S01.E08: threat of eXtinction

[Bort]

Quote

More refugees pour into the Mutant Underground, but the group faces a threat when they discover one of them is a spy working for Sentinel Services. Meanwhile, Reed visits his estranged father and learns that secrets from his family's past could prove useful.

[SimoneS]

Damn I was right, Reed is a mutant! I knew it! However, it never occurred to me that Reed's father was a mutant also or that he took away Reed's power as a child. However, the mutant cures never last forever. And now that Reed knows the truth all it might take is intense emotion to reawaken it.  His father was powerful enough to overcome Pulse so Reed must be very powerful also. 

I wonder if Reed's grandfather and great aunt are still alive. Together with Andy and Lauren and the other mutants, they might be able to give the mutants enough strength to fight to a draw, forcing a peace. Providing they aren't crazy.

I really liked Clarisse, Johnny, and Marcos working as a team against Chloe. Poor Chloe. Poor Pulse. I like Zach Roeig so I am sorry that his character was killed. So Trask is addicting them to drug to control them.

Marcos and Lorna need to stop fighting and talk it out. I wonder if she will decide to have an abortion. Given the situation, I would understand the decision.

Johnny was sexy as hell all sweaty in that wifebeater at the end. He and Reed make a great good looking team. They have good chemistry.

I can't wait for the next episode. Two weeks!

Edited November 21, 2017 by SimoneS

[benteen]

I was leery about this show before it started but damn, it keeps getting better week after week.

Didn't expect the reveal that Reed was a mutant.  I agree that his power is likely to return at some point.

Raymond J. Barry, playing another shady family member although this time he turns out to be a good guy.  He was terrific and I'm sorry he's gone already.

Fenris...they were the villains in Uncanny X-Men #200.  Truth be told, they weren't big enough villains for the 200th issue.  I never would have guessed they'd be central to any X-Men related product but they are being utilized very well here.

Esme!  

Spoiler

Hopefully this means we'll get the rest of the Stepford Cuckoos.

The fight with the superspeedster was pretty awesome.  Also lead to a reference to the mutant drug kick.

I continue to like Reed and Johnyn working together as the two do have good chemistry.  I liked them sharing a mutual loss here.

Edited November 21, 2017 by benteen

[SimoneS]

9 minutes ago, benteen said:

Fenris...they were the villains in Uncanny X-Men #200.  Truth be told, they weren't big enough villains for the 200th issue.  I never would have guessed they'd be central to any X-Men related product but they are being utilized very well here.

I didn't know that they were real mutants from the comics. I just read up on them after reading your post. Damn, they were evil as hell. Powerful white supremacist twins. That isn't good! No wonder, the father wanted to suppress the mutant gene. Although, it is nuture at fault there not nature.

 

12 minutes ago, benteen said:

Raymond J. Barry, playing another shady family member although this time he turns out to be a good guy.  He was terrific and I'm sorry he's gone already.

Yep, his signature role will always be Arlo Givens to me, but he is a good actor who can morph into different characters. It was too bad we didn't have him in this role a bit longer.

[Jlina]

Show finally being all it can be! Like Colby says in Burn Notice, that's how we do it people.  Best episode to date by miles.   I actually cared.

[Lantern7]

More fun stuff, though I'm not sad that it takes next week off. I reckon Fox is writing off that Monday to CW's epic DC crossover. Thanks, Fox!!

I reckon that if the series didn't have the "X" gimmick, tonight's episode would have been entitled "Everybody In Reed's Family Is Awesome But Him." Paternal grandfathers? Epic powered mutants. Children? Similar deal. Father? Can though an old-fashioned Haudoken fireball. Also, he's probaly bathing in the irony that he's been going after mutants for years, and he was supposed to be one himself. If either grandparent is still alive, I am willing to put money on what eventually happened with Fenris in the comics. It was sick as hell.

