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Reactor Review – The Gifted

By Boukenred

From the director of the the X-Men film franchise comes an original series, The Gifted, that will further expand the X-Men universe. Produced by Bryan Singer, The Gifted has an exciting story focusing on the Mutants, their struggle to adapt to their abilities and being on the run from authorities for being different. As sneak peek for many fans, FOX hosted an early screening event where fans can attend to see the pilot episode of the series and give their first reaction. The cast includes Stephen Moyer, Amy Acker, Emma Dumont, Jamie Chung, Sean Teale, Haley Lovitt, Natalie Alyn Lind, and Percy Hynes White.

The Gifted is set in a world where the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants no longer exist, all Mutants are on their own and struggle to survive while the entire world fears them. To counter the Mutant population, the Sentinel group, sanctioned by the government, is tracking them down, in order to keep the world ‘safe’. Reed Strucker (Stephen Moyer) works as a district attorney for all types of Mutants cases. He soon discovers that both his son and his daughter are Mutants, and has been alerted by the Sentinel group to take them in. Fearing for his children, Reed and his family go on the run from the government, seeking refuge from the last known Mutant group, for which the Sentinel group is hunting.

Although The Gifted is set in the same universe as the X-Men film franchise the focus of this series are the relations between the Mutants and humankind. They are situations where they are working together to accept one another, however, there at others giving in to their feelings of bigotry and resentment toward one another. The Gifted shares similar plot elements to NBC’s HEROES series, from characters discovering their new abilities to escaping from the authorities for having these abilities. The only difference is that The Gifted will be using more established elements from the X-Men. However, instead of using any of the more well-known characters from the X-Men, The Gifted will focus on original characters created for this series.

The Gifted focuses on the idea of sticking together as a family, whether it’s your own family or a new family created with those who understand the struggle to be accepted as a Mutant. This can be seen with Natalie Alyn Lind’s character, Lauren Strucker of. She and her brother are discovered to be Mutants, but are still accepted by their parents, who help them escape together as a family. The same applies to Jamie Chung’s character, Clarice Ferguson, of who needs to learn to trust the Mutants who help her escape from a Mutant prison, and accept them as her new family.

The pilot episode of The Gifted proved to be very exciting, and will leave you wanting more. As this first episode was directed by Bryan Singer, a person who is no stranger to the franchise, I felt this series is creating something new from the source materials. It should be noted that it is unlikely the series will feature any of the popular X-Men characters, as the series will focus more on original characters. Overall, this is a series that many can enjoy, being familiar with the X-Men franchise, yet also being something new, and not tied-in directly with the X-Men stories. The Gifted premieres October 2nd, on FOX.