Unmoored

**unMoored** is the second episode of the second season of *The Gifted*. It is the fifteenth episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

Thunderbird contacts a mutant lawyer who recruited him to the Underground years ago, hoping she can help him find the Inner Circle. Lauren and Andy have a shared dream, which distracts Andy from his training and prompts Reeva to consider cutting her losses with him, which, in turn, makes Andy second-guess his separation from his sister. Meanwhile, Reed must keep a huge secret from the group and Jace picks up the mutants' trail again.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Three years ago, Tucson, Arizona, before becoming a leader of the Atlanta station for the Mutant Underground, John was an underground arena fighter. While in the ring, he goes toe-to-toe with a couple men armed with sledge hammers and aluminum baseball bats. They beat John mercilessly as the crowd chants. John quickly regroups and takes out the two of them with little to no difficulty. Afterwards, while sitting at the bar, he is approached by Evangeline Whedon. Evangeline believes that John was meant to be more. So she explains that she worked with the X-Men before they disappeared and she now needs John's help, and in him doing so, she'll provide him with purpose again. Evangeline is very much aware of John's past. His life on a poor reservation and his two tours in the marines with decorations for bravery, and how he was kicked out after 7/15. As for Evangeline, she only ever wanted to be a lawyer, becoming the youngest prosecutor in Philadelphia history. And then her powers manifested and she lost everything. She was close to ending it when the X-Men found her. Back to John, who she wants to lead the Atlanta station. She explains that John is being chosen because they know who he is capable of being.

Present day, John enters the apartment to find Marcos welding something for the baby. Marcos never gave up hope that he and Lorna would find their way back to each other. He even bought a bottle of Champagne to celebrate when he found out that he and Lorna were having a baby. He ordered the same kind on their first day. It cost more than the dinner itself and Lorna laughed at him for spending such an outrageous amount. John encourages Marcos to hang on to hope, but that is precisely what's been killing Marcos. He doesn't even know if Lorna and the baby are alive, though John is sure of it despite the fact that all they have in their favor is a load of bank statements from four different continents. The Inner Circle is up to something, and Marcos fears that Lorna and their child will get caught in the crossfire. However, John knows of someone who might be able to help.

At the Inner Circle's base of operations, Reeva calls in the Frost Sisters, Esme, Sophie and Phoebe to alert them of the alarming news headline and social media posts, all reporting the massive blackout across D.C. when Lorna went into labor. Esme tells Reeva that their engineers assured them the facility would be able to contain Polaris' powers during the birth. Nevertheless, Reeva isn't placing blame on anyone as Lorna was simply stronger than anyone realized. So, Reeva reached out to some of her political contacts. The Department of Energy is going to put out a statement about a lightning strike at a substation, but they will still need to tie up the other loose ends. Esme doesn't believe that killing the witnesses is necessary, but Reeva disagrees. Everyone who saw them and the facility have to go in order to secure the future for the mutant homeland. While Esme is reluctant, Sophie and Phoebe are more than will to carry out the task, even taking a shot at their sister, claiming that Esme went soft while with the Mutant Underground when they were locked up. Esme reminds Reeva that they're supposed to be training, but Reeva states that it can wait.

Clarice and Lauren have good news for Cristina. A source said that a girl matching Jazmine's description turned up in a church shelter in Alexandria. Clarice and Lauren plan to pick her up in the morning. Cristina asks to join them, but Clarice and Lauren advise against it as she is a fugitive. Cristina becomes aggravated, which causes her to unintentionally shatter the light fixture on the wall. Cristina apologizes, but she can't risk losing her sister again as she's the only person Cristina has left. Lauren is familiar with the feeling. She hasn't seen Andy in six months. All her life, he's been there, and now he's just gone.

2:53 that morning, Lauren sleeps in her bed. She's having the same recurring nightmare with Andy on the rooftop of the parking garage. Andy grabs her hand, telling her that they're meant to be together and that Fenris is their destiny, but Lauren continues to resist. She pulls away from Andy, shouting at him to stop. When she does manage to pull away, she does so with such force that she falls over the wall, plummeting to the ground below. Andy panics, looking over the wall, to the ground, but Lauren isn't there. He then wakes up from his sleep in a cold sweat.

