Last time on X-Men: Evolution,
Wanda is out for blood. She is hunting her father, but runs into a roadblock
when her best lead, the Mutant tracker Caliban is unable to find Magneto due to
Magneto’s enhanced powers. She then shifts her hunt to Pietro. She finds her
twin brother and traps him and almost literally giftwraps him for the police.
The hope being that Pietro is either loved or useful enough to Magneto that he’d
free him personally. Unfortunately, no, Magneto delegates rescuing his
extremely loyal son to the Brotherhood boys via his minion Gambit. The boys are
willing to save Pietro on the hope that they’ll get to join Magneto’s Acolytes.
They’re followed by Rogue and Kitty, who saw Gambit, and new tomfoolery was
afoot. They stepped in and saved the soldiers that the Brotherhood would have
killed in their effort to free Pietro. Kitty is the one to get him out of a
truck before it fell from a cliff, and Quicksilver peace’s out after. Wanda,
who was watching from a distance, vows this isn’t the end. The Brotherhood boys
are told they failed their mission, as it was an utter disaster but are told
they’ll get additional chances if they impress their new boss, Pietro. Oh, and
Rogue and Kitty are scolded for skipping school to follow the Brotherhood.
Enough recap. Let’s get to it.
I just... can't believe this is holding her.
We open the episode at Area 51, where
Mystique is being held for study. For some reason, she’s being held in place by
straps to a table, even though we know she can turn into a bird. Weird. She
flashes back to her capture, clearly still harboring a grudge against Cyclops
for leaving her. One of the scientists examining her wants to do some test that
involves her right arm. Her colleague tells her to wait so he can grab an added
restraint to hold her, she decides to not wait for plot reasons, Mystique gets
free and assumes her form to sneak out. She only gets a little away before they
realize what happened and sound the alarm. She swaps forms a few times to get outside,
before escaping as one in a Murder of crows. Yes, that is the official term for
a group of crows.
We jump to the X-Mansion where they’re
just putting the finishing touches on the reconstruction. Some of the kids are
helping to put the finishing touches on the outside, Rogue and Evan are putting
up art (which is forgotten when Evan almost spikes Rogue on accident and she
chases him down for revenge) and Bobby is helping Hank set up the computer system.
Meanwhile, Scott and Logan are setting up a satellite dish, shirtless for some
reason. Scott asks Logan for some advice, as he’s thinking about telling Jean
how he feels about her. Logan gives the advice in the form of a motorcycle
metaphor, i.e., say something before someone else does, Scott doesn’t get it,
and Logan, frustrated, tells him that either he can tell Jean, or Logan will. Scott
is then attacked by Crow Mystique as she flies by. On the ground, Jean almost
hits Storm with a statue she’s moving because, shocking no one, she’s
distracted by Scott shirtless. Ororo, being a good mentor, also tells Jean to
go for it.
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Ohhhhh no.
Later, Jean and Scott cross paths
and are super awkward for a second before Kurt interrupts, telling Scott that
his brother Alex is calling. Alex explains that he’s stranded in Mexico after a
surfing competition and ask if his big bro can get him. Scott agrees and tells
Jean that they can talk when he gets back. Scott flies charter… for some
reasons, despite having access to the damn X-Jet, and meets Alex at the airport.
He leads Scott to a side alley, reveals he’s Mystique in disguise, who gases Scott
and tells him it’s payback time. Sometime later Scott wakes up in the middle of
the desert without his shades or vison. Oh no.
Scott begins trekking through the
wilderness, a task obviously made more difficult because he must do it with his
eyes shut. He’ll occasionally risk opening them to see a little way ahead of
him, blasting whatever is in his line of sight when he does. He wanders until
nightfall when he hears some coyotes following him. He holds them off with an eye
blast and runs.
Meanwhile, Jean wakes up, having
seen this in a nightmare. Xavier joins her and she tells him about the dream.
He asks if maybe she had a nightmare, but she claims to know. Xavier is skeptical
though, as Scott is too far even for him. Wow, it is so weird to have Xavier be
wrong about something involved with telepathy.
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Well, this sucks.
