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Incredible Hulk Season 1

Life And Death

The Incredible HulkHitchhiking to Oregon, Banner meets a fellow traveler, a homeless pregnant woman named Carrie. He accompanies her to a clinic simply called Matrix, and then proceeds to the nearby hospital where he has an appointment with geneticist Dr. Stan Rhodes. Rhodes may be able to isolate the genetic strands that transform Banner into the Hulk, though Banner naturally hasn’t shared many details of what problems his unique genes cause. Banner is nearby when another patient is brought in for Dr. Rhodes, a woman who’s missing her baby – and says Matrix took it. Banner leaves the hospital to double back and check on Carrie, but it just so happens that Dr. Rhodes is paying a visit to Matrix as well, and now believes he’s part of a sting operation. When Banner returns to the hospital, the injection he receives from Rhodes is not designed to help him, but is a dose of morphine large enough to kill him. His survival instincts kick in and the Hulk takes over…but the amount of morphine administered is enough to leave even the Hulk in a stupor.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by James D. Parriott
directed by Jeffrey Hayden
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Julie Adams (Ellen), Andrew Robinson (Dr. Stan Rhodes), Carl Franklin (Crosby), Diane Civita (Carrie), Mitzi Hoag (Chief Nurse), John Warner Williams (Dan), Sarah Rush (Young Woman), Gil Garcia (1st Detective), Judd Laurance (2nd Detective), Takayo (Young Nurse), Lillah McCarthy (Tina), Al Berry (Trucker), Ben Freedman (Man in Elevator)

Notes: This episode carries the unusual disclaimer “all characters, organizations, and events in this story are fictional”, either because the big mutating green guy lumbering around wasn’t enough of a clue, or because the production’s legal research department found a company named Matrix in a line of business adjacent to services for expecting mothers. Carl Franklin, later a director of such big-screen fare as Devil In A Blue Dress and One True The Incredible HulkThing, had been one of the stars of The Fantastic Journey a year earlier on NBC. Andrew J. Robinson was still in the midst of a lengthy string of “creepy” roles stemming from his career-making 1971 big-screen debut as the killer in Dirty Harry; he would later branch out into such roles as Liberace in a 1988 TV movie of the same name, President John F. Kennedy in a 1986 episode of the revived Twilight Zone, and the Cardassian tailor Garak throughout all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Diane Civita was a friend of showrunner Kenneth Johnson, and would appear in many of his later series, including V (as Harmony) and the pilot movie for Johnson’s TV adaptation of Alien Nation.

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Incredible Hulk Season 1

Earthquakes Happen

The Incredible HulkGrowing increasingly desperate to rid himself of the Hulk, Banner impersonates a nuclear safety inspector due for a visit at a nearby power plant, where he hopes to expose himself to another burst of radiation to try to cure himself. One of the plant’s staff members suspects something is amiss and double checks, discovering that Banner is an impostor, but before she can sound the alarm, a major earthquake strikes – and the nuclear plant is sitting directly over the fault line. Safety systems lock the facility down, but a runaway reaction is imminent…and unleashing the Hulk in this situation may make it even more dangerous for those trapped in the plant with him. Meanwhile, reporter Jack McGee is on the premises as a routine story about nuclear safety begins to spiral out of control.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Jim Tisdale & Migdia Varela
directed by Harvey Laidman
music by Joe Harnell

The Incredible HulkCast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Sherry Jackson (Dr. Diane Joseph), Peter Brandon (Ted Hammond), Gary Wood (Turner), Kene Holliday (Paul), Lynne Topping (Nancy), Brett Hadley (Ron Harris), Roberta Sherwood (Mrs. Waverly), John Alvin (Dr. Patterson), Arthur Rosenburg (Larry Saenz), Diane Markoff (Janet), Robbyn Stuart (Reporter), Pamela Nelson (Marsha), Michael Wirick (Gate Guard)

Notes: This episode uses extensive footage from Universal Pictures’ 1974 disaster film Earthquake. (Universal’s television division also produced The Incredible Hulk.)

