The Gifted's Emma Dumont teases how Magneto factors into the season finale

The Gifted type TV Show network Fox genre Superhero

Thank Professor X that Fox renewed this X-Men drama for a second season, since the two-hour finale (airing tonight at 8 p.m.) is “for sure a cliffhanger,” says Emma Dumont, who plays Lorna, a.k.a. Polaris, a magnetism-manipulating mutant. “It’s the most on-the-edge thing.”

As the Mutant Underground tries to thwart the genocidal plans of Dr. Campbell (Garret Dillahunt), who wants to take his Hound program national, Lorna must decide how much she wants to be like her radical father, Magneto (who casts a strong shadow without appearing).

“Magneto is the entire reason for the last two episodes. He is it even though he’s never mentioned by name and we never see him,” says Dumont.

Although Magneto, who has been portrayed by Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen in the films, was always trying to do what’s best for mutants, the means by which he tried to accomplish this hurt many people, and thus many view him as a villain. Whenever Polaris realizes she has thoughts similar to his, she gets disheartened and it’s finally time for her to confront that.

“The truth is that they’re exactly the same and she has the exact same beliefs as him. So, she basically needs to decide if she’s going to own it. Is she going to step up and try to fight fire and save mutants, or is she going to back down and sort of be passive about it?” says Dumont, adding that the episode really delves into Polaris’ backstory. “We know the Polaris we see now, but we don’t really know Polaris in the past. We really get to see her as a younger woman, like really reluctant to be a leader and doesn’t really want people to look up to her — maybe even more insecure than we’ve seen before.”

The actress is particularly excited for fans to see the finale not only because of the many nods to Magneto, but also because Polaris finally reveals just how powerful she is. Teases Dumont, “Let’s just say she does something very difficult and tricky that she’s never done before.”

The Gifted‘s two-hour season finale airs tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox.