THE GIFTED: The Complete First Season Has Mutants on the Run on DVD

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to DVD from creator Matt Nix and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the new series that is ready to take us on the run with THE GIFTED: The Complete First Season.

Reed Strucker (Stephen Moyer) is a Sentinel Service Agent in Atlanta, Georgia who has a family including wife Caitlin (Amy Acker), daughter Lauren (Natalie Lind) and son Andy (Percy Hynes). Reed’s job is to prosecute mutants for different offenses and he takes his job serious. That’s all about to change when he discovers that Lauren and Andy are mutants themselves!

Now the Sentinel Services is after the family who is on the run and find a mutant underground that tries to protect mutants. Trying to get away proves to be difficult as Reed is captured by police along with Lorna Dane aka Polaris (Emma Dumont). Polaris is put in a cell and Reed is being questioned by SS officer Coby Bell (Jace Turner).

The other mutants are dealing with problems of their own when Clarice aka Blink (Jamie Chung) loses consciousness and her abilities put the others in danger. Lauren tries to help with her powers while Caitlin tries to find medication that will help. The police are surrounding them when John aka Thunderbird (Blair Redford), Sage (Hayley Lovitt), Ed (Joe Nemmers), Fade (Jeff Phillips), and Shatter (Jermaine Rivers) try to stop an attack by the police.

Turner tries to use all the interrogation methods that Reed used in his work as well but it isn’t working. Doing anything to get what he wants, Turner uses Reed’s mother Ellen (Sharon Gless) as a scare tactic and then puts Polaris and Reed together in a cell. Caitlin decides to find her brother for help in getting Reed released.

Marcos aka Eclipse (Sean Teale) finds himself back in his old neighborhood as Carmen Guerra (Michelle Veintimilla) demands that he work for her anytime she calls. A bit of information that Marcos keeps from John when he returns to the group. Roderick Campbell (Garret Dillahunt) is a scientist who is showing a keep interest in Lauren and Andy Strucker. He asks for help from Turner who seems to have no interest.

Reed and Polaris are being moved to a military instillation called the SS Relocation Center but the mutants have other plans. Marcos received information about the route the convoy is taking as Lauren and Andy finally use their powers to rescue their father. That doesn’t last as a surprise mutant, Pulse (Zach Roerig) is found to be working with the SS by disrupting their powers.

After the rescue, a new mutant, Esme (Skyler Samuels) joins the group. She knows that other mutants have been taken to Trask Industries and given a drug called Kick. Reed knows that his father Otto (Raymond J. Barry) worked for Trask years before but is disturbed to learn that being a mutant is in the family. Otto worked to suppress the mutant gene and used his son to stop abilities. The SS aren’t far behind and Reed, along with Thunderbird, see his father in action.

Reed tells Caitlin what he learned about his family and test what happens when Andy and Lauren are put together power-wise. Esme needs the group to rescue her own family and uses her powers to get Clarice, Dreamer (Elena Satine) and the Strucker’s to help to get into Trask. Polaris, Eclipse, Thunderbird and Esme attack Trask and Turner get their before the mutants. Now, Reed sees his own children in Turner’s hands.

Polaris is angry and wants to go after Sentinel Services. Esme believes the parents should go to Turner and talk before acting out with the mutants but she really has other plans for her sister Phoebe and Sophie Frost. Telling the group what the Strucker’s plan to do, the others want to attack once again. Turner decides to ask Trask to return all the mutants to the SS.

Reed and Caitlin want to go to Mexico but something is keeping them constantly at bay from that. First, Esme and her sisters want to top the Hound program but in doing so it means bringing back the Hellfire Club. Polaris knows a little something about that as well but she is more concerned with Marcos and her own family. Turner isn’t about to stop tracking the group and the Frost sisters are playing both ends against the middle.

Going to a safe house, Polaris, Eclipse, Thunderbird and Clarice learn that the truth about the X-Men and the Hellfire Club. Campbell meets with Senator Montez (David Norona) who is more than happy to expand the Hound program. Reed goes to his mother and tells her that she must go into hiding or the SS would continue to come after her. Ellen tells them of Madeline Risman who can help them more with Otto’s research.

Going to Washington, Campbell and Montez are in danger as the Frost sisters are once again using the other mutants to do what they want. The Strucker’s are tracked down by Turner and it’s only the combined powers of Lauren and Andy that help them escape. In Tennessee, they are introduced to the Hellfire Club.

Moyer as Reed is a man who believed that doing his job with the SS was the right thing. Wanting to make the world safe from mutants who were causing trouble, his tune changed quickly when he learns his own children have been keeping a secret. Moyer slides into this role with ease and picks up every nuance of his character quickly.

Acker as Caitlin finds herself doing triple duty as wife, mother and doctor to the mutants who are injured during the chases and attacks. Not having much time to understand that she didn’t know about her kid’s powers, she isn’t given much more time to embrace it thrown into the world of chaos. Acker is the emotional stabilizer between the mutants and her family when their loyalty comes into question.

Lind as Lauren is a strong teen who knows that once her secret is out, she must do everything possible to be of help to those like her rather than a burden. Hynes as Andy is a young man who is still learning about his powers and what damage they can do. Both of these characters are also on the right side of the mutant fight and have to grow up quicker than they ever thought possible.

Bell as Turner is running his SS duties mostly out of loss and anger. He will come to understand that his superiors don’t care about either of those things. Dillahunt as Roderick also has his own agenda that is going to be tested again and again.

Redford as John Proudstar is one of the strong mutants who knows that they must stop what is happening to mutants. He is a fierce leader and wants his friends to stay safe but it isn’t easy. Teale as Marcos is keeping his own secret but will do anything to keep his love Polaris away from the SS. Dumont as Polaris is a girl who isn’t afraid to state her opinion and show that her abilities aren’t to be trifled with.

Chung as Clarice has a problem, although Dream had good intentions, she is seeing something with John that isn’t real and didn’t happen. Satine as Dreamer will have to deal with her good intentions when confronted by Clarice. Trying to fix this friendship may take a bit of time and forgiveness.

Other cast include Dinarte de Freitas as Pedro, Angela Oh as Sarah, Josh Henry as Ben, Gino Vento as Juan, Ray Campbell as William, Jessica Goei as Naya, Danny Ramirez as Wes and Frances Turner as Paula Turner.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

The 3-disc DVD includes the 11 episodes eXposed, rX, eXodus, eXit strategy, boxed in, got your siX, eXtreme measures, threat of eXtinction, outfoX, eXploited, 3 X 1, eXtraction, and X-roads.

 One of the very cool things about THE GIFTED is that you don’t have to be knee deep in mutant history to jump on this bandwagon. The story starts out strong enough that it is easy to not only catch on quickly but fall under THE GIFTED’s mutant spell.

The cast comes together and brings us the story of mutants and those who want them gone. From the unexpected places come friends but from the same unexpected places comes those with their own agenda. That is what this cast does, tries to put all the pieces to the puzzle together and do it so well.

Through the years I have come to know some of the stories about the X-men and mutants and THE GIFTED is another chapter to that story. There is drama, action, twists and turns as well as an underlying story of being different and trying to survive in a world that clearly doesn’t want them in it.

Taking care of one another through hurt and struggle as they go through while trying to find their place in the world. Learning from one another about their strengths and weaknesses is what helps them bond together to stop anyone else from hurting them and finding their own loved ones.

In the end – family is the ultimate power!