THE GIFTED “boXed In” Review

THE GIFTED: Emma Dumont and Sean Teale in “boXed In.” Co. Cr: Guy D’Alema/FOX

The Gifted Episode 5 boXed in Review

By: Emma Crow

In this week’s episode of The Gifted, trust is both formed and broken, moral lines are blurred, and Polaris is officially back with a vengeance.

After the action, romance, and shocks of last week, this fifth episode, titled boXed in, fails to deliver as many thrills, choosing to deal almost entirely with the fallout from that altercation instead.

One highlight however is the storyline between Agent Turner, Polaris, and Eclipse (and bonus Dreamer and Blink). The episode begins with a flashback to the July 15^th incident we keep hearing about. Agent Turner is happy with his wife and daughter, but we already know what is about to happen. A mutant rights rally gets out of hand and Agent Turner’s daughter is killed in the crossfire.

Back in the present day, Caitlin, Reed, Polaris, Eclipse, and John have just escaped after the battle and need to trade in their van for new vehicles. John takes a moment to tell Polaris and Eclipse about their friend Pulse, who we discovered last week is now employed by Sentinel Services. Polaris and Eclipse are then deployed to deal with a drone sent by Sentinel Services to track them. They quickly dispatch the drone and finally have a moment to properly reacquaint themselves with one another and discuss their baby. It is really a very sweet scene. Their romantic moments together have been pretty over the top for the most part, which is fine, but this moment is so soft and understated and really lets the emotions, rather than their gifts, shine.

Of course, the moment can’t last long. The pair soon run into Agent Turner, and while Eclipse wants to run, Polaris is damn tired of running. It seems she’s out for blood and unilaterally decides that they are going to take Agent Turner as their hostage.

Meanwhile, Caitlin is putting her nursing skills to use in order to save the mutant who got shot in last week’s episode. She also employs her children to aid in this endeavor. They end up saving the mutant’s life after performing some pretty shady surgery (which Caitlin is most certainly not qualified to perform) and they earn some goodwill with the other mutants, who were originally none too thrilled to discover Reed Strucker’s former profession.

Reed has to prove himself by going on a mission with the invisibly gifted mutant he betrayed a few episodes ago when he wore a tracker for Sentinel Services. Reed successfully leads the officers in the opposite direction of the Mutant Underground HQ, but barely escapes with his life.

Meanwhile, Polaris and Eclipse have taken Agent Turner to an abandoned warehouse and plan on interrogating him for information on Pulse. Agent Turner, of course, is not very forthcoming. They discuss the incident, which they refer to as 7/15 (i.e. 9/11, this show is not subtle). Agent Turner reveals that he lost his 7-year-old daughter in this incident. Eclipse is clearly very moved; just moments previously he was giddily discussing names for his future child with Polaris. Polaris, on the other hand, is not quite so easily swayed.

Eclipse calls Dreamer to come and help with the interrogation, and quickly Blink portals them to the warehouse. Dreamer uses her gift to sift through Agent Turner’s mind for information, while Blink looks on intently. She clearly connects the dots between Dreamer’s gift and her own mysterious, steamy memory with John. Before Dreamer can finish with Agent Turner’s head, the warehouse is surrounded and tear gas floods the room. Polaris drags Dreamer away from Agent Turner while he cradles his head and screams in agony. Dreamer cries, “I can’t leave him like this!” But, alas, they have no choice, as Sentinel Service agents flood the warehouse.

Safely back at the Mutant Underground, the moment we have all been eagerly waiting for finally arrives. Blink angrily confronts Dreamer about the implanted memory. She tearfully tries to explain, but Blink is pissed, and storms off after lamenting, “you gave me feelings of love for a man who is basically a stranger to me, a man who doesn’t love me!” Oh, the drama, it hurts so good.

Blink is not the only one who is suffering from the long-term effects of Dreamer’s good intentions. Agent Turner returns home to his wife, and initially seems perfectly fine, until he asks to see their daughter. His wife is stunned, as she has to remind him that their daughter died 4 years ago. Agent Turner is emotionally devastated all over again. He certainly isn’t going to become a mutant sympathizer anytime soon.

This episode needed way more Blink and John, and way less Reed/angry mutant team-up side-story (there’s been at least 3 in only 5 episodes, enough is enough.)

Next week’s episode appears to be about the Mutant Underground taking the fight to Sentinel Services, so hopefully we get another episode with all the thrills of last week’s epic battle sequence.