The Gifted – S02E06 – iMprint

The Purifiers have come out in force, with some smarter-than-your-average-cannon-fodder plans, as well as our three-in-one girls sharing their backstory.  You’d think we’d seen the last of Daddy Strucker not having control of his power, but wait, there’s

Title: “iMprint”

Director: Michael Goi
Writers: Dawn Kamoche, Ariella Blejer

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
Skyler Samuels as Esme Frost / Sophie Frost / Phoebe Frost
Grace Byers as Reeva Payge
Tom O’Keefe as Officer Wilson
Anjelica Bette Fellini as Rebecca / Twist
Sumalee Montano as Dr. Taylor
Saree Mcintosh as Young Frost Sisters

Premise:

The Inner Circle prepares for a secret ambush, but Polaris is reluctant to join and Reeva tasks Esme with getting Polaris on board. Esme confides in Polaris, revealing her and her sisters’ troublesome past. Meanwhile, Thunderbird trains Reed on controlling his powers and The Purifiers attack The Mutant Underground as they attempt to rescue a group of homeless mutants. (From Trakt.)

High Point:

There are a few good examples of “Show, don’t tell” in this episode.  My favorite was Rebecca’s Pancake face.

Low Point:

I’ve never been involved in a hate group. That said, the Purifiers seem like they are a realistic representation of what one would see.  Those in charge are thinking they’re “the good guys”, yet they have an outspoken maniac with semi-automatic weapons working right next to them on the same agenda. I feel like hate-group members could be identifying with the show and the Purifiers, thinking that “our hate group wouldn’t get such a bad reputation if that maniac would just chill out.”  I am not comfortable finding people running a hate group to be relatable.

The Scores:

Originality: 5/6 Seeing the typical bad guys actually plan and scheme in a way that seems like it should work is not something you see very often.

Effects: 3/6 The effects seem to have scaled back a bit, presumably using up the budget on makeup.  The seams of a CGI melting of the green glow of magnetism seem glaringly obvious against the real world items they were are cut and pasted on top.

Acting: 5/6 Esme and her sisters are convincing as three identical clones, but each with different feelings on the events.

Production: 4/6 The production has been consistent.

Story: 3/6 Reed is acting like a middle-aged teenager.  He tells the people trying to help, people who “professionally” deal with the horrors of waking up with powers, that they can’t help him or understand what he is going through.  He keeps pushing everyone away to take care of it himself until he has a meltdown.  This would make sense if this wasn’t a being done with a man who, until recently, was a gainfully employed, mature suburbanite.

Emotional Response: 4/6 I liked the kids flirting and the Stepford Frosts, but Reed has left me disinterested.  Also, the sympathy they are eliciting is not sympathy I can enjoy (as discussed above.)

Overall: 4/6 It is a building episode, I’d like to see it reach someplace.

In total, “iMprint” receives 28/42.

 

2 replies on “The Gifted – S02E06 – iMprint”

  1. Reed acting like an idiot in relation to his powers is, unfortunately, not so far fetched as you might hope. Yes, it’s annoying and you would hope that people would use their intelligence in a situation like that. However, fear actually can shut down rational thought so even the smartest person could fall into that trap, especially in a high stress situation like he’s been in since he lost that suburban life. There are a *lot* of examples of real people from all walks of life acting counter to their own interests even when they know better.

    I don’t want to believe people would act that way. Or that hate groups would operate that way, for that matter. Both make me uncomfortable enough to consider either one (or both) a low point. But does that mean they are actually “low points” from the perspective of a review of the show so much as a “low point” in reference to human nature?

    • You have very valid points.

      I stand by my listing of it as a low point, even if it is a low point in human nature that is depicted realistically, because I prefer more escapism in my fiction. (The same reason I hate anything having to do with the holocaust. I know it happened, I know how terrible it was, and I know I am the same species as the people who committed such horrendous atrocities. I don’t enjoy having my nose rubbed in it, though.)

Comments are closed.