| “ | We have to secure the safety of the community | ” |
| — Jace to Caitlin | ||
Agent Jace Turner is a main character and primary antagonist on The Gifted. He is a man that often questions his line of work as he is an agent for the Sentinel Services.
Before joining this government agency, Jace was a police officer, who lost his daughter to a mutant related incident. He takes no pleasure from separating Mutants from their families, however, he feels it's something that must be done for public safety. Agent Turner started an illegal, non government sanctioned extermination/incarceration attempt of mutants after Dreamer, in an attempt to gain information on an illegal secret program, manipulated his memories, and unintentionally caused him to forget the death of his daughter.
Character Description
"A weathered man who quietly wrestles with the moral ambiguities of a job that regularly requires cold-blooded, calculating efficiency on a day-to-day basis."[1]
Early Life
Jace turner is a former police officer who had a seven-year-old daughter named Grace. On July 15th, four years prior to the beginning of the series, Grace was killed in a mutant related incident.
Season 1
Agent Turner showing up at the Strucker house
In eXposed, Agent Jace Turner arrived at the Strucker house to take Andy and Lauren Strucker into custody after a mutant related incident at their school, which was being described as an act of terrorism. Under the amended Patriot Act, it was Sentinel Services duty to secure the safety of the community. However, Caitlin Strucker was reluctant to allow them into her home. He attempted to reason with Caitlin as he, too, was a parent, and this was as much for Andy and Lauren's protection as it was for everyone else's. Agent Turner and Agent Weeks bypassed Caitlin, knocking her down in the process, which angered Andy, causing the entire house to shake. He urged Andy to calm down and to come with him for questioning but as the shaking persisted, Agent Turner and Agent Weeks drew their firearms. However, they didn't account for Lauren blocking their path with a force field, though it only lasted for a few moments. Unfortunately, this provided the Struckers with enough time to escape in the family's car.
The next day he arrived at the Central Courthouse Building and requested access to Mr. Strucker's office, as well as his computer and emails. A court order was being processed should they encounter any resistance. Mr Strucker's boss was surprised to learn that Mr. Strucker would run after being a part of the office for fifteen years, and the mutant task force for five years. In Agent Turner's experience, perspectives changes when it's your own kid.
Agent Turner instructing the fugitives to surrender
Unlike his last encounter with the Struckers, Agent Turner came prepared with a fully assembled team. They cornered the Struckers, and Mutant Underground affiliate Eclipse, in an abandoned warehouse. Agent Turner spoke from a microphone, announcing himself as the Sentinel Services before demanding that each of them get on the ground and put their hands on their head. If they try to flee, Sentinel Services won't hesitate to use deadly force. Mr. Strucker demanded an attorney as they would only negotiate if one was provided. Clearly misinformed, Agent Turner explained that there will be no negotiations. He advised Mr. Strucker to think about what was best for his family. He is forced to deploy the Sentinels after Thunderbird and Blink came to the fugitives rescue. Following the Sentinels with their guns drawn, agent Turner and his team proceeded throughout the building in search of the fugitives. Before Mr. Strucker could escape with his family through a portal created by Blink, he was shot and apprehended.
Agent Turner instructing the agents of officers
In rX, after an unsuccessful attempt to apprehend the Struckers in an abandoned warehouse, Agent Turner announced to both Sentinel Services Agents and Atlanta PD that in addition to the Struckers, they were also searching for three mutant suspects, two unidentified males (Thunderbird and Eclipse), and one female prison escapee (Blink). All are to be considered extremely dangerous as they believed that the suspects were affiliated with the national network in the business of helping persecuted mutant fugitives escape government custody. They were to search every square inch of the surrounding area, behind, doors, walls, and even under water. Just because something seemed impossible, doesn't mean it didn't happen. With mutants, anything is possible.
He then introduced himself to Mr. Strucker as he was being carried away on a stretcher, informing Mr. Strucker that the reason for his inability to move was due to the fact that he was hit with an immobilization round, and that the effects were to wear off in a few hours.
Agent Turner interrogating Mr. Strucker
After ensuring that Mr. Strucker knew his rights, the interrogation began. Agent Turner explained that while it's not illegal to be a mutant, his job was to focus on crimes committed by them. Mr. Strucker had put his family in a bad situation. He would argue that Mr. Strucker's next decisions are the biggest of his life. Mr. Strucker questioned why he would cooperate with the very same people that sent Sentinels after his family, but as Agent Turner reminded him, he gave the Struckers the opportunity to surrender peacefully, but they declined the offer. Mr. Strucker then asked for his lawyer, which Agent Turner was more than willing to provide him with. However, once that happens, it'll be out of his hands. He was doing Mr. Strucker a great favor by even discussing with him. Technically, Mr. Strucker was only being detained at the moment, he hadn't been charged yet. So, first things first, they were to bring on the charges for Mr. Strucker's involvement.
