Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 15

 Kurt get's a bit distracted by an... explosive girl.

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, the X-Men kicked off a new semester. A bunch of fresh, New Mutants joined the Xavier institute, and Bayville got a new principal in Edward Kelly. The Brotherhood boys, getting listless without Mystique to crack the whip and feeling tired of being cooped up, attempted to out Mutants to the world. The X-Men were able to put a stop to the show, with Magneto playing secret aid by disabling the broadcast moments before the show started and Xavier wiping the minds of all present at the event, save Principal Kelly, whom he attempted to memory wipe just before passing out. So, the secret of Mutant kind was kept from 99% of the populace and the only one that might have some idea is the one based off of one of the most famous bigots of the X-Men franchise. Shaping up to be a very interesting semester. Let’s get to it, shall we.

Eh, I've seen worse Meet-Cutes.

 

We open with the X-Men performing a rescue drill. Session is run by Wolverine, Scott is like the teacher’s aid, and Kurt is the “victim.” Once they get the winch set up, they send down one of the New Mutants, Tabitha Smith aka Boom Boom, to save him. Or try to anyway, she’s a bit to busy listening to her tunes to pay attention to her cue. Wolverine sends her down. Tabitha rides down on the rescue basket thing, and flirts with Kurt a little when she’s at his level. She uses her power to blow away the rocks on Kurt and then pulls him into the harness. She asks “Badger” to pull them up, which he does, but after saying “it’s Wolverine,” in a huff. On the way up, Kurt and Tabitha flirt a bit more, with Kurt jumping from the basket to scare her, just to teleport back up and “deduct points” for not strapping him in properly. Tabitha starts getting into goofing off with Kurt and throws a few more of her bomb pellets, which accidentally go off and knock Kurt out and off of the harness again. Thinking fast, Scott blows the rocks in the ocean below, and Wolverine free dives to save him.

 

After the session, Xavier scolds them both for goofing off and nearly getting Kurt killed. He grounds the two of them, confining them to the school and the institute, no powers, and they’ll have to do double training sessions. Xavier is tough but fair.

 

We jump over to the Brotherhood house. This is our first time seeing the home of the anti-X-Men and it… looks like a home of four teenage boys. While she hasn’t been gone long, I got the distinct impression they started turning the place into a sty shortly after Mystique disappeared. The Brotherhood boys are having money issues, no food, the place is a wreck and they really don’t know of anyway to make money. Toad is obsessed with busting down Mystique’s door to loot her room, but the others keep pointing out what a colossally stupid idea that’d be.

 

At Bayville High, the school is running a carnival to raise money to rebuild the gymnasium, which unfortunately got torched last episode when the Brotherhood tried to reveal Mutants to the world. They don’t remember it that way, but that’s how it went. Principal Kelly asks his secretary to make sure to drop off the proceeds into the wall safe every hour, just as a shady character comes in. How convenient. The character, Mr. Smith, is looking to speak with his daughter Tabitha. While the secretary looks up Tabitha’s info, he smiles somewhat evilly at the wall safe. He’s told that Tabitha’s on a restricted visitor list, and if he wants to see her, he has to go through the Xavier Institute. He says he’ll do that.  

 

We jump over to Tabitha who is having trouble with her locker. She blows the lock with her powers, only to realize she was at the wrong locker, whoops. Kurt pops over and the two flirt a bit, before Tabitha snags one of his books because she can’t find hers and runs off, leaving Kurt literally spinning. As she runs to class, her dad runs into her. We see pretty much instantly that she’s NOT happy to see him and tries to get him to buzz off. She runs off before he can say too much.

 

Kurt and Scott have lunch together at the cafeteria. Scott gives Kurt his condolences for being forced to miss the carnival. Kurt asks if Scott’s going with anyone, at which point he looks over at Jean and Duncan and grumbles that it’s not likely. Tabitha walks by, she returns the book but tries to steal Kurt’s juice next but he points her to the vending machine if she wants one. Kurt is clearly smitten, but Scott’s not sure that “that” is a good idea, and warns his surrogate little brother as much. Tabitha meets Lance at the vending machine just as he causes a localized quack to get a free soda. She compliments him on his technique before just blowing the whole machine to get soda. Tabitha, I know you might not have thought of this, but you are kind of on the short list of people who can do that and the rumor mill will eventually get back to Xavier, just saying. Lance says she’d get along well at the Brotherhood house, but she scoffs at the offer.

Remember, the guy in the chair can literally erase your mind,
keep that in mind if you try to threaten Charles Xavier.

 

At the Institute, Xavier is extremely polite but curt to Mr. Smith. He has no parental rights over Tabitha, and his (I assume) ex-wife was quite clear that she doesn’t want him near Tabitha. Smith tries to threaten Xavier, telling him to let Smith see his daughter or he’ll call up news crews to blow the Institutes secret, but he does so as Logan walks in. Logan does not take kindly to people threatening his boss and makes it clear that either Smith removes his hands from Xavier, or Logan will remove the hands from Smith. Tabitha walks in then, and I guess convinces Xavier to let her have a moment with her Dad. We learn in no uncertain terms that Smith used Tabitha as part of several get rich quick robberies before he lost custody of her. She knows he’s just here to force her to steal for him again, and she’s not having it. He claims the money is for her mother, whom he also claims he’s working things out with, whom is sick. Tabitha agrees to help, but she doesn’t want to see him again after it’s done.

 

Later that night, Tabitha visits Kurt as he watches the carnival from the Mansion’s balcony. She flirts with and convinces him to take her to the carnival just for a few minutes. He says no, at first, but is quickly convinced. The two have a fun time on some rides and with some mildly destructive pranks, like blowing up a hot dog in Blob’s face. Blob and Lance try to chase them down, but Kurt bamf’s them away. Scott is also at the carnival and seems to be trying to have fun by himself when he ends up riding the Ferris wheel with Jean’s friend, a girl named Taryn. Oh, Scott, this is dangerous waters to tread. On the ride up, he sees Kurt and Tabitha and curse’s Kurt’s stupidity. Tabitha sees her dad, and sends Kurt off for a few minutes to meet with him.

