Viewer Log: X-Men: Evolution ep 32

X-Men are on the run, while Juggernaut rides the rails.

I’ll be doing a few episodes of X-Men: Evolution while we wait for a few episodes of She-Hulk to drop. We’re so close to the X-23 episode that I can almost taste it, and I can’t wait much longer.

 

Last time on X-Men: Evolution, it was revealed that Mystique had replaced Charles Xavier and had manipulated the X-Men and Brotherhood to kill Magneto. She blew up the X-Mansion as part of this plot. The X-Men are forced to scatter as the US Military is investigating the exploded mansion and the gathered Mutants. The New Mutants spent the excitement hiding out with Berserker’s friends the Morlocks. Scott, Mystique, Storm, Kitty, Jean, Bobby, Kurt, Mystique, Wanda, Lance, and Toad form a strike team using info gleamed from Nick Fury to storm Area 51 and free their respective teammates. Things go surprisingly well, with all the Mutants escaping except Mystique. Scott blocked the exit to try to force her to reveal where Xavier is. Mystique tries to call the bluff, but Scott 100% leaves her, risking never finding Xavier to keep the ball of chaos that is Raven “Mystique” Darkholme in check. Let’s get to it, shall we?

 

Worst. Shopping. Trip. Ever.

We open on Military and police forces investigating the X-Mansion. I have to say, without context, things like the Danger Room and the various hidden turrets around the place do paint an unflattering picture of what the Xavier School is up to. They’re also searching the Brotherhood house, though that place is more, well, gross than threatening. We cut to a news anchor who explains that examination of the Mutant locations and search for said Mutants are ongoing, but the search is more difficult due to the whole “most Mutants look like normal people” thing. They show headshots of the X-Men which then pulls into a scene of Rogue and Logan buying supplies in a market somewhere. Rogue feels that they used an unflattering picture of her. Logan reminds her they’re laying low, and they try to go about their shopping. That is until some soldiers come in, spot Rogue and pull taser guns on them. Boys, you’re picking a fight with two of the most dangerous Mutants out there, this is not going to end well for you. Wolverine helps Rogue dodge a shot and draws his claws.

 

Logan overpowers the two soldiers, throwing one outside and unfortunately drawing more attention for their buddies outside. They’re able to use obfuscation tactics to stop the soldiers without hurting them too badly before escaping on Logan’s motorcycle.

 

Cain just living his boxcar hopping fantasy, I guess.

We cut to a congressional meeting where they’re discussing the Mutant Threat. The obvious fear mongering is cut short by the arrival of Ororo Monroe and Dr. Hank McCoy, who want to set the record straight.  

 

Meanwhile, we jump to Juggernaut chilling in the back of a train car. A local cop tries to get him to surrender peacefully, but he bursts out, saying he’s the Juggernaut and walking off.

 

Party crashers. In helicopters.

The rest of the team are hold up in a cavern outside of Bayville. Jean is trying to put the best foot forward, but Scott is feeling extremely pessimistic about their situation, snapping at Jean that everyone sees them as a menace. He apologizes immediately, though, and Jean tells him it’ll be okay and that she’s sure that Xavier is alive wherever Mystique stashed him. Kurt teleports in trying to get a portal TV working. He finds an awkward spot, hanging from a stalactite, that has okay reception. Kitty then grabs the TV, has Bobby freeze her solid, and then phase out of it to from a statue holding the TV at the right spot, and then Bobby adds an ice magnifying glass to make the shot bigger. They watch the hearing. Ororo points out that they’ve lived in peace for years, so why are they being persecuted now? And the chairman pulls out the photos of the Danger Room. While that is going on, Rogue and Logan dodge the helicopter following them. They arrive at the cave just as the chairman suggests that the X-Men built the robot and lost control of it when Hank says they were just defending themselves from it. Logan is thrown off the motorcycle as they slide in, crushing the screen. The choppers find and corner them.

 

Logan wants to go on the offensive, but Scott preaches defense. He reasons with his instructor that obviously they could take out the choppers but the soldiers on them have no idea what they’re dealing with. He has Bobby make an ice wall to protect them from missiles and starts eyebeaming the ones that are launched at them. Logan is frustrated by this line of thought, telling Scott that if he wants to be in charge, they’re on their own. They group scatter, Logan riding off while the others disable the choppers, Kitty and Kurt teleporting to both choppers and using her phasing powers to short out their weapons systems. They get on the Velocity, the X-Chopper, and take off. Jean uses her telekinesis to force the choppers to the ground and the bending their rotor blades so they can’t pursuit.

