The Gifted

Starring: Stephen Moyer (29 episodes), Amy Acker (29 episodes), Sean Teale (29 episodes), Natalie Alyn Lind (29 episodes), Percy Hynes White (29 episodes), Coby Bell (29 episodes), Jamie Chung (29 episodes), Blair Redwood (29 episodes), Emma Dumont (29 episodes), Skyler Samuels (22 episodes), Hayley Lovitt (20 episodes), Grace Byers (16 episodes), Jermaine Rivers (12 episodes), Jeff Daniel Phillips (11 episodes), Tom O'Keefe (10 episodes), Garret Dillahunt (9 episodes), Elena Satine (9 episodes), Joe Nemmers (9 episodes), Peter Gallagher (9 episodes), Michael Luwoye (8 episodes), Renes Rivera (8 episodes), Frances Turner (7 episodes), Tyshon Freeman (6 episodes), Chelle Ramos (6 episodes), Anjelica Bette Fellini (5 episodes), Erinn Ruth (4 episodes), Andrew Benator (4 episodes), Lowrey Brown (4 episodes), Kate Burton (2 episodes), Raymond J. Berry (2 episodes), Chris Claremont (1 episode)
Directed by: Scott Peters (4 episodes), Stephen Surjik (3 episodes), Robert Duncan McNeill (3 episodes), Steven DePaul (2 episodes), Craig Siebels (2 episodes), Michael Goi (2 episodes), Jeremiah S. Chechik (1 episode), Liz Friedlander (1 episode), Bryan Singer (1 episode), Len Wiseman (1 episode), Jonathan Frakes (1 episode)
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
2017-2019

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1 - 2

Summary: A family becomes embroiled in the human-mutant conflict when both their children develop mutant powers.

Review:
Tim: I was quite excited when it was announced that we'd be getting two television series set in the world of X-Men. That had never happened before and I was excited to see mutant adventures on the small screen. One of those shows was FX's Legion, one of the trippiest, most challenging, memorable shows I've ever seen. The other one was The Gifted. I'm probably being a bit too hard on this series. There's nothing especially wrong with it, it just always felt like a lackluster series. The ideas were solid- mutants are on the run from Sentinel Services. It threw a lot of action and adventure at us. It introduced a number of mutants who would probably never make it to the big screen. The series just was never very compelling.

The series follows the Strucker family. Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker were the parents and I have to say I was underwhelmed by both of them. They were okay in these roles, but they were never outstanding. I wasn't familiar with either before this series, but I can't say I left it feeling like a fan of either of them. Neither was bad, but I just couldn't get invested in either of them. That hurts the series. Natalie Alyn Lind was decent. I'm not convinced she is a great actress, but she gave a serviceable performance. Percy Hynes White was okay. It felt like he tried, but his talent is minimal. These are the four leads and you can see why immediately the show has an uphill battle. The Strucker family isn't very interesting.

Thankfully, the supporting cast is much better. Sean Teale did some good work as Eclipse. I was a fan of Emma Dumont from "Aquarius" and she did decent work here. Skyler Samuels was definitely a standout, playing the fashionable Frost sisters (I appreciate that she had extra work, playing all three. At least she didn't have to change her wardrobe to do it, though). Coby Bell really made you dislike him quite a lot, so he gets credit for that. Blair Redford was one of the best cast members- I really, really enjoyed his performance. I'm not a big fan of Jamie Chung. She was okay. It was fun seeing Peter Gallagher in season two- he certainly helped this series with his presence.

I will say that season two as a whole was better than the first season. I nearly hated the series during the first season- it was so many people, none of them all that interesting, with a story that felt too drawn out. The budget wasn't quite big enough to make all the action and the mutant powers believable. I really disliked the first season. The second was better. It introduced some new elements of drama, it gave Samuels more screen time. It gave them a more interesting villain in Reeva Payge (although Grace Byers' performance was pretty awful). I didn't hate the second season, although I can't claim to have really enjoyed it.

The series also tried to do too much. The Hellfire Club, the Purifiers, (especially) the Morlocks- it needed a more focused approach to its storytelling. It always felt like there were so many people involved at all times. It was hard to keep everyone straight. We had enough work just to keep the main cast straight, but there were all these other side characters that blended together. None of them were worth as much time as we spent on them. That leader of the Morlocks? That doctor lady? The series badly needed a more focused vision and direction.

Ultimately, "The Gifted" was an okay series. I didn't hate it, but I'm a bit frustrated I spent a chunk of my life watching these 29 episodes. This series was too generic, too forgettable. It might have been slightly interesting to consider the different philosophies and how those worldviews came into conflict, but this series doesn't add nearly enough to the X-Men world. It's always good to see mutants living the conflict (verses the X-Men who are operating at a whole different level), but it's ultimately hard to feel too good about anything that happened here. It was a gift for this series to be cancelled after season two.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Legion, Aquarius