Damn it, even knowing how the episode ends, I'm
still kinda rooting for these two.

 

Once they’re alone, she tries to talk him down from whatever he’s planning. She’ll blow video games or payphones to get the money. Smith isn’t having that chump change stuff and tells her they’re stealing the fundraiser money. Tabitha doesn’t look happy about it, but goes along. Blob and Lance overhear that plan, and Lance smiles saying that their money problems are over. Kurt spies Tabitha and her dad walking off and knows somethings up. He goes to tell Scott, who is initially very scolding of him for sneaking out with Tabitha, but instantly on board when he sees how scared Kurt is. Jean and Evan are the only other X-Men there, so they go to round up back up.

 

Tabitha and her dad sneak into the building, tripping a few alarms but Mr. Smith is confident they’ll be gone before the cops arrive. Tabitha blows the safe and her dad grabs the money. They run, but are cut off by Toad, who grabs the bag and leap frogs (teehee) away. The Smith’s follow, and Toad leads them to Blob and Avalanche waiting in the burnt-out gym. I guess Pietro had a date? Anyway, the Brotherhood boys try to scare the Smith’s off, but they’re interrupted by the X-Men busting in. A brawl ensues over the bag of money, with it ending in Smith’s hands as he runs off. Cyclops is going to go after him, but Tabitha says she’ll do it instead. They make it to the roof, where her dad partially falls through the ceiling. She tries to reach out to him, but he tells her to hold the other Mutants off while he reaches for the cash. The ceiling collapses, but Nightcrawler bamfs them to safety. Smith knocks Nightcrawler away and tries to run with Tabitha following, but the Cops pull up and arrest them both.

No one expects a sudden Toad!

 

Tabitha is bailed out by Xavier. He and Kurt meet her outside and he’s none to pleased. She asks about her dad. Apparently, Mr. Smith had a few outstanding warrants out for his arrest already, so compounded by forcing his underage daughter to help him steal, he’s going away for a bit. Tabitha says she’ll get her stuff and go. Kurt says she doesn’t have to go, but she says it’s not a good fit and that she does. Xavier says that the door is always open to her when she’s ready.

 

At the Brotherhood house, the city just cut off their water. It’s right about then that Tabitha stops by, taking Lance up on that offer for her to Fit in at their place. The others clearly don’t want her there, but no one is brave enough to say anything. Tabitha blows the lock on Mystique’s room and waltz in. The boys see their boss had rather… opulent tastes in bedroom furnishings. Tabitha tells them to stay out of her room.

 

Scott joins Kurt musing on the balcony. He asks about the damage. Kurt is going to have to wash uniforms, wax the Blackbird, and clean the danger room for a month and that’s after Wolverine is done training him. While that kind of sucks hard, Kurt seems more disappointed that Tabitha left. Scott says that maybe once she sees what life is like, she’ll be back, but Kurt isn’t certain.

 

Hm… I like this episode. It’s a lot smaller scale than the last half dozen or so. The fate of the world isn’t at stake, or Mutant-kind, it’s just the life of one Mutant girl with a rough past that’s on the line. Tabitha is an interesting character. She’s flirty, a bit scatterbrained, and a thrill and fun seeker. That’s a fun combo and I could see why Kurt gravitated to her. But then you can see a bit of her dad in her with some of her interactions with Kurt. All she has to do is be a little flirty and he’s more or less putty in her hands. Not a good look, even if I don’t think she was completely using Kurt. Sure, she had him teleport her to the carnival, but I got the sense that she genuinely had fun with him while they were together. Seemed like a two birds one stone situation than her just using him, ya know? We also saw just a bit of a subplot forming of Scott starting a somewhat flirtatious relationship with Jean’s friend Taryn. Spoiler, it really doesn’t go anywhere, but we’ll get to see a bit of how Jean reacts to seeing Scott with someone else in episodes to come. Uh-oh. Oh, and I should point out that while Tabitha is staying with the Brotherhood boys, she doesn’t ever officially join their team. She’s really just crashing at their place. It’s a bit weird, but kind of nice to see a Mutant that’s more neutral than on either the good or bad side. So yeah, it’s a smaller scale but fun episode. Next time, we’ll either do a few more episode of X-Men or I’ll get back on the My Hero Academia train. Still deciding. Have a good night. 

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Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 14

 The class gets a bit bigger, and things get more complicated. 

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, Magneto attempted to recruit the strongest Mutants to his cause. He revealed a machine that use the Gems of Cyttorak to enhance Mutant’s powers to their absolute limit. He tricked the brothers Summers into using the device, neglecting to mention the machine will affect their minds and make them side with Magneto. The “loser” X-Men, Toad and Mystique bust in and battle with Magneto and the majority of the Brotherhood. The X-Men escape, and Scott and his little brother Alex use up their enhanced powers to destroy the falling Asteroid M. Magneto and an enhanced Mystique escape in pods. The episode and season ends with Xavier promising that the X-Men will always be there to help Mutants and humans. Enough recap, let’s get to it.

 

He's a little late to the game, but we now have the
"human that makes you realize that Magneto has a point."
Cast complete!

The episode begins with a girls’ soccer game. Jean and her team win, with the rest of her team watching from the stands. Scott, Kurt, Kitty and Evan come down to congratulate her, but her asshole boyfriend Duncan cuts them off to heap on praise. Oy, this guy. Jean gets a ride home from Duncan much to Scott’s annoyance. Scott drives Kurt and Kitty home in his car… (I guess Evan skateboard home?) and is clearly fuming at Jean’s choice in guys. He’s so lost in thought that his car almost gets rear-ended by a car being chased by police. The police cut the reckless driver, but it causes him to slam into and through a guardrail and over a bus full of kids! Oh my! Scott hesitates for a moment about if they should get involved, but as the car falls, he makes the right call. Kurt bamf’s the driver out of the car, and Scott blasts the car away with an eyebeam. After that, Kitty grabs them both and they phase through a building to avoid the news.

Think insurance companies in Marvel and/or other
superhero universes cover damage by super powers?

