The title of this episode, eXit strategy, sets up this week’s show perfectly. It’s about getting out of the physical and figurative prison, about the strategy behind exiting the situation the mutants are all living with. As we have been doing all along, Emma (my daughter) and I are writing this review together and adding what our comments and thoughts were as we watched.
Lorna has an awesome sarcastic attitude while being taken into the prison. She is put in a cell next to Reed. They learn that they are going to be moved to a Sentinel Services facility. Reed knows from experience that mutants who end up in these places are not seen again. She really hates him, doesn’t trust him and wants nothing to do with him, while he tries to convince her to work with him to escape.
The Mutant Underground also know the danger of being sent to a Sentinel Services facility. Reed and Polaris are going to be transferred, thus making it more important to rescue them. They lost 6 people in a past rescue attempt. When they ask for volunteers most of the mutants are not willing to risk it and there are only five of them to execute a close to impossible task. Caitlin may not have mutant powers but she has an idea. Since they need to be transported, instead of trying to get them out of the facility, get them while they are in transit. She tells them, “Sometimes you just have to take a risk and hope for the best”
Emma: I like this advice
Marcos thinks that he might be able to get information from “the cartel” on what route Sentinel Services will be taking with Reed and Lorna. He has a history with them and goes to talk with them. He is greeted by Carmen who says she is in charge now, he is surprised and somewhat horrified, this is because when Marcos was involved, her father was in charge. She is holding a big grudge against him. He left her for Polaris. When he asks for help, she tells him that she only helps her friends. She asks him if he wants to be her friend and forces him to have a drink with her.
Alyson: The look on his face makes me think that maybe alcohol is a problem for him.
Emma: I don’t think it’s the alcohol, I think it’s her.
John is on the phone with Marcos to find out whether Carmen will help. John is worried about the repercussions of Marcos making a deal with Carmen. She is playing with him.
Alyson: I don’t trust her!
Emma: She still wants him.
Alyson: She wants to sleep with him.
Emma: She wants to use him
Planning begins to figure out how to stop the transport bus. Lauren hears it and talks to Andy about using his powers to stop the bus. He doesn’t trust that he can control his powers enough. Lauren suggests that she can help him focus his powers. They try it and it works amazingly.
Alyson: Is this the reason the doctor is interested in mutant siblings because they are more powerful together?
Emma: Sounds like it! It seems that sibling powers are often complementary to each other.
Reed talks with Lorna, who won’t even look at him, about how he justified his past treatment of mutants to himself. He now realizes that the majority of mutants don’t mean to hurt anyone, they are just defending themselves. Before he didn’t understand, now he does and is very sorry. She is so bitter and can only “congratulate” him for figuring out he’s one of the bad guys, and tells him he should apologize to all the families who were split up because of him.
Alyson: I don’t think he’s asking for forgiveness. I think he’s trying to convince her he’s not the same as he used to be so that she will work with him to escape.
Emma: He’s been a good guy all along, it’s just that he didn’t have all the information.
The kids show John and Caitlin what they can do together and they want to help stop the bus. Caitlin immediately says no. Lauren follows her and reminds her that she said, “sometimes we have to take risks”. Her response is “Really? You’re going to use my words against me?”
Alyson: That bugs me. She is disappointing me a bit, it doesn’t feel like she’s supporting her kids the way she could.
Emma: She’s worried about her kids. It’s understandable. I think she has potential.
Alyson: You’re so magnanimous. 😉
Lauren again reminds her that she said there are things worth fighting for. The kids really want to do it. They want to help too.
Alyson: Even though she bugs me, it’s clear she feels powerless. Actually being powerless must be hard.
Emma: But she has mom powers!!!
Alyson: You’re right, mom powers can be the strongest of all the powers.
Carmen takes Marcos to a room where there is a man tied up who has been tortured.
Emma: Very “mob boss” of her
Alyson: I really don’t like her!
