"Hated and Feared" Re-Watch: "Descent" & "Graduation Day"

 X-Men The Animated Series

We have done it. We have reached the end of "X-Men: The Animated Series" and we did it just in time. The revival of the classic animated series, "X-Men '97" premieres next week on March 20th. Let's wrap this sucker up, shall we? Let's go!

"Descent"

Mr. Sinister: "Essex is no more, from this day forward you shall address me as Mr. Sinister!"

Back in London 1888, Jack the Ripper is terrorizing the city. Dr. James Xavier is trying to assist police round him up, but he believes that the real culprit is Nathaniel Essex. He weaves a tale of Essex's twisted experiments and how he has been trailing him ever since he escaped his clutches. Can Xavier finally stop this sinister scientist?

Why is your face white?

It's kind of crazy that there were three good songs in this final season of "X-Men: the Animated Series" and two of them took place in the past. For the penultimate episode of the series, we take a trip back to Victorian England to learn the history of one of the team's deadliest enemies, Nathaniel Essex aka Mr. Sinister. This episode combines real figures from the past along with the history of the X-Men itself and I think that it works for the most part.

I really enjoyed seeing Charles Darwin making an appearance in this episode. Darwin and his evolutionary theories have played such a huge role in the series and so it is pretty cool to see him interacting in this world. Nathaniel Essex is the perfect character to have a one on one with him. He, of course, would be obsessed with "Origin of the Species" and get the famous scientist to autograph his copy of it.

Essex is a doctor who is the patron of the Grey family. Grey family. You see what they are doing here. Maybe there is a deeper reason that Mr. Sinister is obsessed with Jean Grey and Scott Summers? Could it be? It's not long before Essex is finding mutants as part of traveling side shows and experimenting on them. When he presents his findings to the local scientific community, they call him a quack and condemn his findings. It's kind of cool to see the show touch on how intertwined science and religion were back then. It even flusters Charles Darwin when Essex meets him originally. I get that they can't too deep into this in a 22 minute cartoon from the mid '90's but it's still nice that they bring it up at all.

Essex pretty quickly goes mad committing atrocities against the mutants who are being held against their will in his asylum. He takes a serum that gives him powers and gives him his classic Mr. Sinister look. Essex is also treating Rebecca with the same serum and not giving her all the information about the side effects. When the patients escape and the mutants from the asylum's powers are out of control, it is a familiar scene with the townspeople ready to string them up, but it's Xavier who gets them to calm down and plants the seeds for his ancestor's famous dream.

Overall this is a good episode especially when you compare it to the other episodes in this final season. It's entertaining and in some ways enriches the present day history of the show which is what a flashback episode should do. it doesn't all work. I am not sure this Jack the Ripper framing device is successful. We got Charles Darwin. Did we need Jack the Ripper, too? I love weaving the Grey family into Sinister's story, but it's clear that the writers hate Jean and that extends to her ancestor. Why does Rebecca never speak again when Essex leaves? It doesn't seem like his treatments had any long lasting negative effects on her. It seems this is just her fainting.

Grade: B

"Graduation Day"

Professor Charles Xavier: "Morph, it's nice to see you home. In facing your fears, you have truly proven yourself an X-Man. Gambit, how often must a scoundrel prove himself a hero, before he believes it himself. Jubilee, you are the future. When I look at your face, I see hope. Storm, my beautiful Storm, mighty as a hurricane, gentle as a summer rain. Wolverine, loner, you have found a family. Wild savage, you have found dignity. Cynic, you have found faith. Rogue, unable to touch, yet look around you - you will find that you have touched us all. Jean, first in my heart. Your courage allowed you to see things no other human ever has, yet remain the same innocent child I met so very long ago. 

Beast: "Is there anything I can do, Charles?"

Professor Charles Xavier: [quoting Hamlet] "The friends thou hadst, and thy adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." 