 

We cut over to Institute and get visually introduced to some of the New Mutants. In between seasons I guess Xavier sent out a bunch of invites to new students. While they’re names aren’t dropped hear, I’ll give a quick rundown. We’ve got Rahne (pronounced Rain) Sinclair aka Wolfsbane, a canonically Scottish Mutant that can shapeshift into a wolf or wolf-human hybrid; Roberto de Costa aka Sunspot, a young Brazillian man that can absorb sunlight and turns it into his own power; James Madrox aka Multiple, creates clones via kinetic impacts, (an ongoing joke is seeming him pump into people and three-to-five clones bounce off); Bobby Drake aka Iceman, cold and ice manipulation and the ability to turn himself into an organic ice-form; Jubilation Lee aka Jubilee, creates energy blasts that resemble fireworks; Sam Guthrie aka Cannonball, flies at jet speed and creates an impenetrable forcefield around himself; Tabitha Smith aka Boom Boom, creates spheres of explosive energy; Amara Aquilla aka Magma, can transform into a fiery form akin to Iceman’s ice form, pyro and geothermal-kinesis (think if Human Torch and Avalanche had a baby); and Ray Crisp aka Berzerker (he goes by his nickname exclusively) who can manipulate and generate electricity. They’re all secondary characters to the original X-Men team, but we’ll get to know them over the rest of the series. Xavier and Logan watch over their new charges from the mansion. Xavier is worried that it’ll be significantly harder to keep things under-wraps now with so many new students, and Logan suggests they’ll probably need more instructors sooner rather than later. Before they can get too much more into the Institutes hiring policy, Ororo comes in and shows them the news report of the car chase.

 

Scott pulls into the mansion and the three discuss maybe just not telling their instructors what happened. The plan is almost immediately dashed when they see the three adult X-Men standing outside and glaring. Scott and Xavier have a private chat. Scott is frustrated with himself for hesitating almost too long before acting, and the fact the kids and the criminal were almost hurt because of it. Xavier preaches caution, to try to use their powers but be subtle about it, as humanity is definitely not ready for Mutants to be a thing. Scott isn’t sure if he can do that. Scott goes to video chat with Alex. The younger Summers is showing his bro some of his surfing skills and says that he might try going pro next year. Scott is clearly a little disappointed that his bro won’t join them at the institute anytime soon, but is proud of him for pursuing his interests and getting a hang on his powers.

 

The next day, there’s a school assembly. Jean unknowingly snubs Scott to sit with Duncan. The Brotherhood boys are annoyed at still trying to do the school thing now that Mystique thing is gone. Side note, how the hell does no one notice Toad shooting his 10-foot-long tongue at flies! Rogue also meets a punky new British exchange student named Risty. Lance, who has eyes for Kitty, goes over to try to get her attention. She isn’t interested, and the assembly starts. We’re introduced to the new principle, Mr. Edward Kelly… Oh no. I’ll get to that in the synopsis. Lance tries to get Kitty’s attention again by causing a tremor that makes Kelly stumble. Kitty, unfortunately, laughs, encouraging Lance. He causes a much bigger tremor and almost kills Kelly when the Basketball scoreboard nearly falls on him. Jean saves Kelly by shoving the board out of the way telekinetically. Kelly makes a joke about fault lines, and then starts his speech. Props for the professionalism, Kelly. He makes a speech about facing new challenges and showing off their personal talents. He also encourages the students to all come to Jean’s championship soccer game.

 

After the assembly, Scott looks for Jean, but can’t find her. He notices Lance trying to get Kitty to forgive him and confronts the Brotherhood boy for not accepting her rebuffing his advances. Lance tries to goad Scott into blasting him, but Kitty talks him down. Good pseudo-little sister, Kitty. As the X-Men walk off, Lance expresses a desire to embrace the principal’s advice and go public with their “unique talents.” Oh my. Blob implies that Mystique wanted them to keep things quite, but since she vanished Lance isn’t interested in following her standing orders anymore.

If being villain henchment doesn't work out for them
The Brotherhood boys could have a career as a Grunge Band.

 

That night, everyone goes to the girls’ champion soccer game. Lots of excitement from Bayville, Kelly unveiling a new statue of the school mascot, the Bayville Hawk. The game starts, but less than five minutes in Toad steals the mic. He hands it off to Lance. Mr. Alvers reveals that he and his crew, Scott, Jean and everyone else from the institute are Mutants. He shows off his powers by creating a giant chasm in the middle of the field. He also sends Blob to smash the Bayville Hawk, and Quicksilver races around Kelly, launching him into the air. The X-Men suit up and face off against the Brotherhood. Xavier calls out to Storm as his team go to battle. Cyclops brawls with Avalanche personally, while Shadowcat and Spyke smash up the camera equipment to try to do some damage control. Jean saves Kelly and disables Quicksilver, Nightcrawler nabs Toad, and Rogue once again has to drain Blob to knock him out. Cyclops eyebeams Avalanche and knocks him out. Storm flies in and puts the fires out with rain. She lands and the team laments that the secret is out. Xavier decides to risk his mind and try to alter the memories off everyone there. He’s able to reach out and alter the minds of everyone except Principal Kelly. He tries to blank Kelly’s mind, but the strain finally hits him and he passes out. The crew bring Xavier home. When he wakes up and asks about the damage, Logan reveals that a magnetic interference cut the broadcast off just before Lance started dropping truth bombs. So… things are fine? Yes and no, they’re secret is safe, but Xavier isn’t sure if he finished the wiped Kelly’s mind right as that’s when he passed out. Huh, that could be a problem.

Ororo Munroe knows how to make an entrance.

