*This review contains minor spoilers*
Watch my SPOILER review on YouTube
“The Gifted” season 2 starts off with a lot of potential, but mostly ends up spinning its wheels and just barely sticks the landing in the end.
The story is just not well-defined. There’s plenty of plotting and planning, but it takes too long before we see what the endgame is, and even then it’s mostly anti-climactic. We see Reeva training Lorna and Andy for some big mission the first half of the season, and it leads up to a dramatic cliffhanger, but when the show returns the repercussions are almost completely ignored, and it’s a fairly convoluted way to advance phase two of the Inner Circle’s plan. And even that is entirely too vague. Weeks of secretive maneuvering result in a master plan that doesn’t seem plausible or practical, and none of this stuff seems like it could possibly lead to a “mutant homeland.”
The returning characters have some good story arcs that follow nicely from the end of last season. There are some weaker moments early on, especially with Andy, but his story finishes up nicely in the end…even though he gets there a bit faster than he should. And after joining the show late in season one, Skyler Samuels does a great job as the Frost sisters, especially as Esme slowly drifts away from the group and becomes noticeably different than her clones. Overall, I was impressed with Jace Turner’s character development as it took him in some interesting directions.
Unfortunately, the new characters are much less interesting. Reeva plays things too close to the vest to get a feel for her, and her power is so poorly defined (and silly looking), that you never feel she’s as powerful as they claim she is. While we finally get to see the Morlocks, they’re never that compelling, as they rarely feel like the characters from the comics that are just too ugly too pass for human. The Purifiers also grab a lot of the spotlight this season, and they get watered down from the religious zealots with high-tech weapons to becoming a bunch of gung-ho rednecks.
As far as the rest of the X-Men lore goes, very little new shows up this season. One or two minor mutant characters, and the origin of the Frost sisters are the highlights. But even then, we get no mention of Emma Frost. And on top of that, Magneto is referenced repeatedly, but not once does anybody say his name.
“The Gifted” season 2 is fairly disappointing, with a plodding plot that never pays off in the end. Thankfully, strong characters keep you invested.
** out of *****