The Gifted Season 2, Episode 5 recap: “afterMath” is a timely episode

This week The Gifted delivers one of its most timely episodes to date bringing in tough topics such as racism and police brutality. Find out what happened on the latest episode!

Last week, The Gifted took a week off for the World Series but this week the show returned and it packed some heavy social commentaries. Most of this is due to where the episode left things hanging with Jace two weeks ago. Last time we saw his character, he was deeply considering joining alliances with “The Purifiers”– an organization that shares many commonalities with the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups.

The episode also covered other culturally relevant topics such as police brutality. It was definitely a solid way to bring us back into this universe after having a week off due to baseball.

That said, we have a lot to cover this week, so let’s get right into it. Here is everything that went down on the latest episode of The Gifted!

Mystery mutant revealed

The major cliffhanger from the previous episode ended with Reeva and her team breaking out a mysterious mutant. This week we finally discover this mystery girl is a mutant named Rebecca. At first, she is very withdrawn due to the trauma she endured in the asylum. She also does not trust the motives of the Inner Circle because as Andy puts it, they are treating her like a weapon and not a person. Andy suggests letting him try gaining her trust.

Whether it’s his charm, good looks, or amazing blonde hair– his attempts prove successful after talking to Rebecca in her bedroom. He tells her that his family also made him feel alone but that the Inner Circle will accept anyone for who they are. She reveals her secret power to him by turning a ball he is playing with inside out and smiling.

After giving her a tour of their building, Rebecca sees a window, and Andy realizes she has not seen the outside world for a very long time. After a motherly tug of war with Lorna about allowing her freedom to see the outside world, Andy manages to convince Lorna that letting her outside would build trust.

Once they leave, they are not as careful as promised and teenager shenanigans ensue. Rebecca shows off her power by turning a police car inside-out and Andy finishes the car off by making it explode. Soon after, they run back to the hideout but while in the elevator Rebecca kisses Andy.

At this point, Rebecca tells Lorna and the Frost sisters she is ready to play her part. We then see Rebecca training by turning a vault inside-out. Is Reeva planning to rob a bank?

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The Morlocks return

Clarice and Marcos returned to the sewers to visit the Morlocks. After the breakout at the hospital, the mutant underground found themselves with too many mutants without a home. So, she hopes that Erg will be willing to welcome mutant refugees in his underground home. He does not seem pleased with the idea but agrees to take them in as long as Clarice offers a favor in return.

This favor involves using her portals to break into a grocery store supply room and steal food. Clarice is not happy with the favor and they have a battle of ideologies. Clarice states how her boyfriend Jon says that stealing only makes humans hate mutants more. Erg claps back explaining that humans hate them regardless and the refugees will need food.

While all this is going on Marcos befriends a  lady refugee from the breakout. They discuss the things they’ve lost and whether or not the Inner Circle has a positive motive for freeing the imprisoned mutants. She also has a gift for creating floating orbs that glow. She explains that it helps her see light within the dark–even in life.

As this plotline concludes, Erg explains that he will accept all the refugees but they must wear the mark–which is a branded M on the face. Marcos takes issue for such a barbaric form of welcoming them into their home. But Erg explains, it’s a mark of pride in their community because no one has a reason to hide.

The lady tells Marcos it’s okay because they have no choice and they need a home. The end of the episode we see Marcos supporting her while they burn her face with an “M.”

Jace the Purifier

By far, the most unsettling aspect of tonight’s episode of The Gifted was seeing Jace join forces with The Purifiers. The episode begins with a flashback to the time where Jace became a police officer. This is clearly before the time his hatred for mutants began.

In the sequence, his partner spots a mutant outside a convenience store because of the weird hands on the stranger. Jace’s partner starts harassing the young youth and when the mutant kid defends himself the cop jolts the kid with a stun gun. Jace is clearly uncomfortable with his partner’s actions but the cop defends his actions by warning him how dangerous their species are.

It’s quite clear that this is the starting point of Jace being trained to hate mutants. Jace picks up the kid and handcuffs him but looks uncomfortable in doing so.

Later on, we see Jace in the present day attend his first Purifier meeting and the scene hits a little too close to home. The organization plans to counter protest and possibly fight a group of mutant protesters. It’s clear that they are drawing close lines to recent events like Charlottesville.

That said, Jace insists that inflicting violence on protesters would only paint the mutants as victims. He offers another suggestion in attempting to find the refugee fugitives and turning them in. He says doing so, would make the group appear as part of the solution instead of the problem. The Purifiers agree to Jace’s plan.

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During their hunt, the Purifiers locate the hospital where the mutant underground is holding all the injured refugees, including a mutant that secretes acid. Kate Strucker and John see on surveillance that Jace and the group have arrived and Kate and the group hide in a secret room. As John and Kate watch the camera, they see one of the Purifiers using excessive violence on a doctor to get answers.

Once it hits a peak though, Jace steps in and gets the Purifier member to back off– much like he did with the cop earlier in the episode. This possibly implies that Jace could turn against the group. However, as uncomfortable as he may be with their violent methods, the episode ends with him finding a new strategy to help the Purifiers

The episode also dealt with small plots surrounding John and his inability to cope with past events–specifically the events of Atlanta. A lot of this plot hinged on him trying to make up for it by protecting every person he can going forward. Unfortunately, this does not work out because the soldier who secretes acid dies on their watch as a consequence of hiding from Jace and the Purifiers. Luckily, before the soldier died, he gave them the name of the mystery mutant, Rebecca.

The episode contained a lot of parallels to struggles surrounding today, including racial prejudice, Neo-Nazis, and police brutality. One can even find similarities between the Morlocks and historical events such as the Underground Railroad. For this, “afterMath” might be one of the better episodes we have seen from The Gifted Season 2. It’s clear as the show pushes on the writers are finding more interesting ways to draw connections with reality and fiction.

What did you think of the episode? Do you think there’s hope for Jace or will he continue to let his hatred get the best of him? What do you think of the new mutant, Rebecca? Tell us in the comments below!

The Gifted Season 2 airs Tuesdays on Fox at 8/7c.