The Gifted Review: calaMity (Season 2 Episode 14)
The Gifted has serious problems and we’re going to address them one more time. The Gifted Season 2 Episode 14, “calaMity,” gives us the Purifiers attacking the Morlocks, while the Struckers make a decision and multiple people die.
In these reviews, I try my hardest to be professional even if it’s sometimes hard because I want to scream. This is one of the episodes that makes me want to scream, and not in a good way. If there weren’t just two episodes left I’d consider this my final review but I might as well finish out the season.
I said in my review of The Gifted Season 2 Episode 12, “hoMe,” that things felt grim. Well, they only get worse. I get they want to the darkest before the dawn motif but I think you’re stretching the metaphor a bit too far.
Villainous for Villain Sake
Admittedly I liked what they were doing with the Purifiers, I even dedicated a large portion of the review of The Gifted Season 2 Episode 5 “afterMath,” to it. Once again they push it too far. At what point does it stop being an allegory and become something else? I think we’ve reached that point.
Every episode with the Purifiers sounds like I’m watching Fox News. We don’t need the writers to keep pushing this angle. We don’t need to hear what the Purifiers say, we don’t need to see how far they go. We know how far they’ve gone. We don’t need to see them massacre innocent mutants to get the point.
If I want to watch torture porn I’d rewatch season 5 of Game of Thrones. In fact, this episode feels more like torture porn than the infamous Red Wedding. Yeah, I said it. Also, am I the only one that feels uncomfortable about the fact that our two villains are two of the three African American characters?
Benedict Ryan might be the racist white voice but the show makes it clear that Jace Turner and Reeva Payge are the villains. This is nothing against Grace Byers and Cody Bell they’re both doing phenomenal jobs.
Let’s look at Jace Turner, his actions in season one were terrible but still understandable. We got the idea that he wasn’t a terrible person just one with a lot of grief. Season 2 shapes him into an extremely unlikeable and unredeemable coward. Because the guy knows he’s not doing the right thing and yet he does nothing to change things.
The Gifted takes a man with a lot of grief and transforms him into a beacon of blind hate and racism. Basically the poster child for racist America. Which would be very interesting if it was a white character but it’s not. Television does not exist in a vacuum, especially shows set during our time and age.
I am not African American so it is not my place to say it. Still, I think it is absolutely screwed up that the character of Jace Turner, who grew up as a black man in America, is the one that gets this storyline. It’s very tone deaf.
Then there’s Reeva Payge, whose character makes less sense by the minute. Throughout the season I’ve thought she was evil but I respected her. We got the feeling that she actually cared for mutants. Now the show is telling me that she’s part of the reason why things got so bad for mutants.
I appreciate a Machiavellian approach now and then but what is the endgame here? She made things worse for mutants so more would turn towards the Inner Circle. But other than that her plan is unclear and other than fear I see no reason why people would follow her.
Disrespect and Refrigerators
The Gifted’s fridge is filling up with even more dead female characters. Sage is confirmed to be dead and is now keeping Rebecca and Dreamer company. And we can’t forget that Evangeline had an offscreen death. My hope of her actually being alive is waning episode by episode.
Then we get the Morlocks basically get massacred. Why is this necessary? Did the writers need a way to pull them into the fight? So not only was the Underground destroyed but now the Morlocks as well?
Blink: If we’re only going to protect ourselves what kind of community is that?
Then, to add insult to injury, the show has Blink get shot multiple times and we don’t know if she’s dead or alive. If she’s alive she’s a prisoner of the Purifiers and it’s been established that they’re not good or decent. The other alternative is that she’s dead.
Neither one is good, although I’d prefer for her to be alive thank you very much. If she’s dead it’s massively disrespectful to the character and to Jaime Chung. Clarice has spent most of this season on the sidelines or being a part of the B or C plot.
She’s been on the show since the pilot and it wasn’t until a few episodes ago that we got a hint of her backstory. There’s so much uncharted territory there. Clarice deserves more and Jamie Chung deserves more.
If she is dead then she was fridged to give John even more pain. Because of course, the show makes him watch her get shot. As if the guy hasn’t lost enough people already. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Jamie Chung and Blair Redford are absolutely magnificent in those final scenes.
John: You’re the one that said there’s nothing noble about fighting for a lost cause.
Clarice: I was wrong.
I hate it when good characters are fridged to give others the motivation to go on. It’s especially bad when it’s the only woman of color in the side of the good guys.
Stray Thoughts:
- Caitlin explaining how terrified she feels of being unable to protect her family because she doesn’t have powers is heartbreaking. That scene between her and Lauren is absolutely lovely, Amy Acker does a phenomenal job at realizing how in trying to protect her family she failed her daughter. I’ve wanted that scene since the start of the season.
Caitlin: I’m so sorry Lauren.
- I live for Marcos defending Clarice, he’s come a long way since the start of the season.
- I wish I could talk more about the car scene with the Struckers because it is powerful and important. Reed and Lauren’s relationship is extremely important to me and both Natalie Alyn Lind and Stephen Moyer are wonderful.
Reed: It’s a part of who I am, for better or for worse.
- Reed is definitely going to be the one that defeats Reeva, I’m sticking to that prediction.
What did you think of this episode of The Gifted? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Gifted airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX.
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Maii Trueba de Buen
Maii is a 28-year-old writer who can be slightly invested in characters and their stories. She tries to give credit where credit is due but isn’t afraid to be honest in her writing. It's probably best not to ask about Lucifer or A Song of Ice and Fire, because you'll never hear the end of it. She graduated in film and has a certificate/minor in Art History. She brings that into her writing because, well, she’s a nerd. The only thing that beats her love of writing is her love of Pandas.