rX
"If her system's crashing, if it's unstable, it may be affecting her abilities."
Written by Matt Nix
Directed by Len Wiseman
Directed by Len Wiseman
"Tell me this... if it wasn't your kids in that gym, would you be standing up for them? Would your husband?"
— Marcos Diaz / Eclipse
After exerting her powers beyond their limits, Blink goes into a state of shock, forcing Caitlin and Eclipse to go on a mission to find a special serum that will help her to recover. Meanwhile, Reed faces some difficult choices when it comes to helping his family, and Polaris runs into some trouble.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear if Reed is really gonna betray the Mutant Underground to Jace Turner in exchange for his family's safety.
- Armor-Piercing Question: "If it wasn't your kids in that gym, would you be standing up for them? Would your husband?" It actually causes Caitlin to rethink her ways and honestly support the Mutant Underground's cause in the end.
- Bystander Syndrome: A flashback of the Strucker family at a bowling alley shows a mutant girl being harassed by other people for being a mutant, with no one besides the girl's father trying to get them to stop. Lauren tries to step in, but her mother keeps her from doing so. And while Reed chooses to not prosecute the girl for unintentionally causing destruction with her powers, he probably wouldn't have had to if he had done something earlier, and he does nothing about the girl's tormentors.
- The Dog Bites Back: When another inmate kicks Polaris in the abdomen, she uses her powers to throw a metal table at her attacker.
- Freudian Excuse: Jace Turner's daughter got killed in the crossfire of a battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood.
- Indy Ploy: Lauren uses her barrier powers in an attempt to close the portal inadvertently opened by Blink. It works.
- Kick the Dog: Beating up Polaris to show who's the boss is one thing. Intentionally kicking a pregnant girl in the abdomen is way nastier than necessary.
- Mundane Utility: A flashback shows that Lauren used to cheat at bowling using her powers.
- No Endor Holocaust: Blink doesn't injure or kill anybody during her Power Incontinence. (Although inside the Underground's HQ, at least, Lauren is around to contain the portals until Blink loses control completely.)
- Perp Sweating: Jace does this to Reed, threatening him with terrorism charges and targeting his relatives. Reed, himself a prosecutor, isn't really sold and eventually realizes that Jace is desperate for a win after botching the arrest in the previous episode, giving Reed some leverage.
- Pet the Dog: In a flashback, Reed once again proves that he never had anything against mutants personally when he tells a father with his mutant daughter who just caused a scene at a bowling alley to just leave instead of prosecuting them for property damage.
- Portal Cut: When Blink unintentionally opens a portal in the middle of a road, a truck swerves into it; the rear half of the bed is severed by the closing portal and goes careening through the Underground's headquarters.
- Power Incontinence:
- After overextending her powers in the previous episode, Blink is left severely exhausted and loses control of her powers, continuously opening a portal to a road somewhere. When Andy accidentally knocks her out when defending the base from the SWAT Team that has gathered on the other side of the portal, her powers go completely haywire, opening dozens of portals all throughout the building.
- In a flashback scene, a little girl lashes out at people laughing at her at a bowling alley, creating a shockwave which harmlessly ruffles up the place (knocking over drinks and so forth).
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Reed turns the tables on Jace Turner during their interrogation, calling out his bluff and deducing that he is actually desperate to take any deal.
- Took a Level in Badass: Caitlin. Until now, she was basically dragged along by circumstances, still shocked by her comfortable suburbian life world falling apart. Here she quickly gets on her feet, saves Clarice, and decides to help the mutant cause. Not only because of her children, but also because of genuine support for the mutant cause after witnessing the abuse they suffer.
- Toplessness from the Back: Lorna, as she's taking a shower, which subsequently washes the blak dye out of her hair, showing its true green color.
- Wham Shot: Dr. Roderick Campbell, who is also known in the comics as Ahab, makes his debut at the end of the episode.
"We will fight to bring your father home. We'll fight to bring everyone home."
