"hoMe" may not be a five-star episode of The Gifted, but with so many bangers in season 2, we can forgive it. We learn that Evangeline co-founded the Mutant Underground with Erg, the leader of the Morlocks, but then screwed him over. Despite that, she still blackmails him into joining her (along with the rest of our Mutant Underground hold-outs) for a "last stand," although it's not entirely clear that that entails. We'll never get to find out, because it fails, but in the process, Erg and John have a "last stand" of their own and it leads to Blink finally dumping John (long overdue) and joining the Morlocks (also long overdue). Meanwhile, Reed Strucker becomes fascinated by the music box that has his daughter hypnotized, and his daughter and wife go fight some cops and possibly get Uncle Danny killed. Remember Uncle Danny, the lawyer? He's back for some reason.

Next episode: "teMpted," The Gifted

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"meMento" is not only an all-time great episode of The Gifted, it's one of Maddy and Ryan's all-time favorite episodes of TV, period. Every single character's storyline comes to a head in some way. Lauren Strucker gets enchanted by the music box that's passed down through her family for generations, and it seems to be kicking off her villain era. Meanwhile, Lorna is questioning the Inner Circle's true motivations now that Reeva Payne has enlisted a trio of serial killers to perform a mysterious mission. And when Lorna reaches out to Marcos, their relationship naturally gets rekindled. With John bedridden and wounded once again, Blink is questioning whether she can stay with someone so self-destructive. Most striking of all is Jace Turner's storyline, in which he decides to stand up for his Purifier cop friend who shoots an innocent mutant child. Jace's mental health takes a real dive after that one.

Next episode: "hoMe," The Gifted

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Maddy and Ryan are in full form for this week's episode of the Mutant Ages, so we hope you're ready for an ADHD roller coaster. Regardless, this week's episode of The Gifted was not exactly an A+ but it wasn't bad by any means. John has been kidnapped by the Purifiers, which means the remaining Mutant Underground members have to get Lorna and Andy's help because they need some serious firepower to overtake a human militia with an organized compound full of guns. Reed and Caitlin are thrilled to have their son back... until they see what he's become, and what Lauren has been warning them about for *months* now.

Next episode: "meMento," The Gifted

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Maddy and Ryan open the listener mailbag to answer questions about The Gifted and Lauren's coming-out story, various video games featuring the X-Men, and more. The second half of this episode is The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book episode in which the team visits the Land of Cloakys, and that's why you're really here, you just don't know it yet.

Next episode: "eneMy of My eneMy," The Gifted

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Justice for Twist! Ryan and Maddy review "gaMe changer," yet another great episode for The Gifted's second season. The Hellfire Club has apprehended Rebecca and locked her up in a spinning cube, but when Andy tries to rescue her, it doesn't end well. The rest of the Strucker family figures out that the kindly doctor helping them actually has Moira/Dr. Sasaki vibes, which is never a good thing. Clarice and John are still arguing over what's left of the Mutant Underground, and Marcos is the depressed third wheel, although the three of them still manage to figure out the Hellfire Club's next move even if they don't manage to stop it. And what is that next move? Taking out the power source for every mutant collar in America. A very poorly guarded power source.

Next episode: Listener mail!!

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Magneto is the most important part of "the dreaM," despite that he never actually shows up in person on The Gifted. This is another amazing episode and this time it's focused on Lorna and her personal journey towards accepting that she's her father's daughter, and that her own daughter Dawn is not going to be safe as Lorna and the rest of the Hellfire Club continue with their violent uprising against a bigoted human supremacist government. Rebecca, AKA Twist, runs away from the Hellfire Club and leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, although when John and Clarice find her, Rebecca actually does decide to help them, suggesting that she's not all bad. Reed Strucker, meanwhile, has decided to work with a woman who bears a striking similarity to Moira MacTaggert, and we all know that's not a good thing.

Next episode: "gaMe changer," The Gifted

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In "no Mercy," the Hellfire Club is ready to perform their bank heist, but it wouldn't be a heist episode if something didn't go wrong. Maddy and Ryan feel like Lorna could have opened this safe herself, but it's Rebecca's job, and Rebecca doesn't just want to steal money from Creed Financial. She wants to steal... human lives. Meanwhile, Reed Strucker is still suffering from mutant denialism, and Jace Turner makes the tough decision to go on TV with a not-quite-William Stryker type character and become the face of the Purifiers.

Next episode: "the dreaM," The Gifted

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The Gifted season two keeps on hitting home runs with "iMprint," an episode focused on the Cuckoos and their backstory. Unlike so many other X-Men adaptations, this one closely aligns with the characters' portrayal in the original comics by clarifying the girls are clones and introducing the other two of the five main Cuckoos. Their heartbreaking backstory of growing up in a lab and being tortured by their human captors clearly influences the way they act today, and it's what ends up driving a wedge (and eventually a renewed alliance) between Esme and Lorna in this episode. We've also learned what the Inner Circle has planned: stealing from Graydon Creed (or at least someone with his last name), who is an anti-mutant financial magnate in this universe. Meanwhile, the Strucker family is still falling apart, and Caitlin still can't let go of her denial about it, plus Jace Turner falls even further into the black hole of far-right radicalization with the Purifiers.

Next episode: "no Mercy," The Gifted

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The Gifted season two continues its strong pace with "afterMath," which Maddy and Ryan end up rating 4/5 instead of a perfect score but still did enjoy quite a bit. Blink helps the newly escaped mutants who were wrongly imprisoned in a mental asylum find a new home with the Morlocks, and Marcos makes friends (kind of) with one of the escapees named Glow, who isn't from the comics and has a weirdly optimistic attitude. Meanwhile, Andy is getting to know Rebecca, the one mental asylum escapee that the Inner Circle decided to take in, and she seems fun... but also maybe not fun so much as scary.

Next week's episode: "iMprint," The Gifted

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Maddy and Ryan get to watch yet another fantastic episode of The Gifted with "outMatched," in which our former Mutant Underground characters are indeed outmatched when it comes to the machinations of the Hellfire Club. Lorna, Andy, and their new friends are breaking into a mental institution that only houses mutants and has been drugging them and torturing them, and their former friends are just trying to keep up with whatever that plan even is. Reed Strucker has decided to down anti-anxiety medication at a steady clip to keep his mutant powers at bay, which obviously doesn't work. Caitlin Strucker goes full torture mode on a mutant drug addict in order to get the information she wants about Andy. And it's all for nothing in the end, because when Lauren finally comes face to face with Andy, he's anything but willing to come back home.

Next episode: "afterMath," The Gifted

E-mail us your feedback at [email protected] or follow us on social media at TheMutantAges, MIDImyers and RyanPagella. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting us via patreon.com/themutantages. Thanks!