The Gifted – afterMath

By: Darryl Ley

Twelve years ago we see Jace Turner (Coby Bell) as a young police officer with his older partner. They see a young mutant (Jordan Patrick) standing outside the store and the older officer begins hassling him for ID. Then, he hits him with a handheld taser while telling Jace a story about the time a partner of his was killed by a mutant during a routine traffic stop. Jace handcuffs and puts the boy in their car.

John Proudstar/Thunderbird (Blair Redford) carries an unconscious Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) into the clinic before leaving her with her parents Reed (Stephen Moyer) and Caitlin Strucker (Amy Acker). Lauren is upset she failed to bring back Andy and blames herself. Reed stays with her as Caitlin is needed with all the other casualties that are being brought into the clinic.

Caitlin goes into the room where the mutant with acidic blood is brought in. While the doctor tries to examine him, John and Caitlin talk about the op with Caitlin wanting to know why John couldn’t track Andy. There was just too much going on, but John hopes that they can learn more from the mutant who was on the same floor as the one taken by the Inner Circle.

At Jace’s hotel room we see that he has been served with divorce papers by his wife while we hear a conservative talking head (Peter Gallagher) on the TV talking about the threat that mutants represent following the attack at the mental hospital. He gets a text about a meeting later that day with the Purifiers. At the abandoned warehouse the mutants from the breakout are waiting to be smuggled out, but Clarice Fong/Blink (Jamie Chung) reveals that there are roadblocks placed all over the city. Clarice suggests the Morlocks, but Marcos Diaz/Eclipse (Sean Teale) is against the idea emphatically.

Andy Strucker (Percy Hynes White), Lorna Dane/Polaris (Emma Dumont) and the Frost Sisters (Skyler Samuels) are watching the TV coverage. Andy is feeling guilty over attacking Lauren when one of the Frost Sisters comes in to report on the mutant they took. She’s non-responsive and the Frosts are shaken when they read her mind and get a glimpse of the suffering she has been through.

At home Reed is talking to Caitlin on the phone while Lauren rests. They talk about Andy and Caitlin is second guessing herself after Andy’s escape and Lauren’s injury. Lauren tells her father that Andy is a true believer and will stop anyone who tries to get in the Inner Circle’s way. At the Inner Circle’s training room, the Frosts and Emma try unsuccessfully to get Rebecca (Anjelica Bette Fellini) to use her powers. Afterwards Andy confronts Lorna and one of the Frosts about their treatment of Rebecca. He asks to talk to her himself, to which they reluctantly agree.

In the Morlock tunnels Clarice and Marcos are leading the escaped patients and Marcos is nervous because he has no solar energy to absorb until one of the mutants Glow (Laysla de Oliveira) shows her powers. She creates orbs of light, which she can move with her mind. It is then that the Morlocks find them led by Erg (Michael Luwoye).

At the Medical Center they are trying to treat the mutant with acid blood, but it is complicating matters. He develops a lung problem and John is the only person who can do lung decompression because of his extra tough skin. Still, he is badly burned by the mutant’s acid sweat. They stabilize him and Caitlin and John talk while she treats his hands. She is worried about him and we learn that John thinks he keeps failing. They are interrupted when the mutant patient Michael (William Mark McCollough) wakes up and we find out he is a former military like John, but all he knows about the mutant that the Inner Circle took is that her name is Rebecca and that she was treated badly by everyone except her psychiatrist before he passes out again.

In the Morlock tunnels Marcos tells Glow about the Inner Circle. As they talk Glow says that she tries to look on the good side of things even through her imprisonment. Clarice and Erg talk with him being angry about her bringing the patients to him the two argue back and forth until he agrees to take them if Clarice helps him.

Andy goes to talk to Rebecca. He opens up to her and she eventually shows him her power – she can turn objects inside out. Jace turns up at the meeting and is welcomed by Officer Wilson (Tom O’Keefe). At the meeting Jace speaks up when they suggest fighting mutant protestors. His plan is to hunt down the escaped mutants by checking hospitals and clinics nearby. Andy shows Rebecca around the Inner Circle building and he suggests going out when she says she feels trapped there, just like she was at the mental institution.

Lorna pulls Andy aside and the two argue about whether or not Rebecca should be allowed out, but Lorna eventually relents. Clarice and Erg walk together, and he tells her about his power and when it manifested. It turns out they are at a warehouse to steal food for the Morlocks, which Clarice disagrees with and they argue about their different aims.

John and Caitlin discuss Michael’s condition but are interrupted when John senses the approach of the Purifiers. They quickly get him into the secret room shortly before the Purifiers with Jace arrive. They break into the clinic while Caitlin and John watch on CCTV. Marcos waits for Clarice to return and continues to talk to Glow who tells him how she came to be committed. Clarice returns and says the patients can stay but have to talk to Erg first.

At a gathering Erg says that the patients are free to stay but those who can pass as humans must take the “M” brand. Marcos is against the idea, but Glow is the first to agree to it. Andy and Rebecca have a meal outside a café. She is in a much better mood and shows off her powers in a variety of ways. When a police car pulls up Rebecca decides to use her power on their patrol car flipping it inside out, which causes them to call for assistance. She then goads Andy into using his powers, which results in him blowing the car up.

At the clinic the Purifiers find Dr. Kelsey (Vince Pisani) and try to get him to tell them where the mutants are located. When he refuses the Purifier hits him in the stomach with the grip of his rifle. John wants to go out but is stopped by Caitlin. Michael convinces her Caitlin to lie about his worsening condition to keep John from going out. Meanwhile outside the room Dr. Kelsey has been beaten bloody by the Purifier but they leave when they hear police sirens. During that time Michael has died from his wounds leaving John angry.

In the Morlock tunnels Marcos and Clarice stay to observe the ritual. Erg tells Clarice that she hides who she is, her markings, her skin, her eyes, her ears and then gives her the name Blink while praising what she is. Andy and Rebecca kiss in the elevator on the way back to the Inner Circle and the Frosts and Lorna notice the difference in her immediately. As Reed and Lauren watch the protests coverage on TV we see Rebecca successfully turn the massive safe in the training room inside out.

In the tunnels Glow receives her brand while Marcos holds her hands as Erg and Clarice watch on. Jace is in his hotel looking through a bunch of patient records he stole from the clinic when he calls up the Purifiers and says that they are going to hit the mutants in their home as we move to end credits.