Tormented by the twin temptations of the music box and Andy’s insistent efforts in her dreams, Lauren tries to stop herself from falling asleep altogether. When a Morlock supply run goes badly sideways, Clarice’s choice of allies to help doesn’t sit well with Erg. Lorna starts to take some serious risks as she tries to find out the specifics of Reeva’s plans.

There’s a question that’s starting to nag at the back of my mind as the weeks go by with The Gifted, and it’s what exactly happened to all those prisoners who were suddenly freed of their mutant control collars during the mid-season finale. Sure, we know where three of them are – they’re at the Inner Circle’s HQ planning some massive dastardly deed, but all the others (and the mid-season finale suggested there were a lot) don’t really seem to be doing much. Sure, the Purifiers and Sentinel Services seem to be more active than ever, but there don’t seem to be legions of dangerous angry mutants roaming the streets.

At any rate, a large focus of this week’s episode is on trust – specifically Erg’s complete lack of it for anyone outside the Morlocks and especially for anyone human. Starting out with a flashback that illustrates the specific moment when Erg lost any faith in people who don’t have an X gene, the episode then moves on to a Morlock food which raid goes very wrong. One of the Morlocks is left fighting for their life, and there’s only one place Clarice can think of to turn to for help – people who Erg isn’t especially pleased to see.

Back at Underground HQ, John and Marcos are trying to rustle up whatever’s left of the Underground after Reeva’s new kill squad eliminated most of their leadership, but that’s not exactly easy. The Underground is fractured, beaten down and not in the mood for the sort of fight that’s in the offing, against the Purifiers and the Inner Circle at the same time. It’s hard to argue with their point, but it also hurts to see John, bereft of his love and with his sense of purpose falling down around his ears.

There’s also the slight issue of the Struckers. Lauren senses that Andy is up to something new (though remains oblivious as to exact details) and so is doing the sensible thing of trying to stay permanently awake. Added to this she’s still got her obsession with the music box, which Reed tries to reason with her about. The problem is, the attraction of the power that she and Andy share is powerful, giddy stuff, prone to overriding things like common sense and logic. Reed must dig especially deep and be prepared to be more honest than he is accustomed to being with his daughter if he is going to reach out to her before it’s too late.

And at Inner Circle Central, Lorna is taking some serious risks as she desperately tries to find out what Reeva has planned next for her latest death-dealing minions. Unfortunately, she might not be quite as good at covering her tracks as she likes to think, and there’s some drastic stuff potentially in the offing anytime soon.

Still thoroughly enjoyable, and weaving stories that carry genuine emotion and heft, The Gifted seems almost in danger of having written itself into a corner. The absence of Agent Turner in this week’s episode feels significant, as the focus is squarely on the conflicts dividing the Underground, the Morlocks and the Inner Circle, and the various ways in which at least some of these might be overcome. Turner is – in the grand scheme – a fairly mundane adversary compared to the real obstacles our protagonists find themselves up against. It just can’t help but keep feeling like a genie was let out of the bottle with that mid-season finale that the show doesn’t know how to deal with, and so is choosing to mostly ignore. Perhaps the writers have a bigger endgame in mind that I am just not seeing.

At any rate, the show remains as powerful as ever, with performances on all sides that live up to the excellent standard already set. Erg in particular is rapidly becoming a fascinating character, and I hope that we see a lot more from him in episodes (and seasons) to come.

Verdict: Emotional, taut and with real focus. The continued absence of any real mention of the giant prison break that happened not all that long ago is starting to grate a little, but it can’t really take the shine off what we are getting. 8/10

Greg D. Smith