The Gifted: rX
October 9, 2017 7:14 PM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe

After exerting her powers beyond their limits, Blink goes into a state of shock, forcing Caitlin and Eclipse to go on a mission to find a special serum to help her recover. Meanwhile, Reed faces some difficult choices when it comes to helping his family, and Polaris runs into some trouble.
posted by oh yeah! (18 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
*AV Club - The Gifted considers powers mishaps and mutant healthcare in its solid second outing
*IGN review - Feeling green
*Den of Geek - The Gifted Cast Talks Politics & Privilege in Superheroes

Seeing Sharon Gless as Ellen Strucker gave me Burn Notice nostalgia. Another solid episode, I thought. Loved the special effects work.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:37 AM on October 10, 2017 [3 favorites]


yep, the out of control portal was visually quite cool and actually scary.
posted by sammyo at 9:47 AM on October 10, 2017 [1 favorite]


"Loved the special effects work."

I felt the opposite when Blink's malfunction first started and she swung her hand around to her right, palm-down, and they had clearly just taped red and blue LEDs to her palm. It was a split-second shot and I know you gotta put your FX where they're deserved but it really took me out of the moment.

That, plus not seeing any set of legs walking around while missing an upper torso what with a portal having flashed through their body.
posted by komara at 10:00 AM on October 10, 2017


It felt like a bit of time passed between the filming of the first episode and this one, but mostly in ways I can't quite put my finger on. The daughter looked more... normal? Amy Acker looked less generically housewifey? The son looked like he'd gotten a good solid meal in him? I dunno, maybe they do the opposite of cleaning up well. The rough life suits them sort of thing.

I do like how they're showing ability mutants for the first time - AoS is mostly punching and wire work, these guys are doing all the stuff that was mostly left for the comics because the production costs would be too high to do even in film, much less television.

I enjoyed this episode more than the first one - it feels like there's some potential here for a story that, yeah, it's old hat for comic fans, but still has the potential to raise interesting moral and ethical questions.
posted by Kyol at 5:11 PM on October 10, 2017


And I'm sorta wondering when it's going to stop being Coby Bell, Amy Acker, the Gothiest Goth, ol' Green Eyes, "Dude from Incorporated" and... Uh. Everybody else. I mean, I'm sure they all have names or aliases and stuff, but none of it has stuck worth a damn so far.
posted by Kyol at 8:10 PM on October 10, 2017


Seeing Sharon Gless as Ellen Strucker gave me Burn Notice nostalgia.

Yeah! First we get Jesse, now Mrs. Westin.
posted by ODiV at 9:19 AM on October 11, 2017 [4 favorites]


Still not 100% sold. I think I'll give it another episode and drop it if it doesn't pull me in.

That, plus not seeing any set of legs walking around while missing an upper torso what with a portal having flashed through their body.

People really didn't seem scared enough based on what happened with the truck. Everyone's just milling about while these portals are flying everywhere. Damn lucky no one got decapitated.
posted by ODiV at 9:21 AM on October 11, 2017


The moment where Polaris managed to use her powers and slammed the table into the fence was epic, I loved it. It's the kind of thing that really translates well from the comics to the small screen. Really all the prison scenes worked a lot better than I thought they might.

Sharon Gless effortlessly framing a character in two short scenes is, of course, awesome. There were a couple of moments that were a bit too textbook (the dramatic irony of the bowling alley scene with Reed and the "good mutant or bad mutant" speech from the Sentinel Service agent) but I thought the doctor taking Amy Acker aside about domestic violence was genuinely good at building out the themes of the show. Also, the on-the-nose factor is also, well, kinda something the X-Men books always had. They're action-adventure comic books with interesting themes, not high literature.

Blink's powers in the last part felt kinda cheap, and I say that as a fan of the character. It kinda sucked to have her sidelined as basically a prop for an episode but it really drew a lot out of Caitlin who finally got to be really good at things and not just making pained mother faces like in the pilot.

I want to see where this goes. My hope is that we'll see more from the other mutants who've just been milling around the headquarters as things come together. Also that they'll continue with the world-building through flashbacks.
posted by graymouser at 3:27 AM on October 12, 2017


"How does Polaris continue to have a full face of make-up in prison?"

I was kind of hand-waving that away and pretending that every shot was of her first day ... until they had her take a shower and then I was like okay fine whatever I give up.
posted by komara at 8:28 AM on October 12, 2017


"How does Polaris continue to have a full face of make-up in prison?"

I always sort of handwave that away as blah blah intrinsic to her mutant powers - kickass eye makup and gothy pallor. Just like how Blink has those freaky green eyes and the other mutie in jail had that 3 days dead in a bog skin tone.
posted by Kyol at 9:10 AM on October 12, 2017


mutie

Whoa! Let's not just throw words like that around.
posted by ODiV at 9:23 AM on October 12, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh right I forget what we're legally required to call them these days. Sony still owns the word "mutant", right? :)
posted by Kyol at 10:45 AM on October 12, 2017


How does Polaris continue to have a full face of make-up in prison?

I know, right? I pointed that out and my husband shared that it was a little known part of her powers...the ability to have her makeup regenerate every hour.
posted by the webmistress at 11:49 AM on October 12, 2017


I honestly think it's by necessity for people like me that ain't so hot with faces - Emma Dumont looks radically different without the heavy makeup and people like me might miss some dialogue while trying to figure out who the new character is.

okay that's an exaggeration but it's the best I got
posted by komara at 12:26 PM on October 12, 2017 [1 favorite]


If anyone missed the first and/or second episode, they're repeating on FX tonight.
posted by homunculus at 5:44 PM on October 14, 2017


The previews made this look terrible. The show, however, has held up for me after a binge - pacing is just right, I'm getting delightful "when Burn Notice was good" vibes mixed with "oh right Amy Acker has chops that greatly outshine her toil in the Whedonverse".

But more than that, I buy the sibling relationship. I buy both the traditional family and the family of choice at the center of the action. That's a big step in a pilot and second episode.

Also the rawness and still awesomeness of relevant powers are pretty well done.

I'm in.
posted by abulafa at 6:06 PM on October 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


I wonder if one of the parents is also a mutant without realizing it?
posted by Pronoiac at 6:07 PM on October 14, 2017


I eat bananas precisely so I don't start throwing portals everywhere.
posted by srboisvert at 7:14 PM on October 16, 2017 [4 favorites]


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