As promised this week is all about heroes, villains and people with abilities. The Gifted falls right into the category as if focuses on some lesser known mutants from the X-Men universe. I’ve always had a thing for mutant stories, I think I just liked them better than the regular superheroes because in a weird way, they were more grounded in reality than the others. That could just be me though, lets talk about this particular show!
The Gifted runs on FOX and currently has one season with 13 episodes out there. It started around the same time as another Marvel show, Inhumans, but was greeted by a far better reception (peoples, I am not even going to talk about Inhumans ever. That show was such a massive disappointment!). So, I am happy to once more bring you good news and tell you that even before the season ended, The Gifted was renewed for a second season!
The X-Men are gone. There is only one safe place to go – the Mutant Underground. Together they will protect each other and fight for the life in peace they deserve.
I liked what they were doing with The Gifted from the beginning. While a lot of shows like it focus on origin stories and using all the CGI possible, The Gifted was always more about its characters and their relationships rather than anything else. Do I think the CGI could be better sometimes? Maybe, but if we’re being honest here, I think that about 90% of the things I watch, so that’s a way too high standard anyway.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against origin stories, but it’s also nice to just have all the players ready and laid out for you. As I understood it, we are in some sort of alternate universe here – the X-Men have vanished, and so has the Brotherhood. There are no real representatives for mutants anymore. If they make one misstep, they are hunted by the government no matter what and to see the light of day again after that is more than unlikely.
As so often when it comes to the mutant franchise, this is an underlying way to talk about racism and how society and politics deal with it. The conflict is best represented by the various main characters. On the one hand we have the Strucker family, where the parents are seemingly humans (with the father even being involved in the prosecution of humans) and their children are mutants. Then we have a Sentinel Services agent, whose daughter died during a mutant protest which he blamed people with abilities for ever since and lastly, the various members of the Mutant Underground who all have their own tragic and complicated backstories.
While the Struckers are definitely an integral part of the story and provide some of the biggest conflicts, I have to admit to enjoying the parts with the members from the Mutant Underground more. A lot of the romantic relationships were already established before the show even began, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t drama and growth. I liked how they struggled with the use of their powers, when it was morally right to use them for the cause and when it wasn’t.
While I really enjoyed the whole Thunderbird-Dreamer-Blink struggle, it was Eclipse and Polaris that caught my attention the most in the end. Their personalities mirror those of Professor X and Magneto (*cough* like father like daughter?*cough*) so much, which made their relationship even more intense, comprehensive but also bound to explode. If you follow the series until episode 13, you won’t be too surprised by how the season ends, as it reminds us of several stand offs in X-Men history.
Still, they are basically meant for each other. They literally create an aurora borealis, because that’s how their powers act when they are together.
Some of the episodes unfortunately have the tendency to fall into a predictable routine. It’s almost as if we were dealing with a case-of-the-week type scenario, which here is more like “how do we get the police off our backs” coupled with “the humans went off and thought they knew better once again”. It didn’t bother me too much, but it is something to be aware of as you go along. The stakes got higher with time though, and I appreciated that.
As I said, there’s already a second season in the works and I am really looking forward to seeing where our characters end up. Allegiances have shifted a bit by the end, so there’s definitely a lot to explore!
Have you watched The Gifted? What is your stance on mutants? Do you want to watch it now? Let’s talk!
Life and Other Disasters 
Inhumans is the one with Iwan Rheon in it, right? I think I remember watching the trailer for that and not caring at all for it. I like that the Gifted focuses on the lesser known mutants from the X-Men. Those background guys deserve the spotlight for once and the fact that this isn’t treated as an origin story is even more refreshing. I love exploring the existing dynamics and seeing how they change over the course of the series. Again, I never paid much attention to this series, but once again you’ve made me add this show to the ever long to-watch list I have.
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I love Iwan Rheon, I really do! But not even he or my equally beloved Lockjaw could save Inhumans. That show was doomed!
