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

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The Gifted season 2 keeps on delivering banger episode after banger episode. In "coMplications," Reed Strucker's powers manifest in front of his daughter Lauren, who can't believe he's still keeping secrets from the rest of the family. Jace Turner is still obsessed with hunting down mutants and he's destroying every other aspect of his life in favor of continuing to chase that high. Polaris' baby is sick and only Marcos can save her, which means the Hellfire Club has to go get him and let him meet his child for the first time... and, if they have anything to say about it, the last time. But Marcos has no intention of abandoning his child the way his own father abandoned him. Meanwhile, Blink and John are exploring the Morlock tunnels, and Blink realizes she might have more affinity with the Morlocks than the remaining Underground members.

Next episode: "outMatched," The Gifted

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Ryan and Maddy are still loving The Gifted, with season 2 delivering yet another great episode in "unMoored." This episode is brought to us by League of Legends, which Andy is playing every night he spends in the Hellfire Club mansion, apparently. But he's keeping his teenage angst secret when it comes to missing his family and especially his sister, and Reeva Payge isn't going to stand for that, since it's interfering with Andy using his powers. Esme Cuckoo and Lorna do their best to protect Andy in their own ways, but at the end of the day, Andy has to admit what's really going on or else Reeva's going to cut him loose (fatally). Meanwhile, the rest of the Strucker family is in a state of complete emotional turmoil and it's fascinating to watch them fall apart. This show is legitimately well-written now!

Next episode: "coMplications," The Gifted

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Ryan and Maddy invite Todd and Ry T back on the show for another reading of a Christmas-themed X-Men comic. This time it's Uncanny X-Men #165 (2009), a surprisingly plot-heavy comic that gets into Laura Kinney's backstory and introduction to the X-Men, plus a side story about Gambit getting back his eyesight (after losing his sight in a battle that wasn't even that interesting, according to Maddy who is writing this description and just looked up the old comic where it happens). After we finish reading the X-Men comic together, Ryan presents us all with a Mystery Comic that none of us could have predicted in advance.

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Next episode: "unMoored," The Gifted

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

Ryan and Maddy watched the first episode of The Gifted's second season and immediately discover why people prefer season two. Everything is better, most importantly the writing; we already liked the actors, and now they finally have something great to work with. The Mutant Underground has become far more ragtag, working out of a secret room in a hospital and rescuing mutants from the SWAT-team like presence that Sentinel Services has become. Lauren has to teach her parents how to move on from the fact that Andy abandoned all of them. And meanwhile, Lorna and Andy have forged a friendship in the bowels of the Hellfire Club, where Lorna is afraid to deliver her baby but must do so nonetheless. It's a gripping episode with great moments for every character, and we kinda can't believe this is the same show.

Next episode: The Mutant Ages 2024 Christmas Special!!!!

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Ryan, Maddy, and Todd watch the second half of Deadpool (2016) and realize they probably didn't need to divide this episode into two parts because there isn't that much to say about the second half of Deadpool (2016). Wade Wilson's arch nemesis Francis kidnaps his ex-girlfriend Vanessa for some reason. Deadpool, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead team up to save Vanessa and destroy a helicarrier in the process. Why is there a helicarrier? We can't actually explain anything that happens at the end of this movie, and it's not funny enough to justify itself, either.

Next episode: The Gifted season 2????

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!