Ok. So much happened on the fall finale of The Gifted. Let’s get started
We start off with a flashback to Rebecca’s (Anjelica Bette Fellini) life before being locked up. It was her parents that called Sentinel Services on her. She did something that injured a teacher at school. Her parents recognized how dangerous she is and had her locked up. The first thing Sentinel Services did was put a restraint collar on her neck to keep her from using her powers against them.
Back to the present, Reeva (Grace Byer) put Rebecca in a spinning chamber to keep her from using her powers…so almost the same thing. Reeva still has plans to use Rebecca, but knows she is more dangerous out in the world. Andy (Percy Hynes White) doesn’t like it. He can hear her screaming in the chamber and it’s causing him to withdraw from everyone else. But Reeva is content to let her continue to scream.
The rest of the Strucker family is still in North Carolina with Dr. Madeline Risman (Kate Burton). Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) tells her parents about Madeline’s research to get rid of the X gene for good. At first, Reed (Stephen Moyer) doesn’t believe her, but then she tells him that Madeline’s brother founded the Purifiers. Both Rismans want to get rid of mutants, but Madeline is using science instead of violence. Caitlin (Amy Acker) thinks they need Madeline or Reed will die, but Reed is ready to sacrifice his life for other mutants. They all agree to destroy the research.
Meanwhile, the Mutant Underground gang got information that the Inner Circle would be hitting the Regimen Technologies next. John (Blair Redford) is literally obsessed with stopping the Inner Circle. He enlists Marcos (Sean Teale) help, despite the fact that Marcos just said goodbye to his infant daughter. Marcos was only convinced to help because John says they are doing this for Dawn, but he wants to take the first shot at Reeva Page.
The Purifiers meetings have grown. They even have people video conferencing in to hear Jace Turner (Coby Bell) speak. Jace tells the group that this Mutant Uprising is terrorism. It’s up to them to do something about it now. They are starting a human militia to stop mutant violence before it spreads.
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Strucker Research
The Struckers play along with Madeline for the time being. Caitlin is able to lift some of the medicine that Madeline uses to suppress Reed’s powers. She starts asking questions about Reed’s powers. Madeline says Reed’s power releases energy. The medicine blocks the energy so when it wears off, Reed gets a massive release of power. With Lauren’s DNA, they should be able to find a way to turn it off. Madeline finds that Lauren has two versions of the X gene and wants Andy to come in for testing too. Reed and Caitlin inform her that Andy no longer lives with them and they have seen him in months.
Meanwhile Lauren sweet talks the lab assistant Noah (Ken Kirby) into showing her where her blood is being stored. Noah is a little hesitant at first, but likes that Lauren is interesting in the process…and in him. While in the storage room, Noah shows Lauren the pump he wears that injects the suppressing medicine. He is grateful to Madeline because she made his feel like he belonged when his family abandoned him. The research is important to him because he wants to be normal, and Lauren understands that. When they leave the storage room, Lauren tampers with the lock.
Mutant Underground
John’s plan is to kidnap a Regimen Tech executive. Clarice (Jamie Chung) doesn’t like it and voices her objections. Marcos doesn’t like it either, but they are already at the guys house so…might as well. That exec has body guards, so John and Clarice run into some trouble that involves guns. They are able to blink back to the car where Marcos is waiting for them. They take the exec back to the mutant clinic and tie him up. Clarice informs John that the police are looking for them. John doesn’t care. He says this fight with the Inner Circle is bigger than all of them.
The exec tries to tell John and Marcos that Regimen manufactures tech for household appliances. Marcos informs him that Regimen is the next target of the Inner Circle. John gets angry and forces the exec to come clean. Regimen runs the control systems for the mutant restraint collars used in prison and hospitals. That’s what the Inner Circle is after.
John has the exec log into the Regimen security system to see if he can find out where the Inner Circle will hit. Marcos pulls John aside and tells him to cool down on the exec. Clarice returns with a report that the police are arresting mutants because of the kidnapping heist. John doesn’t care, he’s focused on stopping the Inner Circle. Clarice reminds him that they are supposed to be helping mutants, to which John throws that back in her face. He is still pretty upset that she betrayed him by giving information to the Morlocks, implying that maybe she’d prefer to be with them. Clarice gets upset and leaves to help other mutants.
Interception
The Frost sisters watch Jace on the Benedict Ryan (Peter Gallagher) show. He says the Purifiers are not a hate group and invites any mutant who wants to uphold the law to join them. The Frosties comment on how they should have killed Jace when they had the chance. Reeva disagrees. She says this human militia movement means that they are doing their job. Sage interrupts with a report that someone is reviewing the Regimen security protocols. She’s pretty sure they are looking for the Inner Circle. Reeva tells her to pinpoint their location and get rid of them.
