'The Gifted' Season 1 Finale Recap: A Division of Justice [SPOILERS]

“The Gifted” ended their Season 1 finale with action and a whole lot of drama. The show’s two-hour finale—titled “eXtraction” and X-roads,”—has the mutants teaming up as they fight for their lives. Especially when Dr. Campbell (Garret Dillahunt) attends an anti-mutant summit, attempting to take the Hound program national.  The Mutant Headquarters have to make a tough decision whether or not to work with Esme (Skyler Samuels) to stop Campbell. But as the war against mutants gets worse, relationships are put to the test and alliances shift.

‘The Gifted’: To Kill or not to Kill

Just like their mutant predecessors, the mutants of “The Gifted” have opposing views on how to fight for their survival. We always had The Brotherhood v.s. The X-Men when it comes to the approach of justice for mutants. The Frosts were able to recruit a few of the members of Mutant HQ to stop Campbell, but the telepathic triplets aren’t going to do it the X-Men way. This dilemma is what worries Eclipse—Esme and her sisters might pit them against each other. But they have no other choice and plan to stop Campbell. The Frosts’ plan was simple enough: kidnap a wealthy backer who supports an anti-mutant movement, gain access to the summit, and get Campbell before he can talk to the senator.

But the Mutant HQ has a conscience. When Eclipse (Sean Teale) and Thunderbird (Blair Redford) were about to abduct Campbell, the scientist shielded himself with a child. Eclipse couldn’t risk hurting an innocent life, but one of the Frosts didn’t see that as an obstacle. The argument brews down to a question of whether or not to risk the lives of humans for the mutant movement. The Frosts can see they can’t turn Eclipse, Thunderbird or Blink (Clarice Fong) to their side, but there’s a chance with Polaris (Emma Dumont). Blink was part of the Brotherhood, and she didn’t want to fight the way she did ever again. Thunderbird was firm on what the X-Men wanted.

Protecting Family

After Campbell’s Hounds ruined their escape to Mexico, The Struckers face another problem. While Reed (Stephen Moyer) and Sage (Hayley Lovitt) were going through his dad’s old files, they notice someone else was browsing through them. It turns out, Campbell and his team are going after Ellen Strucker (Sharon Gless), Reed’s mother, for Otto’s research. The Struckers hurry to make it to Ellen before Sentinel does. But Ellen was oblivious to her late husband’s study. She remembers that he used to meet up with a researcher named Madeleine Risman. At first, Ellen thought it was an affair, but it could’ve been something else because she once visited Reed as a child. The Struckers were able to escape Sentinel and Ellen would flee to Florida.
Meanwhile, Polaris has a few family problems of her own. It’s obvious Polaris is Magneto’s daughter. The Frosts try to use that information to persuade Polaris to their side. At first, Polaris could care less about the man who impregnated her mother, but The Frosts got to her. Polaris’ pregnancy has a positive effect on her powers but a rift between her and Eclipse. All she wants is a life her child can live in without humans getting in the way. So she agreed to crash the plane Campbell, and the Anti-Mutant Senator is riding to make sure the Hound project won’t push through. Her friends try to talk her out of it, but she already made her decision. Eclipse is her family, but sometimes you have to make choices for the good of your family.

No X-Men, No Brotherhood, and No more Mutant Underground

While Polaris was crashing the plane, Sentinel Services found the Mutant Underground. Reed and Caitlin (Amy Acker) take charge of the situation. Reed has the mutants trained in combat distract Sentinel while Caitlin and the others create an escape route through the vault. Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind), Andy (Percy Hynes White), and two other mutants were able to stop a few of the Sentinel agents firing at the building. It bought them enough time for one of the mutants to break a route out of the building. But Jace (Coby Bell) decided to send in the Hounds. Worried that Sentinel might find them, Lauren and Andy volunteered to stay behind. Thier powers will not only stop the Hounds but also destroy any trace back to them.

The Mutant HQ is now gone. The Underground relocated to a temporary location in Nashville. Despite surviving the ambush, tensions are still high. Sage blames The Struckers for bringing the trouble with them while others feel hopeless. Thunderbird and Eclipse try to motivate everyone—even suggesting to start anew—until Polaris walks in with one of The Frosts. She offers the others a new kind of hope, Hellfire. Sage, Tex, and Andy decided to join Hellfire since there’s no more Mutant Underground and they want to do more than just sit around.
“The Gifted” ended with two teams and conflicting ideologies of justice. Jace quit Sentinel services when his efforts were not appreciated. The war is getting bigger not only between humans and mutants.