Week three of “The Gifted” has seen the show go through an expected dip in ratings following the moderate success in the pilot. However, it is notable that while the overall viewership is down by more than 300,000, the demographic rating has only dropped by 0.1. Could this be a sign that the show is attracting enough of a dedicated fan base to keep viewing week to week?

The mixed critical reception doesn’t make things any clearer. Much like the pilot and the second episode, the third episode has been met with divisive critical opinion. IGN gave the episode a seven out of ten, where they admit while this is in their opinion the show’s ‘first uneven episode,’ their biggest issues were that some of the main plot threads felt forced. The TV Club gave it a C+, citing the episode didn’t really ‘go anywhere and that the development for the mutant character is less interesting than those with powers. However, even detractors have praised the show’s consistent technical craft and there are those who feel the show is still going strong. Among them are Collider, who gave the episode a four out of five saying that while there were some cliche narrative devices, they weren’t particularly bothered by the familiarity as they enjoyed the content well enough.

Despite this, it’s hard to tell the future of the show. It hasn’t quite penetrated pop culture like other premieres this season have, so we shall see what happens.