Warning: gigantic spoilers ahead for the Season 1 finale of The Gifted. If you haven't watched yet, you may want to check out some of our non-spoilery articles until you get the chance to tune in.
Season 1 of The Gifted came to an end with an explosive and game-changing finale that means big changes are inevitably in store for whatever happens next. The headquarters of the Mutant Underground is gone, obliterated by Lauren and Andrew after the rest of the group beat a hasty retreat from the Sentinel Services and Hounds. Lorna used her powers to take down a plane carrying none other than Dr. Campbell and Senator Montez, then reunited with the remnants of the Mutant Underground to declare herself loyal to Hellfire and invite others to join her. A handful did, including none other than Andy, to the dismay of his parents and sister. And Lorna is still pregnant!
Now, showrunner Matt Nix has spoken out about how Season 2 (which has already been ordered) will pick up in the aftermath of Season 1, saying this about the fallout to Lorna taking down the plane:
Yeah, that's a really big deal because our characters live in a world where this kind of thing doesn't happen every day. Mutants killing a United States senator is a huge deal, and killing the lead scientist at Trask Industries brings its own host of problems. Going into next season they've created a whole new situation with regards to public opinion and politics, and they're going to have to find a new way of living in this world.
The mutants have had an uphill battle when it comes to gaining public approval of their status in the world. They didn't have a whole lot of prominent allies in society and the government who could be wholly trusted. Lorna's act of destroying the plane and presumably killing Dr. Campbell, Senator Montez, and all the others aboard the aircraft who went down as collateral damage is not going to be received well by the general public. Even Lorna's fellow mutants couldn't condone her action; folks who already distrust mutants aren't likely to suddenly want to give them a chance after two prominent figures were assassinated.
Given the way Lorna took off with a number of mutants (including Andy) at the end of the big finale, the mutants themselves aren't exactly going to be a united front in Season 2. The Mutant Underground and this new version of the Hellfire Club have different goals and agendas, but there will evidently be some similarities in how they approach the new status quo. Matt Nix went on in his chat with TVLine to say this about the mutants moving forward:
One thing we're going to see a lot more of is 'mutants in the world.' The mutant underground doesn't have giant, empty banks in supposedly contaminated waste sites just lying around to occupy and become their new headquarters. We wanted to put them in a position where they need to kind of 'hide in plain sight' a bit more, so one thing we'll get to see is playing the mutant underground more as a network and less as a place. And that's for a number of reasons. Part of it is it's just changing things up in terms of the action, but part of it is also I think it's interesting, and fun, and thematically more resonant when we get to see mutants interacting with the world we know rather than just interacting with a mutant world... And then on the other side, seeing the Hellfire Club -- or this sort of seed of the Hellfire Club that they're trying to rebuild -- is another way of very much hiding in plain sight in a different corner of the world, working in the halls of power and that kind of thing. We're going to be following both sides as they pursue their mutual goal of helping mutants. But there will always be reasons to push them back together. Like, the Strucker family is not simply going to give up on Andy, and Eclipse is not going to give up on Polaris, and Thunderbird is not going to give up on Sage.
Now that none of the mutants have a convenient base out of which they can operate in secret and moderate safety, they'll have to hide in plain sight. While living out in the open wouldn't be too impossible for the mutants like Lauren and Andrew whose powers aren't visible, other mutants won't be able to blend quite as well. Hiding in plain sight means that they'll all have to be very careful or things will get very ugly.
All things considered, The Gifted has set the stage for an exciting, intense, and unpredictable second season. For what you can watch while we wait for the new season, be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix premiere schedule.
