“Mankind has always feared what it doesn’t understand”– Magneto
Did you watch the premiere of “The Gifted” last night? If you were like me, then you may have not had high expectations for a X-men themed show from Fox Studios. And Fox is kind of known for shafting good shows as they start to get good. Let me give you a brief synopsis of the show: The government is hunting mutants down and detaining them. There is a group of mutants that saved and protect mutants on the run. There is no X-men or Brotherhood of Mutants to help them (they do some awesome name drops) so they take it upon themselves somewhat fill the void. Currently, the main plot follows the family of a mutant prosecutor and the fact that his kids are mutants and need to go into hiding.
Before you get too excited about seeing characters from the X-men movies to be in this show. While that would be great to see Jean Grey or Wolverine in TV form, it most likely won’t happen. If they end up showing up in the show (if the show lasts long enough), don’t expect to see Halle Berry or Hugh Jackman. The show made it clear that something happened to the X-men that caused humanity to see mutants in an extremely negative light, warranting the need for them to be locked up. Of course that won’t be explored in the first episode but it does make you wonder what could have happened to the X-men and even the Brotherhood of Mutants.
Another thing is to not expect this show to follow a certain comic book storyline, which is something I like about the show. Yes, it will pull elements from the comics but not be confined to certain stories, giving the writers kind of free range to do what they want (hopefully not enough to get the show cancelled). But don’t worry! There are some lesser know mutant Marvel characters in the show. Blink who is played by Jamie Chung, a purple-haired mutant who has also appeared in the X-Men movies and has the power to open up portals for people to travel through; Thunderbird played by Blair Redford, a Mutant with superstrength and mild foresight that lets him track people; and Lorna Dane, a.k.a. Polaris played by Emma Dumont, who can manipulate magnetism (https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-gifted-before-tonights-1819005197). If you recognize the name Polaris, then you would know that she is the daughter of Magneto, which I hope they end up exploring in the show.
Overall, I give the first episode a 7/10. It started at a decent pace and kind of set up multiple storylines that I hope get explored later. I usually watch shows like this wit very low expectations but I have medium hope for this show and I hope they prove me wrong. The Gifted comes on Mondays on Fox at 8/7 pm EST. Have some different thoughts on the show? Share them in the comments below.