 

This episode is okay. It feels like a bit of a letdown compared to the Cauldron two-part season finale, but that was a season finale and possibly a series finale. It gave me the vibe that they were trying to wrap up the story as satisfactorily as possible just in case they didn’t get another season. We were introduced to some new characters, we see some of the relationship develop like Lance starting to try to pursuit Kitty romantically, and saw some subplots get set up. Principal Kelly is an interesting addition to the cast. He’s based on Senator Robert Edward Kelly from the X-Men comics. He’s an anti-mutant bigot that eventually grows into a Mutant ally after Mutants save his life several times. His addition feels like they’re going to start setting up the human side to the X-Men’s Us v Them narrative, which is always uncomfortable but fun to watch. And while it wasn’t mentioned specifically, I do enjoy the mental image of an irate Magneto calling up Pietro and making it clear that there will be consequences if the Brotherhood boys pull this kind of crap again. Dad’s got to put his foot down to make sure his boy doesn’t screw everything up. So yeah, it’s an okay start to a new season, and I look forward to talking about our next episode where we get to know some of the New Mutants. Anyone hear some booms? 

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Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 13

 Evolution is a messy process. 

I think that unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few days, you’ve heard about that absolutely tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman to Colon Cancer. Cancer is a terrible illness, and the fact that it claimed someone as young as Boseman is heartbreaking. I remember when it was first announced that he would be taking up the role of the Black Panther that I was cautiously optimistic for his performance. I’d only seen him in the Jackie Robinson Biopic 42 and he knocked that out of the park. After seeing him in Captain America: Civil War and later in his own Black Panther, I had fallen in love with his portrayal and had hoped to see him grow into and expand the role in the same way that Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans had for Iron Man and Cap. Sadly, that will not be the case. My heart goes out to his family and friends, and to the multitude of Black boys and girls that lost their Superman before he had much of a chance to spread his wings. Rest in Peace, Chadwick Boseman. You were a hero and a King, that just happened to get to play them on the big screen.

 

…

 

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that bit of depressing business out of the way, let’s move onto something happier. I hope this doesn’t come across as callous. As I said when the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests were going out of control here in Minnesota, this is how I process.

 

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, Magneto finally revealed himself and let slip the dogs of war. X-Men and Brotherhood were pitched against each other to prove if they were worthy to join Magneto’s ranks on Asteroid M aka Sanctuary. Xavier was given a free pass. After the fighting had mostly died down, Avalanche, Blob, Quicksilver, Rogue, Jean, and Storm were shown to be the victors while Logan and Sabertooth continued their battle. And in the closing moments, it’s revealed that Scott and his newly rediscovered brother Alex had both signed onto Magneto’s team. What a twist! Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

After a quick recap of the last episode’s events, we cut over to the beach where the X-Men and Brotherhood brawled. Toad is sitting by the water, eating flies, and lamenting the fact that he’s the only one from his team that didn’t get a ride to Sanctuary. A very angry Kurt grabs Toad and demands to know what happened. Toad, no longer feeling loyal due to snubbing, gives them the general info. Magneto, a super-duper Mutant pitted the two teams against each other and they were the losers so they were left behind. A still pissed Kurt demands to know where the winners were taken.

Fun fact, Alex is one of only a handful of people who
can do this without fear. The Summers brothers emit 
energies that the other absorbs.

 

We jump back to Asteroid M. Xavier asks Scott why he’s thrown in with Magneto, to which Scott seems confused. He says that the only came to talk. This sentiment seems to be proven when Xavier shows Scott his team in pods, which infuriates Scott. Magneto claims it’s a precaution, and that once they’ve had a bit of a dialogue, he’ll let the others out. Xavier tries to warn Scott telepathically that he knows Magneto and that he won’t just talk. Magneto, either somehow sensing or just saw Xavier put his hand to his head, magnetically pushes Xavier into a pod and knocks him out. With his last few seconds of consciousness, Xavier reaches out to Logan and tells him to throw the fight. Scott immediately demands Magneto release Xavier or risk blasting, but Alex talks him down so that they can hopefully have a peaceful discussion. Magneto, seeing that his biggest telepathic threat is taken care of, takes off his helmet tells the Summers’ he’s no ones enemy.

 

Wolverine and Sabretooth continue to brawl. Wolverine seems to be debating on whether to listen to Xavier or not, before sheathing his claws and letting Sabretooth throw him off a cliff. After the pod comes and collects Sabretooth, he gets back up and notices a chopper in the distance, presumably Victor’s ride to the island. And I guess he left the keys in the cockpit? That seems silly.

Just a reminder that canonically, Wolverine is quite
short and yet still intimidating as hell.

 

The other X-Men return to the mansion looking for Storm. Mystique reveals herself and lets them know that Storm is go. Toad finds it pretty funny that his boss lost, that is until Mystique grabs him by the scruff and lets him know in no uncertain terms to never call her a loser again. She tells the kids that she’s going to get payback, they can either come along or stay out of her way. Logan walks in and says they’re going. When Mystique tries to take command, Logan tells her she can find her own ride if she doesn’t want to work with him. So, Mystique relents, and the X-Men + Mystique and Toad strap into the X-Men’s new ride, the XM Velocity, a sort of Jet-Copter that takes off at high speed.

 

On Asteroid M, Scott is looking at the Arctic Landscape below and remembering his tragic backstory. Alex joins him partway through the remembrance. When he and Alex were young, their parents’ plane was damaged and was going to crash. Scott and Alex were given the two parachutes and jumped to safety. Scott helped Alex pull his shoot before the plane exploded, his chute catching on fire. Scott explains he hit the ground hard and was in a coma for a month, and when he awoke was told he was the only survivor. Alex lets him know that his foster parents took good care of him and what matters now is that they’re together. His only real problem now is the arthritis like pain his powers seem to be causing. Magneto joins the boys and lets them know that he has a way to fix both Alex’s hands and Scott’s eyes.

I love the face animation here. Magneto looks like
he's holding the holy grail or his newborn child,
and both Summers are like "Kay, it's a Rock."

 

He takes them and the Brotherhood to his Genetic Enhancer. The device he designed uses the Gems of Cyttorak, the same rocks Cain Marko used to trigger his powers, to develop a machine to push Mutation to it’s limit, perfecting it and making them more powerful. The process is supposedly voluntary, but Magneto won't release the others until the Summers’ go through it. To prove its’ not dangerous, Scott demands Magneto do it. He claims to have already done so, but has Sabretooth go through to show it’s safe.