Atlanta, GA, Jace returns home from work. He greets his wife Paula in the kitchen, whose had a rough day. She asks Jace about a meeting he had earlier that day, to which he replies that he thinks he landed a new client for the firm. Defense contractor, who want to use some private security guys. While Paula is thrilled, Jace seems distracted. He had been thinking about the blackouts that hit D.C. He had a feeling about them, that they were mutant related. Paula becomes upset, asking him not to back track to this obsession with the Mutant Underground as he had been doing so well for the last three months. While Jace insists that while he's moved on, the blackouts are certainly the doing of mutants.
However, Paula is very much aware of the files he keeps on the Mutant Underground in the attic. Paula wants to build a new family, and so she makes Jace promise that he;ll focus on what's important.

The following morning, John sits awake in bed, thinking about the Atlanta station and how Evangeline recruited him to lead it. Clarice wakes up, asking questions pertaining to John's plan to visit Evangeline. John believes that she might be able to help track down the Inner Circle, but Clarice can tell that she's missing something as John looks concerned. John reveals that he and Evangeline have a complicated relationship though they were never romantically involved, as Clarice begins to momentarily suspect. When John was discharged from the Marines, he became addicted to pills to deal with the pain. Evangeline helped him through it. She chained him to the bed during his withdrawals, telling him to focus on the cause. This was the worst time of John's life. He states. But she got him through it. However, after what happened in Atlanta, John isn't sure that she will even talk to him.

Esme, Sophie and Phoebe call Bulk from the airport runway. After getting word from him that he was in position, the Frost Sisters alert Fade, who kills the guard they had previously mind controlled to gain access to the munitions facility. Once that is done, they signal Bulk to blow up the facility.

Dissatisfied with her latest decision to drive out to Philadelphia with John to see Evangeline, who possibly could lead them to Inner Circle and Andy, Reed confronts Caitlin, who believes the trip is more than worth it despite the fact that she still has an open gunshot wound. For months, he gave Caitlin some space, but Reed doesn't think she's making rational decisions, especially since like Lauren said, Andy chose to leave them. Caitlin questions if this means that they should just let him go. She wonders what Reed would do if it was Lauren, daddy's little girl, who left. This leads to Reed addressing the fact the Caitlin has been distant. Caitlin counters that Reed has been disappearing into his work and lapsing into pained silences. While Reed may believe in suppress and repress, Caitlin's a fighter. For the family's sake, Reed is asking Caitlin to stay, but the family is why she has to go.

The Frost Sisters approach David Hine at the airport, where he is seemingly purchasing an airplane with the money they bribed him with to close down the munitions warehouse. Esme, Sophie and Phoebe are displeased with his actions as he was told to keep his mouth shut and hold onto the money for six months. He claims that this is what he was doing, but they aren't buying it, reminding him that "lying to telepaths is a bad idea." He swears that he isn't going to say a word to anyone, but they need to be sure. So, the Frost Sisters use their mind controlling abilities to force David Hine into walking into a moving airplane propeller. However, Esme, has something different in mind. She instead has him hit by a truck, killing him instantly. This is her response to them calling her soft earlier.

Lorna finds Andy dosing off by the coffee machine, commenting that she thought looking exhausted was her job. Andy didn't sleep much, be he claims it was because he was up all night playing games, when in actuality, it was because of his dream of Lauren, though he assures Lorna that he's still up for training. Reeva and Sage overlook Andy from the upper deck of the training room. Reeva informs him that the walls are made of the same materials he'll face at the target of their first operation, each stronger than the last. So she needs him to break through them. Sage monitors his activity as he breaks through each wall, one right after the other. Andy manages to break through three walls, but as he comes up on the fourth, he remembers his dream of Lauren, causing him to lose focus and run face first into the wall. Sage informs Reeva that Andy's force distribution declined drastically. With that, Reeva tells Sage to get her Fade as she has an assignment for him.

John, Marcos and Caitlin have arrived in Philadelphia. They visit Evangeline at her firm, though she isn't pleased to see them as their arrival could result in Sentinel Services connecting her firm to the Mutant Underground. She can't have them there, especially since they're fugitives who are supposed to be dead. Marcos informs her that they're fighting every day while she's hiding. Caitlin pleads with her to help in anyway, but as Evangeline explains, she's simply a mutant's rights lawyer. John knows some of her past cases involved tracing bank records so he wants her help in tracking down the Inner Circle through their records. Evangeline is very much aware of the Inner Circle. When she questions how they managed to gain a USB's worth of information on the group, Marcos replies that a friend acquired it for them, leaving her to wonder if that friend is still alive.

