X-Men '97
In May, I was super focused on my blog and getting as many posts as I could up. I was initially planning on doing that in June, but then a lot of stuff happened and it didn't. But, things are maybe calming down for July, so I'm back to trying to do as many posts as I can. We are heading into the endgame of the first season of "X-Men '97." Let's get to it.
"Bright Eyes"
General Ross: "Thought your kind were the good guys."
Rogue: "You killed those, sugar. Now you get me."
After the tragedy in Genosha and Gambit and Magneto's deaths, Rogue is living up to her name. She's looking for leads on where she can find Bolivar Trask. There is no one she is not willing to go through to get her answers from the US military to Captain America. While they are working on locating more survivors on Genosha, the X-Men learn that Rogue is stalking Trask in Madripoor. They find her there where she makes a startling decision in regards to whether or not Trask should live or die.
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| A new breed of Sentinel. |
We took a little bit of a break from the aftermath of Genosha to check in on Storm and Forge and Xavier and Lilandra, but with this episode we are back in the thick of it. The episode begins with the funeral of the Ragin' Cajun and it is just and sad and somber as you'd think it was. If you thought you were done shedding tears over the death of Gambit, well you thought wrong.
"X-Men '97" does such a great job paying homage to the first iteration of the show and that doesn't stop here. As the camera pans, we see members of the Thieves Guild and the Assassin's Guild, including Gambit's ex-wife, Bella Donna Boudreaux. I sort of wish that Bella Donna would have said something, but it's great that she's even there. It's these little details that really show why "X-Men '97" is a cut above the rest of the nostalgia traps that we are inundated with nowadays.
The original series really did right by Kurt Wagner and "X-Men '97" continues to do that. It was great to see him on Genosha and even though we lost a couple of mutants in the opening credits there is something really special about seeing Nightcrawler there. Nightcrawler's spirituality and belief in God has always been such a strong part of his character. He's the one who gives the eulogy for Gambit and it is extremely moving. So, I'm not a huge fan of Christianity I know that is a shock, but I think Kurt embodies the ideal of what a Christian should be. Non judgmental. Compassionate. It's great.
Rogue is missing from Gambit's funeral and its because instead of mourning she is on a mission of revenge. She is searching for the creator of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask and she doesn't care who she goes through to get to him. She trashes a government installation that is being overseen by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who feigns ignorance and makes some snide comments that Rogue is not here for. I love that "X-Men '97" is able to incorporate characters like General Ross because it gives it more stakes and feels like it is part of a lived in universe.
Speaking of, you may be wondering where are the Avengers while all of this is going on? Well, the writers anticipated this so who does Rogue run into? Captain America. He offers Rogue the one thing that she is definitely not looking for. Platitudes. He does give her a bit of information. Gyrich was moved from prison by a group called OZT and they are waiting before moving on them. Rogue isn't interested in waiting and she's definitely not going to let Captain America stand in her way. It was such a bad ass ballsy move when she takes Cap's shield and tosses it into the mountains as hard as she can. He's going to be looking for that for a while.
In one of my earlier recaps, I talked about how maybe they should have replaced Lenore Zann as Rogue in "X-Men '97." I don't usually say this much, so savor it, but I was wrong. Zann kills it in this episode. If she doesn't win an Emmy for this, I'm going to riot. You feel the anger in her voice. The anguish when Nightcrawler finds Rogue in Madripoor. it's great to remind viewers that Rogue and Nightcrawler have that bond of sharing Mystique as a mother. It's Nightcrawler that finally gets Rogue to break down and it's heartbreaking.
The rest of the team isn't just out there twiddling their thumbs. Jubilee and Roberto continue to bond and after Genosha, Jubilee convinces Roberto to tell his family that he is a mutant. After meeting Mrs. DaCosta it makes sense why he decided to keep it a secret. She initially seems to be on his side and she doesn't seem upset that Roberto is a mutant. But when it comes down to it, Mrs. DaCosta is more interested in how her son's mutantness will impact their families business interests rather than have her son be an out and proud mutant. And you know that Jubilee is not feeling that no matter how she is feeling about Roberto himself.
The rest of the team are dealing with the fallout from Genosha and rather than sit on their hands the team heads to the remains of the mutant nation to try to dig out survivors. One of my favorite things about the X-Men is that there is never a bad time for them to discuss their drama. You'd think that Scott and Jean would be too focused on their search for survivors to talk about their marital woes but you'd be wrong. They are going back and forth while combing for bodies. And it's not just our favorite dysfunctional couple. Hank and Trish Tilby get into it as well. This search does yield results. They find Emma Frost in her diamond form. Again, we love pulls from the comics and this is a big one. It introduces the idea of secondary mutations to the series which is a big deal.
When the X-Men find Rogue, they also find Bolivar Trask. And while they are happy to see Rogue, she has changed and they are shocked when she tosses Trask off a building when he doesn't give her they answers she is looking for. But Trask doesn't die. He transforms to a human/Sentinel hybrid and attacks the team. This is such a fucking bomb action sequence and it is really great for my girl Jean Grey. I hope that anyone who watches this forges all about the fainting. I mean, she telekinetically tossing tons of building detritus into the near by bay and not one faint. She's still ready to go.
The animation continues to be gorgeous. The rain and the neon signs in Madripoor are so breathtaking. The episode ends with Cable showing up to give the mutants more information. Gyrich is dead. And we finally meet the shadowy figure who has been manipulating everything along with Sinister behind the scenes. Bastion. And as Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" plays its revealed that Magneto didn't die on Genosha. He's being held captive by Bastion.