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Amazing Spider-Man Season 2

The Captive Tower

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)Peter Parker is present to take pictures at the grand opening ceremony of an advanced (and expensive) new skyscraper with computerized climate control and other ultra-modern luxuries…and J. Jonah Jameson happens to be an invited “honored guest”, so as unimportant as the assignment may be, Peter has no choice to attend. But this means that when terrorists try to take over the building and hold all of the attending guests hostage with the threat of releasing deadly nerve gas into the building’s air conditioning system, Spider-Man is already on the scene.

teleplay by Gregory S. Dinallo
story by Bruce Kalish and Philip John Taylor
directed by Cliff Bole
music by Dana Kaproff

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Ellen Bry (Julie Masters), David Sheiner (E.W. Foster), Todd Susman (Farnum), Warren Vanders (Hama), Fred Lerner (Duke), William Mims (Deputy Mayor Newgent), Michael Bond (Spokesman), Edward Sancho-Bonet (Lt. Ramirez), Norman Rice (Sgt. Bulker), Barry Cutler (Window Washer), Bill Dearth (Shechter), Harry Pugh (Detective)

Amazing Spider-ManNotes: This was an early TV role for Ellen Bry, who would later join the cast of St. Elsewhere and, in a 1992 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, would play a character who creates a race of sentient machines whose rights she tried to deny. It’s also an early career entry for director Cliff Bole (1937-2014), who had already helmed numerous episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, and would go on to direct Supertrain, V, and would become one of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s most prolific directors. “The Amazing” portion of “The Amazing Spider-Man” is missing from the second season’s opening titles.

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TV Movies

Dr. Strange

Dr. StrangeAncient, immortal forces prepare to resume battle, using modern day Earth as their battleground. The witch Morgan le Fay is challenged by the Nameless One to defeat a wizard who has defended Earth from magical forces for hundreds of years; nearing the end of his life, the wizard will be picking and training a successor soon, and if Morgan strikes at the right time, she can eliminate them both. She takes over the body of a mortal woman and tries to kill Lindmer, the old wizard, but he survives the attempt on his life. The woman briefly controlled by le Fay ends up in the hospital under psychiatric care.

It is there that she encounters Stephen Strange, a doctor with a reputation for being popular with the ladies, but somewhat lacking as a physician. Lindmer tracks the woman to the hospital, and notices that Dr. Strange wears a ring with the same design as a unique window in Lindmer’s study. He reveals that he knew Strange’s deceased parents, and that Strange has the latent magical ability to take over as the defender of Earth. But first, he must learn to harness those powers, and to resist the temptation of Morgan le Fay.

teleplay by Philip DeGuere
directed by Philip DeGuere
music by Paul Chihara

Dr. StrangeCast: Peter Hooten (Dr. Strange), Clyde Kusatsu (Mr. Wong), Jessica Walter (Morgan le Fay), Eddie Benton (Clea Lake), Philip Sterling (Dr. Taylor), John Mills (Lindmer), June Barrett (Sarah), Sarah Rush (Nurse), Diana Webster (Head Nurse), Bob Delegall (Intern), Larry Anderson (Magician), Blake Marion (Dept. Chief), Lady Rowlands (Mrs. Sullivan), Inez Pedroza (Announcer), Michael Clark (Taxi Driver), Frank Catalano (Orderly)

Dr. StrangeNotes: “Eddie Benton” is a stage name used through 1980 by actress Anne Marie Martin. Ted Cassidy is the uncredited voice of the demon summoned by Morgan to do battle with Dr. Strange. Ironically, though Stan Lee consulted on this movie – obviously intended to be a pilot – more closely than he did any of the other Marvel-derived TV projects of the late 1970s, Dr. Strange went no further than this pilot movie. The character didn’t get a filmed revival until 2016. Paul Chihara’s music for the early portions of this movie make heavy use of the Blaster Beam, an electronic instrument commonly associated with the soundtrack from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Another television show beat Dr. Strange to the Beam, however: the instrument had featured heavily in the music for an episode of The Bionic Woman aired in January 1978.