[athelyna]

I just realized the family's last name is Strucker, not Stryker.  I'm not familiar with X-men comics, but have seen the movies so thought their name was a reference to the bad guy from those.  Definitely the Strucker connection looks interesting, and I liked the reveal that Reed would have been a mutant if not for his dad.  I was a little surprised Reed's dad was a mutant as well, but I like the twist that he was trying to stop the family's mutant powers because his own father was half of a super-villain team.  Though maybe he would have been better off getting a vasectomy or otherwise never having kids if he really didn't want to see his parents power passed on.  I'm also feeling intrigued to know if Lauren and Andy will turn out better because of their upbringing or if their powers will overwhelm them and make them do terrible things.

Definitely my favorite episode so far - I liked the pairing of John and Reed, and Clarice getting a subplot helping the little girl and finding a somewhat valid use for Dreamer's powers.  One quibble with Clarice keeps going on about how she can't pass for human, but it really seems like she just needs some colored contacts and she would be fine.  Don't care for Marcos and Lorna's relationship drama and would be really happy if Marcos' awful ex gets killed offscreen and they never speak of the cartel again.

[bow]

Starting out, this has been the best episode in a while. I love to see the teamwork. That’s the best part.

Suicide bomber? That’s a little crazy. Especially since they are saying that about an Asian person.

My husband watched this with me for the first time and laughed when Amy Acker talked. Her dialogue was unfortunate: “Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone is concerned about that.” I actually like her. I hope they write better dialogue for her in the future. She’s a good actress.

Why are they so concerned about restraining a mutant who’s already in a jail cell??? Just because she’s on drugs? I guess Mutant Growth Hormone has a new name.

This repeat mutant abilities over generations is a strange plot point and makes absolutely no sense.

I freaked out with the reveal that Reed was a mutant until he was cured. Bat shit crazy, but the best story telling. Better than I expected. And his dad is badass.

The ending was good, especially when they used Alt-J for the music.

I hope those kids hold hands and never let go.

Edited November 21, 2017 by bow

[HunterHunted]

Given that there were two mutant kids in the Strucker family, it was pretty likely that one parent had to be a mutant. I just never assumed that Reed's dad would have suppressed Reed's mutation. I guess it makes sense that Garrett Dilahunt would be obsessed with Lauren and Andy if he knows about their grandfather's research and the Fenris twins. Lauren and Andy are at least 4th generation.

[roctavia]

Loved this episode. I liked the different pairings we had of the cast. It’s nice to have a show that changes things up that way. 

 

The strucker part part was definitely the most interesting part, all the family secrets! I wonder what Reed’s powers would have been... but maybe we’ll see after all. Sad to see the dad die so quickly, and Pulse. Was he played by Matt puddin’ pop from Vampire Diaries?? I didn’t recognize him until tonights episode!

 

This show is bringing in some interesting mutants and changing up the story enough so it’s not just people on the run. Though I do agree that the cartel storyline can go away any time now.

[blackwing]

Best part of the episode was the complete absence of the terrible Coby Bell.

I enjoyed this episode and even managed to tolerate Jamie Chung.  When she doesn't attempt to play angry, she's passable.  Not great but not the pits.

I was hoping the blond telepath would be Emma Frost.

[AnimeMania]

5 hours ago, athelyna said:

would be really happy if Marcos' awful ex gets killed offscreen and they never speak of the cartel again.

Even better if the mutants find out the cartel is selling Kick (the mutant drug) and they burn the place to the ground.

[Chris24601]

8 hours ago, bow said:

Why are they so concerned about restraining a mutant who’s already in a jail cell??? Just because she’s on drugs? I guess Mutant Growth Hormone has a new name.

Kick was a separate drug that dates back to Morrison's New X-Men run; incidentally the same run that introduced Esme (one of the Stepford Cookoos a set of FiveFourThree Identical Telepaths cloned from the White Queen/Emma Frost). It had way worse side effects than the later Mutant Growth Hormone (which was as much about repowering mutants who lost their abilities in M-Day as it was boosting the powers of existing ones).

[Raja]

Let's put a unique tattoo on all our sleeper agent mutants we are going to use to infiltrate the free mutants. Real smart doctors don't know shit about running an undercover operation.

[benteen]

14 minutes ago, Raja said:

Let's put a unique tattoo on all our sleeper agent mutants we are going to use to infiltrate the free mutants. Real smart doctors don't know shit about running an undercover operation.

