‘The Gifted’ Episode 5: “boXed in” Recap With Spoilers

The episode opens with a flashback to Dallas, Texas, where Jace and his wife are watching their daughter play in the park. There’s mutants rights rally going on nearby. Jace mentions that they asked if he wanted to work crowd control, but he turned the job down to spend time with his family. They get nervous and decide to leave as power flares appear in the sky. Before they can go, there’s an explosion.

In the present day, Jace is tracking the SUV that the Mutant Underground used to escape the site of the convoy strike.

As Jace expects, the Mutant Underground gets off the road to swap the SUV for an untraceable car. They also have some new clothes for Reed and Polaris. Thunderbird tells Eclipse and Polaris that Pulse was the reason they couldn’t use their powers. Thunderbird cuts off the conversation when he hears an incoming Sentinel Services drone.

Polaris and Eclipse lead the drone away. Polaris plans to use her powers to take it down, but it’s out of her range. She instead uses her power to levitate the car’s rear-view mirror outside of the car, allowing Eclipse to reflect his light power upwards, frying the drone.

Jace is still determined. He predicts the mutants’ next move and orders them cut off.

Thunderbird returns to find the Atlanta Underground base crowded with new refugees.

Reed sees his children for the first time since he was arrested. They have a tearful embrace.

Sage tells Thunderbird that the influx of mutants at the base is because Sentinel Services has cracked down hard since the convoy hit.

Fade sees Reed and attacks him. He’s still furious that Reed was going to sell him out. Thunderbird breaks it up, but Fade tells the entire room that Reed was working for Sentinel Services.

Act II

Jace orders double reinforcements to search the area near where the drone went down. He gets a call from his wife who asks him to come home soon. He says he’ll be home when the job is done.

Things get heated at the base over Reed. Caitlin tries to mediate, pointing out that there are injured people there who need help. Reed tells Caitlin that what Fade says is true and that he’s he’ll find a way to work things out.

Blink calls for Caitlin to help with Trader, who was shot during the convoy raid. She asks Blink to find supplies. Andy notices that they’re attracting stares, but Lauren says they have nowhere else to go. Caitlin asks for their help with Trader.

Shatter tells Dreamer that she may be needed to erase Reed’s memory, even if Thunderbird says otherwise. Blink overhears and asks Dreamer what he meant. Dreamer explains that she can manipulate memories and cuts the conversation short. Blink thinks to her memories of Thunderbird.

Fade is still arguing with Reed. Thunderbird is pulled away by Sage, who says all chatter on the manhunt went silent. Reed offers his knowledge of law enforcement protocols to assist in protecting the hideout. He’s able to figure out that Sentinel Services is searching for Eclipse and Polaris, and has Atlanta PD searching a grid for the hideout.

Eclipse believes they’re clear and asks Polaris about the baby. They hold hands and the aurora borealis appears. If its a girl, Polaris wants to name her Aurora. Eclipse suggests Rory for a boy.

Eclipse and Polaris drive up on Jace’s checkpoint. Eclipse wants to turn around, but Polaris speeds ahead, against Eclipse’s protests. Polaris lets her powers loose, takes out the Sentinel Services officers, and takes Jace prisoner.

Act III

Polaris tosses Jace against a pillar and uses her powers to wrap a piece of rebar around his neck. She tells Eclipse that this is their chance to find out what happened to Pulse. She tells him that they were going to try to turn her, which could have been disastrous.

Caitlin asks for another IV bag for Trader, but they’re out. She says they need actual blood. Andy says he’s a universal donor and offers to help. Caitlin hooks him up to a blood bag.

Thunderbird, Reed, and Sage consider their situation. Reed believes that he needs to draw them away from the hideout’s location, throwing off the educated guesses that Sentinel Services have made so far.

Eclipse questions Jace about Pulse, which leads to a conversation about what the tension between humans and mutants about. Jace brings up “7/15,” the world-changing event that killed his seven-year-old daughter.

Act IV

Eclipse calls Dreamer. He tells her that they kidnapped a Sentinel Services agent and that they need her help now.

Thunderbird is trying to convince Fade to help Reed in his mission to draw Sentinel Services’ attention. Fade grudgingly agrees.

Caitlin doesn’t love the idea, but he says it has to be him, both because he just escaped and because he needs to prove himself to the Mutant Underground.

Trader begins to convulse. Caitlin says they need to remove the bullet.

Jace starts telling Polaris and Eclipse that things are only going to get worse for them. Polaris offers to let him go if Jace tells them about Pulse and the secret detainment centers.

Blink teleports in with Dreamer just before Sentinel Services arrives in force. They surround the building.

Fade drives Reed out into the city. Reed explains the plan, that he’ll walk in front of some cameras to show that he’s in a different area than where Sentinel Services is searching, and that he’ll meet Tex two blocks down.

The cameras identify Reed and Sentinel Services redirects the search. Thunderbird has Sage text Reed telling him to get out of the area.

Caitlin is forced to attempt to surgically remove the bullet from Trader’s body. She opens him up, finds the bullet, and successfully removes it, but Trader begins bleeding out from the incision.

Act V

Lauren uses her power to apply pressure to the artery that Trader is hemorrhaging from so that Caitlin can sew it up. She closes the wound and believes, hopefully, that Trader will be alright.

Reed continues walking through the city. The police are getting closer, and Tex is a no-show to pick Reed up. Reed runs but is limping on the leg that Polaris took the screw from. He’s nearly caught, then bumps into Tex’s invisible car. They escape after Tex tells Reed he was just making sure whose side Reed was on.

Sentinel Services prepares to breach the building where Jace is being held. Blink watches as Dreamer prepares to use her powers on Jace. Eclipse tells them that Sentinel Services is moving in. Polaris uses her powers to throw rebar through the windows at them. Sentinel Services decides to change tactics.

Dreamer enters Jace’s memories. She sees the symbol that was tattooed on Pulse’s arm next to the word “Hound” on a file. She sees the file on someone named Matthew Shiveley and the office door of the Honorable James Kresge.

The Sentinel Services agents put on gas masks before launching tear gas canisters into the building. Dreamer sees more of Jace’s recent memories. Polaris pulls her away even though she’s saying she can’t leave him like this. Jace screams as his memories jumble and play through his mind.

Act VI

Dreamer tries to draw what she saw in Jace’s mind for the other mutants to see. Thunderbird recognizes the logo from Pulse’s arm. Reed recognizes the federal building in Baton Rouge, where some people he prosecuted were transferred and then disappeared.

Reed reunites with his family again. They sit down for dinner. Andy asks what the plan is now if they still plan to go to Mexico, but Caitlin says it’s not safe to travel yet. Reed adds that he believes he can be an asset ot the Underground.

Blink asks Dreamer if she messed with her head. She remembered having a conversation with Dreamer that’s gone from her mind and brings up the memory of Thunderbird that keeps replaying in her mind. Dreamer admits she did. Dreamer offers to remove the memory of Thunderbird, but Blink just wants her to stay away.

Jace returns home to find his wife waiting for him outside. They embrace and he tells her that he’s fine. Jace asks if Grace waited up for him. His wife realizes they did something to him and is forced to tell Jace that his daughter is dead and that she died four years ago. Jace is forced to process the information all over again.