Reeva has a sit-down with Andy following his poor performance during training. With his abilities, he should have handled that barrier easily. A problem like that during their operation could be disastrous. Andy claims that he simply had an off day, so Reeva shares story with him. She didn't have a lot of friends growing up. Her only friend was a girl named Benazir. They protected each other. Reeva loved her. One day, though, they had a fight. And then, later that day, they were attacked by a gang of Purifiers. Reeva's feelings about the fight got in the way, and her powers wouldn't come. So the Purifiers stabbed her friend and she died in the street. All Reeva could do was sob while she bled out. That was her "off day." That was also the day, that she learned that their powers tell the truth, even when they don't. So, she asks if Andy has anything to tell her, he says that he doesn't and that he won't fail again.

At the apartment, Reed looks through his father's old research notebooks. Reed reads on of the entries. "September 22, 1985. Reed had another attack of neuralgia. They seem to be triggered by elevated glucocorticoid levels. I fear if I don't do something soon..." Lauren enters the room before Reed can finish reading the entry. She informs him that she and Clarice are heading out to pick up Jazmine. When Lauren inquires about his activities, Reed claims that he is simply looking at old family photos. They reminisce as they browse through the photos. Lauren then asks if he's okay, which he claims he is and that Lauren doesn't have to worry about him. Nevertheless, she tells him that it's fine if he's not okay.

Lorna is singing a lullaby for Dawn when interrupted by Andy. She wonders what went wrong at training. Andy reveals that he's been having thoughts. At first it felt like he was missing his family, but now it feels like something more, like he should be with Lauren. Lorna explains that a little homesickness is fine, but Andy's are being trusted, and if Reeva gets the idea that he's not with her 100%, then it'll end badly for him. Andy understands, stating that he just needs to focus on training. Dawn then starts to cry, and so he leaves so that Lorna can feed her.

Andy picks up a disposable phone from the store. He calls the Community of Mercy Clinic, asking for Lauren, but Reed answers. He asks who is calling for Lauren, but Andy does not respond, but hangs up instead, before destroying the phone. Little does he know, Fade has been tailing him, and reports this unsettling discovery to Reeva.

Back in Atlanta, Jace meets up with an old friend of his at the bar. His friend, Agent Myers, reveals that a lot of folks around Sentinel Services thought Jace got a raw deal on the Mutant Underground situation. Jace called him to pick his brain about the blackout that hit D.C. According to reports, some kind of electrical storm hit a substation. Glitch in the stem knocked out the whole grid. Jace doesn't believe this is true after reading all the news reports about the right transformers that exploded. There were even surges through the grid for half an hour. Jace recalls Lorna, who possessed certain abilities to make something such as this occur. Agent Myers informs Jace that his theory is crazy and that he should let it go. Jace has a new life and he and Paula pulled through. Myers doesn't want to see him blow all that for the sake of some conspiracy theory.

Paula returns home to find Jace throwing away all his files on the Mutant Underground. For the longest time, he thought that if he stopped, he'd be letting Grace down. The truth is, there's not enough justice in the world for Grace, and if he doesn't let go of the past, he's going to lose his future, too. Jace says to Paula that she didn't just lose her daughter on 7/15. She lost her husband, too. Hearing this from Jace, means a lot to Paula, who then hugs Jace.

Evangeline speaks to an associate of hers, who managed to trace some of the Inner Circle's transactions. There are weapons purchases, facilities, assets diversified and hidden in every way imaginable. Evangeline explains that Reeva Payge is preparing for war, someone who Marcos, John and Caitlin are all unfamiliar with. She's one of the most powerful mutants still standing after 7/15. There were rumors that she had taken over the Inner Circle. This now confirms that they were true. John wants Evangeline's help to stop her, but Evangeline explains that the Inner Circle's resources are too great, not to mention that they have Polaris and a descendant of the Von Struckers. The Underground doesn't have the power to go to war with the Inner Circle. John wants to get other Mutant Underground stations from places such as New York, Chicago and L.A. for the fight, but Evangeline refuses given his failure in Atlanta, which by the way, led to half of the Underground being taken apart by Sentinel Services. She refuses to allow John to destroy the rest of what they built, and then kicks the three of them out her office.