She wants him to use his powers to get the answers she wants from the guy. “Your hands are very persuasive. The price is you. I call, you come and do exactly what I ask you to do.”
Alyson: This is going to be an ongoing problem.
Marcos threatens to blind the guy with his light and he gives in immediately. Marcos gets the information he needs to know about the transport convoy.
Alyson: That seemed too easy.
Emma: I guess it shows the extent of the fear people have for the mutants.
When he’s back at the Mutant Underground we see him praying and saying the rosary. Torture and threats don’t come naturally to him and he clearly regrets it.
The song that is playing while they are all preparing themselves overnight for the rescue during the transfer is Evergreen by the Broods. The dreamy calm music and words are a perfect backdrop for the pensive and introspective mood. The chorus describes the mutants so well, it seems like the song could have been written just for them.
Since we found out that we’re invincible
We’ve been living in a dream world
Since we decided to be infinite
There’s no ending and there’s no fear
Polaris and Reed are taken onto the bus, the way they are strapped in is inhumane and insulting.
Emma: Wow, treating them like animals. The collar and everything!
Everyone is in place to do their part to stop the bus and rescue Lorna and Reed. There is another mutant there – Sage. He can make himself invisible.
Then, Andy is struggling because the bus is moving and he panics. Lauren is cool and smart about it and makes him angry so that his powers are stronger. The two of them easily break the bus but the bus stops in the wrong spot throwing the plan out of whack.
Sage makes himself invisible and says he will go see where the bus is when suddenly he is not invisible anymore.
Alyson: It’s a disaster!
Sentinel Services have a mutant working for them, Pulse, who can disrupt mutants or suppress their abilities. He was John’s best friend. John thought he had died two years ago when they attempted the rescue from the sentinel services facility.
Alyson: What? A mutant working for Sentinel Services??!
Emma: I don’t Think he’s working for them, I think he’s being used as a tool for them.
Right before Lorna and Reed are moved from the broken bus, he convinces her to work together to escape. They attack the guards. Then the guards attack back and beat them both.
Alyson: What a jerk! Beating Lorna! NO!
John finds Pulse and has to first fight the guard who is with him.
Alyson: He always has such good fight choreography!
Emma: He’s an awesome fighter even without his super strength powers!
John has to knock him out. He doesn’t seem to recognize John and is in some sort of a trance.
Emma: What did they do to him?
Alyson: What’s that tattoo?
There are some theories, and I found a good description of them on CBR.com. Are they trying to make him into one of the Mutant Hunting Hounds? Or maybe it has something to do with Project Nimrod? Another thought is that he follows Magneto’s ideas. Take a look at CBR for more about these.
Lorna then feels her powers come back. There is no metal on the bus where they are. Reed tells her to take the screws from his knee. This comes back around to when she threatened to take them out when he spoke to her/threatened her in prison, it shows how much he wants to prove his remorse. She pulls the screws out and uses them to release the zip ties and kills the guard.
Emma: That looks like that really hurt.
When Turner realizes they have their powers back he orders his people to shoot to kill.
Alyson: Ugh, I hate him!
Lorna is amazing, she uses her powers to pull the guns out of their hands and stays cool the whole time.
Throughout the episode, Clarice is having dreams of herself with John and wakes up confused each time. John wants to tell Clarice what Dreamer did to her, but she says they shouldn’t because what if Clarice gets angry and decides not to help.
Alyson: I don’t think Clarice would give up like that, she seems more committed to the cause to just bail on them.
When she tries to talk to John about her memories, her confusion is confirmed and she knows something isn’t right.
Emma: I’m not OK with this. It’s not cool to play with someone’s emotions. It’s like an invasion of privacy AND manipulation. It is totally going to mess her up psychologically. I predict that she is going to end up feeling very psychologically dissociated.
A lot happened on this episode and it felt a bit scattered at times. The theme was focused on rescuing Reed and Lorna and there was a lot of ground covered, but in the end it all came together.
The Gifted airs on Monday nights on Fox at 8pm CDT.
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