Yeah, they proved that with the incredibly short-sighted move to give that DOJ lady a stroke.  Not getting rid of the tattoos is even more stupid.

[SimoneS]

I keep thinking about Reed. His whole perception of his world and who he is has been turned upside down. His father did love him. He is a mutant with suppressed powers. His family has generations of powerful mutants, including evil ones. His children are powerful mutants who might be dangerous to the world. Crazy. He will tell Caitlyn everything, but I wonder how much they will tell the children?

Edited November 21, 2017 by SimoneS

[phoenics]

This was the best episode to date.  Really enjoyed it and love the Strucker storyline - wow - talk about bringing it.  It's a great story because how would any of us react to being born of terrible terrorist mutant villains?  Reed's dad did what he thought was best - but it ripped his family apart.  I agree with others - why not just refuse to have children if you're so pressed?  But I truly enjoyed the episode so there's that.  I really think the original Strucker villains were a case of their upbringing - the way they were raised made them evil.  Andy and Lauren are different - though I could see Andy turning completely dark - because he's got PTS from being bullied for being different and likely still has a lot of anger.  Every episode he seems to be angry about something.  Lauren is much more well adjusted - but I could see Andy being manipulated by a Magneto type and going full on dark.  Hopefully he wouldn't stay dark - but his future is being totally telegraphed.  Lauren might go with him only to protect him and try to bring him back.

Really loved the trio of Blink, Marcos and Johnny fighting Chloe in the beginning.  That was some great action and liked seeing Blink integrated so well into that.  I wonder if she has other powers that we haven't seen?  I'm gonna look it up.

All around excellent episode.  Lorna still gets on my nerves sometimes - she's so conflict-ey.  For all of her ranting about Marcos and Carmen - she was certainly willing to try to make Marcos torture Chloe.  Both Lorna and Dreamer seem to have these "at all costs" attitude, while Johnny and Marcos definitely exercise more caution and less willingness to do whatever it takes.

Ugh - two weeks?

Edited November 21, 2017 by phoenics

[FortKnox]

Speaking of the superspeed fight did anyone else thought the speed effects here were better then they are on the Flash? 

[Lady Calypso]

What a great episode. Mixing up the pairings and giving important information is always great. Plus, multiple casualties to characters that were somewhat important to the plot!

I knew that there was a chance Reed would have the mutant gene, or be a mutant himself, so I really wasn't surprised by this revelation. I figured out it would be on his side, because I think they're really pushing for Caitlin to be the human in the family, and the angst with Reed being a mutant would be too great to resist. However, what did surprise me was that not only was Reed's father a mutant and took away his powers, but all those newspaper articles about powerful siblings destroying cities were related to Reed. So...at least there's that. I did like how they laid out the story. It was done differently enough where I wasn't annoyed with it. I thought steering the story toward Andy/Lauren being powerful together was very well done. I'm still a bit worried that Andy will eventually become the Special Child, as most shows tend to lean focus on one or two particular characters after a while, but right now, I'm just going to enjoy the ride until it happens. 

I do think Andy and Lauren will prove to be different than their ancestors/great grandparents, because they can choose to be good, and only Andy has shown signs of being manipulated to the dark side. It does look like, even with Andy's power, Trask Industries and Evil Doctor will probably want both siblings. 

Yeah, the romantic drama on this show annoys me. The victims of that trope this week are Lorna and Marcos, who annoyed the shit out of me. I usually like Lorna, but I was so done with her whining about Marcos, as I was done with his angst.

Blink, John, and Marcos' team up at the beginning was fantastic. This show has really tried to show the mutants work together, which is great. It goes to show that mutants work better together. It really does lead to some excellent scenes.

I'm surprised they killed off Pulse so fast. Maybe it's because I totally expected Zach Roerig to play a bigger role in more than three episodes. I'm not surprised they killed off Reed's father, because I've seen shows introduce a character who gives off important information, only to die right after. 

It is fun to see how each character handles their own leadership. 

