The Gifted: no Mercy

Review by An Honest Fangirl

"Look! It's your very first bank heist!"

Well, with an episode title like that, we all knew how this episode was going to go.

After weeks of build up, we finally get to see Reeva's big plan in action. It was both not what I was expecting and yet also entirely within the scope of Reeva's goals. Like she said, she can be a monster, but she's also the one who always tries and takes the less violent path first. Even in her introduction, she didn't turn on the rest of the Inner Circle until they refused to support her plans. There was absolutely no doubt that she would have left all of those people alive, even if she hadn't had feelings for Quinn.

I'll admit that I was hoping for a little more from the mysterious person that Reeva was texting, but I really enjoyed his character. I kept waiting for him to do something stupid and try to sabotage the Inner Circle's plans, and when that didn't happen, I was hoping that he would become something of an reoccurring character. He did a great job of humanizing Reeva in a way that hadn't quite been done before.

But Rebecca's bloodlust was obviously coming, and I really think that it'll come back to bite her. Everyone was horrified, even Andy. Her smile when she turned around after killing everyone was incredibly disturbing. She was just so happy, so proud of what she had done, but in a completely childlike way. This wasn't a smug serial killer. It was someone who takes innocent joy out of killing humans. I have a feeling that we're quickly heading into a downward spiral with her, especially once Andy inevitably begins to pull away.

The only thing that I didn't understand was why Esme had to stay behind with the baby. Why not just leave her with Sage? I mean, I can guess that it was to further show the growing separate between the triplets/clones (notice how she was wearing white and pink while the other two were in black) but it was just very clumsily handled.

The other thing that was clumsily handled was the reveal regarding Benedict Ryan. (Great name, by the way.) Were we introduced to him beforehand? I noticed his billboard once this episode, but when he spun around in that barber's chair, it felt like he was someone Very Important that we should have known. But oh well. We still have to progress the Purifier plot.

So Jace is now going to be the spokesperson for the Purifiers, even if that's not explicitly stated to the public. Interesting. I honestly couldn't care less about him not wanting to hurt his former coworkers or trying to get back in touch with his wife. But as a plot device? I really like the idea of him being used to stir up anti-mutant sentiment to match the #MutantUprising work that the Inner Circle is doing.

With the remains of the Mutant Underground caught in the middle. Clarice was right, they have been rather aimless this season, mostly just dealing with the immediate problem that comes up and pushing any further ones down the road. That's not a very effective way to help people, and I can see why she's getting so frustrated. The brief argument that she had with John was a long time coming, but it was needed. I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but I enjoyed it and liked how it was handled. Both Clarice and John acted like mature adults. It was a difference of viewpoint that led to this argument, not just some kind of petty drama.

We're also having a little bit of movement on the Strucker front. After the ending of last episode, I really thought that they would have been more front and center, but I guess not. Reed's plot is... fine, I guess? I really enjoy Lauren's character, and perk up whenever she is on screen, but their issues just feel so disconnected from everything else that's going on, like the writers are just giving them something to do because they're main cast members. But who knows? Maybe this specialist that they're going to see will be fun.

Random Thoughts

Okay, wait. I know Caitlin said all of these things that convinced her that she found Papa Strucker's former assistant, but her proof kind of seemed a little flimsy to me. I will laugh so hard and give this show so much credit if she's actually the wrong woman.

I loved the coordinated black outfits of the bank heist. Yeah, yeah, evil always wears black, but they all looked sharp. That song when they first started the heist was fantastic as well.

Why didn't Lorna find a sitter of Dawn earlier? Asking Esme literally right before they left seems a little ridiculous.

I really liked Lauren using her powers to contain her dad's. That was cool.


Despite being the culmination of a lot of work so far, it almost felt like this episode was mostly set up. There are a lot of plates in the air, and I'm curious to see where they land.
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An Honest Fangirl loves superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and really bad horror movies.

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