Rachel Bellwoar reviews the tenth episode of Marvel’s The Gifted…
Of the mutants in the Mutant Underground, Dreamer’s abilities have been cause for more debate than most but her intentions have always been good. While interrogating Dreamer, Jace lets her know this is personal for him, after she tampered with his memories and made him forget the last days of his daughter’s life. Dreamer hadn’t meant for that to happen. It was an accident, but what about the times she removed memories from the women at the battered woman’s shelter? Not unlike remembering your daughter’s dead, those were painful and devastating, and Dreamer took them away without asking. What if her actions had consequences and, unlike Jace, those women never had a chance to confront her about them?
Intentions, and whether they matter, or at the core of Jace’s personal crossroads. When Kate and Reed drop by his house (Kate arrives armed), Jace’s wife is there and hears all the classified information he’s been legally bound not to tell her. Jace knows not all mutants are bad but the results are the same. Whether it’s friendly fire or a calculated attack, people get hurt by mutant abilities, and he tries to let that reality guide his decisions.
Kate breaks through his defenses, and it’s such a cool moment because a) she’s not a lawyer, her husband is, and b) she wins because she listens. Emotions are high but because she focuses on what Jace is saying, and comes up with her counter points on the spot, she’s able to make the perfect closing argument. Better yet, they’re able to give their response and walk away. They don’t stick around to debate the subject further, and when their children are in the balance, it can’t be easy to leave things uncertain, but that’s what they said they would do, say their piece and leave. They don’t push their luck.
Which is why Esme singlehandedly changing the plan looks to undermine everything the Struckers accomplished and push Jace further against them. As far as he knows, he was played and the Struckers were in on everything, and he’s not wrong to think that. Even if the Mutant Underground were to renounce Esme, nobody would trust them, and Esme’s knows where their headquarters is hidden. They’d need a new base of operations, before trying to cut ties, and with this heat, that’s likely impossible.
Esme is what it looks like to have powers like Dreamer and use them deliberately for harm. Dreamer died a hero. Allowing herself to be caught trying to save the Strucker siblings, she was killed for refusing to give into Dr. Campbell’s commands. If Esme hadn’t instilled the idea in the Struckers to talk to Jace, maybe their kids would still be trapped in Dr. Campbell’s clutches, but having Sentinel Service agents kill themselves is to treat humans like Dr. Campbell treats mutants.
Dr. Campbell’s so-called indestructible room gives us our first chance to see Lauren and Andy combine their powers to fruition. He says with the data collected he can make a weapon to take out mutants but is his plan to weaponize the Struckers, as part of the Hound Program, or use something isolated from their DNA?
Maybe the triplet reveal was a giveaway to comic fans, but who is Esme and her family? Have the Struckers finally been accepted by the Mutant Underground, seeing as they believe Reed and Kate about Esme’s lies? And what do we think about recycling the transport vehicle timing for helping mutant prisoners escape?
Feel free to share your thoughts on the winter finale in the comments below.
Rachel Bellwoar