[blackwing]

8 minutes ago, phoenics said:

All around excellent episode.  Lorna still gets on my nerves sometimes - she's so conflict-ey.  For all of her ranting about Marcos and Camille - she was certainly willing to try to make Marcos torture Chloe.  

That's not at all what their disagreement was about.  She was using her magnetic powers to control those knives and threaten Chloe into talking.  As you said, she's certainly shown herself to be ruthless.  She is the one that is training the younger mutants for war so they can defend themselves, much to the consternation of Miss Prissypants Caitlin.

Marcos told her to put the knives away, and Lorna was offended because of his hypocrisy.  She pointed out that he was Camille's longtime enforcer and torturer (which we saw him doing last episode) and had no issues with it.  But when Lorna is doing something similar, he tells her to stop.  It wasn't about trying to get Marcos to torture Chloe.  It was about Marcos doing things for Camille but not having the same mindset with Lorna   It was about choosing Camille over Lorna.

[MissL]

5 hours ago, Raja said:

Let's put a unique tattoo on all our sleeper agent mutants we are going to use to infiltrate the free mutants. Real smart doctors don't know shit about running an undercover operation.

Exactly!!! That part was stupid and makes it too easy to confirm a sleeper agent and not just a mutant who is acting fishy.

ok I said I was out last week but I forgot to delete this off the dvr so....this was better...if next ep keeps my interest they might have me.  Amy Acker is still the only character who draws me in fully but...Thunderbird is improving. Everyone else still annoys me. Strucker teens are only ok in small doses. Maybe I just don't enjoy tv show teenagers?

[phoenics]

3 hours ago, blackwing said:

That's not at all what their disagreement was about.  She was using her magnetic powers to control those knives and threaten Chloe into talking.  As you said, she's certainly shown herself to be ruthless.  She is the one that is training the younger mutants for war so they can defend themselves, much to the consternation of Miss Prissypants Caitlin.

Marcos told her to put the knives away, and Lorna was offended because of his hypocrisy.  She pointed out that he was Camille's longtime enforcer and torturer (which we saw him doing last episode) and had no issues with it.  But when Lorna is doing something similar, he tells her to stop.  It wasn't about trying to get Marcos to torture Chloe.  It was about Marcos doing things for Camille but not having the same mindset with Lorna   It was about choosing Camille over Lorna.

I'm referring to Marcos' own words, where he said point blank to Lorna that she was angry with him for torturing with Carmen, yet she was going to be just as ruthless trying to make him torture Chloe.  Her added jealousy just made it worse.  So I agree that part of her anger was due to being jealous - but she still wanted Marcos to torture Chloe.  The conversation I'm referring to happened after the knife incident.

Also - Marcos was only doing the stuff with Carmen because he did whatever he needed to do to save Lorna (who isn't being all that grateful to him for that).  It's actually hypocritical of Lorna to demand that Marcos do it for her when Marcos doesn't want to open himself up to being that guy anymore.  The ONLY reason he's doing it for Carmen is because he feels forced to.  Lorna making it a choice between her and Carmen is ridiculous.  Why then should Marcos be with Lorna - when she's basically being as ruthless as Carmen is?  One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist/gangster.  Lorna is just Carmen with mutant powers.  And the more she tried to push Marcos into "choosing her" by making him do something he clearly did NOT want to do (because he knows he'd lose himself), the more she proves that she's no better than Carmen.

At least Carmen owns her shit.  Lorna is too busy pretending she's "good", all the while chomping at the bit to kill folks.  Just like Magneto.

As I said in my post - both Lorna and Dreamer are ruthless, whatever the cost mutants (maybe Lorna gets that from her dad), but Marcos and Johnny both seem more like Xavier.

Edited November 21, 2017 by phoenics

[SimoneS]

18 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Perhaps it is just me, but given the ages of those two sibling teenagers, I though it was creepy that they were holding hands, and it wouldn't matter if they were or weren't mutants.