Scott at that moment fights off several
coyotes, even blasting one right out of the air based on what he hears. Some
workers at an oil rig see the lightshow he’s firing and go to investigate. They
grab him and drive off before the coyotes can kill Scott after he fell from a
cliff trying to get away from them. Mystique, watching from above calls them ‘meddling
fools’ and follows in owl form.
Back at the mansion, Jean calls Alex
and is horrified to hear a perplexed Alex admit he hasn’t called Scott and has
no idea what Jean is talking about.
Scott wakes up in a hospital. The
workers took him to one in Mexico city after finding him. The doctor, trying to
be helpful, wants to check for a concussion. Which involves checking his
pupils. Damn. He gets restrained, eyes forced open, and he blows out the roof. He
wanders off in the confusion.
Xavier has found Scott in Mexico
city using Cerebro but can’t find his exact spot. Jean swears she will find
him.
Scott wanders blind through Mexico
city, finding a pay phone, but it’s not working. The X-Men land and Jean,
Wolverine and Storm split up to search. Scott is found by some locals that want
to kick his ass for blowing the roof off their hospital. Scott grabs one and proves
his power by blowing a hole in the wall at point blank range and asking if they
really want a piece of him. The guy’s two buddies leave, but the one Scott captured
is revealed to be Mystique. She taunts his blindness and swears that her fun
has just begun. She tries to gas him again, saying they’ll try the North Pole
next, but Scott knocks the gas thing from her hands They start fighting, Scott risking
eyebeams to try to stop her. Thankfully, his strong connection with Jean lets
her see though his eyes for a second, and she informs Xavier what she saw. He
tells her to go to the Plaza of the three cultures and she sprints to it.
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Finally!
Mystique obviously has a huge advantage
over Scott in terms of her physical strength and the ability to see their
surroundings. She knocks him into an old warehouse. This proves to be a poor decision
on her part, as the creaky boards make it much easier for Scott to track her.
He ends up collapsing the floor and they’re dropped into an old underground area.
Scott blasts the few electric lights evening out their vision a little. He
throws her into some crates. Jean comes down and tries to get him to relax,
while hefting a spear and trying to skewer him. She makes the mistake of saying
that Cerebro lead her right to him, tipping Scott off she’s Mystique and he blasts
her again. She tries to tackle him again, but the real Jean arrives, and she
telekinetically grabs Mystique. Jean flings her around and when Mystique taunts
her with “How sweet. Girlfriend to the rescue,” Jean replies, “you go that right,
lady,” and smacks her hard into a wall. Jean comforts Scott and tells him it’ll
be alright. On the X-Jet, Jean gives him a spare set of glasses and then kisses
him on the cheek and holds his arm affectionately. Logan says, “It’s about time,”
and Storm and Xavier agree.
I really liked this episode. Mystique
is a damn sadist, so anyone who knows her character knew she’d be back, and she’d
get her vengeance on Scott. Taking his visor and throwing him into the desert to
die from either dehydration, hunger, heat, or via wildlife is textbook Mystique.
She wanted Scott to not only die but die terrified. This plus using her shapeshifting
to further confuse Scott once he’s into a more populated area. It’s all very
Mystique. I also liked that while Scott was hampered by his lack of vision, he
was still resourceful and able to make progress in returning home. Using his blasts
as a signal flare after the sun went down was a brilliant use of his powers. I’m
glad that Jean and Scott finally decided to move forward with their
relationship, as I’m an old school Scott/Jean supporter and that Duncan guy was
a butt. It was a bit odd for Logan to be the one to give Scott the advice to
move forward, given his… complicated part in Scott and Jean’s romance, but it
fits with him being a mentor for Scott and not being remotely interested in
teenage Jean because he’s not scummy. The bit about Jean and Scott having an
intense psychic link is a bit cheesy, but Jean is the most powerful
psychic ever, and if she was going to telepathically link to anyone, it’d be her
oldest friend that she now has a strong desire to make out with. Really, my
only complaint is that opening scene when a doctor for no reason freed Mystique…
because. Like, you couldn’t wait the 2 minutes it’d take for her coworker to
get another restrain and hold her in place. Like, come on, be patient, damn it.
Next time, Evan’s life gets… complicated. See you then.
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