Marcos and Caitlin attempt to comfort John by explaining that the station in Atlanta going down was not his fault. They were all there, but as far as John is concerned, it was his responsibility. Marcos would beg to differ however, believing that it was all of their duties. John then tells them to go on ahead and that he'll meet them at the car as he rushes back to Evangeline's office.

Lorna finds Andy to inform him that they're waiting for him downstairs for training. Andy heads down and immediately begins smashing his way through the walls as Sage and Reeva monitor from above. Sage states that his kinetic energy is back to its original level and moment of inertia is climbing. Just as it seemed he would break through all the walls successfully, again, Andy begins to recall his dream of Lauren falling off the parking garage's roof, and yet again, he goes face first into the wall. Reeva looks to the Frost Sisters for answers. Esme, Sophie and Phoebe look inside Andy's mind. They discover that Lauren is the problem.

John reenters Evangeline's office. He didn't come all that way to give up. Evangeline informs him that they can't win. She apologizes for being so harsh but it's the truth. John recalls Evangeline finding his in Tucson three years ago and how she told him that he needed a cause. John has people dying and they need something to believe in after what happened in Atlanta. While Evangeline can't tear apart the Underground just for John's search of the Inner Circle, she does however know of a mutant separatist who goes by the name of Erg. He lives in the tunnels under D.C. and nothing happens in town that he doesn't know about. John thanks her for this information, but Evangeline explains that giving him hope is the worst possible thing she could do. Reeva is ruthless, and his friends are never coming home. She'll kill them first.
And if they stay with her, chances are the Underground will have to kill them. Evangeline's sorry for that night in Tucson. She gave John a cause but she didn't know that cause was doomed.

Back at the Inner Circle's base, Esme, Sophie and Phoebe communicate telepathically as Reeva paces back and forth, trying to determine what she should do about Andy given that he's making calls to the Underground. He could tell them of the Inner Circle's location. But as Esme reminds Reeva, Fade said he made only one call and hung up. However, all this, along with his poor performance during training has Reeva worried. He didn't even make a dent in the boron carbide. If he can't get through that, then their operation fails and their dream dies. Perhaps his family connection is stronger than they realized, Reeva says. Esme counters that his family is the reason he's there, given that he's a Von Strucker. This does them well but only if he's on their side. However, if he doesn't trust them, then they can't trust him, Phoebe and Sophie interject. Reeva will talk to him, to assess the situation to determine if he's reliable. If he's not, then Reeva will have to kill him, which Esme is against.

Reeva joins Andy in his room. She had hoped that he would come to think of the base as a home and them as people he could trust. What Reeva saw in the training room was someone whose mind was elsewhere and had doubts and secrets. While having doubts is fine, lying about them isn't. Andy claim he isn't lying about anything. Given that Andy continues to lie and doesn't trust them enough to be honest, Reeva is left with no other option but to kill him. She turns her back to him and inhales in preparation to let out a sonic scream. But, before she does, Andy admits that for the past 6 months, his mother has been messaging him through an online game, telling him where they are and how to find them, But he never responded. Andy also admits to calling Lauren, just to hear her voice, but when she didn't answer, he hung up. Andy then reveals the dreams he's been having of Lauren, where she's afraid of him. He tires to forget it, but he can't. Reeva doesn't want him to forget it. She wants him to use it. They all have the same goal, to build a homeland. For that to happen, Andy has to be strong and do as he's told. Reeva then gives him a hug.

As Reed wraps Cristina's wound, he tells her that she'll need to change it twice a day where she's going, which is Memphis. Lauren and Clarice then return with Jazmine. The sister reunite since being separated during the Liberty Parks Apartments raid. As they hug, Reed asks Clarice to help them get loaded up. Reed imagines that it can't be easy on Lauren to see siblings reunited when she and Andy are still torn apart. Reed encourages Lauren to tell him if there's something wrong, but Lauren insists that she's fine. However, Reed knows this to be untrue. Lauren can't believe that he's lecturing her on the truth when he and her mother are constantly fighting about Andy and pretending that everything is okay. While Lauren wants Andy to come back, she can't forget how they killed fifteen people back in Atlanta. Lauren had been looking them up. She knows their names and their kids names but Reed and Caitlin never talked about what it might mean for Lauren to have Andy come home. Reed apologies, but there isn't much he can do. As Lauren leaves the room, his powers begin to manifest again. Just like before, his arm glows red with energy and his vein darken and pulsate. The energy emerging is so powerful that it not only disintegrate his ring, but everything else he touches, such as the wall and filing cabinet.

