The Gifted‘s first season has come to a startling conclusion and the battle for mutant survival just got even more intense. Fox’s mutant drama spent its freshman season pitting mutants against humans (and also robots and brainwashed mutants), but the finale sets up a conflict that could potentially be even more epic–that is, if the show is coming back for Season 2. Which it is. The Gifted Season 2 is happening, the real question is… when?

But first, let’s talk about the way Season 1 ended.

Does The Gifted Season 1 end on a cliffhanger?

Oh yeah, yeah it does. So, spoiler alert for all you mutant lovers that haven’t watched the two-hour season finale yet. Everyone else cool? Cool. The two-parter (titled “X-roads” and “EXtraction”) pushed the Mutant Underground closer to their goal of taking out the vile bigot Rory Campbell (Garret Dillahunt) and also put the Strucker family into direct conflict with Sentinel Services and Officer Turner (Coby Bell). Both clashes had explosive results.

The Struckers’ showdown with Sentinel Services left the Mutant Underground’s shelter completely destroyed, as Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (Percy Hynes White) used their combined power to annihilate a few mutant hounds and provide cover for the rest of their allies to escape. The remains of the Mutant Underground has relocated to a way station in Nashville (a place with a “J. Kirby” sign out front, a nod to X-Men co-creator Jack Kirby), and Officer Turner has split from the government and will presumably operate an independent war against mutants.

And while the Struckers were saving the rest of the Underground, the lead mutants (Polaris, Thunderbird, Blink, and Eclipse) went on a mission alongside the always shady Stepford sisters (Skyler Samuels) to prevent Campbell and the equally bigoted and combative Senator Montez from reaching Washington, D.C. and lobbying against mutants. Their extraction plan failed, as Campbell shielded himself with children and got away clean. Backed into a corner, the increasingly determined (and also dark) Polaris (Emma Dumont) split from her found family, teamed up with the Stepford sisters, and went after Campbell and Montez against the wishes of the rest of the Underground. This led to Polaris bringing down Montez’s plane, presumably killing him, Campbell, and all the staffers on board.

The two plots converged in the finale’s final scene when Polaris and a Stepford sister arrived at the way station, there to recruit any members of the Underground to their counter cause, one that wants mutant supremacy rather than mutant equality. It looks like Polaris is really following in her mysterious father’s footsteps (that father, by the way, is totally Magneto). A handful of mutants joined them, including the techno whiz Sage and Andy Strucker. So it looks like Season 2 will pit mutant against mutant, and family against family.

When does The Gifted Season 2 start?

Thankfully, as The Gifted is a network drama, we probably won’t have to wait that long for Season 2. The show was picked up for a second season before the finale even aired, so production is no doubt already underway for the next batch of episodes. While a premiere date has not been announced yet, it’s likely that it’ll debut sometime this fall. Season 1 debuted in October 2017, so it’s a safe bet that Season 2 will debut this October too.

We will update this article as further information about The Gifted Season 2’s release date is made available.

Where to stream The Gifted