I though it was more ominous than creepy, especially after we learned about their grandfather and great aunt. Andy and Lauren are already close. The scene where Andy stood up the bulling mutants completely unafraid showed who far he has come, but the anger from being bullied is still there and now he has these powers and is determined to protect his sister, family, and other mutants. Turmoil and danger around them is driving them even closer together. It might also be their powers. It will be interesting to see how they balance  each other as they move forward. 

Edited November 22, 2017 by SimoneS

[thuganomics85]

Good old Raymond J. Barry playing the lead's dad and having a less then stellar relationship with him!  At least he came through at the end and saved Reed and John from getting captured, although his blast apparently wasn't big enough to take out Campbell, because Garrett Dillahunt's beard is that powerful!  But it looks like the Struckers are were the mutant gene came from, and Reed's father had created a way to repress the gene and used it on Reed, but it apparently still was passed on this children.  Of course, I really wouldn't be surprised if Reed somehow ends up developing a power again somehow.  As long as it's more then just growing fangs!

You know, Campbell, I hesitate to tell you how to do your job, but maybe if you plan on sending turned mutants undercover, you should get rid of that whole "tattoo your evil logo on them" idea.  Kind of a big red flag there, buddy!  It's too bad the mutant died anyway, but at least they got some information on Trask Industries and the building location.

So, it looks like they're setting things up for Lauren and Andy to be extremely powerful and maybe even dangerous if they keep working together.  They've clearly been showing Andy let his anger get the better of him, but I'm wondering what could happen to make them that deadly and enough for Reed's dad to fear them?

Glad Marcos and Lorna are on better terms now, but I still suspect Lorna is going to continue down a darker path and cause problems later on.  Speaking of better terms, who knew it would take a younger mutant whose seen some shit to actually make Clarissa and Dreamer tolerate one another?

I'm guessing this new telekinesis mutant will continue to play a big role.

Definitely the best episode so far.  It feels like things are finally moving, lines are being drawn, and getting some interesting pairing and character interactions.

[Shimmergloom]

On 11/21/2017 at 1:35 AM, blackwing said:

Best part of the episode was the complete absence of the terrible Coby Bell.

I enjoyed this episode and even managed to tolerate Jamie Chung.  When she doesn't attempt to play angry, she's passable.  Not great but not the pits.

I was hoping the blond telepath would be Emma Frost.

I wonder if Esme 

Spoiler

is the same Esme as the Stepford Cuckoo by that name.  http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Stepford_Cuckoos_(Earth-616) 

If so then she's not far off from being Emma Frost.

[blackwing]

I think she probably is.  I want the real Emma, but it's probably not possible.  I know this show is set in the same universe as the movies ("the X-Men are gone") and that the movie timeline/continuity is screwed up.  But I'm assuming that Emma can't show up because she was in First Class (even if the depiction by January Jones was terrible) and unless she time jumped she'd be so old on this show.  

[Finis Terre]

20 hours ago, blackwing said:

That's not at all what their disagreement was about.  She was using her magnetic powers to control those knives and threaten Chloe into talking.  As you said, she's certainly shown herself to be ruthless.  She is the one that is training the younger mutants for war so they can defend themselves, much to the consternation of Miss Prissypants Caitlin.

Marcos told her to put the knives away, and Lorna was offended because of his hypocrisy.  She pointed out that he was Camille's longtime enforcer and torturer (which we saw him doing last episode) and had no issues with it.  But when Lorna is doing something similar, he tells her to stop.  It wasn't about trying to get Marcos to torture Chloe.  It was about Marcos doing things for Camille but not having the same mindset with Lorna   It was about choosing Camille over Lorna.

Frankly, that kind of training won't be enough to save the mutants.

I like Lorna, but at this point in the story she is no less hypocritical than Marcos. Just because she has powers, she shouldn't be absolved each time she does stupid things. Meanwhile, Caitlin does good work for the community and actually progresses as a character.

[sjohnson]

Unfortunately, so far as drama is concerned, since torture isn't a reliable interrogation tool, Lorna wanting to torture is just stupidity. But engaging in badness to make an ally of the cartel may be making a deal with the devil, and may ultimately go bad...but they're in such a tough spot it's not stupid mean like Lorna. 

