No shoot out at noon, but close enough.
Last time on X-Men: The Animated
Series, Morph tried to make a comeback. After several months in physical
and psychological therapy at Muir Island, Morph was given a clean bill of
health and leave to return to active X-Man duty. Though Moira MacTaggart stressed
he should try to ease into it. This proved impossible as the first mission he
got assigned to, unwittingly, was dealing with Sentinels robbing a robotics
factory. The Mutant hunters were gathering parts to build a new body for their
Master Mold. The Master Mold ordered its minions to gather witnesses for its
rebirth, namely its creator Bolivar Trask, his secret agent partner Henry Peter
Gyrich, and Professor Xavier, who threw a plane at it. The Sentinels attack the
mansion and steal Charles, Morph took the kidnapping the worst as he panicked and
froze mid fight. The others leave him behind, in case Charles tried to contact
them. Morph fiddles with a Sentinel head they procured and got the coordinates for
their base from it as the X-Men track the Sentinels from Trask and Gyrich’s
hidden bungalow. All forces converge in the Sentinel cave base, where the
Master Mold announces it’s going to implant a device in Charles’ brain to let
it amplify and use Charles’ telepathy, letting them hunt Mutants all the easier.
The X-Men attack, Morph coming in at the last minute to help the team rally and
ultimately killing the Master Mold himself by dropping a stalagmite on it. The
team congradulates him, and he accepts the praise, but then tells the team he’s
going back to Muir Island. The mission made it clear to him he wasn’t ready to
be in the field again. Logan is bummed at losing his buddy again so soon, but
Charles tells him to let Morph go. He’ll always be an X-Man, and their doors will
be open for him when he’s ready. Enough Recapping. Let’s get to it, shall we?
We open on Scott traveling in a
mini-jet somewhere in the southwest of the US. He’s looking up a Dr. Prescott
that’s a friend of Charles’ and a fellow human/Mutant relations advocate. He disappeared
a short time ago and they’re getting worried about him. He has a flashback to
when he first met the Doctor, who preached the same cohabitation ideal that the
Professor does. Two of Prescott’s protégées showed off their powers to Charles
and a Young Scott, who shows his abilities off as well. Prescott was sure that
Charles could handle the… difficult cases, helping Mutants that society would otherwise
attack or abandon. We shift flashbacks to when Scott just left the mansion,
showing Charles a statue of glass or ice that Prescott’s former students made
of him and them for him. Scott mentions that Prescott doesn’t like getting
recognition for his work, specifically for building a Mutant community out in
Skull Mesa, where he’s headed, to deliver the statue. Charles tells him that Prescott
will surely love it. As Scott flies into Skull Mesa airspace, a watch tower
raises up and a canine-looking Mutant named Watchdog radios into his commander
Braddock that someone is flying in and has thoughts of Dr. Taylor Prescott in
his head. Braddock asks if they’re human or Mutant but then decides it doesn’t
matter and orders Watchdog to shoot it down. Watchdog does, psychically blasting
the mini-jet and causing it to crash. Scott escapes in a parachute but just
barely. Braddock, who watched from a handheld device, says scratch one
troublemaker.
Scott recovers and initially panics
when he realizes his glasses got knocked off. I’d think it was odd he wasn’t wearing
his visor, as I assume it’s designed to not be knockoff-able in these exact
situations, but I guess he wasn’t expecting a fight. To his shock, though, he
finds he’s not optic beaming. Something in the area has take his powers! Since
this isn’t the first time, he’s had to deal with this, he doesn’t panic. He checks
the mini-jet’s phone and finds it destroyed. He grabs a pair of spare shades
and mutters to himself about having to guess which mountain range Skull Mesa is
behind.
He trudges through the desert until
a car passes him and he flags it down. This is Darrell Tanaka, and he apologizes
for almost leaving Scott in the desert as he doesn’t normally pick up hitchhikers.
Scott introduces himself and Darrell asks if he has business in Skull Mesa,
which Scott confirms. They pass a sign that says Skull Mesa, Mutants and Humans
welcome, but immediately see every person that sees Scott duck away. Darrell
explains that Skull Mesa residents aren’t used to strangers. Scott shrugs and says
he’s used to it. He has a flashback to when he was playing baseball with some
other kids when he accidentally optic blasted it to smithereens. The other kids
try to kick his ass for that, Scott runs off and into Prescott, who de-escalates
the situation for him. He tells the kids not to pick on Scott because of an
accident and tells them to get a new ball and restart the game. Prescott also
tells Scott people are just afraid of things that are different and to try to
not take it personally. They pull up to Darelle’s house so he can give Scott a checkup.
