Omega Red's headed to Hawaii, be terrified.
Last time on X-Men: The Animated
Series, Juggernaut stopped by for a visit. He attacked the X-Mansion and
very nearly killed Charles but then an archeologist named Eugene found the
incantation and Ruby of Cyttorak and stole Juggernauts powers. He was nearly
killed by falling rubble, but Charles had the X-Men save him and attempt to get
the ruby back for him. Wolverine and Cyclops find Eugene and steal the Ruby
back from him and bring it home. Via mental flashbacks as Charles checked on
his stepbrother’s condition, we learned that Cain hates Charles because he
resents his father favoring Charles as part of a plan to steal the Xavier
fortune. Ultimately, they get the gem to Cain, and he uses it to regain his
powers. As a not-actually-a-thank you, Juggernaut elects to leave and fight
another day. Enough recap. Let’s get to it, shall we?
We open in the Caucasus Mountains
in Russia. A team is out there digging for Omega Red. I for one think that if a
super soldier was dumped in the middle of nowhere it’s a good idea to leave
him, but what do I know? The colonel in charge tells his men to be careful and
get the restraints before Omega Red wakes up. Omega Red is taken to a base and
the US colonel wants to make a deal with him. Omega Red says that he doesn’t
deal with imperialists, but he changes his tune when the colonel offers to make
him human again if he does a task for the US Government. He’s willing to ask
what the task is. The colonel tells him that there’s a submarine just off the
coast of Hilo, Hawaii, it’s a Soviet sub with nukes on board. It’s stuck just
on the rim of a deep-sea trench and runs the risk of tipping over. Because
Omega Red is resistant to radiation, they want him to go in and use his Soviet
codes to get it moved. Red asks why they’d risk trusting him, and the Colonel
says that they don’t, he’s got a bunch of liquid nitrogen implanted in his body
that they’ll set off if he betrays them. Red agrees, but he wants his own
insurance policy to make sure the US doesn’t just freeze him when the job is
done or blow up the sub on him. He wants help to get the sub up and he chooses
Wolverine and Storm.
At the X-Mansion, Logan is not
happy at the thought of working with Omega Red. Basically everyone agrees with
him that this is a stupid idea, but the US needs that sub removed and he seems
to be the only option. Charles offers to go in place of Logan, but Logan
refuses, saying that he knows Omega Red is going to perform a double
cross and he wants to be there when he does. Storm and Wolverine join Omega Red
at the Naval base. Red and Logan go a full 2 minutes before they start
threatening each other, which I think is a record for them. Storm stops Logan
from causing a scene, as she tends to. They’re brought onto the sub and sent
down.
On the way down, Logan asks Red
what fairy tale he told the Colonel to get them to trust him. He gestures at
his restraints and asks if they really trust him. Logan prepares to attack Red
again more or less on principle but Storm asks him to behave. Red reveals the
deal that he struck with the government, that if he’s a good boy he’ll get to
be human again. Logan thinks it’s a crock, but whatever. He almost attacks Red
again, but Storm begs him to just deal with his words, reminding him she’s
claustrophobic and that this mission is a LOT for her. Red smiles evilly before
the scene changes, so we can infer this is part of his plot.
They reach the sub and dock, Logan
telling her to be careful as the Soviets built subs like they built Chernobyl,
so he’d prefer it not going up. They land hard but the ships stabilize. Red’s
restraints are released, and they head in. Red gets the sub running again with
a few keystrokes. He activates the sub and takes off. The Colonel tells him to
bring the sub home… but Red asks what the rush is. Wow, dude didn’t even wait
five minutes. The Colonel warns him that they will set off his implant, but Red
casually reaches through his hair to the back of his neck and rips the nitro
glycerin implant from his back. Wolverine is ready to throw down, but Storm
stops him. Why? Omega Red explains, the air inside the sub is toxic and tearing
their suits will be all Omega Red needs to do to expose them. Logan might
survive due to his healing factor, but Storm is much more vulnerable. Omega Red
starts to gloat about his new used sub and missiles, which pisses off Logan
enough for him to say screw it, extend his claws and attack. Omega Red throws
him off and Storm blows him back with a hurricane blast. She knocks him down,
grabs Logan and heads for the mini-sub. Omega Red grabs them with his
tentacles. He tells them that he’s not interested in being made human again.
He’s got 15 missiles, he’s targeted the 15 largest cities on Earth, and he wants
to watch them burn.
The X-Men head in with the
Blackbird to hopefully salvage this mission. Beast says that they may all pay
for not trusting Wolverine’s foresight. They’ve got depth charges locked and
loaded to drop on the sub when it gets high enough to try to launch the missiles.