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Amazing Spider-Man Season 2

A Matter Of State

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)A high-level State Department official is robbed of a briefcase of top-secret material moments after stepping off of his plane, and the airport is quickly locked down. The Daily Bugle dispatches Peter to the scene, where he and other reporters are fed a cover story. One of Peter’s competitors from another paper, Julie Masters, snaps a photo of police swarming the luggage from the flight, which brings her to to their attention. It quickly becomes apparent that the secret material has left the airport, and the press is sent home without a story, though Peter’s Spidey-sense gives him an edge – and the “policemen” who noticed Julie taking pictures catch up with her to steal her camera, a robbery that Spider-Man is there to foil…and in any case, Julie had already swapped out the film. When her apartment is broken into, Julie and Peter are now more sure than ever that they’ve become part of a much bigger story. So big, in fact, that a visitor from the State Department drops by the Bugle offices to ask J. Jonah Jameson to stop Peter from reporting on it any further…but while Jameson can reassign Peter Parker to another story, he has no control over Spider-Man.

written by Howard Dimsdale
directed by Larry Stewart
music by Dana Kaproff

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Ellen Bry (Julie Masters), Nicolas Coster (Andre), John Crawford (Evans), James Victor (Lt. Martinez), Michael Santiago (Carl), James Lemp (Henchman), Tony Miller (Jim McGann), John Dewey Carter (Airport Spokesperson), Don Gazzaniga (Police Officer)

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Amazing Spider-Man Season 2

The Con Caper

Amazing Spider-Man (1970s series)Politician James Colbert is released from jail after serving time for violating campaign finance laws, and is greeted by his old friend (and campaign cohort) Rita Conway, who is now J. Jonah Jameson’s assistant at the Daily Bugle. She has managed to talk Jameson into meeting with Colbert, who has emerged from his sentence with a fresh zeal for prison reform, though Jameson is reluctant to give any preferential column space to Colbert’s new agenda. Almost immediately, however, a riot breaks out at the prison, and the convicts gain the upper hand over the guards. Colbert insists on negotiating with the two prisoners behind the riots, Kates and McTieg. He manages to bring the hostage situation to a bloodless end, but only after Spider-Man has already made his first appearance to capture one of the more violent prisoners trying to escape. Peter, assigned to cover the ongoing story, narrowly avoids an exploding bomb planted on the door of his apartment moments after Colbert calls to invite him to cover a concert given by Rita at the prison. Peter proceeds to the prison in the guide of Spider-Man, just in time to see Kates and McTieg escape under the cover of an explosion during the concert. Peter thinks that the escapes convicts and Colbert are plotting something that requires the three of them to be outside the prison walls – and whatever it is, Spider-Man will likely be the one who has to stop it.

teleplay by Gregory S. Dinallo
story by Brian McKay
directed by Tom Blank
music by Dana Kaproff

Amazing Spider-ManCast: Nicholas Hammond (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), Robert F. Simon (J. Jonah Jameson), Chip Fields (Rita Conway), Ellen Bry (Julie Masters), William Smithers (James Colbert), Ramon Bieri (Kates), Andrew Robinson (McTieg), W.T. Zacha (Big Time), Paul Wexler (Prison Guard), Pat Corley (IFMM Receptionist), Fred Downs (Warden Ford)

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Captain America

Captain America

Captain AmericaRecently retired Marine Steve Rogers is celebrating civilian life on the road, until he receives a phone call summoning him to the lab of Dr. Simon Mills, who has taken up Steve’s father work on a super-strength hormone called FLAG (Full Latent Ability Gain). Steve’s father is the only person who has ever received FLAG without dying from the strength and abilities it imparts to any other test subject, and Dr. Mills hopes that Steve will submit to tests to see if he, too, can survive FLAG. He refuses, but when someone murders one of Steve’s late father’s colleagues, he realizes that others with less honorable intentions are also trying to discover what he knows about FLAG, and goes on the run. A crippling motorcycle “accident” arranged by his pursuers leaves Steve Rogers with no choice but to become a test subject for FLAG.

As he weighs the decision of whether or not to assume the crime-fighting mantle of his father, who was jokingly known as “Captain America”, Steve finds that his pursuers will never give up until they kill him or he brings them to justice. But the man employing them has bigger ideas: detonating a neutron bomb in one of the most heavily populated parts of the United States. Armed with a bulletproof shield, a jet-powered motorcycle, and a special suit of armor, the new Captain America now has no choice but to swing into action.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Don Ingalls
story by Don Ingalls and Chester Krumholz
directed by Rod Holcomb
music by Mike Post & Jeff Carpenter

