Iso Day 11

 Tis the home stretch.  Completed the X-men adapted series The Gifted by Matt Mix. Here's my thoughts.  For an X-men fan, I loved the series.  

The elements from the comics that were strongly and in my opinion successfully carried over were the tension and battle between mutant vs humans, origin story telling and character development of each person, themes of family, love and belonging, and  importantly the ethicial boundaries behind fighting for a cause.  

For a non-fan I could see how this never got extended for a third season,  as it was slow moving for a series in an 'action' genre and spoiler alert,  too many deaths. The plot developments are slow,  not that different to comics where it's released episodically and a comic fight may last three releases.  In the same manner,  The Gifted,  took it's time to tell the story,  not rushing the dialogue,  camera and close ups of character tension.  

The format of season 2 I liked.  Starting with a flashback that sheds light into different characters and episodes end with lyrics over emotional melody.  Highlight for me would be the origin stories of each character equally, which is no easy feat considering the complex casts and possibilites, and Nix was still able to weave it so that you may relate and sympathise with them even if they were undergoing a project you didn't agree with.  Acting and casting was spot on.  

Now powers and teamwork.  The X-men series is well known for mutant abilities and training together,  such was the highlight of the graphic pages and 90s cartoon series.  The combination of all talent to beat a foe,  plus it's pretty in colour as a kid reading it.  Translating this in live action settings has proven difficult in many cases of X-men adapted pieces.  Usually mutants individually beam off their powers but there is no collaboration of combing the powers themselves,  hence I was super disappointed at the Apocalypse end scene. Wasted mutant talent =.=. Where that failed,  The Gifted succeeded, partly helped by the fact a major plot line was a family's dark powerful history when they do combine abilities.  

Visual display.  The sound and visuals for each character's ability I couldn't fault. It wasn't jarring and despite being repeated often, wasn't tiring.  The homage to and the Dangeroom was spiffy and a tick for fans. 

Ultimately for a series that didn't feature the X-men or the Brotherhood,  it had all the elements - mutants,  outcasts,  war,  belonging, sentinels, Sinister, morlocks,  asteroid M dreams, Xavier vs Magneto worldview tension, redemption, sacrifice and teamwork. I would stay Stan Lee would be proud. 

In the end,  I imagine if this content was in the form of a movie,  it may get better reviews and more praise then it received,  as mainstream viewers may not have the patience to sit thru lots of episodes to know the ending, compared to a fan that's invested.  

On the side_

Ran out of toilet paper today. Lol. Had to ask reception for more 

~