Professor Charles Xavier:  "Cyclops, were I your father, I would tell you that no son could ever be truer."

While debating the Mutant Containment Bill with Henry Peter Gyrich, an exhausted Professor Xavier is hit with a device that exposes him as a mutant and sends his power running amok. Initially, they believe it has killed him, but he is at death's door and his students scramble to save him while humans and mutants totter on the verge of war.

Jean finally doing something.

Even though this season has been really bad, I have to appreciate that they were able to stick the landing. I still contend that the four part "Beyond Good and Evil" would have been a perfect ending for the series, but this is a fine runner-up and will serve as a great springboard for "X-Men '97." 

This episode hearkens back to the earliest episodes of the series. We have Gyrich doing what he does. Sowing discontent. Being awful and prejudice.  Playing on the fears that the public have of anyone who is different. It's wild to watch this and have it be so reminiscent of things that are happening in real life. There could be a Trans Containment Bill that could be introduced anytime now. You want to believe that in 27 years we'd have made real progress and things like this were only happening on television, but that is not the case.

This final episode works really well because it keeps things simple. Not only does it tie back in to the classic mutant/human conflict, but it ties back in to the conflict between Xavier and Magneto. Xavier's public outing is the catalyst that sparks the war that has been brewing for five seasons between humans and mutants. And it's nice to get callbacks from earlier in the season, particularly the Genosha arc. This is Magneto's big moment and its completely in character for him to be savoring it. I love the idea of mutants flocking to Genosha and camping out at the foot of this mountain with Magneto holed up in a cave above them. He's readying himself to to emerge like Jesus to give his sermon on the mount.

The X-Men are concerned about this potential war, but are just as concerned about their mentor's potential death. The only way to save Xavier is to get in touch with the Shi'ar with their alien healing technologies. But it seems the only way that they can reach Lilandra is through the psychic link she shares with Xavier and there's no way to access that with the Professor on death's door. I feel like Jean should be able to use Cerebro to reach out, but they don't ever waste a moment to nerf an Omega level mutant.

Morph disguises himself as Xavier to go on television and try to placate everyone but it's not working so Cyclops and Wolverine decide to go on a suicide mission to try to take out Magneto. If there is no figurehead for them to rally around, then the mutant uprising will fizzle. This is such a boneheaded plot but its of course something that Scott and Logan would bond over and think was a good idea. Jean tags along to be the voice of reason. 

I probably sound like a broken record, but the reason this episode works is because it reminds viewers of why the liked the show in the first place. It's extremely brazen for Jean, Cyclops and Wolverine to just waltz into this mutant camp thinking they won't be recognized and the immediately are. The scuffle with Magneto is brief and its nice to see Jean actually stepping up and using her powers to actually do stuff. We will forget that she was barely able to telekinetically lower Logan and Scott to the ground not minutes before, but she can go to toe to toe with Magneto. Ugh. These writers truly don't understand her.

After Jean realizes that Magneto's powers were able to amplify her own (sure) they convince the Professor's old frenemy to come help save him. And it is entirely on brand for Magneto to just fuck off and leave his followers to try to help save his boyfriend. We get a nice send off where the Professor says nice things to all his students and it is very emotional and maybe I did get a little misty and fuck you for judging me. It would have been kind of badass for them to kill of Xavier, but Lilandra shows up in the nick of time to spirit him away to the Shi'ar where he can never return. I guess their medical tech isn't that great.

Xavier leaves his students confident they will continue his work.

Grade: A-

So, that is it. Honestly, this finale leaves "X-Men '97" with a great starting point. Magneto might have left his followers but they are still riled up. Things aren't probably worse than they've ever been. So, I'm excited to see how things start of and that's where we'll pick up next time with the first two episodes of "X-Men '97."

What do you all think? Were these episodes a good way to leave the classic series? Do you prefer "Beyond Good and Evil?" Are you "cyked" for "X-Men '97?" Let me know in the comments.