 

A few miles out, the Velocity is rocking towards Asteroid M. Toad claims to hear the metal shrieking in protests, but Logan reveals the jet-chopper is entirely metal free, which only seems to scare Toad more.

1. Neither of them look good with white hair.
2. Why do I want to hear them both say "I'll be Back!"?

 

Sabretooth emerges, his powers enhanced… which in his case makes him look more like Bigfoot then ever before. Judging that to be an adequate demonstration, the Summers agree to try it. As they walk in, Magneto wakes the X-Men to watch. Xavier tries to warn Scott that the device will alter his mind as well as his body, but Magneto slams the heavy door on them, announcing to Xavier that “He’s mine, now.” The machine actives and clearly causes Alex and Scott immense pain as they’re altered. When they emerge, they’ve packed on a noticeable amount of muscle and their hair has turned white-grey like Magneto’s. And, Alex seems to be pain free, and Scott can take off his sunglasses and see. Magneto dubs Alex Havok… for some reason, and also explains his machine purged their minds of “weakness” like compassion for humans. Oh boy. Before he can pontificate more, Sabretooth warns a ship is incoming. Magneto tries to pull it from the sky, but has no effect. He throws Xavier a dirty look, whom just shrugs in reply. If I knew my magnetic best frenemy was involved in something you can bet your ass I’d get a metal free vehicle built. He orders Cyclops and Havok to shoot it down. The brother’s Summers comply. The combined optic and hand blasts cripple the Velocity, but it’s momentum carries it forward to crash into the Asteroid. Jean is able to pull the two out of the way of the Velocity before it can crush them. The combined X-Brotherhood team charge, with Mystique going to show her boss how displeased she is at being left behind.

 

Wolverine frees the captives and tells them to prep the Blackbird just before being tackled by Ultra Sabretooth. Xavier has Storm and Rogue go prep the jet while he and Jean go to save Scott and Alex. Some chaos ensues while the battle rages. During the scuffle, Magneto’s enhancer is opened up and powered up. Mystique and Magneto brawl, with Toad actually giving his blue boss a hand, but Mystique is ultimately thrown into the Enhancer, with Magneto following to pull her out of his precious machine. Rogue helps Evan take out Quicksilver, and Toad grabs Blob and Avalanche and everyone books it for the Jet. Except Storm, who dives back in and saves Logan from being killed by Sabretooth.

 

Scott and Alex are able to blast free after Jean moves some of the rubble. They’re furious with Xavier for ruining their chance at having Mutants unite. But Jean and Xavier won’t let them just rage at them, the two telepaths guilt Scott and Alex for crossing Magneto’s line in the sand and attacking their friends. The two leave, giving the brothers Summers a chance to choose who they’ll follow. The enhancer opens and an incredibly buff and more reptilian Mystique comes out with a roar.

 

Everyone sans Magneto, Mystique and the Summers’ are on the Blackbird. The two Summers boys run up to join them, but the landing pad breaks off and the Blackbird plummets to the ground before they can join. Wolverine is able to pull up, but Scott and Alex are kind of boned. Asteroid M tips to the side, knocking them off. They grab hands mid fall and use their powers together to slow their descent and land. The Blackbird circles around to get them, but debris from Asteroid M cause the jet to crash.

A very cool image to close out on. Just spectacular.
But... what are they staring at?

 

Two pods escape the Asteroid as it’s come down. Implying Magneto either willingly saved Mystique for some reason or that the pods are automated. Huh, not sure on that one. As the Asteroid falls Alex and Scott combine their powers and blow it out of the sky. Now, either over exerting them to that extent, or being hit with some sort of aftershock from the Asteroid’s destruction causes their enhancements to wear off, reverting their looks and flaws back to normal. Jean gives Scott his glasses back and helps him up. The Brotherhood notes that their bosses escaped, so there probably not done yet either. Xavier offers Alex a spot on the team if/when his powers fully manifest and we close out on the line “We are the X-Men.”

 

Overall, this was a solid season finale. There were a few twists, a fairly expansive brawl, the villain revealed himself in full and almost got away with his plan. All the boxes were checked. That said, I think this two-part finale really could have used a third part. Just to give us more time with Enhanced Scott and Alex, to see how Magneto’s machine altered them and to have them do something a little more terrible than blasting their friends out of the sky. That was pretty bad, but I could have used a little more of the evil Summers to drive the point home, just saying. I did like the callback to the Gems of Cyttorak. In the shows lore, and the comics, the Ruby of Cyttorak was what gave Cain Marko his powers. Obviously they tweaked it so that the one Ruby became many Gem's for Magneto's machine to work. Magneto explains that while thought to be mystic, the Gems in fact give off a kind of radiation that empowers Mutants. I like it when Science and magic and source material can mix like that. You think that bit about Mystique getting a boost before the Asteroid went down will come up again? Nah… The show tied off it’s plot fairly well, it’ll be interesting to see how things continue when we come back for the first couple episodes of season 2. See you then.

 

And, finally, Rest in Peace Chadwick Boseman. You were so good, you deserved another goodbye. Tell Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Kobe Bryant and all the rest that we say hey. 

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Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 12

Mutants are forced to battle for a seat in Sanctuary.

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, we learned a little about the dark and dreary past of Logan. The Wolverine started having fits after seeing a news report about a monster attack near Mt. McKenna in Canada. He goes to find out more, with Kitty and Kurt accidentally stowing away. Logan ends up being abducted by the Doctor, whom I dubbed Colcord after the Weapon X director in the comics, and had his programing reinstated. He and Sabretooth are sent to kill Kitty and Kurt, but the two X-Men were able to break through and restore Logan’s mind. The lab gets destroyed, Logan survives and is brought home where the chip causing him pain is removed. Well, that was pretty dark, I’m sure the next episode will be much happier. Can you sense my sarcasm? Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Well, this feels like the start of an alien abduction movie.
Way to set the tone, fellas.