As usual, the director was the one in charge of messing up the scripts. The writing made it clear Daddy Strucker had an emotional commitment to Reed but he was far too ashamed to act like a loving father. Can't say that the performances reflected either the shame of the dad's confession, or the head spinning such revelations would inflict on a conscious Reed. John should have been confused by all the shifts and should have reacted to Strucker in his own right. This was not a workaholic dad validating a resentful son by (literally) sacrificing himself to make up for it. The dude experimented on his own son! And nearly killed him!

Lauren is sexy but kind of characterless otherwise. We don't really know much about her, because the writers haven't really thought of much else. Given how important the sibling relationship is shaping up for the plot, it is unfortunate we have little idea of what she really thinks or feels about Andy. I can't recall her explaining to Andy he was a mutant. She apparently had no idea why (of if?) Andy was being bullied so badly. We don't even know if she was one of those big sisters who hits the little brother until he gets too big for her to get away with it. It would be more consistent with Andy's characterization as a victim worm turning, but the old beautiful=good "characterization" seems to be good enough for females on this show. The closest thing to a dramatic choice she's made is to get horny for the dude who stole a MRE to flirt with her. (By the way, that convinced me good old Wes was not a good person in a way stealing jewelry while he was on the street didn't. Feeling so cool about breaking the rules about going outside instead of worrying about stray eyes wondering why people are in this supposedly abandoned building kind of confirmed that.) It's not clear the girl is so trashy as to get boy crazy, because the natural tendency is to interpret the geeky brother's snark as him being an asshole/geeky brother.

[Finis Terre]

Quote

As usual, the director was the one in charge of messing up the scripts. The writing made it clear Daddy Strucker had an emotional commitment to Reed but he was far too ashamed to act like a loving father. Can't say that the performances reflected either the shame of the dad's confession, or the head spinning such revelations would inflict on a conscious Reed. John should have been confused by all the shifts and should have reacted to Strucker in his own right. This was not a workaholic dad validating a resentful son by (literally) sacrificing himself to make up for it. The dude experimented on his own son! And nearly killed him!

Unfortunately, Moyer seems to be incapable of doing more than his "vaguely-menacing-stoic-grave-on-the-verge-of-some-emotion-probably" routine and Barry wasn't much better. I felt this sequence required a lot of mutual resentment and shock, and ultimately maybe a bit of relief that although the father's effort was misguided, it was actually motivated by an attempt to do good. 

 

Quote

Lauren is sexy but kind of characterless otherwise. We don't really know much about her, because the writers haven't really thought of much else. Given how important the sibling relationship is shaping up for the plot, it is unfortunate we have little idea of what she really thinks or feels about Andy. I can't recall her explaining to Andy he was a mutant.

The creators had plenty of time to establish those things in the pilot of the series. Instead, they opted for an extended scene with the mutants on the run.

I will probably be proven wrong, but I think that one the most important twists in the series will be about Lauren going evil, precisely because she's sweet and beautiful and we know almost nothing about her. We do get glimpses of her being bossy or a bit too smart for her own good (or maybe the actress lacks subtlety? I still don't know what to think about the "kick" scene).

[Jacks-Son]

Haven't seen Sklyer Samuels (Esme) in awhile. Matter of fact, I haven't seen her since she starred in her own series, "The Nine Lives of Chloe King".  She has certainly aged and lost her baby fat. Clarice said that her eyes and ears mark her as not normal, however, I haven't seen her ears. Has anybody noticed her ears or have they shown them in an episode?

[moonshine71]

11 minutes ago, Jacks-Son said:

Haven't seen Sklyer Samuels (Esme) in awhile. Matter of fact, I haven't seen her since she starred in her own series, "The Nine Lives of Chloe King".  She has certainly aged and lost her baby fat. Clarice said that her eyes and ears mark her as not normal, however, I haven't seen her ears. Has anybody noticed her ears or have they shown them in an episode?

Skyler, I didn't recognize her from Scream Queens, she was good in that. Season one was pretty funny, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Season two didn't really keep my interest through the first episode, though.

 

Blink traditionally has pointy ears, but we haven't seen them yet.