You see one person getting their powers, but all the others already have it. I really appreciated that it didn’t take an endless time to get everyone together by showing how each one of them found their path to coming to terms with being a mutant and such.
As always, I hope you have fun!
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Inhumans is definitely the show we shan’t continue to speak of. *shudder* But I also really enjoyed The Gifted. While it wasn’t perfect, it was a really nice way to bring the X-Men universe back to television. I’m also looking forward to season 2. Like you, I always love the mutants and the themes of prejudice, equality, and acceptance that go along with them. Here’s hoping the next season will only improve the premise without suffering from the Sophomore slump.
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I couldn’t agree more on all accounts. It definitely has its flaws, but what show doesn’t, right? It just depends on whether they outweigh the good or not.
I think the set up for season 2, with the team divided, will make for a good story. I am excited!
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I’ve actually watched this!!! (I know, it’s a miracle! 😉 ) I’ve always had a thing for mutant stories that I kinda had to watch it!! (and yeah based on the trailers I decided to give Inhumans a miss and just watch this one… which by all accounts seems like I made the right decision now) And I’m so relieved it was renewed!! I totally agree about loving how they did this and focusing on the relationships/characters, cos that way I was *instantly* invested. And yeah this dealt with some really complex issues. And gosh yeah the moral struggle of when to use their powers was so well done!! And yeah, I honestly felt more invested in a lot of members of the mutant underground. I *love* Eclipse and Polaris!!! They are totally meant for each other (although I’ve no idea what will happen to them now?!) And yes it did get into a predictable episodic routine- but I also found the plot overall progressed well and I generally don’t mind shows like that. Amazing review of this!!
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Since you’ve actually watched this, I am very glad you agreed on the points I wrote about haha (also, very solid choice on skipping Inhumans! That show shall never be mentioned again) I am really excited to see what the new season brings and just generally happy that this time around, I am not just writing about shows that might get cancelled (still bitter af about Class, Emerald City, Sweet/Vicious and No Tomorrow)
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Ah glad to hear that about Inhumans (well not that it wasn’t good, but you know what I mean 😉 ) Yes!! Me too!! Oh no- what really sucks there is that a lot of those shows were things I was meaning to get round to… oh well, I guess I’ll just know I’ll only get a season out of them when I get round to it (actually really disappointed about emerald city, I was just waiting till I was in the mood- damn)
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I can’t even express how bitter I am about Emerald City. The cinematography was beautiful. There were so many strong female characters and it was dark and intriguing and NOWHERE DONE *sobs*
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Damn, it really looked gorgeous and like something I’d appreciate. Oh that sucks!
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I am enjoying the show so far. I agree it can be predictable at times, but its done really well, and its very entertaining.
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Predictability is nothing bad per se, but in posts like this I feel like I have to mention it.
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Oh definitely. I like a little predictability. 🙂
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I haven’t watched this (a huge surprise to nobody) but it seems so interestinggggg! I swear I say that for every show but it’s true haha. Now I just need to figure out how to actually start watching this while still getting everything else done lol (why is it so hard??) I’m low key scared to start new shows I know I’ll like because then I’ll just binge watch it and never do anything else. 😂 As always, great post! I love reading about TV shows you enjoy even if I don’t actually watch them myself. Just piling up on my options!
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I always get COMPLETELY consumed by shows and then they are all I can think about. It’s my biggest weakness. I’ve been on a Peaky Blinders bender for a week now, even though I finished binging it after 2 days haha
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Oh, Peaky Blinders was the show you drew and painted a character from, right?? On Twitter? Or was that something else? (Your skills are actually so amazing! 😍) I need to watch that show now haha.
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Hahaha yep … *whispers* don’t tell anyone, but I’ve actually drawn several of the characters. It’s becoming a problem.
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😱😍 I’m sure they’re amazing though??! How long does it take you to draw them?
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If I don’t get distracted, around 3 hours maximum I’d say. I am doing mostly watercolor stuff now. Let me DM you on Twitter about something!
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