The Gifted – eMergence

By: Darryl Ley

At the Hellfire Club Reeva Payge (Grace Byers) is explaining to the rest of the assembled group the events that happened in Atlanta at the end of the first season. She outlines her desires and her reasons but is dismissed by one of the other leaders, including William (Ray Campbell). The two argue as he questions her recruitment of Polaris. The Frost Sisters (Skyler Samuels) support Reeva’s argument, but William dismisses them before Reeva begins her attack emitting a sonic blast from her mouth.

The rest of the Inner Circle attempt to fight back but their powers are disrupted by her attacks and they are systematically eliminated Frost Sisters. They leave William for last with Reeva standing over him.

SIX MONTHS LATER

In Washington we see Polaris AKA Lorna Dane (Emma Dumont) reminiscing about her time with Marcos AKA Eclipse (Sean Teale) when she’s interrupted by Andy Strucker (Percy Hynes White). Polaris worries that she is alone and Andy reassures her that he and the others are her family now. They are interrupted by Reeva and they leave.

At the Liberty Park Apartments Sentinel Services is carrying out a raid. We see them kill a father (Demi Castro) before his daughter Cristina (Danube Hermosillo) telekinetically throws a chair through the window of her apartment in order for her sister Jazmine (Mia Ella Clyburn) and her to escape.

We see Reed Strucker (Stephen Moyer) find out about the raid via scanner and he calls John Proudstar (Blair Redford) who alerts Marcos. Back at Liberty Park Apartments mutants are being captured by the Sentinel Services forces while their human families are being held at gun point. We see Marcos and John arrive nearby having tracked two groups. They pick up the first and we see Blink (Jamie Chung) and Lauren Strucker (Natalie Alyn Lind) searching for the second group. The two eventually find the second group who are trapped in a room with the Sentinel Services breaking down the door. Blink opens a portal and Lauren uses her power to strengthen the barricade until all the mutants are evacuated.

At the Community of Mercy Clinic we see Caitlin Strucker (Amy Acker) working on suturing Cristina’s injured hand. She’s in a great deal of pain and is having problems controlling her powers as items keep flying around the small examination room. After Caitlin reassures her she manages to finish up and stop the bleeding. Cristina asks her if they know where her missing sister Jazmine is and Caitlin says she will ask as soon as they are finished. At the end of that same day and we see Caitlin move into a secret room which is revealed to be where Reed has been stationed.

Caitlin is frustrated by how things are going while Reed Strucker tries to be positive. She’s upset that they haven’t found any real trace of Andy. Reeva shows Polaris where they plan for her to have her baby and it is a munitions factory with no metal in the building so it should be able to withstand her powers. While they talk the baby kicks resulting in their SVU being pulled around by Polaris’ power.

At Potomac the Mutant Underground discuss the day’s events with most very upset by the loss of Liberty Park, Lauren brings up Cristina and her search for her missing sister, asking John to try tracking her. He’s not sure he can but Blink encourages him to try. At the end of the meeting Marcos reveals that he talked to a hacker named Wire against the consensus of the group to get info on the Hellfire Club. The rest of the group is upset Caitlin defends Marcos saying that they have no other leads.

Lorna is in her room at the Hellfire Club when Reeva knocks and then enters. The two talk and Reeva opens up a little about her past and her struggles against racism and poverty, but then Polaris asks her directly about the former members of the Hellfire Club saying that she has heard rumors. Reeva describes them as sacrifices and states that she will sacrifice anything for her goals.

We see the Frost Sisters with Sage (Hayley Lovitt) go to the munitions factory and pay off the boss in order to have it cleared out. John, Zingo the dog and Blink are at their apartment with Cristina. Blink reassures her that John can find her sister. After that she confronts him about Marcos’ erratic behavior and he insists he will talk to his friend. Reed returns from his trip smuggling the mutants out as he washes up he has some sort of headache which drowns out the sounds around him. He suggests that Lauren should stop going to the shelter every day and instead find a job so that she can meet people her own age and make friends.

Caitlin is immediately upset by this idea and Lauren looks upset by the argument and quickly leaves. Next, we see Caitlin walking down the street and talking through a door to reach the roof of a building she finds Andy at the top as the two talk he takes her hand. He begins using their combined power and won’t let go as the power builds Lauren wakes up from her nightmare screaming. She tells her parents what happened and Caitlin is immediately convinced that this is more than just a dream – that Lauren has somehow connected to her brother while Reed is less sure.

Afterwards Caitlin calls Marcos and tells him they need to see Wire. At the munitions factory things are moving forward with preparation for Polaris to give birth. Before Andy leaves she takes him aside and tells her that she is concerned that Reeva may put Polaris’ safety ahead of the baby and makes Andy promise to protect the baby at all costs.

John and Blink are searching for Jazmine and Blink complains about having to wear contacts as it interferes with her teleportation powers, as they set out we see Marcos and Caitlin arriving at Wire’s hideout. Inside Wire is immediately nervous about Caitlin being there but eventually reveals the information he found out about the Hellfire Club before trying to renegotiate the deal they had by holding them at gunpoint. Caitlin wrestles the gun away from Wire and puts it to the back of the head put is grazed by a bullet in the process. After the other armed men leave Wire explains that the structure of the Hellfire Club has changed becoming the Inner Circle and shows them one of many secret bank accounts they hold. He is too scared to do more and says that anyone who opposes the Hellfire Club disappears and hands over a thumb drive.

John and Blink are back and they tell Cristina that they tracked Jazmine to a bus station before she was picked up by someone and the trail was lost. They feel it is unlikely that it was Sentinel Services due to the lack of signs of a struggle. As Blink reassures Cristina, Marcos and a bleeding Caitlin return to the apartment much to the chagrin of everyone else who didn’t know they had gone.

John calls Reed and informs him of Caitlin’s injuries. Reed seems to have a sort of panic attack and we see something happening to his arm, which appears to be his previously inactive powers coming to the surface briefly. At the Hellfire Club Andy is keeping Polaris company when she feels the baby coming. They get to the munitions factory, but Polaris’ powers are already flaring out of control.

Reed confronts Caitlin about going to Wire and she says it has been six months since Andy was taken Lauren joins the argument to clarify that Andy left of his own free will. As Marcos scans the files he got from Wire the power and lights start acting erratically grabbing his attention. Reed is about to reveal his powers to Caitlin when he is interrupted by Marcos demanding they go upstairs to the roof.

As Polaris is in labor her powers effect things around the factory. Marcos sees the effect in their neighborhood and believes this must be Polaris’ powers but it is Caitlin who figures out that it is her contractions that are causing the power spikes.

The doctor explains a mental block is keeping Polaris from dilating and Reeva and the Frost Sisters discuss the problem in hushed tones. As the Mutant Underground follow the power surges, Andy stops Reeva and the Frost Sisters from approaching Polaris until Reeva assures him that they will help Polaris and the baby. He reluctantly lets them through.

As the Mutant Underground continue to follow the power surges, the Frost sisters use their powers to show Polaris a vision of the future which shows mutants in charge of the US and her daughter several years older. This vision seems to break the mental block and as her powers spike even harder around the munitions factory the power grid is completely blown out meaning that the Mutant Underground can no longer track her. Marcos breaks down in the street with his powers flaring out uncontrollably as he cries.

Polaris has given birth to her baby, which she names Dawn, as a smiling Reeva watches on.