Rogue asks the eggheads if this is really the best plan, dropping bombs
on their friends. Beast insists that they’re just a means to delay the sub, in
the hopes that the Navy can get out there fast enough to try something else.
Meanwhile, we learn that the Navy has sent ships, but they’re ten minutes out.
The sub will be ready to launch the missiles in five. The aide tells the
Colonel that they could have been better prepared for this if they’d gotten
some kind of warning.
Inside the ship, Omega Red is
gloating about his imminent victory to his captive audience. He says that the
Soviet Union made many wonderful weapons, but they never had the stomach to use
them. He asks Storm if she appreciates how sad the life of an unused weapon is.
She says weapons don’t have feelings, and he says if only that were true. Storm
warns him that every ship in 1000 miles will be on them when he launches the
missiles and asks if he’s really tired of living. Red tells her on the
contrary, after being denied any real life for 50 years, he’s ready to live it
up. He’s going to launch the missiles and then dive before anyone can stop him.
After, he’ll wait things out at the bottom of the sea and arise in the chaos of
the new world to reign supreme. The X-Men drop a depth charge, knocking
everyone to the ground. Rogue jokes that that should get Omega Red’s attention,
and Beast agrees, saying that he’s pretty sure Omega Red forgot that Storm and
Wolverine’s mics were on. He hopes they can delay him just a few minutes
longer.
Omega Red begins to surface. The
X-Men drop more charges, dropping Storm and Wolverine. He tries to grab them
again and Storm lightning blasts him. The officer at the Navy base says they
have an additional problem. Namely, if Omega Red works fast enough, he might be
able to reprogram the missiles. Why is that bad? Nukes by design don’t arm
their warheads until they’re near their target, this is a safety precaution to
make sure a faulty launch doesn’t kill everyone who fired the missile. If Omega
Red is as crazy as they’re worried that he is, he might just decide that that’s
good enough revenge. Charles tells Rogue and Beast to be ready to drop the
charges to delay him if they can.
Omega Red launches the missiles.
F-18s are on their way but are a minute out. Five missiles launch, Beast and
Rogue take out one and are overjoyed to learn they’re in pre-detonation mode.
They take out two more but miss the last two. Omega Red ties Storm up in some
pipping and is infuriated when his last two missiles are taken out. Red starts
flipping out and smashing things. He remembers the other missiles and warns the
Navy that he’s arming the missiles. Rogue has decided that she’s tired of this
and leaps into the water. Beast tries to warn her that it’s too deep even for
her enhanced body but Anna Marie doesn’t give a damn. She reaches the sub and
starts ripping it to pieces, distracting Red long enough for Storm to grab
Wolverine and get to the minisub and surface. Rogue surfaces too and says that
she bent his boat. The X-Men fall back and head home. We learn that Rogue
focused on damaging the rutters, making it impossible for Omega Red to steer
the sub. He tries to move it, gets alters that navigation isn’t working and
plunges into the depths of the sea.
Back at the Mansion, Beast is
pretty sure that the immediate danger is passed but Omega Red is still a
threat. He thinks Storm will recover from any claustrophobic panic she’s
feeling, but Logan’s anger at not taking Red out permanently could fester. We see
Logan going for an evening walk and muttering to himself that he’s sure Red is
still out there, he can smell him. We cut to the sea floor where Red is indeed
alive and most likely plotting vengeance.
Well, that episode felt super
rushed. I feel like this was envisioned as a two-part episode, but they didn’t
get the budget for it, so they had to cram the story into one 20-minute episode
instead of 40-minutes. We just went from recruitment, to sub, to betrayal way
too fast for me to believe this was the intended version. Still, it must be
nice for Logan to be proven right within like 20 minutes of this mission
starting. Like, there wasn’t even really a fake out where we’re tricked into
thinking that Omega Red might be willing to do all of this to be made human
again. I suppose when I was younger, I might have believed he was willing to
deal for that… but as an adult watching this show, Omega Red has been shown to
revel in his power too much for me to believe that he’d truly like to be
returned to factory setting. My only other thought is that while they mention
Storm’s claustrophobia several times in this episode and even do a weird frame
of animation to show that she’s extremely apprehensive of going into a tight
space… it ultimately didn’t matter even a little bit. Like, at no point did she
panic or scream or try to free herself from the sub, she just kind of stands
there a lot. I suppose her unwillingness to use her powers in the sub might
hint at that but that’s a weak connection in my opinion. It’s a little thing, I
know, but when Storm’s claustrophobia is usually so bad that any enclosed space
that she can’t immediately leave leaves her trembling on the floor, I feel the
need to call it out, ya know? Next time, Magneto’s back and he’s got a new team
backing him up.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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