lauren and andy

The Gifted – S1 Ep9 – outfoX – Review

This episode of the Gifted was called “outfoX.”  There were a couple of incidents where the members of the Mutant Underground were outfoxed. One incidence was the emotional manipulation from a recent addition to the group, Esme, a telepath. The next instance of being outfoxed was through Turner, who outfoxed them all. Along with these situations we learned more about Andy and Lauren’s abilities and their family history.

The episode begins with a flashback. The Struckers were having an idyllic family picnic. Reed and Caitlin were having an intimate moment while Andy was trying to get Lauren to do a trick on his skateboard. (The kids acting here felt contrived and awkward.) He promised to help her so she decided to try. As expected she lost her balance. Andy reached out to grab her to keep her from falling, when they grasped their hands together a light radiated out of their hands, something strange was happening. At this point Andy had not learned that he had powers and Lauren was keeping hers a secret, when they let go, it stopped. They never spoke of it and acted as though it never happened.  

Emma: Aww! Sibling bonding
Emma: Oh! What!?
Alyson: So this was a year ago, it was a memory.
Emma: Maybe they didn’t think anything of it.

Throughout the episode we learned more about their family history. Andy found a book that had some of the story about Andrea and Andreas. They learned that they were considered to be monsters, that their powers together were some the strongest known. Fenris, as Andrea and Andreas were known, were part of an shadow group called The Hellfire Club. This immediately caught our attention because we are readers and fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, and The Hellfire Club is a big part of one of the main character’s history. Lord John Grey spends quite a bit of time at The Hellfire Club in London. Hellfire Clubs were real and most popular in the 1700’s. They were sort of shadow organizations in that they were suspected to be places where the members participated in devil worship and other occult happenings. It’s fun that the Marvel Universe has also found a place for these mysterious Hellfire clubs.

Reed and Caitlin have also been talking about the powers that Andy and Lauren have inherited from the vonStruckers. They realize that Andy and Lauren’s combined powers are very dangerous and feel as though they need to talk with the kids about them. They didn’t realize that Andy and Lauren had already learned about their combined powers. The decision was made for them to test it out. It’s pretty intense when they hold hands and the power begins to come out of them, they said that it felt like they were looking out of the same eyes. They really liked the way it felt.

Alyson: Woah!
Emma: They almost couldn’t control it
Emma: I feel like its an uncontrollable sort of thing.
Alyson: Like once they’re in it, they don’t want to leave it.
Emma: I wonder if it’s addicting.
Alyson: I bet.
Emma: Hmmmm interesting.

Esme is a recent addition to the Underground. When she was rescued in the last episode, she tipped off Thunderbird about a mutant in the group that was being rescued who was having strange thoughts. Her telepathic abilities allowed her to help the group get an insight about how the mutant testing was happening. Her ability and knowledge of what she saw in the head of the other mutant got her an in with the leaders of the Underground. With this information, she began to attempt to convince them to invade Trask Industries to save the mutants that are imprisoned and being tested on in there. She kept arguing that they should just go ambush them, but Marcos insisted that going in blind was bound to get them caught.

Emma: Yeah if you go in blind, you’re not helping anybody.

Although they decided going in blind was not the way to go, they did rush into the plan to invade Trask. Esme made sure of that. Throughout the episode we saw her emotionally manipulating the members of the underground in order to convince them that this invasion should be done sooner rather than later. There was one scene where Lorna was having a nightmare about her loved ones and her baby being imprisoned by the Sentinel Services. When Lorna woke up, Esme was right outside of their door.

Alyson: Are these her fears or is this a prediction?
Emma: *Gasp*
Emma: She’s manipulating them!
Alyson: Oh geez.

This incident made us suspicious of her. She didn’t seem trustworthy. We know that she is telepathic, but was she also able to manipulate Lorna’s dreams? Esme appeared to be using Lorna’s fears to manipulate her into action.

Emma: She’s totally manipulating things.
Alyson: She seems like she’s specifically targeting Lorna.

It’s possible she targeted Lorna because she recognized that she could get closer to her to manipulate. We were not sure if Esme was trying to outfox the leaders of the underground in order to get them caught by the sentinel services or if she just wanted to save her family and other mutants from Trask. At the end of the episode, however, Thunderbird had to drag her away from running into Trask after their plan was foiled. The emotion she showed in that scene informed us that she was not working for Sentinel Services and was using the manipulation to get the members of the underground to rush into action.

In the end they do rush into the plan. Their idea is good, but unfortunately Turner seems to always be a step or two ahead of them. If only they could just catch a break. Turner is so suspicious and has such a devious mind that he thinks outside the box and finds the little thread of information that will lead him to his goal. Jace tracks them to the power substation they planned to disable. Andy, Lauren, Sonya, and Blink went into the substation, to use Andy and Lauren’s powers to knock it out. Turner sent in the new Sentinels (spider like robots). It’s a disaster.

First Blink is captured, then soon after they get Sonya. Andy and Lauren were on the run when they realized they were trapped. They held hands preparing to tear the building down when they realized that if they did this, everyone who was inside would also be killed. This, we believe will prove that they are not terrorists like Fenris, they are inherently good and will not turn bad. So they end up captured as well. What is going to happen to them? We are really worried about all four of them. The Mutant Underground was disastrously outfoXed!!

Emma: No! Not Blink!!!!
Alyson: But the kids, they can’t take them!
Alyson: You know they are going to force them to use their powers, and it’s going to be bad.
Emma: Oh, for sure.

 

 

If you want to learn more about Trask Industries they have a website.
Sentinel Services
Sentinel Services on Twitter
Sentinel Services on Instagram
The Gifted airs on Monday nights on Fox at 8pm CDT.
Learn more about the show on The Gifted’s site.
The Gifted on Facebook
The Gifted on Twitter
The Gifted on Instagram

 

 

 

 

Follow me on twitter @eeebailey and @threeifbyspace
Don’t forget to subscribe to Three if by Space and like us on Facebook so you never miss a post!
Be sure share this post using our social media share buttons above.

Shopping cart
Shop
Wishlist
0 items Cart
My account