The Gifted – oMens

By: Darryl Ley

Five years ago in Atlanta we see Caitlin Strucker (Amy Acker) young Lauren Strucker (Shelby Delaney) and young Andy Strucker (Drew Youngblood) are watching news reports of the mutant attack in Dallas. Later that evening Reed (Stephen Moyer) tells Caitlin that he’s transferring to the Mutant Crimes Division as we move to the title screen.

At the apartments Reed, Caitlin, John Proudstar/Thunderbird (Blair Redmond), Andy Strucker (Percy Hynes White), Lauren Strucker (Natalie Alyn Lind), Marcos Diaz/Eclipse (Sean Teale) and Lorna Dane (Emma Dumont) discuss the Inner Circle’s plans and how to attack Reeva. Most want to use Andy and Lauren to destroy the Inner Circle building but their parents are reticent.

At the Inner Circle the Frost sisters (Skyler Samuels), Reeva Payge (Grace Byers), Heather (Chelle Ramos), Tico (Tyshon Freeman), Fade (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Bulk (Renes Rivera) meet to discuss the plan moving forward. Reeva excuses herself from the meeting to make fresh plans. We see she calls Benedict Ryan (Peter Gallagher) to give the Purifiers a new mission.

At the apartments Reed is suffering from headaches and denies anything is wrong when asked how he is by Andy. He confirms that he is now off the medication and Reed reveals how much he missed Andy. Meanwhile John, Lorna and Marcos are burning the Underground’s files. Lorna feels guilty about Clarice’s death and John tells her about the final moments with Jace Turner killing Clarice as she maintained the portal. As they finish up John tracks a large number of pickup trucks all approaching the apartment building. The Purifiers have come.

Outside Jace Turner (Coby Bell) is on the phone with Benedict Ryan telling him that the apartment is surrounded and the police won’t get involved. As the mutant underground decide on a plan Jace holds his men back from attempting to storm the building. Caitlin and Reed gather guns and Reed again lies about the pain he is going through.

Three years ago in Atlanta we see Reed is working at home while Caitlin tries to persuade him to take some time off. They are interrupted by Lauren calling from a party. She tells Reed there has been a mutant attack and he leaves to pick her up. In the present Andy and Lauren watch the Purifiers set up and Andy contemplates wiping them out using the power of Fenris (their powers combined) but Lauren doesn’t want to do it.

They notice their door is open and are ambushed by Fade who was concealing the Frost Sisters. Andy and Lauren try to fight back but are stopped by the Frosts. When Reed and Caitlin return they find the room in tatters and their children gone. At a nearby entrance to the tunnel system Esme checks in with Reeva confirming that they have the Struckers.

Back at the apartment John tries in vain to track Andy and Lauren. At first all he sees is Clarice until finally he gets a brief impression of the Frost sisters. Reeva took them in order to bring down Sentinel Services Headquarters. John volunteers to stay behind as a distraction for the Purifiers given his and Jace’s mutual hatred for each other. Caitlin is against it pointing out that John isn’t bullet proof and Lorna offers to help but John is resolute in his desire to stay and fight alone.

John with war paint over his eyes exits the front of the apartment building and directly confronts the Purifiers, leading to a massive fight until he manages to break through the cordon and make a run for it prompting Jace to pursue. Reed, Caitlin, Lorna and Marcos escape in the truck and figure out that the Frosts are probably using the Morlock tunnels. As Reed struggles to keep his powers under control he remembers bringing Lauren home after the party and what they talked about with him trying to reassure an upset Lauren and Lauren nearly tells her father about her powers before he hugs her and promises to protect her.

In the tunnels near Sentinel Services Headquarters the Frosts lead the Struckers to the building. Esme is conflicted about hurting the Struckers, but Sophie and Phoebe make it clear that Reeva wants them dead anyway so it doesn’t matter. A heavily injured John staggers away from the Purifiers before collapsing where Erg (Michael Luwoye) appears and offers to help.

Erg pointedly suggests that John is out here hoping to die and uses Clarice’s memory to tell him to live on. John agrees to help Erg and then physically strikes him in order for Erg to build up his stock of energy. They are interrupted by Jace and a team of his Purifiers. Erg quickly takes out the other Purifiers and John tackles Jace and beats him up. When he pulls out a knife Jace asks him to kill him which gives John pause.

The Frost Sisters force Andy and Lauren to destroy Sentinel Services Headquarters. The siblings try to resist and we see the backlash. It causes Lauren to bleed from the nose. Marcos, Lorna, Reed and Caitlin confront the Frosts with Andy and Lauren. The Frosts order the siblings to kill them, but Lorna confronts Esme reminding her about her childhood and her being forced to do things she hated. She gets through to Esme, who stops her link with her sisters. The break in the sisters’ link allows Marcos to attack Phoebe and Sophie which releases Andy and Lauren.

Esme stays with her sisters while the rest take Andy and Lauren. As a result of the damage they sustained resisting the Frosts control they are left at the scrap yard while the rest go to attack the Inner Circle. The remaining members of the underground strategize how to attack the Inner Circle while Reed simply asks if killing Reeva will stop the Uprising.

The remaining members of the Inner Circle are at headquarters. Heather, Bulk, Fade and Tico load missiles into a truck for their mission when the Underground attacks. They are quickly pinned down with Heather and Tico working together to explode the missiles. Reed and Caitlin make their way to the elevator while Marcos and Lorna fight. Reed is attacked by an invisible Fade as they move and Caitlin quickly shoots him dead.

Reed tells Caitlin to cover him while he goes up to face Reeva alone and reveals that his powers are becoming more and more out of control. He also tells her he loves her before he heads off to the elevator as Caitlin holds them off. In the elevator Reed remembers a talk between him and Caitlin later the night that Lauren was at the party.

Reed makes his way into the Inner Circle and confronts Reeva. She tells him his grandparents knew what it took to establish a mutant homeland. Reed moves forward and Reeva engages her power, but Reeds powers still work as we see Lorna and Marcos fighting downstairs. Reed manages to stand up in the face of Reeva’s onslaught, much to her confusion. We see the disruptive energy circulating from his hands up throughout his body before he explodes killing Reeva instantly.

We watch as Caitlin tell the kids of Reed’s death. We also see a heavily injured John bandaged by Erg and a heavily injured Jace in some sort of medical facility. Finally, we see Lorna and Marcos with their daughter Dawn. Benedict Ryan is confronted by the press as he leaves his office and at first declines to respond. Later he admits to running the Purifiers for the last five years while under the influence of Esme who is nearby.

The Struckers hold a memorial on the roof of their apartment building. Erg has requested a meeting with the Mutant Underground and we see that Esme has joined the group. He says there are a number of new mutant groups coming together inspired by the sacrifice of the Strucker family and that they will need leadership. Marcos says that the Mutant Underground no longer exists, prompting Caitlin to reply that they will make a new one. As Erg goes into greater detail John feels that there is something coming outside, so they all make their way out of the room.

The tell-tale pink energy of Clarice starts popping out before stabilzing into a portal. A very different looking Clarice pops out and she says she needs to show them something before throwing one of the long pointed crystals in her hand to form a new portal where we can see destruction in its event horizon. She beacons them to follow before she heads through.