Title: The Gifted: “eXtreme measures”
Network: FOX
Air Date: November 13, 2017
Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Thriller, Adventure
In this week’s episode of The Gifted, “eXtreme measures”, you are taken on a ride through the past and into the current events going on in the show. Revelations about Wes–Lauren’s romantic interest–Blink’s familial past, and a secret pertinent for understanding the defeat of the original X-Men were present in the episode. In return, you were given the information needed to make a more accurate assessment of the show as a whole. For me, I thought that The Gifted has launched off, more so if you’re a fan of the X-Men universe as a whole.
After last week’s episode, the Mutant Underground’s Sage went to decrypting the hard drive that was stolen from the Sentinal Services so that they could better understand what they were going to have to go up against if a full-out war erupted. As this was happening, Thunderbird tracked down Blink in hopes of getting her back with the Mutant Underground, Wes was found out, and Eclipse was once again summoned by Carmen and the Cartel.
I have come to realize that the events of each episode of The Gifted have all unfolded in accordance with one important factor: the theme of the current episode. It was made clear in “eXtreme measures”, as you saw how various characters managed the trust of those around them. Trust. The writers built around that theme by exploring the relationships of those that were dealing with that issue: Polaris and Eclipse, Lauren and Wes, Blink and Thunderbird, and even Jace and Dr. Roderick Campbell. Each episode is built like this, otherwise, why haven’t we discovered more about the other important mutants like Sage and Shatter yet? Because nothing about them has been relevant to each of the episode’s themes yet. In “eXtreme measures”, the manipulation of the plot around the theme of trust is done excellently.
I thought that the writing and overall direction also excelled this week because it opened the doors for how the rest of the series–or at least the rest of the season–will play out. Thunderbird and Dreamer and Blink’s love triangle was only strengthened by Blink finding a horrific scene at her old family home, conflicting Thunderbird’s emotions about the two women. Jace also felt conflicted emotions in regards to the use of the mutants under the control of the Sentinal Services. His face showed you all you needed to know, which leads me to another highlight of the episode: Coby Bell’s performance. Then you were given a snippet of information that could be essential to figure out what happened to the X-Men: Trask Industries involvement with everything going on. Not only does this revelation connect with the X-Men universe as a whole, but it opens the door for the possibility that other X-Men are still out there within The Gifted universe, granted that it is one different than the former.
The Gifted has had no trouble in connecting episodes so that the story can progress under a continuity that actually makes sense. But, in this weeks episode, you saw that there were consequences for something you may have originally forgotten about. When Blink was sick back in the second episode of the season after over-exerting her abilities, she was fixated on sending portals to a certain location. Those portals eventually caught the attention of the authorities, which, in turn, warranted them to search nearby neighborhoods for the culprit, aka Blink. You saw what happened in her home, the place she was trying to send portals out to in her sickened state back in “rX”, in “eXtreme measures”. I thought that how episode two and episode seven connected was done impressively. Bringing to light the importance of family in Blink’s life also helped progress her relationship with Thunderbird.
My only qualm–although it can’t really be considered one since it made sense in regards to the theme–had to do with the reaction of Lauren to Wes telling her about his past. She couldn’t relate to his past at all? Especially since she and her family were in a similar situation that he was once in, is currently in. I thought her reaction was a bit over-the-top. He ended up telling her the truth about the things he had done, so I didn’t see why she couldn’t have had a normal conversation about it. She has shown to be quite mature for her age, enough so that these sort of conversations should occur naturally. But, by the end of the episode, her reaction made sense. The creators wanted to show that trust was important to have, and that it could be easily broken when the truth was revealed after a series of lies, or withholdings, or whatever the case. Even Jace seeing the mutants at the end of the episode showed you that his trust in his cause may be wavering after seeing the truth of the captured mutants’ situation.
Verdict: “eXtreme measures” is by far the best episode of the series thus far, shedding light on what–or who–could’ve been put an end to the original X-Men and showing you that the team of writers have the ability to develop a plot around a certain theme effectively. You’ve seen it in previous episodes, but in this week’s it was done with an excellent eye for detail. Coby Bell’s performance showing his distress at his current situation was on-point, and Blink’s past was connected from the second episode to this one in a way that all series should learn to implement if they haven’t already.
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