In the last episode of "The Gifted," the lives of the Strucker family were thrown into chaos when the mutant powers of Andy (Percy White) manifested and he accidentally destroyed the high school he and his sister Lauren (Natalie Lind) attend. This forced Lauren to reveal her own mutant abilities to their mother Kate (Amy Acker) and sent the family on the run. Their father Reed (Stephen Moyer) contacted the Mutant Underground led by Marcos (Sean Teale), who is trying to get his girlfriend Lorna (Emma Dumont) out of prison. When their meet up was broken by the Sentinel Services, they were forced into deeper trouble.
The Sentinel Services
At the end of "eXposed," the Struckers and the members of the Mutant Underground attempted to escape through one of the Blink (Jamie hung)'s portals. Reed got shot helping Andy through, and Blink collapsed, shutting the portal and leaving Reed at the mercy of the Sentinel Services. As soon as they released him from the hospital, he was dragged into an interrogation room with Jace Turner (Coby Bell), the head of the Strucker case. Reed put his experience as a federal prosecutor to use as he knows his rights, but he underestimated how far the Sentinel Services are willing to go; instead of providing him with a lawyer, they showed him that they've brought his mother in for questioning and Jace threatened to bring in other people close to Reed as co-conspirators.
We learned a lot from watching Jace interrogate Reed. We got a better look at the federal agency itself; in the first episode, it was established that they were a threat, with Reed saying they had gotten involved in one of his previous cases and make the suspect vanish. They clearly have a lot of manpower and resources. This episode also showed that they're willing to strike however hard they need to to get what they want.
We also got a chance to learn a bit about Jace. He told Reed that he joined the Services because his daughter was killed by a mutant. We also learned a little bit more about the X-Men. Jace said he doesn't know which side accidentally killed his daughter, and he doesn't care. All we've been told of the X-Men and the Brotherhood is that they existed at one point, but nobody knows where they are in the present.
This hints at an explosive battle that may have wiped them both out in recent years.
Over-extended powers
Reed wasn't the only one affected by Blink's portal. When she passed out, the other Struckers tried to get back to him. Again, John (Blair Redford) proved himself to be a voice of reason when he talked them down and convinced them that going back would be dangerous. Things got worse for them at the Mutant Underground headquarters when Blink went into shock after over-extending her powers and opened a portal that let half a truck rip through the building. As a nurse, Kate knew that Blink's life was in danger but didn't have the medicine to help her. When Blink opened another portal, Lauren managed to use her powers to force it shut and convinced Kate to go with Marcos to the hospital to get the drugs needed to stabilize Blink.
As the episode goes on, Blink lost more and more control as she started opening portals more frequently until dozens of portals were popping up around the headquarters at once.
This storyline taught us a lot about the world of mutants, and hinted at some character growth. While Blink lost control of her powers, it seems likely that one day she'll be able to control them at the magnitude she displayed in the episode, making her a powerful mutant. We also learned that Kate can grow when it comes to accepting mutants. On the way to the hospital, Marcos asked her if she would support the mutants who destroyed the school if they weren't her children and she could not answer. We also learned a little bit more about how badly mutants can be treated.
In order to sneak into the hospital, Kate reopened a wound on Marcos's shoulder. After closing the wound, the doctor took Kate into the hall and asked about a head injury from the truck before, assuming that Marcos had done it to her. When he called the cops, Marcos told Kate he received top-notch medical care because the doctor called the cops after stitching him up.
A hostile world
Finally, we were introduced a little bit more to the world of Lorna now that she's in prison, and it's not a happy place. She's forced to wear a kind of shock collar that prevents her from using her powers, which she discovers when she tries to break out of her cell. The people in the surrounding cells laughed at her as she tries to stay conscious.
Later on, in the yard, she met a human inmate who told Lorna that all the mutants in the prison work for her because she has the power inside. When Lorna dismissed her, several of the other inmates jumped her, beating her to the ground. Lorna managed to fight through the collar's effect to throw a table at her new enemy before getting thrown into her cell.
It taught us a lot about Lorna's storyline going forward and hints at a possible battle in the future. Lorna acted tough during the confrontation in the prison yard, but when she went back to the cell we realized that she's much more scared than she was letting on. Since they've clearly established an antagonist in the prison, it's unlikely that Lorna will be meeting up with the Mutant Underground anytime soon.
There's also a hint of revolt in the future. It appears that mutants are oppressed in prison just as much outside, but several mutants take notice of Lorna's ability to use her power. It's more than possible we'll see a riot inside the prison of mutants vs. inmates.
A great follow-up
"rX" was a great follow-up to the first installment of Marvel's newest show. It raised the stakes explosively, showing how dangerous the enemies are but also proving that our heroes are up to the challenge. By showing new sides to villains and heroes alike, it deepens our investment and shows that the show will have plenty on conflict going on. Blink's powers going haywire also showed that the animation in the show is very solid. Again, "The Gifted" has delivered a solid episode.
