• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Spoilers The Gifted - Season 1

I've been going through season 1 on Hulu, and its surprisingly enjoyable. A bit slow at times, but I generally like the characters (well, the "heroes" at least, the Sentinel services guy is kind of standard as far as anti-mutant villains go, not a terrible villain but nothing remarkable). Amy Acker's character was a bit annoying, but I think she's finally learned that the law is unfair and she should stop acting like the system works, so she'll probably be a bit better in the future. I just finished episode 4, and overall this is a decent show. It could go either way, but right now its entertaining.
 
I enjoyed Season 1, and it looks like season 2 could be even better based on the trailer.
 
I'm about 7 episodes in, and its ok, but honestly its getting to the point where (and I know this sounds weird) its going over the top with the blatant anti-mutant activities. I mean, the kind of stuff the government is doing to mutants is what you'd see in the Days of Future Past timeline, not an earth that looks exactly like 2017/2018 normal Earth but with mutants. They're pulling Nazi-ish experiments on sentient beings in the United States, but the country doesn't seem distopian in general. I'd expect the country/World to get a lot more fucked up then it is before it got to this point.

Its not like I can't see people wanting to do this to mutants, or that they wouldn't be doing it in a universe like this. But the government's non-secret organizations and the police are doing stuff I'd expect to see done in secret all in plain view of everyone and somehow its breaking my suspension of disbelief. The problem is Sentinel Services is such a group of psycho stormtroopers that it should be obvious to everyone, even oblivious idiots like Reed Strucker. They are literally giving away mutants to be brainwashed and turned into tools, yet the show wants the viewer to have any sympathy for the bald shithead Sentinel services guy? I don't care that his daughter died, he's supporting activities that should lead to him getting hung at Nuremberg. Even if the brainwashing thing is slightly more secret, Sentinel services in general isn't even trying to hide how nuts they are, and the laws about mutants are so totalitarian its more humorous then anything.

Basically, they could keep every story beat with the Sentinel services intact if they just played it a bit more secretive. Make them have a public image that more obviously tried to hide how anti-mutant they are, and I'd find it all a bit more believable. It just feels like they're a bit too obviously mustache twirling villains, to the point where if they're going to be that public about it then the country should be a lot more obviously evil about it (like having mutant camps that that stuff). Other wise they should at least be trying to appear less blatantly evil in public.

Besides that, I do wish the show kind of just moved past the Struckers. I find the stuff with Thunderbird, Polaris, Eclipse, Blink, etc interesting, so having it derailed because the female Strucker kid has some teen relationship stuff with some guy whose name I can't remember just feels like its slowing everything down.
 
Ok, I've finished the show. Overall, it was pretty alright. There are some weak elements, and some annoying characters (Andy got really annoying when he went full mutant supremacist mixed with teenage BS, but the major problem with the show is that the villains all suck until the Hellfire Club is introduced. The sentinel Services guy is too bland, and the show should never have tried to make him "sympathetic", because it didn't work. I don't care that his kid died, he's as much of a monster as Campbell. Once the Stepford Cuckoos, then the show had interesting villains. A quick rundown of my opinion of (most of) the characters:

The Struckers - Their family history is really interesting. I liked how the show had a point to using the name, and wasn't just doing it as an obscure Marvel Comics reference. In individual family members kept fluctuating when it came to what I felt about them, but I ended the season liking the parents and Lauren (although all three had moments where they annoyed me), and disliking Andy. He started out generic, and got really annoying when he entered his "My psychotic grandparents were actually the victims" mutant supremacist phase.

Eclipse - At first, he was just the guy who looked like Oscar Isaacs, but I'd say he's tied with Blink as my favorite Mutant Underground member. I wasn't the biggest fan of his mob stuff, but outside of that he was the MU member with the best head on his shoulders. His relationship with Polaris was good, and I'm glad he didn't just give up what he thought was right when she became a villain at the end. I wish he hadn't been an idiot about the mob stuff, but thats the worst I can say about him.

Thunderbird - As a character I liked him, but he had a tendency to do stupid crap for no other reason then the writers needed drama (something basically every recurring character did, to be fair) which held him back a bit.

Polaris - She's a good character. I liked her in general, and her relationship with eclipse was generally good. I think her last minute heel turn was a bit too quick, but it does make sense when you see what happens to her over the course of the show, and I'm sure she's going to end up finding out she fucked up really badly by choosing to join the Hellfire Club.

Blink - She had an interesting journey during the show, gaining control over her power and having her attitude change. The stuff with her backstory, and what happened to the mutant foster house, was intense. One thing I liked is that most of the drama she was involved in was her reacting in a way that made sense to screwed up situations, like when dreamer messed with her memories. It made total sense that she'd leave because of that, but it also made sense when she returned.

Dreamer - She was a background character for most of the show. She worked for what she needed to be. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't really care when she died, either.

Stepford Cuckoos - They worked well in this. They're manipulative, completely without morals, and are actually interesting as villains in the way a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants style group should be. The show also pulled off the three of them extremely well, I never saw a scene were the effect was messed up. It always looked to me like there were three of the same person on screen when there was supposed to be, and not just a camera trick.

Overall I liked the show. It had a few huge flaws (like bad villains for the first 3/4ths of the show, and a few bad episodes, like the one where the twins were being tested by Campbell), but it was entertaining and I'll watch a second season, which is more then I can say about most superhero TV shows at this point. Hopefully with everything set up in this season, season 2 will be a bit stronger.
 
Stepford Cuckoos - They worked well in this. They're manipulative, completely without morals, and are actually interesting as villains in the way a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants style group should be. The show also pulled off the three of them extremely well, I never saw a scene were the effect was messed up. It always looked to me like there were three of the same person on screen when there was supposed to be, and not just a camera trick.
I have to confess, at first I thought they had just hired real triplets, and was shocked found out it was just one actress.
 
I have to confess, at first I thought they had just hired real triplets, and was shocked found out it was just one actress.

Whereas I figured it was one actress all along, and it's pretty easy to see how they faked it if you know what to look for. Like shots where all three Cuckoos are in the shot but only one has her face in focus.
 
Yeah, after five seasons of Orphan Black, I know what to look for. It doesn't take away from the production, but I can tell more readily now.
 
Last edited:
I knew they weren't triplets going in, but I still find it impressive, especially for a TV budget. I guess it just shows what they can do nowadays. All the mutant power stuff looked at least ok, nothing stood out as bad and some things looked really cool. I especially liked some of the make up (one of the background characters, I think his name is Shatter or something, looks really cool, especially for a character that is basically just an extra who gets lines occasionally). Sometimes the unnamed mutants (like the hounds) could be a bit generic, but overall all the mutant/special effect stuff was solid.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top