almost ready to initiate the final stage of her plan to take over America.

This is it for now; see you all next week!

The Gifted: calaMity - Feb 12

Tonight, ‘the Gifted’ are back, so yay! ‘calaMity’, this week’s episode, did its’ best to be overwhelming, and so it was – or rather, it was just the right amount of ‘whelming’, so let us talk.

First, the bad news – Sage is dead by Reeva and the Purifiers - whose leader, Benedict Ryan, is revealed Reeva’s partner in her plan of taking over America - shot Clarice/Blink. At least they made Reeva an Afro-American, and not a Slavic immigrant of some sort, so kudos for that ballsy move. 

That said, Clarice’s about-turn regarding her attitude on all the mutants was jarring – one episode she was all about leaving, keeping her head down and not being a hero, and now she’s sounding exactly like that – exactly like John, and now she may be dead, (a self-fulfilling prophesy?), and John is left picking up his own pieces.

…On the other hand, there is still a chance for her to be alive, while Sage is genuinely dead. Somehow, let us be honest here, the writers of ‘the Gifted’ never figured out as to how to fit-in Sage into their world; for being a major character in the regular X-Men comics, in ‘the Gifted’ she was a recurring character at best, and now, she is killed off for dramatic effect and to demonstrate to the viewers just how ruthless and lethal Reeva can be. Yay? Lorna’s internal dramatics were interesting to watch, but nothing else – she is beginning to realize that she and Marcos’ can be over their heads and need to start drawing more people into their plan, maybe even Andy, because honestly? His loyalty to the Inner Circle appears to be somewhat thin after Rebecca/Twist had died…

However, if Sage’s death is somewhat problematic, in a pointless and unnecessary kind of way, reminiscent of AoS at its’ worst, then the rest of the episode certainly is not. The entire convoluted chain of command between Reeva and Benedict Ryan and Jace was certainly better than anything AoS – or the rest of MCU – showed on such a level, and the dramatic tension between the Purifiers and the Morlocks was certainly well shot, pardon the pun. Jace, of course, is beginning to have further doubts about the rightfulness of his cause, so we’ll have to wait and see as to what it will amount to, (if it ever will). Certainly, again, ‘the Gifted’ made him into a better anti-hero/villain than anything that AoS had done with Ward, or AIDA, or several other characters. As far as the within-universe rules go, Jace is still a better human being than Reeva is.

As for the Strucker family plotline, so far Reed finally decided to embrace his own mutation and stop taking the medicine; Lauren decided to stop running and to start fighting, (maybe even Andy, I don’t know, but after Sage’s death Andy might be having second thoughts of his own); and Caitlyn has stopped ‘playing nice’ and is ramming police vehicles these days. Of course the fact that the local cops seem to have gone to the ‘SW trooper’ school of shooting doesn’t hurt either, but now the Struckers are still fleeing and the cops are still chasing them, so the episode has ended on a cliffhanger; yay!

…Yes, certainly so – for all of its minor flaws, ‘calaMity’ was a very impressive, very dramatic episode, with plenty of both plot progression and character progression too – Jace and John, the Morlocks’ leader and Lorna and Andy, even Lauren and the elder Struckers have emerged from the Morlock-Purifier confrontation changed. Now we just have to wait and see as what will come out of this next week.

Ergo, for now, this is it. See you all soon!

AoS: more S6 spoilers - Feb 5

Briefly: real life sucks. My life sucks for all sorts of reasons, but today I met a pigeon, whose life was worse, ‘cause it was dead. The bird, that is. Red-tailed hawks live in our neighborhood, and I do see them hunting pigeons in the sky; they hunt other birds too, (especially songbirds), but this time it was a pigeon and it was partially eaten already. I don’t know as to why the hawk didn’t finish the job, most likely humans, (or maybe crows, they live in our neighborhood too and regularly harass the hawks, especially when it is winter, as it is now, when the gulls are mostly away from here and aren’t the top birds anymore as they are during the warmer part of the year), but there it was. One dead pigeon and partially eaten. Life sucks, and then you die, and death sucks even worse. Yes, yes, the circle of life and all that tripe, but when you see it, it still makes an impact.

…And then we have the TV-verse, and more precisely, AoS the TV show. As it was shown in the latest AoS trailer, when the show returns this summer, Clark Gregg returns to it…as a brand-new character, because Coulson will die (from massive damage and old age) between the S5 finale and the S6 premiere. Sigh.

Here is how life and death work on TV, especially for AoS: the show just cannot win, since it has entered this game. If it kills off an established character, a number of fans will stop watching the TV show; sure, they can still write fanfic, draw fan art, etc., but the show itself? They will not watch it, and the numbers will plummet. So, instead of doing what ‘the Gifted’ does, for example, and kill only secondary characters, and once every blue moon, to make each death count. And oh yes, ‘the Gifted’ has its own problems, especially the irregular airing schedule – they’re missing this week too, and it probably won’t be good for their ratings, but this is still better than how AoS went all cutesy in regards to life and death on their show. Fitz is dead? Yes, but for the second half of S5 or so he existed in two places (and in two times) at once, making himself his own twin or something, so now his friends only need to bring him back from space and all will be normal again, (theoretically), plus AoS the show has a plot arc to fill its’ first half of S6 or so. Coulson is dead? His actor is returning and playing a brand new role, so in some sense at least, Coulson is not dead. Ha-ha-ha, how cute, and how demeaning for the AoS’ roles. They – the characters – are demeaned, are no longer important, it does not matter if they live or die, the show’s writers will bring them back somehow anyhow. It is no wonder that AoS numbers have went down as months and years went by.

Anything else? No, not really. There is a story on Internet that a jogger has somehow killed a puma (aka cougar, aka mountain lion) in self-defence, but it is the Internet, you know? Life may be stranger than fiction, but the Internet does not always differentiate between both.

This is it for now; see you all soon!