Rachel Bellwoar reviews the eighth episode of Marvel’s The Gifted…
If last week’s episode wasn’t the most edge-of-your-seat, ‘threat of eXtinction’ is the complete package, an episode where all the storylines work together to provide a clearer image of what the Mutant Underground are up against.
On a trip to pick up refugees, Thunderbird, Blink and Eclipse run into one of Dr. Campbell’s moles, Chloe (Michelle Kim), resulting in one of The Gifted‘s awesome Mutant action sequences. Like a sports team with a play book, Thunderbird uses Blink’s portal to get the drop on Chloe from above. You would think they practiced in advance, they work together so well, and they never roll out the same moves.
Besides earning a standing ovation in the fight choreography and special effects department, The Gifted doesn’t lose sleep wondering whether Chloe’s a spy. They get to be definitive, thanks to a strong character introduction in Esme (Skyler Samuels), a telepath, whose aid is already required twice this episode. Her addition to the group is seamless.
The other flaw in the moles’ design is their wrist tattoo. A dead giveaway, which probably won’t last once Sentinel Services catches on, the Mutant Underground are able to turn this cruel, branding practice against Sentinel Services, and focus all their efforts on helping Chloe talk.
The spat between Eclipse and Polaris is the episode’s weakest link, yet keeps a foot in the door of what’s going on with everyone else. Polaris lets Eclipse know she saw him with the Cartel and that his ties with them can’t continue. Unwilling to cross the line when it’ll help their cause, he shouldn’t be willing to commit worse atrocities for them, and Polaris won’t back down, taking the couch, pregnant, because no one’s going to say she asked for favors (or called dibs on the bed).
Eclipse is the first to realize Chloe’s suffering from withdrawal. Trask has been getting mutants addicted and is using drugs to turn their loyalty. Since Reed’s dad is a former employee, Reed decides he needs to pay his old man a visit, breaking years of silence in the process.
Raymond J. Barry, whose guest star game is on point, with recent appearances on Gotham and You’re the Worst, plays Reed’s father, Otto. His quick transformation from an Arlo Givens-like dad (Barry’s character on Justified) to father-of-the-year take’s TV’s condensed timeline to swallow (though I could see a similar future for Reed, where his prickly parenting causes a split). Otto doesn’t last an episode before sacrificing himself to safe his estranged son, but the bombshells he packs into a mini-Strucker family history will be going off through the weeks until the season finale.
The project he worked on for Trask was to remove the X-gene. Its success was inconsistent, but Reed would’ve been a mutant if not for being a test subject. His grandfather and great-aunt were mutant terrorists, siblings like Lauren and Andy, and Otto wanted to prevent any encore sibling acts. Their family’s abilities are already heightened (Pulse is hyped up on Dr. Campbell’s drugs and Otto’s powers surpass his).
The final scene of Reed ‘um-ing’ when his family asks him what happened won’t be an instant classic, but Reed and Thunderbird burying their dead (Pulse was Thunderbird’s best friend) makes for a powerful, wartime scene of two soldiers, permanently bonded by their shared experiences.
Other thoughts on ‘threat of eXtinction’:
- From the looks of it Dr. Campbell was injured in Otto’s explosion, but while he’s temporarily down for the count, he’s sure to come back with a vengeance, like Jace did, after he recuperates.
- Blink fostering a special connection with one of the new arrivals, Norah (Liza Fagin), gave her a chance to give back, the way her foster parents did. It’s too bad the storyline gets commandeered as a reason for Blink to patch things up with Dreamer. There was nothing wrong with her decision to keep their relationship professional yet she’s suddenly apologizing and asking for Dreamer’s help. Norah can’t sleep since seeing her foster parents killed. Dreamer offers to use her powers for something positive but the morality of taking away memories is shaky nonetheless, a quick fix that doesn’t replace working through the pain and the healing that comes over time.
- It’s a shame Otto never got to meet his grandchildren. He would’ve understood what Lauren went through, passing for human so long.
Rachel Bellwoar