Turns out, he’s the Doctor and Coroner. His comment about being the only doctor
and some weird movements like jangling his keys at the open window tip Scott off
something weird is going on here. He tries to call out, but the phone doesn’t
work, and demands to know where Prescott is. Darrell insists he doesn’t live in
Skull Mesa anymore. Scott decides to check out the town himself.
Scott walks into town and literally
everyone runs from him like he’s wearing a DC shirt to a Marvel convention. He
tries to talk to a few people but no one will say a word to him. Until he meets
Bill Braddock, who dresses like a cult leader and is flanked by two guards so…
This would be slightly more intimidating if his guards didn’t look like a
typical farmer and being literally Mortimer Toynbee aka Toad. Braddock mentions
hearing about Scott’s crash and makes veiled threats while trying to force him
out of town real quick like, always asking his assistant Chet if that’s right.
Scott asks Braddock where Prescott is, and Braddock says that he moved and
recently left town. Scott says that’s a bit weird for someone that just
literally invited him to visit. He asks for directions to Prescott’s last known
address, the Chandler place, but they refuse to answer and he walks off. Braddock
says that Mr. Summers has worn out his welcome.
Scott finds the Prescott’s home and
finds it ransacked and covered in slime. Considering one of Braddock’s minions
is Toad, the culprit seems pretty obvious to me, but I have metaknowledge and
have watched this episode before. Scott rushes back to Darelle’s house and
demands to know where Prescott is. Darelle, to his credit, knows when to drop
the act and tells Scott no one can help Prescott. He demands to know who shot
him down and why the Mutants in town are hiding. Braddock and his gang arrive,
Chet phasing in through the wall behind Scott to grab him and let Toad cover
him in slimy mucus. Braddock tells Scott he should have left when he had the
chance.
They take Scott to an old mine and
it’s revealed that Braddock is holding Prescott and several other people
inside, wrapped in Toad’s mucus. He explains that Toad’s slime keeps them in a vegetative
state but they’re alive. Not that it’ll matter to Scott, as Braddock has
decided to execute him for standing up to his orders. Scott tries to warn Braddock
that he has friends that’ll look for him, and that he’s a Mutant, but Braddock doesn’t
care. He doesn’t like things that get in his way. He reveals why he, Chet and Toad
set up shop in town, there’s a literal gold mine here that they’ve pressganged the
local Mutants into mining for them. Scott tries to get Braddock to stop, but he
angrily announces his name is Solarr and blasts Scott with a fiery optic beam.
He lets Scott go, saying he can try to find help, but seems confident he won’t
get it.
Scott stumbles back to Darelle’s house
and Darelle brings him inside. Scott tells Darelle that he tried to call for
help but the phones are all dead. Darelle explains what’s going on. Prescott
made sure that Skull Mesa was as self sufficient as possible, they grow their
own food, the powers local, all of that, they only mined enough gold each year
to make sure everyone was taken care of. But then Solarr arrived and took over
like an old fashioned desperado. He has that fourth minion, Watchdog, who’s
powers are also keeping the phones from working. Even with all those powers, I’m
not sure I’d be okay with looking like a dog. Scott asks if anyone tried to stand
up to Solarr, and Darelle says just Prescott. Scott is outraged that no one
tried to help him, but Darelle says he and the others are just normal Mutants,
not soldiers. Scott tells him that Prescott and the others are alive, he just
needs help freeing them. Darelle says he can’t. Scott asks him how he can call
himself a doctor and do nothing, and storms off. And when alone Darelle asks
himself the same thing.
Scott ends up at the mechanics shop
and tries asking the large burly Mutant in charge, Tusk, for help. The man can
apparently move engine blocks with his bare hands, so his strength would definitely
be an asset. Tusk refuses, as he’s worried about his family and isn’t sure one
man could do anything. Scott tries to tell him it always starts with just one
man, but Chet phases in to remind him who’s in charge. Scott tries asking a
green woman for help, but she refuses, Chet and Toad shadowing him and mocking
him for asking for help. The rest of the townies close their doors and lock up.
