The Gifted: The Complete First Season

The "gifted" of the title of this superhero series are mutants: humans with genetic anomalies who develop inexplicable powers sometime in their teenage years. But the title is also ironic, as these "gifts" make them feared by the rest of the population and hunted by a hostile government that prosecutes and imprisons anyone who exhibits mutant powers, regardless of intent. The Gifted, which draws on the Marvel Comics X-Men universe, begins with parents Reed (Stephen Moyer), a government prosecutor who puts mutants away, and Caitlin (Amy Acker) discovering that their daughter Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) and son Andy (Percy Hynes White) have developed mutant powers; they go into hiding with the Mutant Underground, a group of young adults helping fellow persecuted mutants. Coby Bell costars as a cop who lost a child to a mutant incident and joins a private security outfit that captures and experiments on mutants to harness their powers, and his anger and moral struggles become a part of the story. The Gifted boasts an interesting array of special effects, and it offers a metaphor for bigotry and fear of those who are different, giving it topical resonance in the current social climate. Compiling all 12 episodes from the 2017-18 debut season, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)