Captain AmericaCast: Reb Brown (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Len Birman (Dr. Simon Mills), Heather Menzies (Dr. Wendy Day), Robin Mattson (Tina Haden), Joseph Ruskin (Rudy Sandrini), Lance LeGault (Harley), Frank Marth (Charles Barber), Steve Forrest (Lou Brackett), Chip Johnson (Jerry), James Ingersoll (Lester Wiant), Jim B. Smith (FBI Assistant), Jason Wingreen (Surgeon), June Dayton (Secretary), Diana Webster (Nurse), Dan Barton (Jeff Haden), Ken Chandler (1st Doctor), Buster Jones (Anesthetist)

Captain AmericaNotes: This was an attempt to pilot a Captain America series, the latest Marvel superhero to go to live-action TV after the short-lived Amazing Spider-Man series (1977-78) and the Incredible Hulk series launched the previous year; as with Amazing Spider-Man, Stan Lee is credited as a consultant. Having gone to the Marvel well once with underwhelming results with Amazing Spider-Man, CBS green-lit not a series, but a second (and final) TV movie based on the ratings achieved by this movie; no series resulted. Heather Menzies had previously starred in the TV adaptation of Logan’s Run in 1977, also on CBS.

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Captain America

Captain America II: Death Too Soon

Captain AmericaSteve Rogers lives the life of a wayward artist, finding that his alter ego, Captain America, is still needed wherever he goes. The disappearance of a scientist known for his research into countering aging draws Steve to an out-of-the-way town, where he finds the locals tight-lipped or openly hostile. After she sees him single-handedly fight off a group of thugs, local ranch owner Helen Moore offers Steve shelter. When an international terrorist known only as Miguel claims to have the mission scientist, and threatens to use his research to age the population of a major city to death unless the U.S. government pays a massive ransom, it seems odd for Captain America to continue focusing all of his efforts on a small town, but he’s certain that the secrets behind Miguel’s grab for power and wealth are there.

written by Wilton Schiller and Patricia Payne
directed by Ivan Nagy
music by Mike Post & Pete Carpenter

Captain AmericaCast: Reb Brown (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Connie Sellecca (Dr. Wendy Day), Len Birman (Dr. Simon Mills), Christopher Lee (Miguel), Katherine Justice (Helen Moore), Christopher Cary (Professor Ilson), William Lucking (Stader), Stanley Kamel (Kramer), Ken Swofford (Everett Bliss), Lana Wood (Yolanda), Arthur Rosenberg (Doctor), Bill Mims (Dr. J. Brenner), Alex Hyde-White (Young Man), Lachelle Chamberlain (Young Girl), Susan French (Mrs. Shaw), John Waldron (Peter Moore)

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Incredible Hulk Season 3

Broken Image

The Incredible HulkUnder the assumed name “David Bowman”, Banner takes up residence in an inner-city apartment, also taking a job there as the apartment’s janitor. But another resident there, a man named Mike Cassidy, bears a striking resemblence to Banner, and as Cassidy is already a con man, he sees an opportunity to use Banner as a decoy to throw off a group of men trying to recover thousands of dollars from him. When Banner is drawn into this sordid scheme and beaten up, the Hulk naturally emerges, complicating Cassidy’s plan (and Banner’s life). Worse yet, Jack McGee follows the latest reports of the Hulk’s appearance right to Banner’s apartment door.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Karen Harris & Jill Sherman
directed by John McPherson
music by Joe Harnell

Cast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Karen Carlson (Lorraine), John Reilly (Steve), Jed Mills (Teddy), Chris Wallace (Danny), Erica Yohn (Woman with dog), George Caldwell (Pete), Enrique Castillo (Larry), Donald W. Carter (Police Lieutenant), Al White (Police Sergeant), Sally Sommer (Miriam)

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Inhumans

Behold…The Inhumans

Marvel's InhumansA young woman is on the run in the forests of Oahu, Hawaii, when she encounters a man with green skin. His name is Triton, and he is obviously not human. But then, he explains, neither is she. She is one of the humans to have inhaled terrigen mists, and has gained new abilities as a result. But she’ll never be accepted by human society once she reveals her powers.

