threat of eXtinction
"Son or not, it's a crime to reveal classified intelligence."
Written by Carly Soteras
Directed by Steven DePaul
Directed by Steven DePaul
"We need to go see my father in Chattanooga. I know it's a risk, but he is our only connection to Trask."
— Reed Strucker
Reed and Thunderbird visit Reed's father for answers. Marcos, Lorna, and Caitlin interrogate a Hound.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Esme becomes a member of Xorn's Brotherhood of Mutants.
- Admiring the Abomination: Campbell expresses admiration for the things Andreas and Andrea von Strucker did.
- Age Lift: In this timeline, Fenris were born decades earlier than their comic book counterparts. Similarly, Esme is older than the comic book Esme Cuckoo
- All for Nothing: Otto is crushed by the realization that his serum only suppressed Reed's powers but not his X gene, meaning that he nearly killed his own son and destroyed his marriage and relationship with Reed for nothing.
- Almost Dead Guy: Gus has a few moments to briefly speak to John before passing away.
- Big Brother Instinct: Or little brother instinct, in Andy's case, while he defends Lauren from the big, unnamed mutant.
- Canon Foreigner: Chloe Tan, the Asian-American female Hound, doesn't appear in the comics
- Contrived Coincidence: There just happens to be a telepath in the group of mutants that the Hound was slipped into, allowing the Underground to expose her before she could do the same to them.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: The guilt he felt for using a serum on Reed that nearly killed him made it impossible for him to look Reed in the eye.
- Dehumanization: Campbell and his associates keep calling mutants derogatory words like assets or animals
- Due to the Dead: Reed and John bury Otto and Gus in the woods.
- Dying as Yourself:
- As he dies, Pulse breaks free of Campbell's brainwashing.
- Chloe is able to mentally give up what she can about Trask Industries before she dies from withdrawal.
- Fan Boy: Campbell is unusually thrilled to meet Otto, as he claims to be a great fan of his work and that his own reasearch is based on Otto's.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Lorna is amused by the creepy, brainwashed speedster's name being Chloe.
- I Have Your Wife: The daughter of Chloe was kidnapped by Sentinel Services.
- The Immune: For some reason, Otto is immune to Pulse's Power Nullifier abilities, or at least is so powerful that he can overcome it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Otto Strucker sacrifices himself to keep Sentinel Services from capturing Reed and Thunderbird.
- Heroic Willpower: Otto Strucker is shot in the chest several times while charging his blast, but powers through until he can set it off.
- Hypocrite: Lorna labels Marcos as such when he objects to her violently interrogating Chloe, due to him having previously worked with the Cartel as a torturer. He's quick to point out that he got out of that line of work for a good reason.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming: After defending his sister from the big mutant, Andy tells her that only he can speak to her like that.
- It's All My Fault: Blink's Power Incontinence in the first episode unintentionally gave away the location of her foster family to Sentinel Services, which got them killed.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Lorna tries this on Chloe, much to the horror of everyone.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: The big mutant backs off when Andy starts shaking the building.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Dreamer uses her powers to erase the memory of Claire's foster parents being killed from Norah, who witnessed it.
- The Mole: Chloe, one of the Hounds, is quickly identified by Esme before she can actually infiltrate the Mutant Underground compound and signal Campbell.
- Mythology Gag: Kick, a drug that enhances mutant powers. In the comics it is the same as Hypercortisone D, which was already mentioned in episode two.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Clarice, initially still angry at Dreamer, tells her that she only came back to get personal revenge for her foster parents. She apologizes later, when she comes to see how Dreamer's power has its upsides when she meets Norah, who had been adopted by the same foster family as her.
- One Degree of Separation: One of the mutant refugees, a little girl called Norah, had the same foster parents as Blink.
- Redemption Equals Death: Otto Strucker fixes his mistakes in the past by pulling a You Shall Not Pass! on Sentinel Services in order to keep them away from Reed and John. He gets gunned down while doing so.
- The Reveal: Reed learns he was born a mutant but his father injected him with a serum to neutralize the X-gene when he was a child. His children have the same powers as Reed's grandfather and grandaunt, and are far more powerful than they realize.
- Secret Legacy: Reed discovers that his family comes from a line of extremely powerful mutants and that his grandfather and great-aunt were homicidal super-villains. Lauren and Andy inherited their powers.
- Super-Speed: Chloe, the Hound, has super speed.
- Teleport Spam: Thunderbird uses one of Blink's portals to gain momentum to incapacitate the Hound.
- Tomato Surprise: Reed learns that, not only his father, grandfather and grand-aunt are mutants, but he himself is one, albeit one who was artificially depowered.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Otto worked for Trask Industries in order to stop atrocities like the ones his father and aunt committed.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Andy and Lauren have much more power than they realize. By holding hands, the two are capable of untold destruction. Their great-grandfather and his sister were responsible for crimes against humanity, including genocide.
- The Worf Effect: To give an idea of just how powerful he is, and by extension Reed's kids could be, Otto Strucker is able to use his powers despite Pulse's presence. Even when Pulse focuses directly on him, it's still not enough.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: John and Otto briefly argue over what the Mutant Underground really is.
"What happened with your dad?"
