It won’t surprise anyone to hear that The Gifted‘s mid-season finale, titled “gaMe changer,” explored the duality between being ‘normal’ and being, well ‘gifted,’ as it dabbled in the same philosophical discussion that has sustained years and years of the X-Men/Brotherhood chasm. It also shouldn’t surprise anyone that the show reached the metaphorical halfway point (the back half of the season will have seven episodes, in contrast to the nine that have already aired) with a bang.
The whole thing about the show, the whole thing about the mutants as a metaphor, is meant to send about the dangers of intolerance. That’s how it was conceived, and the message still resonates, and it might just be more important than ever these days. And, of course, when you’re faced with intolerance, some try to turn the other cheek, over and over again, while others just… fight. That’s pretty much what we’ve seen in the Mutant Underground vs. The Inner Circle this year, and that whole contrast is about to be turned up a notch, considering how this episode ended.
Or, dare I say it, might we be getting closer to seeing both sides fighting together?
After all, the show has tried very hard to keep everything in shades of grey. No one is truly right, and no one is truly wrong. Even Rebecca, who clearly had issues beyond her powers, is, in many ways, a victim of the circumstances. Could she have turned out better? Could she have been helped? We don’t know.
We never will now.
But she made a choice. No, she made many choices, one after the other, choices that led to her ultimate end. Just as Jace Turner did, just as Andy and Lorna did at the end, and just as Marcos, John and Clarice did throughout this episode. Were they the better choices? Who are we to judge?
Though – on the case of Turner, I will judge more than a little bit. Nazi-adjacent hate groups are never the right choice, okay? JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING. Outright hate, and violence is never the answer. For a while there, I’d been rooting for Jace Turner, because, in many ways, he’s also a victim, and he seemed like someone who could be made to see the truth, someone who could be, quote on quote, redeemed. But he’s made his choice, over and over again, just like Rebecca did. And when a person makes their choice, well, you gotta respect that.
You don’t necessarily have to respect them, or their beliefs, but you have to respect the choice.
For the others, though, the future isn’t clear, and the choices are not black and white. Everyone’s gotta decide what they’re willing to do to achieve their goal, especially when that goal is – as John so clearly put it – bigger than all of them.
I got the sense that’s something they can all agree on.
Because the goal has never been the problem – the problem is the means. And I know I sound like a broken record here, but I wasn’t really seeing an out of that dichotomy, I mean, nothing other than when I rambled on about love and all of that a few reviews ago, but even then, that was an abstract. But hey, guess I was right, because this episode very clearly establishes the idea that this big ‘fight’ – both sides are doing it for the people they love. Marcos and Lorna, on opposite sides, are both doing it for Dawn, and maybe, for each other. John and Clarice, even though they don’t see eye to eye, they’re doing it for each other. And so on.
What is the reason? The reason is love. And with the show literally throwing it all to hell by releasing absolutely every mutant that ever was into the world at the end of this episode, let’s just hope that can truly make a difference.
See you in January.
Things I think I think:
- Well, at least we know why Rebecca has issues. Though, it kinda seems like she had issues before. If mental health is a thing we’re struggling with now, in a world without powers, I can’t even imagine what it is in the world these people live in.
- Andy, you’re WRONG.
- Like, this is the wrongest you’ve ever been, and boy, have you been wrong before. You tried to kill your sister, after all.
- I love it when you’re the voice of reason, Lauren.
- “I’ve been better” is an UNDERSTATEMENT, Marcos. But Sean Teale plays heartbroken so well I’m almost tempted to ask the show to keep him in this state for long.
- BROTHER.
- BROTHER
- And he means it.
- Marcos is my favorite now, okay? Sorry, Lorna, I still love you, and I could have forgiven you all you’ve done for the Inner Circle, but I can’t really forgive you for the pain you’re causing Marcos. You’ve been demoted to second fave.
- A citizen militia, isn’t that just wonderful.
- Because that always works, and there’s never a problem with that, nah.
- Go away, Jace.
- Who’s more suspicious, Reed, Caitlin or Lauren? She’s going to figure you out.
- Or all of them.
- Well, Thunderblink almost doesn’t feel like a romance right now. This is more than rocky terrain, this is a precipice.
- ALL THE PRISONS HAHAHAAHA OH FUCK.
- Fuck Jace Turner, again.
- When Marcos is lecturing you about keeping your cool, that’s big.
- Goodbye Thunderblink.
- I ain’t even gonna miss you.
- Reeva, dude, you’re not very convincing. That was your big play for Andy? Because boy, that fucking sucked.
- Someone needs to use their upstairs brain, and I promise you, that’s not Andy.
- Men. SMH.
- Well, Andy had to make a choice, it’s just not the choice I’d been predicting. But no worries, I still think that’s coming.
- No one’s really gonna miss Rebecca. Honestly, as a plot device, she had outlived her usefulness a while back.
- “If you bring up the X-Men right now, so help me God, I’ll punch you in the mouth.”
- Marcos and John make a hell of a team.
- I’m scared.
- But it’s also a little hot.
- Everyone pretending they cared about Rebecca is riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich. Be like me. I didn’t care. I won’t miss her. Bye Rebecca.
- But I want more Andy/Lorna conversations. I think the first half of season 2 has been good, but it could have been so much better if they’d focused more on the characters we already cared about.
- Dragging out the actual Mutant Underground/Inner Circle clash till the end of the season is the worst decision they’ve made, though. That’s betting big on a Season 3.
- What kind of God would curse their family with a mutant, she asks.
- Just for that, she earned what’s coming her way.
- “The world is a better place with her in it,” Reed says about Lauren, and I’m fine, no feelings here.
- “Today the uprising truly begins.”
- It’s going to be a bloodbath when the show returns. Joy of joys.
- Taking a bullet for your friend is love. EVEN IF YOU CAN SORTA HANDLE IT.
- Marcos is one of the people John loves, but I’m fine, no feelings here.
- I LIED, I HAVE FEELINGS.
- Don’t you dare hurt John, okay? Don’t you dare.
Agree? Disagree? Share with us in the comments below!
The Gifted airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on FOX.
