The Gifted: Ranking season 2 episodes so far
THE GIFTED: L-R: Sean Teale and Blair Redford in the “no Mercy” episode of THE GIFTED airing Tuesday, Nov. 13 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2018 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Jace DownsFOX.
3 – “no Mercy” (2.06)
Yes, the Inner Circle is evil, but they sure can pull off an amazing-looking bank robbery – in about three minutes, given the timer of Phoebe’s video footage. Guess all of Reeva’s incessant training paid off. Esme babysitting Dawn was hilarious and added much-needed comic relief to a tense episode, and the Underground bickered amongst themselves, which got a little tiring.
Turner meeting TV personality Benedict Ryan was interesting, though it seemed a little tone-deaf in how biased it was, given that this is a show of various grays and that Stan Lee, who created the X-Men as a way to broaden perspectives, had just died when “no Mercy” aired.
2 – “the dreaM” (2.08)
“the dreaM” was maybe the most emotionally traumatic episode of this season so far, which is really saying something for this show. It used multiple flashbacks, which was another out-of-the-ordinary structural quirk of this script.
It dealt with Polaris’ backstory, growing up in a small town in northwest Missouri, as she and Eclipse came to the difficult decision that Dawn wasn’t safe with either one of them, given the state of the world around DC at the moment. Blink rightfully worried about Thunderbird’s increasing recklessness, while they failed to track down an exiled Twist. Meanwhile, the Struckers searched for a cure in Charlotte, with the help of an old family friend.
We saw Lorna receive the only birthday gift she ever got from her father Magneto – the red metal disc we’ve seen her occasionally playing with when bored. It was a gift for her 13th birthday, with a note stating it was for his “North Star” (thus explaining how she chose her code name). The flashback of Polaris wrecking the Firebird of the guy who was hitting on her in the bar was a very well-written moment.