We open on Scott and Jean arriving back at the mansion. Scott rushes into the mansion for… some reason, but Jean dawdles a bit and notes something watching her from the trees. She goes to investigate and finds Toad spying on her. The furious amphibian attacks her, claiming that he’s “getting a jump on the competition, yo.” Toad, you’re picking a fight with the most powerful X-Man. And you are Toad. This does not end well for you. Jean, not being evil, fights Toad off and throws him into a well to get rid of him. Moments later, a large metal sphere land before her. Several metal tentacles grab her and pulls her into the pod before it takes off. Well, that’s dark. Toad pulls himself out of the well and shouts that there was some sort of mistake and that “it should have been me!” Huh.

 

After the opening credits, we cut over to a blonde boy named Alex surfing in Hawaii. He relaxes on his surfboard for a few moments, just before a shark attacks him. Things look bad for Alex, until his Mutant powers manifest and he blasts the shark with plasma blasts from his hands. He surfaces, his hand still glowing red.

How much extra do you think guys like Xavier and
Wayne have to pay to keep the construction crews
quite on set ups like this. 100K? More?

 

Back at the X-Mansion, Logan joins Xavier in the new Cerebro. The wall computer that was smashed when his half-brother Cain came to visit has since been upgraded into the spherical room most folks would recognize from other media. Xavier reveals that Cerebro has detected a new Mutant, Alex Masters. While a new Mutant is exciting, this one is even more shocking as Alex Masters birth name was Alex Summers. Xavier tells Logan to prep the Blackbird and be prepared for trouble.

 

It’s only hinted at here, but, Scott and Alex were orphaned as young children when their parents plane crashed. The two were separated in the wreckage, both believing the other killed. In the comics, their separation was part of a plan to isolate Scott by the villainous Mr. Sinister in a bid to use Scott as part of gene experiment to make a perfect Mutant. In the show, it seems to be just due to bad luck.

 

Alex, meanwhile, has gotten back to the beach and seems to be still freaked out by his powers. Magneto arrives, introducing himself and offering to help Alex. The young Summers tries to blow him off, but is drawn back when the master of magnetism promises to take the pain of his ability away and offer him sanctuary.

 

Back at the mansion, Logan has the jet prepped while Xavier tells Scott about his little brother. Scott is incredibly distraught at learning that his little brother was alive and disgusted with himself for not looking for Alex over these years. Xavier tells Scott that Alex had been living with foster parents in Hawaii. After ten years apart, Scott is hellbent on getting to his brother, and insists they take off the moment Xavier is loaded into the jet. Unfortunately for the other X-Men, they take off seconds before the other young heroes arrive. Kurt, still wanting a beach trip, suggest that they take the X-Van out of town for their own beach day. I don’t see how this could backfire. As they drive off, we see a cat slink around. It turns into Mystique, whom radios her team and tells them that the other X-Men are on the move. There it is.

Reunited and it feels so good. 

 

The team lands on the Beach in Hawaii. Not sure which Island, though. Logan and Scott go out to search while the wheelchair bound Xavier searches the area telepathically. They find tracks which abruptly stop, which leads Logan to believe Magneto is involved. He’s able to tell Scott a little bit about Xavier’s old friend and rival before being cut off. At the same time, the Blackbird is stolen by Magneto, who uses his power over metal to draw it to him. Logan rushes over and gets on the landing gear before the Jet goes too far off the ground. Moments later, Alex and Scott reunite. The two brothers hug it out, the joy of seeing Alex briefly making Scott forget about the kidnapping of his mentors. Alex tells him Scott that he’d met Magneto and that he’d told the younger Summers that the older would be arriving. He reveals that Magneto claims that he just wants to show Xavier something, and that the master of magnatism left a sphere for them to follow along with. Scott is skeptical but goes along to protect his little brother and find his friends.

 

Logan meanwhile is clinging to the Blackbird for dear life as Xavier has a reasonably calm chat with Magneto. He’s not there, just somehow projecting his voice and image to Xavier. No idea if this is tech or some other Mutant’s power. He tells Xavier that he’s taking him to Sanctuary for free, but that all other Mutants must fight and battle for salvation. “We are the Future.” To prove this point, he uses Magnetism to throw Logan about before dropping the old Canadian into the Atlantic. Logan spots an island nearby and swims to it.

 

Ororo makes it back to the mansion and is clearly shocked to find no one around. Did no one even leave her a sticky note as to what was happening today? Or called her? Some people. She bets a cat as she walks in, only to discover that cat is none other than Mystique. The weather witch asks where everyone is, to which Mystique complains that Xavier got a free pass while they’re forced to fight it out, a fact she’s clearly furious about.

 

With the other four X-Men, the team is almost at the beach when the road starts getting churned up by Avalanche whom then rams into them with his jeep. He, Quicksilver and Toad are able to run the X-Men off the road and into Blob, who announces that it’s time to party. At the same time, Logan washes up on the island. He smells Sabretooth, whom reveals himself and the two begin brawling.

 

And in our final act, our villain appears!

Xavier finally lands on Asteroid M, aka Sanctuary, Magneto’s floating metallic fortress. It’s floating in the upper atmosphere above the North Pole. The master of Magnetism is shown in the light fully for the first time as he shows, and by that, I mean drags, Xavier in. Magneto explains that he’s pitting their two teams against each other to prove who is the strongest. Only the fittest will join them on Asteroid M. Xavier tries to convince his friend to go down another path, but Magneto isn’t listening. He claims a Dark future is rushing towards them and they need to be prepared.

 

The X-Men battle the Brotherhood at the beach. Kitty gets nearly crushed by Blob, but is able to phase through the ton of blubber. Unfortunately, the ride was so disgusting it causes her to pass out. Kurt gets knocked out by rubble Avalanche throws at him mid-teleport. Quicksilver buries Evan in sand up to his neck. The only X-Man to come out ahead is Rogue, who knocked Toad out with a door but was thankfully stopped by Avalanche before she drained his powers to keep him out. Four pods descend for the victors.

 

Meanwhile, Storm and a clearly pissed off Mystique are still brawling. Having grown tired of Mystique’s cryptic comments and decided to take her out now, Storm calls up mist to hide herself and then delivers a powerful punch to the shapeshifter’s face, knocking her out cold. A pod bursts in and grabs her. At the same time, Logan wrestles with Sabretooth. Logan gets the burly beast to spill a little more about Sanctuary before the two charge each other one last time.

