Take Three: The Gifted

The Gifted: Season 1, Episode 3 “eXodus” (B-)

If nothing else, this show features mutants with some pretty cool powers. The bartender’s ability to turn himself and an entire van invisible is awesome, and everything that happened outside Daniel’s house was intense in a great way too. Unfortunately, I don’t think that interesting abilities, including Dreamer planting a fond memory in Blink’s head so that she would open up a portal and save the man she thought she loved, are enough to carry this show. We’re running into a situation where everyone is perpetually on the run, and only so much can be accomplished when characters are moving nonstop. What is clear from this episode is that the public doesn’t like mutants, and parents were ready to storm Daniel’s home and kill their kids’ friends just because they had powers. Even after his house turned into a war zone, Daniel was loyal to his sister, who refuses to accept the idea that she won’t see her husband again. While Amy Acker is good, her role isn’t written nearly as well as Stephen Moyer’s, and it was great to see Reed talk his way into getting transported to his family and then decide that it was worth facing whatever punishment or torture might come next to save the mutant mother who took his pain away and all other mutants who might be imperiled by his act of selfishness. I suspect that, sooner than later, Jace will switch sides, especially if he gets pressured by Garret Dillahunt’s Dr. Campbell into turning over the mutants that he just wants to imprison for whatever experimentation purposes he seeks them.