The next day Agent Turner brought up charges of terrorism against Mr. Strucker. He then pulled Lorna Dane A.K.A Polaris' photo up on the screen. From what they could establish, Mr. Strucker used her police file to make contact with the Mutant Underground. He informed Mr. Strucker that there's been talk for quite some time about classifying the Underground as a mutant terrorist group, much like the Brotherhood and the Mutant Liberation Front. Their lawyers wanted to make Mr. Strucker and Polaris their test case. With Mr Strucker rejecting the notion that the Mutant Underground was anything like the two aforementioned mutant organizations, Agent Turner reminded him that he was prosecuting Lorna Dane just a few days before. Suddenly, she's a brave freedom fighter, he asked. Agent Turner lost his daughter during the July 15th incident. She was seven years old and her name was Grace. People often talk about the X-Men and the Brotherhood, but the things is that he's never going to know if the blast of energy that killed his daughter came from a good mutant or a bad mutant. Either way, he didn't care. Mr. Strucker then stated that the charges would never stick, but Agent Turner disagreed.
Agent Turner needed Mr. Strucker to understand the stakes as he was making the mistake that he, his wife, and his kids were the only ones at jeopardy. He escorted Mr. Strucker into the interrogation room, where they watched from the one way mirror as Agent Weeks interrogated Mr. Strucker's mother, Ellen Strucker. They were bringing in every potential co-conspirator. If Mr. Strucker wished the interrogation to end, all he had to do was tell Agent Turner who was involved and how to find the rest of the Strucker family.
Agent Turner returning to the interrogation
Agent Turner returned to proceed with the interrogation later that night. Mr. Strucker was in a world of hurt, or so Agent Turner claimed. After doing some thinking, Reed disagreed that he was the one in a world of hurt. He has sat on the other side of the interrogation table, and the thing is that if Agent Turner was really going to throw him in jail, he would've done it by now. Instead, he's coming in with charges and dragging Reed's mother in for questioning, which are signs of a desperate man. He overplayed his hand. Agent Turner had a bad day, and lost millions of dollars worth of equipment because of it. He also allowed six fugitives to slip through his fingers. While Mr. Strucker finally agreed to a deal, it was to be done on his terms. Mr. Strucker will cooperate with Sentinel Services, but he will go down for all of it alone, Mr. Strucker's mother was also to be released, as well as anyone else they brought in. Most importantly, his family goes free. After thinking it over, Agent Turner agreed to the deal, but only under the condition that he gets the Mutant Underground.
In eXodus, Agent Turner explained to Reed that the key to finding the Underground was with Eclipse. They knew of the bar that Eclipse and Reed had met in and asked if there was anyone there that might know how to find him. Reed remembered that there had been another mutant there that was the bartender. Turner then came up with a plan to have Reed infiltrate the bar and claim that he had escaped from Sentinel Services and wanted to be taken to the Underground to get back with their family. To sell the story, he went and started an APB on Reed, claiming that Sentinel Services and other law enforcement agencies were looking for him.
Turner and his partner Weeks took Reed to the bar where they would be watching from a undercover surveillance van. Once the alert had been sent out on Reed, they then placed a tracking device on his ankle and he warned Reed that it could only come off if he took it off himself. He then let Reed go and reminded him that he was doing this for his family. He then watched as Reed met up with Fade, and was trying to ask for his help to get back to his family at the Underground. Weeks thought that the Reed wouldn't sell it but Turner was confident that he would. He then watched as Fade decided to bring Reed in and help him.
As he was waiting in the van, Turner received a text saying to be careful. He responded that he loved them and they replied that they were proud of him. He smiled just before Weeks told him that Reed was now moving. They prepared to follow and he notified his team that they were now on the move. They followed Reed's tracker but were surprised to find that Reed had thrown himself out of the transport and that Fade and gone and made it invisible so that his team couldn't keep following it. He angrily told Reed that he had to stay in the van but Reed said that he was clear enough about that, implying that he meant to be thrown out of it. Turner then told him that he just made the biggest mistake of his life but Reed said that he had actually stopped himself from doing just that. Turner tried to remind him of their deal but Reed told him to take the deal and shove it up his ass. He then moved to take Reed in.
Personality
Agent Jace Turner appears to be a ruthless, but professional individual, who is dedicated to his job of imprisoning mutants who he feels pose a threat to the community. Upon being tasked with bringing in Lauren and Andy Strucker following the destruction of Belleview Acres High School's gymnasium, he made several attempts to reason and even empathize with both Caitlin and Reed Strucker, proving that he cares about the family's troubles to a small extent. However, when it comes to mutants, he has little reservations on what tactics he uses to bring them down. To him, there are no such things as good or innocent mutants. He sees his work as justified and lashes out at anyone who tries to argue with him against it.
He's willing to use anything whether it is blackmail, intimidation, or even using Hounds to get the mutants he's after. After being forced to live through losing his daughter a second time, his morals and ethics regarding his hunt for mutants has gotten looser to the point that he is even willing to violate protocol and people's basic rights in his agendas. He proclaims all mutants, young or old, as terrorists and uses this as justification to resort to any methods he finds effective. At his lowest point he is even willing to overlook one of Roderick's hounds causing an aneyrism on a non mutant Department of Justice officer that tried to hinder his actions in order to continue his non sanctioned war on mutants.
Physical Appearance
Jace is a shaven headed, middle aged man in good physical shape, likely due to his profession of hunting dangerous mutants.
Skills and Abilities
As a former police officer and a field agent for Sentinel Services, it can be assumed that Jace is proficient with firearms. From the incident at the abandoned warehouse, it would appear he has some SWAT experience.
Appearances
Template:Season 1 Appearances
Trivia
- Agent Jace Turner is not a character from the X-Men comics. He's a original character created for this series .
- threat of eXtinction is the first episode that Jace does not appear in.
Gallery
Screencaps