In the city of Atillan, hidden from human view on the surface of the moon, Black Bolt, the king of the Inhumans, is under scrutiny for dispatching Triton to Earth for what now looks like it may have been a suicide mission. Black Bolt’s brother, Maximus, is especially angry with the decision, and tries to sow dissent among the ruling council, and even between the king and queen themselves. Gorgon, the head of the royal guard, is sent to Earth to find out what happened to Triton, but in his absence, Maximum sets a plan into motion: a coup to seize the throne for himself. Crystal, younger sister of Black Bolt’s wife, Medusa, orders her pet, Lockjaw, to use his teleportational powers to spirit the royal family and their closest allies and advisors to safety on Earth, but Crystal herself is captured by Maximum, as is Lockjaw, when he returns to save her.

Though Black Bolt and the others try to fit in on Earth, it’s hard to disguise their powers. This makes them far too easy to find, both for the authorities on Earth and Maximus’ new regime on the moon, especially when Maximus dispatches his personal guard, Auran, to round up Medusa, Gorgon, and Karnak…but her orders are to kill Black Bolt on sight.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Scott Buck
based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Roel Reine
music by Sean Callery

InhumansCast: Cast: Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Ken Leung (Karnak), Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Ellen Woglom (Louise), Iwan Rheon (Maximus), Mike Moh (Triton), Sonya Balmores (Auran), Nicola Peltz (New Inhuman), Marco Rodriguez (Kitang), Tom Wright (George Ashland), Michael Buie (King Agon), Tanya Clarke (Queen Rynda), Ari Dalbert (Bronaja), Aaron Hendry (Loyolis), Stephanie Anne Lewis (Paripan), Garret T. Sato (Lead Mercenary), Allen Clifford Cole (Outspoken Inhuman), Lofton Shaw (Young Black Bolt), V.I.P. (Young Medusa), Jason Lee Hoy (Royal Guard Sergeant), Steve Trzaska (Doudan), Jenna Bleu Forti (Lovely Inhuman Server), Jason Quinn (Pulsus)

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Inhumans

Those Who Would Destroy Us

Marvel's InhumansThough Black Bolt and the others try to fit in on Earth, it’s hard to disguise their powers. Lockjaw has deposited them, somewhat haphazardly, in various locales near Oahu, Triton and Gorgon’s last known location. Lockjaw drops Black Bolt into the middle of a busy intersection in Oahu, where he immediately attracts the attention of the police after causing an accident. Even a change of wardrobe into something a little more earthly proves problematic, as the King of Atillan is unaccustomed to having to pay for anything, and even less accustomed to anyone trying to arrest him for having failed to pay for something. He is left with a choice – utter even a single sound with his voice, which could wreak untold destruction on the people and city around him, or submit to arrest and play by human rules.

Maximus dispatches his personal guard, Auran, to round up Medusa, Gorgon, and Karnak, but Auran’s attempt to apprehend Medusa ends with the spilling of her own blood. Karnak and Gorgon each begin making their way toward civilization, aware that their presence could disrupt the lives of those around them. Auran recovers from the fight with Medusa and calls for backup in bringing the royal fugitives back to the moon. Her orders are different, however, if she should see Black Bolt: he is to be killed on sight.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Scott Buck
based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Roel Reine
music by Sean Callery

InhumansCast: Cast: Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Ken Leung (Karnak), Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Ellen Woglom (Louise), Iwan Rheon (Maximus), Mike Moh (Triton), Sonya Balmores (Auran), Nicola Peltz (New Inhuman), Marco Rodriguez (Kitang), Ari Dalbert (Bronaja), Tom Wright (George Ashland), Aaron Hendry (Loyolis), Ty Quiamboa (Holo), Michael Buie (King Agon), Stephanie Anne Lewis (Paripan), Kala Alexander (Makani), Tanya Clarke (Queen Rynda), Albert Ueligitone (Pablo), Moses Goods (Eldrac), Dan Cooke (Cowboy), Nolan Hong (Tourist Husband), Brutus Lebenz (Cabbie), Tani Fujimoto-Kim (Clerk), Rick Agan (Police Officer), Lopaka Kapanui (Police Lietenant), Miriam Lucien (Serene Inhuman)

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Gifted, The Season 1

eXposed

The GiftedPolice squad cars pursue a young woman in Atlanta, only to lose track of her when she opens a glowing portal out of nowhere with her bare hands, leaping through it. She emerges through another portal in an abandoned building, and finds herself surrounded by others – others like herself. Police converge on the building, and after a fierce fight between police revolvers and powers almost beyond human comprehension, two of the suspects are taken into custody, while two of the cops are killed.

