From en.wikipedia.org:
[date=January 2025] [date=January 2025] [Lowercase title] {{Infobox television
episode | series = The Gifted | image = The Gifted TV logo.jpg | caption =
Title card for the episode | season = 1 | episode = 1 | director = Bryan
Singer | writer = Matt Nix | photographer = Newton Thomas Sigel | editor =
Steven Lang | production = 1LAJ01 | airdate = [2017] | length = [m=44] |
guests = * Toks Olagundoye as Carla Jackson
- Dale Godboldo as Ted Baird
- Steffan Argus as Jack
| next = rX | season_article = The Gifted season 1 }} " EXPOSED" is the pilot
and first episode of the American television series _The Gifted_, based on
Marvel Comics' _X-Men_ properties. It is connected to the _X-Men_ film
series, and follows two parents who take their family on the run after
discovering their children's mutant abilities. The pilot was written by
series creator Matt Nix, with frequent _X-Men_ film director Bryan Singer
directing the episode.
_The Gifted_ received a put pilot commitment in July 2016, with Nix attached
to write. An official pilot order came in January 2017, with Singer joining
then. Casting began in February for a March filming start, in Dallas, Texas.
The episode introduces an alternate timeline to the _X-Men_ films where the
X-Men team has disappeared, and focuses on the discrimination that mutants
face from other people and the government. The show stars Stephen Moyer and
Amy Acker, with Sean Teale, Natalie Alyn Lind, Percy Hynes White, Coby Bell,
Jamie Chung, Blair Redford, and Emma Dumont. Stan Lee also appears, in a
cameo appearance.
"eXposed" aired on Fox on October 2, 2017. It was watched by 4.9 million
viewers, and received positive reviews from critics, particularly for its
social commentary and cast.
** Plot
In Atlanta, Georgia, police pursue a mutant, Clarice Fong, who has used her
ability to create portals to escape prison. She is found by a group of
mutants from an underground community of mutants, including Lorna Dane /
Polaris, John Proudstar / Thunderbird, and Marcos Diaz. They promise to help
her get to safety, but when Diaz is shot, Polaris attacks the officer who shot
him until she is captured. The others escape.
The next day, district attorney Reed Strucker tries to convince Polaris to
cooperate with him in exchange for a reduced sentence, and notifies her that
an examination revealed her to be pregnant. His children, Lauren and Andy,
attend their school dance, where Andy is forced into a locker room by a group
of bullies, until he screams and the whole building begins to break apart
around them. Lauren races to find her brother, protecting herself and others
from falling debris by conjuring shields out of the air. She finds Andy and
the two flee.
At home, Andy explains to their mother Caitlin that he has developed mutant
abilities and caused the incident at the dance, while Lauren reveals her own
mutant abilities which she has been hiding for three years, knowing that any
mutant that uses their powers is arrested and taken to detention centers by
prosecutors like their father Reed. Agent Jace Turner of the Sentinel
Services (SS) arrives at the Strucker house, looking for the children. The
three of them escape and meet up with Reed, who suggests fleeing to safety in
Mexico.
Reed contacts Diaz, and offers to give him information on Polaris in return
for the mutant underground's help in getting them to Mexico. They meet with
Diaz that night, with the mutant having not informed the other members of the
underground of this. Turner and the SS arrive at the meeting, and release
robotic devices that attack the group. They are saved by the appearance of
Proudstar and Fong, the latter creating a portal for them all to escape, but
Reed is not able to make it through and is captured.
