The Gifted – “boXed In”

Our Gifted mutants continue their escape from the Sentinels of last episode in “boXed In.”  I would have gone for a joke about being boxed into the tropes of the genre, but they do seem to be well aware of their box and are deliberately trying to either play on it or to move past it.  Besides, I don’t have to make a joke about the title, I’m not…nevermind.

Title: “boXed In”

Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Writer: Jim Campolongo

Cast:

Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker
Amy Acker as Kate Strucker
Sean Teale as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse
Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker
Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker
Coby Bell as Jace Turner
Jamie Chung as Clarice Fong / Blink
Blair Redford as John Proudstar / Thunderbird
Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane / Polaris
Dayna Beilenson as Pedestrian
Courtney Dietz as Angry Mutant Girl
Jacob Evans as Mutant Refugee
DJames Jones as Harry / Trader
Melissa LeEllen as Mother
Hayley Lovitt as Sage

Premise:

Jace, motivated by a tragic event from his past, throws all the power of the Sentinel Services into finding the Mutant Underground Way Station; Blink’s vivid dreams lead her to confront Dreamer.  (From IMDB.)

High Point:

Jace, when confronted with a mutant who could manipulate metal, doesn’t bother pointing his gun at her.  Blink was also refreshingly not oblivious to the effects of others’ powers.

Low Point:

“Dad’s not going to believe this” and neither will the audience!  I am not a surgeon, but my exposure to medical dramas gave me enough expectations of believability that I fully expected him to die of blood loss after the first incision or after the powers weren’t being used anymore.

The Scores:

Originality: 4/6 While a motivation of the prejudiced class having caused the death of the antagonists family is done over and over, I think this is the first time I’ve seen it addressed this way.

Effects: 4/6 The budget ran out for special effects, as some of the more expensive ones happen around a corner.

Acting: 5/6 Coby Bell (Jace) hasn’t struck me as a great actor, but he stepped his game up for the episode centered around him.  Plus, watching him in the episodes high point made the episode for him.

Production: 5/6

Story: 5/6 I like that we feel like we are moving forwards, even if we haven’t gotten particularly far into the story.

Emotional Response: 6/6 This number may be artificially inflated because of comparison with what we watched immediately before: Marvel’s Inhumans.

Overall: 5/6

In total, “boXed In” receives 34/42

4 replies on “The Gifted – “boXed In””

  1. Yeah, that low point was a bit “wait, what?” That said, I’ve come to accept a bit of magical medicine in these types of stories. At least someone with at least some modicum of medical training is performing some of the magic in this one.

    One thing I wish shows would do a bit better is setting the timeline. That is, how long things take to happen, in particular in relation to each other. I think if they paid more attention to that, there would be fewer moments of “Wait, that transfusion thing has been set up for what seems like hours. Why isn’t the kid passing out?”

    • I was waiting for Andy to pass out from blood loss as a comedic beat at the end of that scene. The Medical Science in this show seems like the Physics that happens in The Flash.

  2. Your high point is incorrect — I just rewarched that part to verify.

    Jace did point his gun at her. He even shot at her. He lowered the gun once he realised that was ineffective, but it was still pointed at her. The edit when she pulls it away from him made it look more lowered than it was, but he absolutely pointed it at her and used it.

    Your low point is, if anything, understated. Yeah, improvised surgery can happen, and that guy might’ve survived it… except that mom nicked an artery and nobody fixed that before sewing him back up.

    Also, dad running around (literally) after having the screw yanked from his knee? I don’t think so.

    I’m getting a 0/6 emotional response from this show…

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