Teenager Lauren Strucker’s socially awkward younger brother Andy sneaks out of the house to accompany her to a school dance. When he’s picked on and tortured by the school bullies, Andy goes into a rage, unleashing an enormous amount of energy that almost brings the walls of the school down. Lauren, aware of his powers, drags Andy out of the school and races home. The incident has already made the news, attracting federal attention as America debates taking tougher measures to detect and contain mutants among the population. As Lauren explains to her mother that she and Andy have latent mutant powers, there’s a knock at the door. But it’s not the police, or indeed anyone with even the slightest respect for civil rights. Sentinel Services wages a secret war against the mutant populace. Andy again unleashes his powers to help his family escape. The Struckers are on the run.

This poses a serious dilemma for Reed Strucker, an attorney who has prosecuted cases involving mutants in the past…but he’s also in a very good position to know about the underground network that the mutants have built to protect themselves. Now he has to depend on the people he once helped to hunt down to save his children and his wife…and even if he can convince the mutants to help, it may not be enough to save Reed Strucker himself.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Matt Nix
based on the X-Men comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Bryan Singer
music by John Ottman

The GiftedCast: Stephen Moyer (Reed Strucker), Amy Acker (Caitlin Strucker), Sean Teale (Marcos Diaz / Eclipse), Natalie Alyn Lind (Lauren Strucker), Percy Hynes White (Andy Strucker), Coby Bell (Jace Turner), Jamie Ching (Clarice Fong / Blink), Blair Redford (John Proudstar / Thunderbird), Emma Dumont (Lorna Dane / Polaris), Toks Olagundove (Carla Jackson), Dale Godboldo (Ted Baird), Steffan Argus (Jack), Pierce Foster Bailey (Trevor), Giovanni DeVito (Dax), Billy Blair (Truck Driver), Dinarte de Freitas (Pedro), Dalton Gray (Jake), Josh Henry (Ben), Roscoe Johnson (Guard), Cynthia Jackson (Waitress), Jason Jamal Ligon (Side-Eye), Hayley Lovitt (Sage), Joe Nemmers (Agent Weeks), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Fade), Scott Parks (Passenger Cop), Jermaine Rivers (Shatter), Matthew Tompkins (Cal Jameson), Stan Lee (Stan Lee)

The GiftedObligatory Stan Lee cameo: Lee walks out of the bar, pausing in the doorway as he passes Marcos, who is en route to meet with Reed Strucker. Hi, Stan!

Notes: Though the X-Men are mentioned briefly, The Gifted presents a more small-scale look at the plight of mutants in America. The series is not based upon a particular comic, but was created by Matt Nix (creator and showrunner of the hit spy series Burn Notice) as a story taking place in the X-Men’s “universe”. Since the show is produced by 20th Century Fox (as opposed to Disney/ABC), The Gifted may share universes with that studio’s X-Men films, but is not part of the continuity of the bulk of Marvel’s Disney-produced film and TV output.

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Inhumans

Divide And Conquer

Marvel's InhumansThen: King Agon lectures his two sons, Black Bolt and Maximus, on the importance of the duties involved in taking the throne of Atillan. It’s obvious that Maximus relishes the power of the throne more than Black Bolt, even going so far as to ask if he becomes the heir-apparent should Black Bolt die. The brothers’ powers gradually make themselves known to the Genetic Council: Black Bolt’s voice could destroy Atillan, killing friends or enemies alike. And what makes Maximus unique? He’s not even Inhuman at all.

Now: Black Bolt, deposed King of Atillan, sits quietly in solitary confinement in Oahu. Gorgon continues his effort to lure Maximus’ security chief, Auran, into attacking before she’s ready. Gorgon has accumulated a small band of local former soldiers who say they’re up for a fight, but he’s worried that he may soon have human blood on his hands as a result, and Auran brings with her the incredibly powerful Mordis, leaving one of Gorgon’s recruits seriously wounded as they make their escape. Karnak thinks he’s found sanctuary at a farm, only to be held at knifepoint because he’s actually stumbled into the middle of a hidden marijuana growing operation. Medusa finds a better way to blend in, but becomes more obsessed with finding Black Bolt, who has befriended a fellow inmate with Inhuman powers. Black Bolt and his new ally break out of prison, but are whisked away by the enigmatic Dr. Declan before Medusa can intervene. Crystal, held prisoner in Atillan, is given one last chance to live…by endorsing “King Maximus” in public.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Rick Cleveland
based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Chris Fisher
music by Sean Callery