 

We jump back to Juggernaut, who is just walking through police forces to reach a large dam. The cops think they need to call in the army and go from there. At the hearing, they get news of the Juggernaut attack and show it just as Hank says that Mutants are people and peaceful. The team realizes that with Juggernaut out and no professor, there is no way to stop him. Way to have no confidence in Jean, guys.

 

Juggernaut trashes the area around the damn, breaking a small hole in it and starting a flood. He easily dispatches military choppers that attack him, jumping on one and forcing it to crash. Scott is hesitant at first with getting involved, but Jean asks WWXD, “what would Xavier do” and they head towards the damn. Kurt saves a couple of pilots before their chopper crashes and the team faces off against Cain Marko.

 

And with that, Rogue gets a big power boost.

They do their best to use hit and run tactics to distract Juggernaut, staying out of his reach with Spyke spikes, and then using an Ice slide from Booby and Kitty’s phasing to stick him in a bit of concrete. While he’s trapped, Jean holds the water from the dam back as Bobby freezes the water, blocking the crack Juggernaut made. Kurt then teleports around Juggernaut, getting his helmet clasps open. He throws Kurt at Jean when he gets a hand on him. Juggernaut charges the team, Scott hitting him with an optic blast.  Juggernaut claims he raw power and that Scott can’t stop him, so Scott takes off his visor to let Juggernaut take his raw power. He holds Juggernaut off for a solid minute, but Scott’s endurance drops long before Juggernaut’s does. He grabs Scott’s head, intending to crush it, but the others rush him. They distract Juggernaut long enough for Kitty to sneak Rogue behind him so she can drain him. She takes a big hit of his strength, and uses it to lob him into the air, Bobby freezing him into a block of ice.

 

At the hearing, Ororo uses the fight against Juggernaut as proof that their team did exactly what they were trained to do, help people. We’re shown more choppers looking for Juggernaut, but it looks like he broke free and escaped. The team is about to bail when Rogue gets woozy and falls to her knees. She says she got a big chunk of Juggernaut’s mind and then, clearly shocked, that she knows where the professor is.

 

This is going to be a disorientating wake up,
me thinks.

I mean, it’s not a huge logical leap. Juggernaut is out, has been out for a while it seems, but the prison wasn’t alerted his cell was empty? The cell that’s kept locked down at all times? Yeah, I’d stash Xavier in there too. The Warden apologizes for this, as the staff had no idea that a switch had happened and wonders who could have pulled one off. The team agrees that they can’t underestimate Mystique. As they decant Xavier, Logan comes in, sporting a new black costume. It’s essentially his orange costume but black for the orange and gold stripes for the black, and no mask. A non-verbal sign that he’s a team player. He tells Scott he did a good job.

 

We’re shown an address from the President Gene Erik. Tee hee. The President gives the X-Men a full pardon, reveals that Trask is in custody, and claims that the people of the US need to learn more before judging Mutants. They need to be open minded. We’re shown the X-Men standing in the ruins of their mansion, and then Magneto, Pietro and the Acolytes watching the address. Xavier seems hopeful, and Magneto is… uncertain.

 

It's been a while since I watched X-Men: Evolution, and this episode reminds me why I like this show. It was interesting to see Scott, despite his own doubts, step up and take leadership from Logan when his instructor’s plan that he disagreed with. One of the ideas that I really enjoyed in this series that I really enjoyed was reframing Logan and Scott’s relationship from combative but begrudgingly respectful colleagues to student and teacher. There’s less overt aggression between them, but I think it was clear before this point that they’ve butted heads on offense and defense before this point. Scott basically telling Logan he’s in charge now is a big moment for Scott’s growth as a leader, I think, as is Logan eventually coming back in a now matching team suit. The implication being that he’s saying he’s sorry for doubting him without him saying it because Logan. The fight with Juggernaut was well done, showing off the student’s different skills and how they’ve improved as a team since the last time they fought Juggernaut. Rather than just dodge around and wait for Charles to microwave his brother’s brain with telepathic blasts, they can outthink Cain and trap him before their big strike to finally stop him. Scott unleashing his full optic power to try to stop Juggernaut was epic. It not only shows how much Scott must tend to hold back in fights, but also highlights how powerful Juggernaut is when that just slows him down a little. Neat stuff. My only real complaint of the episode is Juggernaut just getting away, which, like, I feel they should be more concerned about, and that Rogue getting the mental tip to Charles’ location was unneeded. Again, it seems obvious that if Juggy is out and no one alerted him that someone else is in his tank. All I’m saying. It’s a fun episode, and I’m looking forward to talking to more X-Men this week. Have a good night!

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