[Jacks-Son]

She was in "Scream Queens"? Was that the series where the serial killer kept changing or there was a copy cat who wore a strange mask?  If so, I was so confused by that series I gave up on it.

[bow]

On 11/21/2017 at 7:50 AM, Chris24601 said:

Kick was a separate drug that dates back to Morrison's New X-Men run; incidentally the same run that introduced Esme (one of the Stepford Cookoos a set of FiveFourThree Identical Telepaths cloned from the White Queen/Emma Frost). It had way worse side effects than the later Mutant Growth Hormone (which was as much about repowering mutants who lost their abilities in M-Day as it was boosting the powers of existing ones).

Ah, great thanks! I’ll have to go back and read that run. I didn’t even pick up on the Esme introduction when I first watched, but realized later. I might have to go back and watch again...

[slf]

TBH it rubs me the wrong way that Lorna's pissed Marcos utilized a former connection when she's repeatedly advocated using whatever means necessary to achieve their goals, including torturing and mind-controlling people. Especially because a lot of her anger is because she's jealous, which is childish. He could go be with Carmen if he wanted to, Carmen's made it plain she'd take him back. Trust your man or don't. At this point the only person coming between Lorna and Marcos is Lorna. (Not to mention these lovers spat scenes are showing Emma Dumont's weaknesses.)

Hey, Skyler Samuels! First saw her in The Gates then The Nine Lives of Chloe King. People always trashed her acting - not entirely without reason - but I think she's improved. It's hilarious that she had more chemistry with Caitlin in one scene then I think Reed has so far.

Blink's getting pretty good with her portals; I wonder if the show will develop her ability more along the lines of what we see in Days of Future Past.

[Finis Terre]

1 hour ago, slf said:

Especially because a lot of her anger is because she's jealous, which is childish.

In defense of Lorna, most people would probably feel that way given the situation: she's under pressure, pregnant and vulnerable. In the first episodes the show tried to push the narrative that mutants are perfect and humans are vile and I'm glad to see a more nuanced approach.

Quote

It's hilarious that she had more chemistry with Caitlin in one scene then I think Reed has so far.

Ain't that true. :) If Esme is indeed 

Spoiler

one of the government/Trask Industries moles

 

then her attempt at charming a non-mutant (a hypothetical weak link) would make even more sense. The scene was also a sad reminder how little character development there has been for Caitlin on the show. We know almost nothing about her past and Acker, easily the best actor here, is burdened with atrocious lines. Ugh.  

[sjohnson]

Gotta say, in my everyday life most people are delivering atrocious lines. Atrocious lines always have a sheen of verisimilitude for that reason. I enjoy dialogue where most lines have a Casablanca level of wit and vigor, but in the long run it tends to give a theatrical air to the proceedings. This isn't a problem for short form. 

I know that producers are convinced audiences want action most of all, but will settle for scenes, as in the sense of one character making a scene at another. But everything I know about people with political commitments is that they love to talk politics. Politics for mutants are just like politics for everybody else, it includes your relationships with family, and family friends, and teachers and fellow students, and coworkers and employees. None of the mutants appear to have a real past.

[tennisgurl]

I totally called Reed being a secret mutant! Granted, I didn't see his dad also being a mutant and his dad being the one who got rid of his powers, but I am super proud of myself for that much. It was cool seeing Arlo being more of a misunderstood asshole instead of an actual full on asshole. The whole Strucker family history is super interesting, and I am super interested in seeing if the evil grandparents are still alive, or what happened to them. I wonder what powers Reed had/has? I figure that his powers will full on manifest at some point, maybe when his family is in danger. 

I really liked the episode, and the information we got about Trask and Sentinal Services. I felt awful that Pulse and Chloe both died, after so many awful things happened to them. I was hoping that Pulse could be woken up and be alright. Also sad that grandpa died, even though I definitely saw it coming. 

Dreamer actually has a good way to use her power, and the fight in the beginning against Chloe was awesome. Its good to see how they're using the mutant powers in more creative ways. I also like the mix ups in character, especially John and Reed, they worked really well together. 