Reeva checks in on Andy, saying she knows he’s upset about what Rebecca is going through. He reminds her that Rebecca was betrayed by everyone she loves. They locked her up and pumped her full of drugs. Reeva admits that Rebecca is a victim of what the humans did to her. So why are they keeping her locked up? Reeva says they can’t turn her loose on the world. She needs help. And the world they are building will get her the help she needs. The next mission is important. Reeva is sure that Andy will do the right thing.
The Right Thing
And the right thing for Andy to do is pack a bag, break Rebecca out of the chamber and leave the Inner Circle right? Because that’s what Andy did. Everything goes as planned until Andy tells Rebecca that all of the others are in a meeting in the penthouse. Rebecca decides to have some fun and pushes the penthouse button on the elevator. Andy tries to talk her out of confronting them, but Rebecca tells him that she meant to kill those people at the bank. And he needs to back off or she will make him.
When the elevator door opens, Rebecca emerges ready to kill everyone in the room. Andy yells for her not to do anything. When she turns to face him, he uses his power to push her backwards. She hits her head on a corner really hard and dies. Andy is distraught. He didn’t mean to kill her, but by doing so, he saved everyone else.
Later, Polaris checks on Andy. He’s very upset after accidentally killing Rebecca and wonders why she made him do it. Polaris says Rebecca was broken, whether before she was hospitalized or not. That’s what those places do to people. She tells him to focus on the mission, but Andy doesn’t care about the mission anymore. Polaris informs him that they are going after the security systems that controls the mutant restraint collars. Like the ones used in prisons and hospitals to torture mutants, like Rebecca. This is Andy’s chance to get justice for Rebecca.
Who Are You Fighting For?
John and Marcos discuss Clarice’s exit and why they are fighting. John says she didn’t believe in their cause. Marcos asks what that cause is. Who are the fighting for? And he better not say the X-Men. He says they aren’t fighting to be in a mutant civil war. They are fighting for the people they love.
The exec tells them that he found something. John feels a presence and someone shoots the exec. They run towards the door to find who killed him. John knows it’s Fade (Jeff Daniel Phillips). Fade appears in and out of sight. He says the Inner Circle wants no beef with the Mutant Underground. They are able to stop Fade from escaping, but the cops are on the way so they all have to leave.
The Curse
Lauren takes her parents to the storage room and they decide they have to destroy the every sample. Madeline, Noah, and two guards stop them. Reed tells Madeline that ending an entire race is wrong. Caitlin is disgusted that she is using scientific genocide to do it. Madeline believes that she is saving the world. She says Noah, Andy and others like them are a curse on their families. Reed says the world is a better place with Lauren in it because of her abilities. Madeline reminds him of what Andy and Lauren did to Atlanta and says Lauren should have never been born.
Lauren steps in, saying she wants her DNA, but Madeline says it belongs to the world now. Madeline tells the guards to take the Struckers, but Noah stops them. He says Madeline called him a curse on his family, so he will show her a real curse. Noah pulls out his plug and the room starts shaking. He tells the Struckers to leave. Lauren gives him a longing look before running, as Madeline begs Noah not to destroy her work. Noah shakes the room so hard that the refrigerators come crashing down on Madeline, destroying all of the DNA samples inside.
Game Changer
Officer Wilson (Tom O’Keefe) gets word about the gunshots at the mutant clinic. Jace gathers his men and they leave to check it out. John, Marcos, and Fade leave the clinic and are cut off by Jace and his gang. The Purifiers start shooting at the trio, hitting Fade in the leg. John tells Marcos to get Fade to safety, while he holds them off. Marcos objects, but John says he’s doing this for the people he loves. Marcos and Fade run one way, as John runs the other way towards the Purifiers truck.
The Inner Circle go to Regimen Technologies. They easily get through the gates. Reeva reminds Andy that he’s doing this for Rebecca. Andy uses his power to open the large metal doors to the server room. Polaris and Andy go inside and one by one, they destroy each server. The collars deactivate around the country, setting hundreds of mutants free. Reeva says so much power is being released thanks to Andy.
And John continues to push against the Purifiers’ truck. Jace is driving the truck and turns it so he traps John between the truck and a dumpster. Jace gets out of the truck and looks at John. He got him.
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Thoughts
I have so many questions and speculations about what’s to come. But for this episode, I have to wonder if Reeva set up Andy to kill Rebecca. It’s harsh, I know, but her death really motivated Andy to act. We’ve seen the lengths that Reeva will go to, to get what she wants. I wouldn’t put it past her to manipulate anyone.
What is the purpose of having two X genes? Is it that one gene is for Lauren’s power only and one is for her combined powers with Andy? I’m sure Andy is the same way. We know they can feel each other’s pain and power. So does this mean that Lauren will start to think like Andy and become darker? And can Andy feel Lauren’s compassion and start to be more level headed? They definitely need to find a balance.
We all know that John is really strong and can handle just about anything. But even he has a breaking point. He was so determined to find out what the Inner Circle is up to that he forgot who was on his side and what they should be fighting for. I hope the Purifiers don’t hurt him too badly.
Ugh! There’s so many questions. And we’ll get answers when The Gifted returns on January 1.
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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