After a week break, The Gifted is back with a lackluster episode that doesn’t kick into high gear till the second half. While at the start we get some name drops of the Hell Fire Club, the episode took a while before anything interesting happen.
In the beginning, we see a bit of Esma getting into Polaris’s head and manipulate the team to break into the lab. I had an idea of what was going on here. She is a sleeper cell working for Dr. Campbell or that she truly wants them breaking into that lab at the cost of the Mutant underground. Either way, she seems very desperate to get the Mutant underground in that lab. I think the writers should have given Esma some more screen time and focus.
I was a bit dis pointed we didn’t get Dr. Campbell outside of seeing him in a hospital bed. I was hoping to see a deformed Campbell on a witch hunt for the Reed family. Instead, we get Turner anticipating an attack from the mutants. Turner didn’t do a whole lot here outside of just waiting for an attack. A lot of his screen time was a waste and could have been cut down.
I enjoyed how deep this episode went when it came to the Strucker family history. It also gave a lot of depth to Reed and his upbringing. I also enjoyed seeing the family struggling with whether or not if his children should embrace their powers now knowing how truly powerful they are. Most of the best writing of this episode was in these moments.
Unfortunately, this episode didn’t really pick up steam till the got into the Trask building. The setup and breaking into was done pretty well and they kept the door open on will they or won’t they make it out alive. I wish the mutants put up more of a fight. Them running and getting taken down but a robot was a bit of a cop out to me. We saw their powers come to play here but only in very small doses. I was kind of surprised seeing Lauren and Andy being captured by Turner at the end. Considering how we kept getting told how powerful they were together. I was also surprised seeing a reversed role switch at the end. Usually, its Lauren who is the more reasonable one and Andy being the hot head of the two. Andy finally understood the depth and dangers of his powers. I still think we will see the full extent of their powers at the season finale but we were teased here.
Overall “outfoX” was a lackluster episode that took a while before it got interesting but it does lay the groundwork for the final. Andy and Lauren being caught and Dr.Campbell end game. I’m hoping we get the return of Campbell who gives us the history of both the HellFire Club and what happen to the Xmen. As well as seeing Andy and Lauren using their full raw power.
“The Gifted” airs Mondays at 9PM on Fox.