 

At Asteroid M, Magneto reveals that Logan and Sabretooth’s fight is the only outstanding battle left. When Xavier asks what Magento does with the victors that don’t want to go, Magneto reveals his solution. Jean, Storm, and Rogue are all being kept in some kind of stasis pods. Xavier tells Magneto he’s not saving anyone, just kidnapping people. To which Magneto reveals that for every forceful extraction there is a new convert, revealing Scott and Alex in matching uniforms, implying the Summers brothers are working for him now. Dun Dun, dahhhh. Hell of a cliffhanger to end on.

 

Overall, I like this episode. This was an excellent full introduction to Magneto and gives us a hint at his survival of the fittest, meaning Mutants, mentality. I will say sending your own goons to battle another force to prove who’s strongest WITHOUT telling the other side really slants the victories in your own favor, but otherwise this sort of battle strategy does jive with Magneto’s usual giving every Mutant a chance mentality. Side note, I kind of wish that they’d kept Magneto’s face shrouded while wearing his helmet. It’s just… odd to see his face and eyebrows after nearly a dozen episodes of just seeing his eyes. Just saying. I will say making both of your top two lieutenants fight feels like a receipt for disaster, especially when one is fighting such a lopsided battle as the one between the shapeshifter and the weather manipulator. Experiment on her son, keep her from reuniting with him, and now putting her in an impossible battle to prove herself? Seriously, Magnus, do you want to be betrayed at a critical moment? Because that’s how you get betrayed at a critical moment. I did like the reunion between Alex and Scott, as brother coming together for the first time in a decade really should make you so happy you forget about the little things… like kidnapping. The only part I wasn’t so jazzed about was how the X-Men kids matches shook out. Really? After ten episodes of beating the Brotherhood solo or as a group, this is the one time the baddies come out on top? I suppose that this highlights how important Scott and Jean are to team unity or something, but still, feels odd. Also… why did Toad get two chances? Did Magneto really believe he could win against someone, or was this just a lopsided bracket so he decided to guarantee two X-Men? No idea. So yeah, an enjoyable start up to a thrilling conclusion, with a nitpick or two sprinkled in. Fun times! I’ll see you all tomorrow for the season finale. 

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Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 11

Weapon X is being called home. 

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, we were given a glimpse into the… complex relationship between Mystique, Magneto and Kurt Wagner. Rogue has a nightmare based on memories she took from Mystique when she took the shapeshifters powers a few episodes ago. It’s revealed the Kurt is the son of Raven Darkholme, aka Mystique, and that he underwent some kind of experiment performed by Magneto that caused his more demonic appearance. Mystique attempted to reach out to her son, but Magneto was tipped off by his own progeny, Quicksilver, and the Brotherhood boys were sent to intercept. The X-Men arrived and drove them back, but Mystique also rabbited, so Kurt wasn’t able to learn more about what had happened to him. Well, that was a depressing episode. Let’s focus on something more fun… what, this episode is about Logan’s past? Well, crap. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

We open on Logan having a nightmare. He’s in some sort of holding tank filled with a greenish liquid. Or maybe it’s clear and the light is green, I don’t really know. Logan wakes up, unsheathes his claws and escapes his tank. He remembers running through the woods before being charged by Sabretooth, and a scientist in goggles. Logan wakes up on the floor of his room, clearly distressed and disturbed.

How you force a man to become an animal.

 

After the opening credits roll, we switch perspectives to Kitty. Ms. Pryde is composing an email to her parents which also serves as the narration for the episode. She’s lamenting a lack of privacy in the MANSION that she lives in. Sorry, didn’t mean to shout that. But yeah, Kitty’s having personal space issues this episode. She remarks that she can occasionally find total privacy or at least the next best thing to it if the only other person in the room is Logan. The combat instructor at the institute is one of those guys who likes to sit in the background if he’s not actively teaching. Go figure. The quite is interrupted when the other X-Men arrive for breakfast, but that bit of noise is cut off by a news report about a “Bigfoot” sighting and a wrecked car at Mt. McKenna in Canada. Logan turns up the volume and seems transfixed by the report before storming off. Kitty continues her narration about how if the X-Men are a family, then Logan is probably the black sheep. She muses that he can be rude and often isolates himself which she finds odd, how could he be dealing with problems worse than the rest of theirs? This soundbite is played over Logan having some kind of fit and smashing up most of his furniture in a blind rage. Kitty walks by as he slices through his door, which seems to pull Logan out of it for a minute. He tells her he was just redecorating and storms off.

Oh hi, Doc. You can kiss your ass goodbye.
He remembers you now...

 

Kitty tries a few more locals to do some writing but is constantly being interrupted by her fellow students. I just can’t imagine that a Mansion is this small, ya know? While she’s typing in a tree, she spies on Logan and Charles having a convo in Charles’ garden. Logan feels like something is lodged in his head and asks the prof to try and pull it free. Charles agrees and goes memory-dumpster-diving. He dredges up more images of the lab, the doctor, and Sabretooth before they break the connection. Charles’ confirms that this is a memory, not a nightmare, that he either forgot or was purposefully hidden. He goes in for another look. They see another shot of Logan battling Sabretooth and the Doctor overseeing Logan’s as he’s floating in the tank. Logan is furious and says he’s going to McKenna for answers. When Charles asks if he want’s back up, he replies with “Do I ever?” and storms off again.

 

In her latest attempt to find privacy, Kitty snuck into the Blackbird to finish her email. There’s a fairly good joke about her needing to wrap up before Kurt Bamf’s in and surprises her about two seconds before he does just that. He’s collecting her so they can get a ride from Scott to school, but that plan is dashed when the Blackbird takes off. Whoops. Kurt and Kitty go to the cockpit and see Logan at the controls. Kurt goes to speak to him, despite Kitty’s objections. Logan reflexively tries to skewer Kurt, who dodges and bamfs back to Kitty. Logan engages the auto pilot and gets up to confront his stowaways. He’s clearly not well, clutching his head and groaning in pain. He shuts the door and slashes the controls. Kitty assumes he was effectively locking himself in the cockpit. Obviously, with his claws this is a minor obstacle, but it seemed to be enough of one to keep him from continuing the pursuit. Kitty asks Kurt to bamf them away, but apparently the speed and height of the jet’s flight makes that a less than ideal plan. They’re in for a long flight.