** Production
*** Development
In July 2016, after a series based on the Hellfire Club, an _X-Men_ comic
property, did not move forward at Fox, the network made a put pilot commitment
for a different _X-Men_ based series. The new pilot, written by _X-Men_ fan
Matt Nix, was for an action-adventure series based on ordinary parents
discovering their children's mutant abilities.<ref name="PutPilot" /> Early
versions of Nix's pilot script were received "enthusiastically" by Fox
executives, and Fox chairman and CEO Gary Newman was expecting a final draft
in early January 2017, with a pilot pickup within a few weeks of that.<ref
name="FinalDraft" /> Fox officially ordered the series to pilot on January
24,<ref name="PilotOrder" /> and later revealed it to be titled "eXposed", and
premiering in October.<ref name="Synopsis" />
Bryan Singer revealed on January 25 that he would direct the pilot, after
previously directing several of the _X-Men_ films.<ref name="SingerDirecting"
/> He decided to do this after a change in schedule for a film he was
directing. He stressed that "tonally and visually it will be very, very
different" from the films, and said that "some stuff [will] go down, visually,
but at its heart it's a story about a family".<ref name="SingerAHJan2017" />
Singer began prepping for production on January 27.<ref name="SingerAHJan2017"
/> When Singer first discussed the pilot with Nix, he compared Nix's
description of it to the film _Running on Empty_; Nix had used that film in
his original pitch for the series to executives, describing it as "_Running on
Empty_ with mutants".<ref name="RunningEmpty" />
*** Writing
Nix described the series as coming "at the world of mutants from the side";
the films and comics "have generally started with the X-Men and encountered
the world outside" from their perspective, but the series looks to "take place
inside the world of people who are [not] already X-Men and [do not yet] know
that world."<ref name="NixCNETJan2017" /> These issues reflect modern,
real-world problems such as police attempting to kill mutants just because
they look different, or the government only taking issue with mutants if they
reveal themselves in public.<ref name="SDCC17Interviews" /> Nix was influenced
by the comic _District X_ which is "just about a district in New York. It's
where the mutants are ... dealing with crime, drugs, their relationships to
each other."<ref name="DistrictX" />
When the Strucker children discover their abilities, Nix wanted to avoid
clearly defining exactly what those abilities are immediately since "when your
powers manifest, they don't come with a label. It's not like somebody pops up
and says, 'Hey! You can do this!' When we think about powers on the show,
what's the organic relationship between this person as a living, breathing
human being, and their power? The idea is that what your power is and what you
can do is influenced by who you are as a character."<ref
name="THRPostPremiere" /> Nix decided to end the episode with the main
characters separated, to avoid them "settling into a rut, saving a mutant
every week. Separating them gives everybody a really deep emotional
connection. On the mutant side, Eclipse wants Polaris back. On the Strucker
side, they all want Reed, and they’ve gotta figure out where he is. There’s a
lot to do. I wanted to set up the pilot with plenty to do and a big emotional
connection to what they’re doing, to keep the story personal."<ref
name="RunningEmpty" /> He added, "The end of the pilot was really about
getting these people together for a common problem, but they don't know each
other, so what's going to happen now?"<ref name="THRPostPremiere" />
*** Casting
In February 2017, Blair Redford was cast,<ref name="Redford" /> later
confirmed as John Proudstar / Thunderbird;<ref name="SeriesOrder" /> Jamie
Chung was cast as Clarice Fong / Blink,<ref name="Chung" /> Stephen Moyer was
cast as Reed Strucker;<ref name="Moyer" /><ref name="SeriesOrder" /> and Sean
Teale was cast as Marcos Diaz / Eclipse.<ref name="Teale" /> The next month,
Natalie Alyn Lind joined as Lauren Strucker;<ref name="Lind" /><ref
name="SeriesOrder" /> Amy Acker was cast as Caitlin Strucker;<ref name="Acker"
/><ref name="SeriesOrder" /> Emma Dumont as Lorna Dane / Polaris;<ref
name="Acker" /> Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker;<ref name="Acker" /><ref
name="SeriesOrder" /> and Coby Bell as Jace Turner.<ref name="Bell" />
The guest cast for the episode was revealed in September 2017, including Joe
Nenners as Agent Ed Weeks, Matthew Tompkins as D.A. Cal Jones, Steffan Argus
as Jack, Dalton Gray as Jake, Pierce Foster Bailey as Trevor, Giovanni Devito
as Dax, Toks Olagundoye as Carla, and Jeff Daniel Phillips as Bartender.<ref