They egg Scott on until he takes a swing at Chet, who phases through him.
Scott sits on a mesa and just takes
an evening to be frustrated with his situation. He laments being without his powers
and being a normal man, like he wanted, at a time when he absolutely needs
them. He finds his resolve, though, powers or no powers he’s an X-Man damn it.
He refuses to go down without a fight. At dawn the next morning he walks into
town again. The townies avoid him and Scott phases off against Solarr in the
streets. Scott tries to tell him backdown, but he refuses. He seems to not get what
the X-Men are and is sure he’ll be able to buy his way out of trouble. Chet and
Toad overpower Scott and drag him to the center of town for his execution.
Scott is tied to a statue of
Braddock in Toad mucus. Solarr makes a big show for the townies, telling them
the usual party line of ‘follow me or die.’ He takes Prescott’s statue and claims
it’s a transmitter and that Scott tried to use it to call in his confederates
to steal their gold. Scott refuses to take that lie laying down and says that
was a gift for Prescott, from kids he helped, just like how he helped many of
the townies. He asks how they could let
this mad man destroy his work. Solarr gathers power and says that it was a nice
speech but no one was listening. He almost blast’s Scott, but Tusk uses his
power to make a little clone of himself from his back and launches it at Solarr
to distract him. He goes to free Scott but then gets blasted. The green woman
makes the plants grow to give them cover and Darelle runs over and uses his
power on Scott. He reveals that Watchdog can suppress Mutant powers, but he can
neutralize that effect, and he should have done this to Scott in the beginning.
Once Scott Summers has his optic beams back, the fight is pretty much over.
Solarr and his thugs are amateurs against a man who has mastered his abilities.
And that’s without the townies revolting to help Scott. He blasts Solarr in the
back and announces that the people aren’t afraid of him anymore and he lost his
town. Scott blasts Solarr back and the green woman traps him in plants.
Watchdog comes in with Prescott, saying that he salvaged Scott’s transmitter
and called his friends for help. Scott asks why the change of heart and
Watchdog admits he saw the situation change and decided to be part of the solution
instead of the problem. Darelle wakes up Prescott and Scott is able to give him
the statue. He offers to take Solarr and his people with him when the X-Men
arrive to make them face justice, but Prescott insists that since they
committed their crimes in Skull Mesa, they should pay for them here. Tusk
knocks over Solarr’s statue and suggests they could put Prescott’s statue in its
place. Scott and Prescott wander off to get ice cream, ending the episode.
This was a fun standalone episode. It’s
funny, after the long string of multiparters, to have several one-off episodes
in a row feels weird. I like the western vibe of this episode, with Scott being
the out of towner that rallies the terrified towns folk to throw off the
bandits that have enslaved the town. The people that run from Scott’s mere
presence, and the fact Tusk, a Mutant that’s clearly super durable, is the only
one who is willing to talk to him drives home how high strung the townies are. It’s
a simple story but it works well here. Solarr is incredibly creepy looking, but
I do kind of wish they’d had him keep the trench coat he wore shut until he announced
his name in the mine. I just can’t take a man in bright red and yellow
seriously unless they’re a supervillain and until that point they were trying
to play him straight, at least a little. His minions are good too, with Chet
seeming just normal enough that his phasing power is extra creepy… and Toad is
just a good henchman. I will say, having grown up in the era of the movies, X-Men:
Evolution and more modern comics, it’s weird seeing Toad in his classic
costume. Ya, if you don’t remember my Toad villain profile from ages ago, Toad
being… extra gross is a post 90s-character remodel. Before that, while he still
threw slime and mucus on occasion his design was more like a court jester than a
sideshow attraction. I’ll admit, after a lot of shows and movies where Toad is
at least close to Magneto if not working as a direct henchman, it’s WEIRD we
went over 50 episodes without seeing him and that he’s not tied into either Magneto
or Mystique’s brotherhood. It’s like seeing a single Power Ranger, it’s just wrong
on some level. While he was really only an inciting incident in the episode, I
do like the idea of Dr. Prescott. Giving examples of humans that are also
pushing for Mutant/Human equality is nice, since most media seems to at least
imply Charles is the only one pushing for it at times. Well… him and Moira, but
that’s another can of worms. So, ya, fun one off. Next time, enter the Nightcrawler.
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Bluesky: @basicssuperhero.bsky.social
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