 

Combat’s approaching, so we’re switching to codenames.

 

Sometime later, the Blackbird lands and Wolverine departs. And a few seconds after that Shadowcat and Nightcrawler follow. Nightcrawler mentions that something out here is jamming the jet’s transponder and radio, preventing them from getting backup.

 

In his secret lab, the Doctor is watching Wolverine’s progress. The character goes unnamed through the episode, but I’ll be referring to him as Malcolm Colcord. He was the director of the Weapon X project in the comics and thus someone that would be very interested in retrieving their precious prototype. Why? Because typing the Doctor over and over again is boring. Colcord reveals that there is an implant in Wolverine’s brain that’s causing him the pain he’s suffering, and that that plus the news story he and Sabretooth formulated drew Wolverine to this spot. Colcord sends his “Big Foot” as he calls Sabretooth to capture his rival and turns up the dial on Wolverine’s implant.

 

Out in the woods, Sabretooth and Wolverine face off. While Sabretooth puts in a good fight, Wolverine is able to pin him to the ground. He demands answers. Colcord arrives and announces “You’ll get your answers, Wolverine. But you’ll wish you hadn’t.” He turns up the dial on the implant even more, and Sabretooth is able to knock him out. They take Wolverine back to the lab and I guess get his implant working fully? It’s kind of vague as if anything happened. Wolverine does have enough presence of mind to ask who ordered his full skeletal overhaul, but Colcord is vague to that as well. Just responds that he’s surprised Wolverine never figured it out. It doesn’t matter to him though, as he’s going to use Weapon X as it was meant to be used. The ultimate Mutant Slayer. He’s going to test out his Big Foot and Weapon X on Wolverine’s stowaways.

Hm... maybe I should have called him Dr. Creepygoggles.

 

Wolverine and Sabretooth track down Shadowcat and Nightcrawler. Now, obviously these two are outclassed pretty heavily in the physicality department. Sabretooth alone could pretty easily rip most non-physically enhanced Mutant’s to shreds with minimal effort. Thankfully, our two stowaways represent the two most evasive members of the X-Men. While it’s close, Nightcrawler is able to stay just out of Sabretooth’s reach with teleportation and his impressive parkour skills. Shadowcat is stalked by Wolverine, her phasing power making her untouchable, but Wolverine won’t stop slashing. She keeps trying to talk the surly X-Man down. Wolverine has enough control to slow down his movements, but he won’t stop. Colcord turns up the wattage on the implant to keep him moving. Shadowcat is forced to phase through a cliffside to escape him. She almost runs straight over the edge into a river, but she got away from him.

 

Wolverine climbs the cliff and sees a river cutting across the landscape. He remembers Kitty and is clearly distraught when he thinks he killed the half-pint. Shadowcat circles behind him and Nightcrawler joins her. She tries to talk him down again, pulling his mask back to reveal his face. He struggles a bit but is seemingly able to break free after Shadowcat asks the very simple question “Do you really want to hurt me, Mr. Logan?” Sabretooth leaps at Logan, tackling him. Wolverine is able to throw him off and the group retreats to go for the lab. Colcord keeps turning up the wattage but Wolverine is able to fight through the pain this time. Sabretooth follows, but Nightcrawler elects to distract him. Wolverine runs on ahead to confront the not-so-good doctor. Colcord turns up the volume to dangerous levels and activates several drones to contain him. Shadowcat runs in and phases through the computer system, overloading it. It causes an explosive chain reaction. Nightcrawler runs in and bamfs him and Shadowcat away. The lab explodes with Wolverine, Sabretooth and Colcord inside.

 

Kitty is a real wiz with electronics.

Outside, the kids wait for a while and are clearly distraught, but they are rewarded with Wolverine stumbling toward them. His costume is shredded, and he’s clearly exhausted but alive. He passes out as Nightcrawler and Shadowcat grab him.

 

Logan wakes up sometime later, his head bandaged. Xavier rolls in and lets Logan know that he’s okay and that the other two are fine. He reveals that they somehow got the chip out of his head that Colcord was using to control him. What? Logan has an adamantium skull, how could they get in there to remove something from his brain? Whatever. He’s fine. We close out on Kurt keeping the rest of the X-Men out of the dinning room. He’s playing defense so that Kitty can finish her email to her parents. Ain’t that sweet?

 

I liked this episode. In my opinion, one of the hardest things to get right in X-Men is Wolverine’s background. You need to find the sweet spot of keeping enough things back that he remains a mysterious loner, but not so much that he’s a complete enigma. And this episode seems to hit that point nicely. We know that Logan was experimented on, that he was redesigned to be a Mutant hunter, and who personally did the deed. But we still have no idea who ordered it, or any details about the Doctor that performed the procedure. Again, his name isn’t Colcord, that was the name of the director of Weapon X program in the comics. I just used it to not have to repeat the Doctor ad nauseam. The unfortunate part, I have to say, is that we never really get more details on the Weapon X program. Colcord’s comments made me think that this was a plot point that they might have returned to in later seasons, but that never happened. Instead, they focused on Logan’s time fighting alongside a certain star-spangled hero in world war 2, and a project HYDRA created from the original Weapon X project, one that required 23 attempts. Certainly, they are interesting stories, but I would have liked to know who ordered a Mutant Slayer. Side note, I don’t know why X-Men: Evolution and X-Men: TAS insist that Weapon X project gave Logan his claws. Those were natural, just coated in metal. I really can’t imagine how or why someone would implant blades into his forearms. Just odd. Oh, and the framing device of Kitty looking for space was kind of weak. Again, she lives in a MANSION. I just don’t see how you could ever be so crowded that you couldn’t find a personal area. Just saying. So, yeah, this was a solid episode on Logan. Next time, Magneto reveals himself. 

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