‘The Gifted 1×10: eXploited’ Review
Christmas may be days away, but that doesn’t mean that The Gifted is going to offer much cheer. In a world where the humans are the monsters, willing to do unspeakable things to the mutants, things are looking a little dark. With Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (Percy Hynes White) in the hands of Trask Industries, will they be able to escape?
This week Reed Strucker (Stephen Moyer) and wife Kate (Amy Acker) are manipulated by Esme (Skyler Samuels) to try to get help from Jace (Coby Bell) to protect their kids from Trask Industries. With them gone though, Esme then uses this to force the other mutants to plan an attack that could put them all in trouble.
For most of this episode, things are a little slow, with the characters more interested in talking about their predicament instead of taking action. Even Reed and Kate forcing their way into Jace’s home lacks much excitement.
What visiting Jace does do though is to bring his character back into the audience’s interest, especially when he shows some empathy and takes action. Dr. Roderick Campbell (Garret Dillahunt) is back with his new scar and showing just how evil, he is.
It is the doctor’s actions that prove who are the bad guys this episode, especially when he kills one of the mutant underground. The suddenness and cold-blooded nature of the killing has quite an impact, as up until now The Gifted has been lighter entertainment than some other shows on at the moment. The murder we see on-screen though is more into The Walking Dead territory where it is quick and sudden.
While I found this episode to be a little slow, it was full of character development. This is especially the case around Eclipse (Sean Teale) and Polaris (Emma Dumont). In a show that focuses on families, their reactions to the events around them is more interesting, especially as they have a child on the way. Even though Polaris wants action and is willing to take down Trask Industries, she does it for the protection of her family. Which shows a softer side to the often-violent mutant.
What this episode is really about though is Esme, and just who she is. It is pretty evident early on that she is working against the Mutant Underground and is manipulating them to attack Trask Industries, but what we don’t know is if she is under control by them. We get the answer at the end of the episode, and it teases another faction in the show. With a new enemy for both Sentinel/Trask and the mutants, it will be interesting to see if Esme and her group are working alone, or are part of something bigger.
For fans of the X-Men there is a big Easter egg this week, and it comes at an exciting moment where Lauren and Andy show off their power. The fact that the “indestructible metal” takes some beating shows just how possible the brother and sister are, and also raises an interesting question as to how much damage they would do to a certain X-Men. I doubt we’ll ever find that out though.
This week’s episode of The Gifted may be a little slow, but the twist at the end does make it worth it. One of the weaker episodes it is good to finally see how strong Lauren and Andy are, and just what Esme wanted from the Mutant Underground. Now to see what the fallout of her actions will be.
**** 4/5
The Gifted is shown in the UK on Fox TV on Sundays at 9pm.