I could see Andy going dark side, but only under pretty extreme circumstances. The main time his powers go bad is when he is super pissed or if his family is in danger, but he seems to be basically an ok kid, so who knows. 

Edited November 25, 2017 by tennisgurl

[SimoneS]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I totally called Reed being a secret mutant! Granted, I didn't see his dad also being a mutant and his dad being the one who got rid of his powers, but I am am super proud of myself for that much. It was cool seeing Arlo being more of a misunderstood asshole instead of an actual full on asshole. The whole Strucker family history is super interesting, and I am super interested in seeing if the evil grandparents are still alive, or what happened to them. I wonder what powers Reed had/has? I figure that his powers will full on manifest at some point, maybe when his family is in danger. 

You did. It is such a good twist. The ratings are hanging in there so hopefully, we get another season so we can meet the evil grandfather and great aunt twin Struckers.  I would love to see how the mutants deal with crazy evil mutants as well as Sentinel. 

[jhlipton]

On 11/20/2017 at 8:10 PM, athelyna said:

I'm also feeling intrigued to know if Lauren and Andy will turn out better because of their upbringing or if their powers will overwhelm them and make them do terrible things.

I think they'll be pushed to the edge -- just one second short of doing the Terrible Thing, then at least one will be brought back (with the other possibly sacrificing their life to keep the Terrible Thing form happening).

[sjohnson]

In the long run I don't think it looks promising, because they appear to be committed to showing the sibs doing collateral damage. In the US proper, collateral damage is A Terrible Thing, however easily it is tolerated in the lesser lands. My experience has been that when it comes to TV and movies, revolutionary violence is the only real violence, and writers develop a bad case of pacifism. They may write the tragedy of the absolute necessity for violence to restore the status quo and have the heroes commit to counter-revolution a la Mr. Robot. If the sibs are written as killing cops any next season would I think have been about their redemption arc as they turned against the evil mutants and fought them in the name of the status quo. Sentinel Services/Trask/Campbell are already presented as the bad apples, hence Jace Turner's importance, the redemption arc for law enforcement. Sentinel Services is a horrible miscarriage, not business as usual. The thing is, it seems to me the logical outcome is one side wins, and not writing that story is something of a cop out.

[HunterHunted]

On 11/24/2017 at 6:17 PM, SimoneS said:

You did. It is such a good twist. The ratings are hanging in there so hopefully, we get another season so we can meet the evil grandfather and great aunt twin Struckers.  I would love to see how the mutants deal with crazy evil mutants as well as Sentinel. 

Arlo Givens/Reed's dad is Lauren and Andy's grandfather. Fenris male is their great-grandfather, while Fenris female is  

Spoiler

likely their great-grandmother. The original Fenris twins were incestuous in the comics. The original twins would be Lauren and Andy's great-grandparents. I think the same is possibly true in Gifted because Reed's dad clearly says "they" raised me with no mention of his mother. He also runs away from the Fenris twins, but doesn't mention his mother or whether she believed similarly making it more likely that he was the child of incest.

Edited November 27, 2017 by HunterHunted

[SimoneS]

1 minute ago, HunterHunted said:

 

  Hide contents

likely their great-grandmother. The original Fenris twins were incestuous in the comics. The original twins would be Lauren and Andy's great-grandparents.

Oh, I didn't know this.

[Chas411]

Did Pulse even have any lines? Zach Roerig is a biggish name I'm surprised they wasted him like that.

Lorna was a pain in the ass this episode.

The main issue with this show I find is that it's way too overcrowded. 

The Song at the end of the episode was brutal.

Edited November 27, 2017 by Chas411

[AKA...CJ86]

I was wondering if Lauren and Andy would evolve into Fenris or if the Strucker deal was going to be an in name situation.  While Lauren and Andy can still grow into that direction, making Fenris relatives was interesting route to go.  I was surprised and pleased with this development.

One episode appearance and I think Otto became my favorite character, If only it wasn't a cliched "Bad Dad turns out to be good in the end" type of deal.

Esme and Kick, two references I almost had to look up.  

Edited December 1, 2017 by CyberJawa1986