The Inner Circle put their heist plan into action. The Underground do their best to contain Reed and his powers. Agent Turner is introduced to the shadowy leader of the Purifiers and offered an opportunity he needs to think about.

So this week, the big heist that we’ve seen Reeva and her team planning for the last few episodes is put into action, but first up, the show gives us a little flashback to Reeva’s younger days. This is fascinating – it turns out that she started from a very different place to what we might expect from all we’ve seen of her so far, and even if the journey she took is a touch predictable, it’s valuable in building a picture of Reeva as a three-dimensional character.

As the heist kicks into gear we also discover who it is that Reeva’s been exchanging all those mushy texts with – suffice to say it isn’t some high up figure behind the Inner Circle, or even a mutant at all, but even as we see Reeva use someone in quite a cynical way, the show takes pains to let us know that she isn’t a monster.

Back at Mutant Underground HQ, things are falling apart a little, and not just the things that Reed’s out-of-control powers are affecting. Reed’s struggle is centre stage of course – he’s still unable to control when his powers go off, and the Underground therefore need to find somewhere to stash him before he trashes their current hideout and exposes them all to the authorities.

But things also come to a head between Clarice, Marcos and Johnny. Marcus has his suspicions about just how close Clarice might be to the Morlocks, and what that might mean. The interesting thing here is that, as usual, the show doesn’t give us any clearly ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ sides or points of view. Clarice feels that the Underground is weakening and increasingly failing in its sole mission to protect mutants. While they’re battling the Inner Circle, avoiding the attentions of the authorities and seeing a true mutant society in the Morlocks, is it any wonder that she is losing faith in what they’re trying and indeed are able to do? Similarly, it’s difficult to find fault in Johnny and Marcos’ preference for sticking to what they know – they want to save mutants but they also don’t want a war. Unfortunately, whether they want it or not, that war might be coming.

And there’s Jace Turner, who is getting in increasingly deep with the Purifiers. After the clearing of the mutant hospital, his stock has risen with his new friends, such that he is invited to meet with their mysterious leader. When he does meet them, it becomes clear why their identity remains shrouded. What they offer him is an opportunity to do everything he wants to do, but at a cost that makes even him, at the low ebb he finds himself, pause. It’s been fascinating to watch this character and his slow deconstruction as this series progresses.

As to the heist itself – well it all goes smoothly, until it doesn’t. While the ending is a little signposted for anyone paying attention, it’s no less shocking for that. It’s becoming increasingly clear that big decisions are going to need to be made soon on all sides of this conflict, and nobody looks like they’re walking away unscathed.

Verdict: Still managing to pack in surprises, always fascinating and nuanced and with a firmer grasp on the essence of the source material than any other comic book show I can think of at the moment. This continues to be excellent. 9/10

Greg D. Smith