name="Synopsis" /> Dale Godboldo also guest stars in the episode,<ref
name="Godboldo" /> and Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance.<ref name="LeeCameo"
/> Additional appearances in the episode include Dinarte de Freitas as Pedro,
Josh Henry as Ben, Jason Jamal Ligon as Side-Eye, Hayley Lovitt as Sage, and
Jermaine Rivers as Shatter.<ref name="EpCite" />
*** Filming
Filming for the pilot, under the working title _Heaven_, began on March 13,
2017, in Dallas, Texas,<ref name="Filming" /><ref name="GiftedEW" /> and was
completed by April 11.<ref name="FilmingDone" /> During filming, Moyer, Acker,
Lind, and White spent time together doing "silly family activities around
town", including a trip by Lind and White to Six Flags.<ref
name="AckerCollider" /> For Lee's cameo, the producers learned that he was in
Dallas for a comic book convention, and were told that the cameo could be
filmed if it was done within a free two-hour period that Lee had before he was
flying home. The scene was improvised at a bar location in 20 minutes, with
actors who had not expected to be filming that day. Nix said that is "the
kind of thing where I think people sometimes underestimate the degree to which
we who make the show are just another group of fanboys trying to make
something happen by the skin of our teeth."<ref name="THRPostPremiere" />
Some reshoots for the pilot had also been carried out by the end of April.<ref
name="PilotReshoots" /> Moyer explained that his character was originally
intended to be "more obviously out for himself and slightly less interested in
his kids, slightly less interested in the marriage", but in discussions
between himself and Nix the pair decided to try make the character more
likeable, so some of the reshoots for the episode involved this. For
instance, the scene where the character learns of his children's mutant
abilities was cut from the episode, and a new scene was filmed with him
receiving a call from his wife about the issue while he was driving home from
work. Moyer added, "We want the audience to empathize with his plight at the
beginning. So we made his journey less idiomatic, less opinionated to leave
it slightly more ambiguous this way."<ref name="MoyerRT" />
When the episode was filmed, it was set in Texas.<ref name="AtlantaSetVisit"
/> However, production on the rest of the series was moved to Atlanta,
Georgia, after a decision on tax rebates in Texas had not been made in time
for production to resume there.<ref name="AtlantaFilming" /><ref
name="NoMoreDallas" /> The episode was then altered to be set in Atlanta,
retroactively, so the rest of the series could be set there as well.<ref
name="AtlantaSetVisit" />
*** Music
Ahead of the episode's premiere, it was revealed that John Ottman and David
Buckley were composing the score for the show,<ref name="OttmanBuckley" />
with only Ottman credited for the pilot.<ref name="EpCite" /> He previously
scored several of the _X-Men_ films for Singer.<ref name="OttmanBuckley" /> As
an on-set joke, Ron Wasserman's theme from the 1990s _X-Men_ animated series
was used as a character's cell phone ring tone. It was decided that this
should be kept in the final episode, though the studio thought it was too
expensive. Nix said "there aren't a lot of those battles you get to win when
you're making a network television show, but that one? We knew it cost more
money than a regular ring tone, but it's so much fun so we're doing it."<ref
name="THRPostPremiere" />
** Release
*** Broadcast
"eXposed" aired on Fox on October 2, 2017.<ref name="StartDate" /> It was
broadcast on CTV in Canada,<ref name="CTV" /> and on Fox channels in more than
183 countries following its U.S. debut, using a "day-and-date launch"
format.<ref name="International" />
*** Marketing
The first footage from the episode was revealed in a trailer for Fox's May
2017 Upfront presentation, which Hoai-Tran Bui of /Film said "looks like a
Singer take on _Heroes_." Bui added, "_The Gifted_ is a bit more
by-the-numbers [than other _X-Men_ series _Legion_], airing on a primetime
network, spearheaded by _X-Men_ movie director Singer, and clearly connected
to the movie universe ... Whether that connection helps or hinders the series
is yet to be seen—as is Singer's involvement, whose _X-Men_ films become
increasingly nonsensical and ... bad."<ref name="/FilmTrailer" /> The trailer
had been viewed over 31 million times within a day of its release, including
over 11 million views on YouTube.<ref name="TrailerViews" /> The first six
minutes of the episode were released online on September 28, 2017.<ref
name="SixMins" />
*** Home media
Within a week of its broadcast on Fox, "eXposed" was released free to stream
