"Hated and Feared" Re-Watch: "One Man's Worth" Parts 1 & 2

 X-Men

If there i one thing you're going to get with the X-Men, it is time travel shenanigans and we are getting even more in the episodes for this post. You know what that means... Bishop! And this time, he's brought some family. Let's get into it.

"One Man's Worth" Part 1

Storm: [Butterfly lands on Storm's finger] "Beautiful."

Wolverine: "Who me? Watch your language."

Storm: [laughs] "I meant the butterfly. I suppose you too are beautiful, in your own unusual way."

During a picnic, Storm and Wolverine are suddenly transformed into an apocalyptic alternate present where they are fighting a seemingly never ending war against humanity led by Magneto. And they are married. Soon, they are joined by Bishop and his sister, Shard, who shares that things changed because Charles Xavier was assassinated by a mutant named Trevor Fitzroy who was working with Master Mold. Storm and Wolverine agree to help stop this from happening even though it means their love will potentially be forgotten.

Racism? How quaint.

This show loves some time travel stories and when I saw these episodes coming up, I kind of rolled my eyes a little bit. I didn't have super high hopes for this two-parter, but I have to say, overall, I was really pleasantly surprised.

What I really love about these episodes, is that you think it's actually going to be about one thing and then they change it up. They are both extremely fast paced which I appreciate. Some of the episodes from this season have felt double the 20 minutes that they actually are. I'm looking at you Cyclops episode from the last post. These fly by and it's great because you're engaged throughout them both.

The action in this episode is really on point. It's pretty clear they are paying homage to the Age of Apocalypse storyline that was popular in the comics at the time this episode aired. A lot of the X-Men they show are dressed in their AoA costumes, though Storm is rocking her classic mohawk look. During this sequence we see so many characters and I love picking out who's there. We see Magneto, Beast, Jean, Cyclops, Mimic and many more. Then, when the human superhumans show up it's the Avengers, including Giant-Man, the Wasp and Black Widow. 

This episode really shines when it focuses on this unexpected love story between Storm and Wolverine. We haven't seen any of this in the show but it really works. This love feels real and lived in. It feels more authentic than anything we've seen out of Jean and Scott or Jean and Logan. I love Storm continuously chastising Wolverine for losing his temper and his chagrined apologies. If they ever did a Logan/Storm romance like this in the comics, I'd be all for it. 

There are a lot of fun moments when the mutants are in the past, like when they are confronted by a racist diner owner. I love Storm's response. And I enjoyed the good old fashioned diner brawl that ensues afterwards. It's a lot of fun. I know I keep saying fun, but that's what all this is!

I don't have a ton bad to say about this first part except that Trevor Fitzroy and Bantam feel pretty underdeveloped. His motivations seem really vague. He just wants to be the only mutant so he's willing to sell out all of them? It just feels really thin, but overall a solid first part that made me excited for part 2.

Grade: A-

"One Man's Worth" Part 2

[Wolverine, with his friends, trying to make Xavier from the past go with them.]

Wolverine: "Look, pal, if we wanted to hurt ya, we woulda done it already. So are you comin' quietly, or do you wanna make some noise?"

[extends his claws]

[Xavier faints]

Storm: "You did it again, Logan."

Wolverine: "I'm sorry, darlin'."

All seems lost. Xavier is dead. Bishop, Shard, Wolverine and Storm return to Bishop and Shard's future and find Master Mold in control and Forge a cyborg. After an encounter with mega Sentinels called Enforcers, Shard is injured and forced to stay behind while the rest try to intercept Xavier before he triggers the bomb. Will they be successful and will Fitzroy help or hinder?

Lovers in the future.

The problem with any sort of time travel stuff is that no matter what happens is that it's going to start getting convoluted and needlessly confusing. And that starts to happen in this episode. Wolverine, Shard and Storm go back to the past. They see their recent past selves fighting in the diner. They intercept Xavier when he runs off and it's all like... sure. You just can't think about it too hard or like at all, because if you do it all falls apart. This isn't "Doctor Who" so we aren't going to mention paradoxes or like anything like that. We are just going to go with it.

Part 2 has a lot of the same strengths as the first part. The action is again very well done. That extended sequence when they return to Bishop and Shard's past is really great. The Enforcers are legitimately scary. Sentinels have become a little bit of a joke, so its nice to see them actually be a threat whether it's these Enforcers or Nimrod. You feel like they are really in danger and that is really something when you know that you don't really have anything to worry about.

Storm and Wolverine's romance is still one of the strongest parts of this two-parter. I felt real emotions when they said their final good byes. And I've complained a lot about the use, or lack of, when it comes to Storm in "X-Men: The Animated Series" and I have to say, they finally give her some stuff to do here and it's nice to see. I really enjoyed her trapping the racists in a mini tornado and just letting them swirl around in it while they talked and tried to figure out what to do next. It gave me a nice chuckle.

Fitzroy is still kind of the weak link here. His motives are really ill defined. He is painted as the hero here once he finds out that Master Mold plans on killing him. The video to himself is what convinces him to not go through with the plot to kill Xavier, but none of this feels entirely altruistic. And it surprises me that Bishop just lets him go and trusts that he won't try to do something like this again. I'm not sure if we should really operate on the honors system here, but... sure.

Everything goes back to normal and we are back to the picnic that began part 1. I thought Xavier would forget all about this especially after Fitzroy drained him, but it's clear he does. And I think it's just another thing we just need to go with.

Grade: B+

Next up, the team attempts to save Moira MacTaggart's son, Proteus.

What did you all think of these episodes? Did you like them or are you over the time travel nonsense? Or both? Let me know in the comments.