Grade: A-
"Tolerance Is Extinction" - Part 1
[Bastion returns to his hideout to confront Val for releasing Magneto]
Bastion: "You just had to let the dog out. Do you understand the futility of your bleeding heart, of fighting the future?"
Val Cooper: "You're a monster."
Bastion: "I was born this way."
[Bastion forms metal restraints around Val]
Val Cooper: "You know, in Genosha, I felt a lot of things. Pain, grief, admiration for those who fought, despite the odds. But you know what the oddest thing was? No one seemed shocked or surprised. Not even me. Yes, I was scared, but really, I just had the most profound sense of deja vu. As if, past, present and future didn't matter and never had. Because we always end up in the same ugly place. Thing us, Magneto knows us better than Charles ever did. Knows we know better. That most of us experience tragedies like Genosha as a bit of deja vu before getting on with our day. But the scariest thing about Genosha wasn't the death or the chaos. It was a thought. The only sane thought you can have when being chased by giant robots that were built to crush you. Magneto was right."
Cable tells the X-Men about Bastion and the new type of Sentinel that he created. Bastion was able to manufacture the realization of Charles Xavier's dream, but on the backs of mutants basically enslaved because of his Sentinels. It seems like the tragedy of Genosha is a fixed point in time because Cable can't do anything to stop it. While Cyclops, Jean and Cable go investigate Bastion's background, Val works behind the scenes to try to throw a wrench in Bastion's plans.
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| Three swords. |
This is it. This is the first part of the three part finale of season one of "X-Men '97." Honestly, whether I'm watching this for the first time or for the second time, it really feels like time has flown. Are ten episodes not enough? They might not be. Usually an episode like this is a lot of set up, which can feel ho hum and a little boring, but that is definitely not the case here. It all feels very urgent and exciting.
I think we have to talk about Magneto's teeny tiny bikini black briefs to start off. Like, how gay is this? It's like a weird bondage scene straight out of some BDSM gay porn. And you know that this Halloween we are going to see so many Magneto costumes where it's just a buff dude in a Party City Witcher wig in these briefs. I'm not upset about it. I will tell you that.
We get the big Bastion backstory from Cable. Bastion will use the events of Genosha to start a 300 year war that will end with mutants the slaves of humanity. He'll achieve Xavier's dream in an extremely twisted way. When Jean, Cable and Cyclops visit Bastion's childhood home, they learn that Bastion is a mutant like they have never seen. A descendant of every Sentinel from Master Mold to Nimrod. And he's been having visions of his cleanse of mutantkind since he was a child. The way that Bastion is going to achieve this is by creating Prime Sentinels like Bolivar Trask, human/Sentinel hybrids that are virtually unkillable.
The members of O:ZT, Operation: Zero Tolerance, are worried about Bastion and want Val Cooper to monitor him. And when you've got Baron Zemo worried, you know you're a bad dude. They are right to be worried. Bastion is finding humans that are upset with mutants being more accepted and are worried about them taking their jobs in chat rooms and are weaponizing them. Doesn't that sound familiar. I love how "X-Men '97" is reflecting our modern world through this lens and showing people that no matter what level of "acceptance" we think we've achieved, it's never going to be enough because these people are always out there. Bastion is luring these humans to him and making them Sentinels without their knowledge.
We talked about this with "Bright Eyes" but Nightcrawler continues to shine here. The X-Men have always been about found family and Kurt really hammers this home when he talks to Jean about her complicated feelings in regards to Nathan due to the whole Madelyne cloning thing. He brings up how he and Rogue became siblings despite them not being blood related and Mystique being a terrible mother. And that memories are not feelings and aren't what make a family. I appreciate that even while the show is ramping up for this final show down it still makes time for quieter moments like this.
And for the dysfunctional Grey-Summers family road trip that takes place. Cable is not speaking to Scott which makes sense. It turns out he and Bishop got separated in the timestream so its up in the air about how Cable was raised. I'm sure he has some abandonment issues that are worse due to seeing his mother killed a lot and having to spend time with her clone. Watching the three of them navigate this while investigating Bastion and eventually fleeing from Prime Sentinels is really awkward and fantastic.
As per usual, the action in this episode is unparalleled. Wolverine has kind of taken a backseat to the other characters in this season. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing since he was so front and center during the original animated series. But it's nice to see him get some bad ass time in this episode. You can't tell me that even the most ardent Wolverine haters weren't fist pumping as Wolverine tore through those Prime Sentinels. I loved watching him falling through the air while sliced and diced. Nightcrawler is not going to be left out. He grabs three swords, one for each hand and one for his tail, and goes to town. Nightcrawler is a swashbuckler and it is so cool to see the show embrace that side of him.
There is a ton of great stuff in this episode. I loved when Nightcrawler teleported Wolverine and we saw it from Wolverine's perspective. I don't think I've ever seen that before and it was so cool. The show reminds us that we are technically in the MCU when Beast talks about the mystics of Kamar-Taj and absolute points. Roberto's mother shows her true colors when Roberto and Jubilee burst into her fundraiser with Prime Sentinels on their tail. Performative allyship anyone? The episode ends with Val freeing Magneto who immediately heads to North Pole and sets off an EMP that disables all the Prime Sentinels. Oh, and Xavier returns after a video of his return is outed to the press. So, we have Bastion and a royally pissed off Magneto. This'll be fine.
Grade: A-
Next up, we finish up the season with parts 2 and 3 of "Tolerance Is Extinction."
What do you all think? Does Lenore Zann deserve an Emmy? Are you appreciating Nightcrawler as a full fledged member of the team? Are you ready for Storm to come back? Let me know in the comments.
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