InhumansCast: Cast: Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Ken Leung (Karnak), Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Ellen Woglom (Louise), Iwan Rheon (Maximus), Sonya Balmores (Auran), Henry Ian Cusick (Dr. Evan Declan), Ty Quiamboa (Holo), Marco Rodriguez (Kitang), Michael Buie (King Agon), Tanya Clarke (Queen Rynda), Olo Alailima (Sammy), Bridger Zadina (Mordis), Sumire Matsubara (Locus), Jamie Gray Hyder (Jen), Michael Trotter (Reno), Ptolemy Slocum (Tibor), Ari Dalbert (Bronaja), Jason Quinn (Pulsus), Lofton Shaw (Young Black Bolt), Aidan Fiske (Young Maximus), John-Patrick Driscoll (Rivera), Matt Perfetuo (Sakas), Jeff Juett (Ted), Carlos Arellano (Captain Pena), Kala Alexander (Makani), Albert Ueligitone (Pablo), Krista Alvarez (Flora), Lei Kaholokula (Reporter), Joseph Kingsley (Assistant), Francisco Rodriguez (Jail Guard)

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Gifted, The Season 1

rX

The GiftedStranded when Clarice is unable to keep the escape portal open, Reed Strucker is now in the hands of Sentinel Services. He demands to see an attorney, but it is clear that, simply by associating with mutants, he has been labeled a threat and relieved of any and all civil rights. If Sentinel Services can’t find Strucker’s children, they’re not above reeling in other family members who have no idea what’s going on.

Left physically exhausted by holding the portal open for so long, Clarice is unable to control random outbursts of her ability. Portals open at random to the street outside, where police are preparing to mount an assault on the mutants’ headquarters; Lauren Strucker has to use her ability to close off Clarice’s unintentional portals. When Lauren is exhausted, Andy directs his rage-fueled ability at the police outside, but this makes things worse: as with his school before, the building in which the mutants are taking shelter is no longer safe or stable. Clarice is injured and her unconscious random portal opening becomes a dangerous rapid-fire exercise in not accidentally falling through to an unknown location. Caitlin Strucker, a nurse before going on the run with her children, enlists Marco’s help to retrieve a drug that can stabilize Clarice, but their plan only draws more attention to what is seen as a growing mutant threat.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Matt Nix
based on the X-Men comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Len Wiseman
music by John Ottman & David Buckley

The GiftedCast: Stephen Moyer (Reed Strucker), Amy Acker (Caitlin Strucker), Sean Teale (Marcos Diaz / Eclipse), Natalie Alyn Lind (Lauren Strucker), Percy Hynes White (Andy Strucker), Coby Bell (Jace Turner), Jamie Ching (Clarice Fong / Blink), Blair Redford (John Proudstar / Thunderbird), Emma Dumont (Lorna Dane / Polaris), Garret Dillahunt (Dr. Roderick Campbell), Elena Satine (Dreamer), Folake Olowofoyeku (Scar), Chris Butler (Dr. Watkins), Sharon Gless (Ellen Strucker), Christian Adam (Obnoxious Guy #1), Aerli Austen (Amber), DAve Blamy (Father), Jacinte Blankenship (Mutant Mom), Christabelle Rose Chapman (Obnoxious Girl), Ava Culpepper (Daughter), Tony Demil (Guard #2), Jordan Eli (Young Boy), Katelyn Farrugia (Nurse), Dinarte de Freitas (Pedro), Monique Grant (Guard #1), Barbara Hawkins-Scott (Desk Nurse), Josh Henry (Ben), Jason Jamal Ligon (Side-Eye), Hayley Lovitt (Sage)

The GiftedNotes: It’s a Burn Notice reunion! The Gifted showrunner Matt Nix was also creator of the hit spy series Burn Notice, which starred former Cagney & Lacey star Sharon Gless as Michael Westen’s mother; here she plays Reed Strucker’s mother. Coby Bell, who joined Burn Notice in its third season as Jesse Porter, is a regular on The Gifted.

LogBook entry by Earl Green