John returns to the apartment to find Clarice in the restroom, removing her eye contacts and make up. Passing as non mutant has become quite tiresome for her. John then informs her that he made some progress with Evangeline. From her, he got the name of a mutant who might be able to help them find the Inner Circle as he has eyes everywhere. Clarice senses that something is wrong with John, so she asks if something happened with Evangeline. John claims that everything's fine, much to Clarice's satisfaction. They then proceed to kiss.

Up on the rooftop, Caitlin looks over the city, still saddened at the loss of Andy. A single tear runs down her face as Marcos approaches with the bottle of Champagne that he had bought after finding out Lorna was pregnant. He had hopped to share it with her once the baby was born, but that is no longer an option. So, he pops the bottle open and shares a drink with Caitlin instead. Marcos can't stop thinking about what Evangeline said, about an approaching war. Marcos fears what will happen if he doesn't find Lorna and the baby in time. However, Caitlin forbids him from giving into despair. She then heads back downstairs, leaving Marcos alone on the rooftop.

Elsewhere, Reed and Lauren are on their way back to the apartment from the clinic. They don't say a word to each other, simply riding in silence. Meanwhile, as Clarice sleeps, John heads down to the scrapyard, repeatedly punching a truck to worst out his frustrations as he remembers Pulse, Dreamer and all the others they've lost.

Andy now seems to be thriving during training, as he makes quick work of the boron carbide. Reeva and Sage are both impressed and pleased with his progression.

Back on the rooftop, Marcos finishes off the bottle of Champagne as it starts to rain. He throws the bottle against the wall, causing it to shatter. He then recalls the moment he revealed to Lorna the first thing he did for fun when his powers manifested, which was shinning light through a shard of glass to project a light pattern. With this in mind, Marcos recreates the moment. He picks of a shard from the Champagne bottle and shines his light through it, causing a green light to fill the sky. He laughs as he does so. From the Inner Circle's base, Lorna can see his light from her bedroom. So she gets out of bed to get a better look. She realizes that it's Marcos' doing, and calls out to Dawn and says "Look Dawn, daddy's saying hi". As Lorna goes to wake up her, she realizes that Dawn is burning up. Lorna picks Dawn up and calls out for help.

## Cast

* Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker
* Sean Teale as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz
* Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker
* Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker
* Coby Bell as Jace Turner
* Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong aka Clarice Ferguson
* Blair Redford as Thunderbird/John Proudstar
* Emma Dumont as Polaris/Lorna Dane
* Skyler Samuels as Frost Sisters/Esme, Sophie and Phoebe
* Grace Byers as Reeva Payge
* Raymond J. Barry as Otto Strucker (voice only)
* Erinn Ruth as Evangeline Whedon
* Danube Hermosillo as Cristina

Co-Starring* Mia Clyburn as Jazmine
* Mahdi Cocci as Security Guard
* Christian Finlayson as Young Reed
* Hayley Lovitt as Sage
* Carl Palmer as Agent Myers
* Jeff Daniel Phillips as Fade
* Mark Rowe as David Hine
* Renes Rivera as Bulk

## Multimedia

* Promotional
* Screencaps
* Behind the Scenes
* Videos

### Videos

Preview Let's Get To Work Season 2 Ep. 2 THE GIFTEDReeva Oversees Andy's Training Season 2 Ep. 2 THE GIFTEDLauren & Andy Have The Same Dream Season 2 Ep. 2 THE GIFTEDEvangeline Warns John About Reeva Season 2 Ep. 2 THE GIFTEDCaitlin And Reed Argue Over Andy Season 2 Ep. 2 THE GIFTED

## References

1. ↑ Final Adjusted TV Ratings for Tuesday 2nd October 2018 - SpoilerTV
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Gifted - Episode 2.02 - unMoored - Press Release - SpoilerTV