The second and final season of the American

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' The Gifted'' is based on

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

' ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

'' properties, and follows ordinary parents who take their family on the run after they discover their children's

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

abilities. The season is connected to the ''X-Men'' film series, set in an alternate timeline where the X-Men have disappeared. It was produced by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

in association with

Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel En ...

, with

Matt Nix Matthew E. Nix (born September 4, 1971) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is best known for creating the television series '' Burn Notice'', '' The Good Guys'', and '' The Gifted''. Early life and education Nix was born in Los An ...

serving as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

. Stephen Moyer and

Amy Acker Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Winifred Burkle and Illyria (Angel), Illyria on the supernatural drama series ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel'' (2001–2004), as Kelly Peyton on ...

star as the parents, alongside

Sean Teale Sean Teale (born 18 June 1992) is a British actor, known for his roles as Louis, Prince of Condé (1530–1569), Prince Condé in ''Reign (TV series), Reign'', Nick Levan in ''Skins (British TV series), Skins'', and Ben Larson in the Syfy serie ...

, Natalie Alyn Lind, Percy Hynes White, Coby Bell,

Jamie Chung Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appea ...

, Blair Redford, and

Emma Dumont Nick Dumont (born November 15, 1994), known professionally as Emma Dumont, is an American actor, model, and dancer. They are known for their roles as Melanie Segal in the ABC Family series '' Bunheads'', Emma Karn in the NBC series '' Aquarius'', ...

. They are joined by Skyler Samuels, promoted from a recurring guest role in the first season, and

Grace Byers Grace Byers (née Gealey) is a Caymanian-American actress. She starred as Anika Calhoun in the Fox music-industry drama series, ''Empire'' from 2015 to 2018. In 2021, she began starring as Quinn Joseph in the Amazon Prime Video comedy series, '' ...

. A second season was ordered in January 2018, and began filming that June. It depicts the different approaches to the fight for mutant civil rights that are taken by the Mutant Underground and the

Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a term used to describe several exclusive Club (organization), clubs for high-society Rake (character), rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood, 11t ...

, and also introduces the Morlocks and further explores the Purifiers—all groups originating in the comics. The season aired between September 25, 2018 and February 26, 2019, and consisted of 16 episodes.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

* Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker *

as Caitlin Strucker *

as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse * Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker * Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker * Coby Bell as Jace Turner *

as Clarice Fong / Blink * Blair Redford as John Proudstar / Thunderbird *

as Lorna Dane / Polaris * Skyler Samuels as the Frost Sisters *

as Reeva Payge

Recurring

* Hayley Lovitt as Sage * Michael Luwoye as

Erg The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100Nano-, nJ). It is not an SI unit, instead originating from the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). Its name is derived from (), a Greek language, Greek word meaning 'work' or ' ...

* Anjelica Bette Fellini as Rebecca Hoover / Twist * Jeff Daniel Phillips as Fade * Tom O'Keefe as Officer Ted Wilson *

Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series '' The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, and ...

as Benedict Ryan * James Carpinello as Max

Notable guests

* Ray Campbell as William * Erinn Ruth as

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel during the e ...

* Frances Turner as Paula Turner *

Sumalee Montano Sumalee Montano is an American actress and film producer. Originally, she worked as an investment bank analyst in New York City and Hong Kong before starting her acting career. For TV and film, Montano has appeared on '' Close to Home'', ''Days ...

as Dr. Taylor *

Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe (born July 5, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Alexandra Eames on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', a spin-off of ''Law & Order'', and Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series '' Oz''. Early l ...

as Aunt Dane * Kate Burton as Dr. Madeline Risman * Ken Kirby as Noah *

Jeffrey Nordling Jeffrey Richard Nordling (born March 11, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in ''Once and Again'', Larry Moss in '' 24'', Nick Bolen in ''Desperate Housewives'', and Gordon Klein in '' Big Little Lies'', as wel ...

as Daniel

Production

Development

In October 2017, showrunner

said that he had planned "a couple of seasons, in broad strokes" for ''The Gifted'', and stated that he wanted "to be doing this show for a long time." On January 4, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season, of 16 episodes.

Writing

Following the end of the first season, Nix said that the second would further explore the

and the Purifiers, and would introduce the Morlocks. Following the destruction of the mutant underground's base, the second season sees them become more of a network rather than remain in a single location, and forces them to hide in plain sight and interact with other mutants out in the world. Nix thought this was both an interesting change and "thematically more resonant". Their situation is contrasted with the Hellfire Club also hiding in plain sight, but within "the halls of power". Nix continued that the season would show how these two factions go about helping mutants in different ways, and also how they come together at times due to the relationships between people in each group. He later expressed interest in also exploring the 7/15 incident that was mentioned in the first season, potentially through flashbacks, and said that such an exploration would take place over multiple episodes as "it’s kind of at the center of everything we’re doing." The second season features a new organization from the comics after the first featured Trask Industries. Nix noted that the story for the season had been broken before this decision was made, and then the writers looked through the comics to see which elements lines up with the direction they wanted to go.

Casting

Returning from the first season to star are Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker,

as Caitlin Strucker,

as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker, Coby Bell as Jace Turner,

as Clarice Fong / Blink, Blair Redford as John Proudstar / Thunderbird, and

as Lorna Dane / Polaris. By January 2018, Skyler Samuels, who recurred as the

Stepford Cuckoos The Stepford Cuckoos are a set of fictional Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutants, Group mind (science fiction), psychically linked Multiple birth, quintuplets (Celeste Cuckoo, Esme Cuckoo, Irma "Mindee" Cuckoo, Phoebe Cuckoo, and Sophie Cuckoo) appea ...

in the first season, was being looked at to be promoted to series regular for the show's second season, and she stated that her characters would be appearing more in the second season than the first either way. She was confirmed to be doing so in June along with the announcement that

would also be joining the series as a series regular, in the role of Reeva Payge. Also returning from the first season are Ray Campbell as William, Hayley Lovitt as Sage, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Fade, Erinn Ruth as

, and Francis Turner as Paula Turner. Additionally, Michael Luwoye was announced to have been cast as

, the leader of the Morlocks, in August 2018. Nix also revealed at that time that an original mutant named Twist would have a "big role" in the season. Newcomer Anjelica Bette Fellini was soon announced as cast in the role, which was described as coming across as "a sweet wounded bird" who reveals herself to be "a sociopath who lives for chaos". In October, James Carpinello was cast in the recurring role of Max, the undisciplined leader of a group of new recruits.

Filming

Filming for the season began on May 30, 2018.

Release

Broadcast

The season began airing in the United States on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on September 25, 2018, and ran for 16 episodes.

Marketing

Nix, executive producer

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville'' and ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', writer for the films ''C ...

, and much of the cast promoted the season at

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

2018, where the first trailer for the season debuted; it gave the season the subtitle ''Dawn of the Mutant Age''.

Reception

Ratings

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported an 83% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.83/10 based on 12 reviews. The website's consensus states, "''The Gifted'' continues to explore shades of grey, but with a more streamlined story that sets the show up for a stronger — if slightly more simplistic — sophomore season."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifted season 2, The 2018 American television seasons 2019 American television seasons 02