‘The Gifted’ Recap: Why Isn’t Esme Like Her Sisters?

More comic mentions appear in The Gifted Season 2, Episode 6, titled “iMprint.” More importantly, we finally get some backstory on The Frost sisters, which honestly has been needed.

Learning More About The Frost Sisters

This week starts with the flashback of Esme and her sisters. Collared and ordered around by a sadistic doctor, they’re ordered to read the minds of other mutant prisoners. It’s an instant reason why the three have chosen to join the Hellfire Club.

But there’s more to this. By the end, we learn that The Gifted has stuck with the comic story. There used to be five Frost sisters. Two were kept by that crazy doctor, used as hostages to make the other three use their powers for his gain. While the other three did eventually take control of the guards and made sure the doctor died, the other two sisters were also killed.

In the present day, the Inner Circle has a lot of storylines going on. One of the most important remains Polaris’ hatred for Reeva’s secrets. Throughout the episode, the mutants go through Danger Room simulations to test their abilities and Reeve isn’t in the mood to explain why.

Rebecca, the mutant they’d rescued and who has grown an attachment to Andy, is a necessary part of this simulation. However, Polaris needs to know what is going on. Esme decides it’s time to read Reeva’s mind and sees a bank is the next target. This isn’t that surprising after seeing what Rebecca can do.

When Esme and Polaris return, the other Frost sisters hum a tune that Polaris sings to her baby, Dawn. That means they’ve been in Dawn’s head and Polaris attacks Esme. Reeva is the one to break up the fight and the other two Frost sisters go into Polaris’ head to control her.

Reed Learns Some Power Control

I haven’t focused too much on Reed in The Gifted so far, and that’s because he’s not done too much since finding that his powers have mysteriously been activated. This week, Thunderbird tries to teach Reed about power control. This is necessary since Reed’s power is highly destructive and it needs to be channeled well.

Reed is desperate to control his powers in the way Thunderbird, Eclipse, and others can. Considering he has spent the last 30 or so years without knowing about his powers, it’s not surprising that he’s unable to control them. This is going to take some time but they don’t have time, especially when the Mutant Underground’s Baltimore station is the new location attacked by the Purifiers, with Jace Turn in the lead.

Fortunately, with Blink, Thunderbird and his team can portal into the station just as the Purifiers start moving in. Jace attempts to keep the Purifiers under some control and uses his Sentinel Services skills to manage a sneakier attack than their usual “storm the place” method.

Thunderbird wants to portal everyone out, but Blink is knocked out from the smoke. There’s one option around: Reed. He needs to use his powers to create an underground tunnel to escape.

Shatter, who has been the one running this station since we last saw him in The Gifted Season 1, offers to draw out the Purifiers to give Reed time to create the tunnel. Unfortunately for Shatter, when he kills one of the Purifiers, Jace decides the “no killing rule” doesn’t need to be followed anymore and uses a reinforced bullet to kill Shatter.

It was enough time to get the mutants out through the tunnel, so at least Shatter’s death hasn’t been in vain.

At the very end back at the Hellfire Club’s base, Esme makes it clear that she’s nothing like her sisters. She’s on Polaris’ side and will definitely not let anything happen to Dawn. It looks like it’s Civil War in the Inner Circle.

What did you think of the Frost sisters’ backstory? Can Jace come back from his actions? Will Reed learn to control his powers more? 

The Gifted airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on FOX.