‘The Gifted 1×05: boXed In’ Review
Since The Gifted began we’ve learnt little bits about Jace Turner (Cody Bell) but his actions have overshadowed his own personal story. This week though not only do we get to see what caused his vendetta against the mutants, but also see the impossible happen. He may actually be turning into a character we actually care about.
With Reed (Stephen Moyer) and Polaris (Emma Dumont) now free the mutants must escape Sentinel Services who are fast tracking them down. With the mutants wary of him, Reed takes a big risk to earn their truest, while Polaris and Eclipse (Marcos Diaz) come face to face with Jace Turner.
The episode starts with a flashback to the day of the event that we keep on hearing about. What we see is what makes Jace hate the mutants so much, and it humanises him more. It is hard to not relate to his loss and understand what makes him so vindictive when it comes to hunting them down.
boXed In is a busy episode, though the events around Jace are the most important as they are the most tragic. What this encounter shows is not only how powerful Polaris is, but also how full of hate she also is. It is understandable of course that she feels this way, but her hatred is born out of similar pain, and that is over a child. It will be interesting though to see if Polaris takes an eviller turn, there are certain hints that this could happen.
This week in The Gifted we finally get to see the Strucker family reunited, though at times it does look like Reed may end up captured yet again. His encounter with the bar owner Fade (Jeff Daniel Phillips) shows the problem he will be facing with mutants. He may be able to help them with working out what Sentinel Services are up to, but the fact he also worked for them is not a welcome thing for people who are trying to escape them.
The ongoing story with Dreamer (Elena Satine) and her powers finally comes to a head this week when she uses them against Jace. This is the final part of the puzzle that Blink (Jamie Chung) needed to the memories she has had. The confrontation between Dreamer and her shows just how manipulative her power is, and how hurtful it could be.
Looking back at Jace, the audience can’t help but pity him at the end of the episode. This is finally where he becomes a likable character and even more tragic. To have his memory altered in such a way as to rip a part of his memory away, is a pain you just can’t help to empathise with. We’ll have to see what this does to him in future episodes, will he become more aggressive in his attacks, or will it have weakened him?
This episode of The Gifted was probably the best yet, and is arguably what the show was building up to. If it can stay at this level of intensity, we’ll stay invested in the characters and look forward to the episodes to come.
***** 5/5
The Gifted is shown in the UK on Fox TV on Sundays at 9pm.
