The Gifted, Season 1, Episode 7: eXtreme measures
I don't really have much to say about this episode, really. The Gifted started off pretty strong, but it's now in a string of pretty blah episodes, and episode seven, 'eXtreme measures', is not much different. A good chunk of the problem is because of the wooden scripting and dialogue that the actors are forced to say, which feel like they came from a first draft instead of something that they're ready to devote expensive actors and special effects to. Add that to the absolutely uninteresting subplot of Eclipse having to deal with his drug lord ex and that whole plotline for the episode is just amazingly bland and uninteresting.
I don't think the episode really gives us a proper reason why Eclipse immediately jumps through hoops to help Carmen -- I guess he's just afraid that Carmen will tell Sentinel Services about the mutants' base, but does she really know? And why keep it a secret from Polaris? Beyond the absolutely asinine 'I don't know how to tell you' excuse he gives her at the end. There's still enough content in this episode to keep me watching, but a combination of cliched dialogue and a lack of care about the whole cartel subplot (Carmen's actress is decent, mind you) makes me not really give much of a shit about this episode.
At least we did get to see Polaris do some cool shit with her powers, swing around guns to whack Carmen's mansion guards, and we see her just job bricks at her students. She's a pretty fun actress with a great range, I have to be honest, it's just a shame we haven't actually see her do much on her own -- her storyline is so involved in 'break out of jail' or her romance with Marcos that I really wish there's more to her personality beyond that.
Agent Jace goes through a bit of a subplot where it's revealed that there's apparently some big conspiracy to place brainwashed mutants all over the world, and he gets to see some dude with stroke-causing abilities basically take out some random lady that's trying to investigate Sentinel Services's current warpath on mutantkind, only for the Doctor to show Jace an entire army of brainwashed mutants. Oh, and they're sponsored by X-Men big-name Trask Industries! Will we get Peter Dinklage to show up and have a cameo? Please do. The Gifted name-dropping the X-Men and the Brotherhood and all that stuff has been absolutely great at worldbuilding without being too obvious about it, and I'm definitely a big fan of these little touches.
There's also a B-plot of Thunderbird hunting Blink down, and together they find out that the orphanage that Blink came from has been wiped out and those inside killed or captured by Sentinel Services. It's... okay? It's something to get Blink back into the fold. I'd really appreciate that, if, like Polaris, Blink's character wasn't written to be so reactive... but that's some great emotion shown on Blink's part as she tries desperately to say maybe how the kids got out, or whatever, before crying and sobbing into Thunderbird's shoulder. Shame the dialogue she has to utter at this point is a very dumb-sounding "oh, man".
The Strucker subplot is also particularly weak this episode. Basically it's a long-winded speech about second chances and whatnot, and while I thought we're heading to something interesting with Lauren's boyfriend Wes maybe being one of these sleeper agents, he's just... a kid who made some stupid decisions in the past. The actors go through their roles reasonably well, but I just can't really bring myself to care if Lauren and the undeveloped Wes ends up together or not. Mama Strucker's attempts to force their kids to learn arithmetic or bean plant genetics is also particularly dumb here. Sure, Polaris's brick-throwing isn't particularly elegant, but what're they going to do with those when they're literally on the run every day of their lives? The fact that Wes only, y'know, stole some shit and the Struckers react so insanely when only last episode they actually broke and entered into a government facility and knocked out a couple of guards -- and that's not to count everything else that has happened in the past 6 episodes... yeah. Hypocritical much?
Overall, definitely a pretty weak episode that seem to be more of a bunch of rejected subplots thrown together to be resolved (Blink's leaving, Marcos's drug cartel backstory, Lauren's boyfriend) in addition with some exposition for Sentinel Services. It doesn't make for a particularly thrilling 40 minutes for sure.
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