on iTunes, along with two featurettes about the series.<ref name="iTunes" />
** Reception
*** Ratings
In the United States the episode received a 1.5/5 percent share among adults
between the ages of 18 and 49, meaning that it was seen by 1.5 percent of all
households, and 5 percent of all of those watching television at the time of
the broadcast. It was watched by 4.9 million viewers.<ref name="Ratings" />
This was called a "solid start" to the series, and was noted to be higher than
the season premiere of _Lucifer_ in the same timeslot the year before, as well
as the debut of the other new Marvel series of the season, _Inhumans_.<ref
name="DeadlineRatings" /> Within three days, the episode's rating share for
the 18 to 49 demographic had risen to 2.3, and its total viewership was up 2.4
million to 7.3 million viewers; this was the highest three-day increase for a
Fox series released on Monday in over a year, and the highest three-day
increase for any series released on Monday at 9 pm in three years.<ref
name="DeadlineRatingsL+3" />
*** Critical response
Giving his first impression of the series' pilot for TVLine, Matt Webb
Mitovich praised the "instantly engaging premise" and visual effects. He felt
the entire cast was solid, which he called "no easy feat with an ensemble this
size", and also highlighted the clear establishment of the characters'
relationships and the significant plot twists featured in the episode.<ref
name="101ReviewTVLine" /> Dominic Patten at _Deadline Hollywood_ called the
episode "quite good", feeling that the series is derivative of _Heroes_ but
"sets the stakes legitimately high" and covers timely issues.<ref
name="101ReviewDeadline" /> Joshua Yehl of IGN scored the episode a "great" 8
out of 10, feeling it "doesn’t try to do anything markedly new with the mutant
metaphor, but it hits every beat of that formula so well that it’s a great
time regardless." He thought the cast's performances elevated the
"by-the-numbers" plot, especially those from Moyer and Dumont. Yehl felt that
Singer focused on "what worked best about his most beloved entry in the
franchise", _X2_, by focusing on intolerance.<ref name="101ReviewIGN" />
Kelly Lawler from _USA Today_ reacted positively to the episode, giving it
three-and-a-half stars out of four and saying it "has a handle on both its
source material and the best way to adapt it." Lawler praised the performances
of Moyer and Dumont, and Nix's approach to the action scenes in the
episode.<ref name="USAToday" /> Daniel Fienberg, writing for _The Hollywood
Reporter_, said he could not call the series "mandatory or necessary viewing",
but "a solid family dynamic and Bryan Singer's direction help Fox's new
_X-Men_-adjacent drama get off to a decent start." Fienberg said the most
essential element established in the episode was the Strucker family dynamic,
but that this did become "soapy" in places and was only balanced out by the
several action sequences.<ref name="101ReviewTHR" /> Christian Holub from
_Entertainment Weekly_ gave the pilot an "A−" rating, calling it a "great,
fast-paced start" to the series, noting Singer's direction, and saying, "While
expertly deploying many familiar tropes from the X-Men mythos, the show also
feels like a genuinely new story rooted in our current cultural moment."<ref
name="EW" />
At _The Washington Post_, David Betancourt wrote that _The Gifted_ is
"surprisingly just as good as any other comic-book-inspired show on network
television." He said the series had potential, and was "not something easily
accomplished in the now-crowded field of live-action network and streaming
superhero options."<ref name="WashingtonPost" /> _The A.V. Club_[']s Jesse
Hassenger graded the pilot a 'B−', feeling that it fell short of the standard
established with _Legion_, didn't have any moments as "affecting as the best
Bryan Singer _X-Men_ movies", and did not "nail" the "moments of humanity in
an ensemble of superpowered craziness", but said the series "holds a lot of
promise. It’s got a snappy pace, introducing a bunch of new mutants, a bunch
of powers, the family that has to go on the run, the government agency that’s
after them, and a couple of serial-friendly cliffhangers both immediate and
longer-range."<ref name="AVClub" />
** References
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** External links
- [6889568]
[The Gifted] [X-Men in television]
Category:2010s American television series premieres Category:2017 American
television episodes Category:Television episodes about psychic powers
Category:Television episodes set in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:The Gifted
(American TV series) Category:X-Men television series episodes