Are these the best episodes yet?
Following a somewhat disappointing pair of X-Men '97 episodes a few weeks ago, I was apprehensive before starting into episode five. If the trend continued downward, my disappointment would be immeasurable. I’m not sure I would’ve even wanted to keep writing these reviews. It can be enlightening, and even fun, to pick apart a show’s flaws, but when you deeply care about a show and know it can be better, it can hurt, too!
The fact that you’re even reading this should tell you all you need to know. To use the parlance of the times: We are so back.
Episode 5 – Remember It
‘Remember It’ is simply the best episode of X-Men ’97 yet, and if you recall how I spoke about the first two episodes, you’ll know that’s saying something.
There are two narratives throughout the episode. The A-Story follows Magneto, Gambit, and Rogue (who are embroiled in a bit of a love-triangle) as they visit the mutant nation Genosha, which has only recently been admitted to the UN.
The B-Story involves Scott and Jean becoming distant after the whole ‘I-was-actually-in-love-with-your-clone-and-you-are-not-the-mother-of-my-son’ thing, which leads Jean to develop feelings for Wolverine and—wait, two love triangles!?
That’s right. Two well-written love triangles in one episode and the fact that I didn’t even notice until now should give you an indication of how well the writers handled the trope-iest of tropes.
The tensions that lead to the emergence of the love triangles are believable and complex. X-Men comics are, in a very real sense, soap operas with superpowers, but there’s nothing sophomoric about these storylines. To do it all without winking at the camera or trying to make light of the situations is a brave choice, but it works.
These feel like real people.
The layers to Rogue’s character are the stand-out though, as she is caught between being with someone she loves but cannot touch, or someone powerful that she can touch (her powers being that she drains life/abilities/knowledge through physical contact). I really felt for her predicament, which the writers masterfully wove into the larger narrative of what was happening politics-wise in Genosha.
Turning Rogue’s decision of who she’s going to be with into a decision that might impact all the mutants of Genosha really made this episode sing, as did putting Scott in the position of being interviewed for television in the middle of his fight with Jean. Suddenly Scott’s precarious emotional state has ramifications for how mutants might be perceived on the public stage.
And oh, the fight scenes. My god. Holy moly. I’ve mentioned it before, but they really put the X-Men movies to shame. Above all, the writers and animators strive to make the X-Men seem cool while they fight. I know ‘cool’ isn’t a very analytic or specific term, but in this case, it’s the correct term. Go watch the episode and see if I’m wrong.
Episode 6 – Lifedeath Part 2
I’ll admit that when I saw the title of this episode my heart sank a little. ‘Lifedeath Part 1’ was the second half of episode four and was by far the weakest X-Men ’97 story we’d gotten so far. I just wasn’t overly keen on catching up with Storm and Forge and their weird, rushed romance.
Then episode began, and well…
EXTREME SPOILERS AHEAD. Like, literally, don’t even read this section of the review if you aren’t caught up! I’m serious!
Ready?
So, Charles Xavier isn’t dead. A primary focus of the show thus far has been on leadership tensions following Xavier’s ‘death’ at the end of the original series. We’re never shown the death, but we’re also never given a reason to believe Charlies is still alive. I suppose I shouldn’t be overly shocked at the idea of a comic book superhero overcoming death—especially an X-Man—but I was still stunned by the reveal.
Charles is alive and well, walking on mechanical legs, and betrothed to Lilandra, Empress to the alien Shi’ar Empire. I know that sounds weird as hell. The Shi’ar Empire is a rather important facet of X-Men comics, but it’s never made it into any of movies, probably because it’s so out there.
Regardless, understanding Xavier’s situation isn’t an ordeal—some quick verbal exposition does the job—and from there we’re into the real meat of the story. Lilandra’s sister, Deathbird (yes, that is her name) opposes this cross-species romance and demands Charles prove his allegiance to the Empire by erasing all of his memories of his life on Earth…
In true X-Men fashion, this story hits all the important thematic notes as the series’ more grounded narratives on Earth. It’s about racism and cultural erasure and proving you’re ‘one of the good ones.’ Despite the somewhat generic alien setting, this is a story grounded in Xavier’s experience of discrimination, one that culminates in a satisfying way after many twists of fate and turns of allegiance.
And then, unfortunately, there’s also the B Story picking up where we left off with Storm and Forge.
The episode cuts between the two narratives, but the Earth-based one is by far the weaker. It mainly focuses on Storm trying to overcome a psychic block while on a quest for a MacGuffin to save Forge after he was attacked by a demon in episode four.
This demon, the Adversary, is a big load of nothing. I don’t know why it’s here. I get that it’s supposed to play on Storm’s fears, but its presence in the narrative comes across as totally random. Is it… eating her fears? Causing her fears? She experiences hallucinations… but they’re real and can hurt her? The rules around this creature are vague and the means to some cool horror-style visuals rather a satisfying exploration of Storm’s doubts and insecurities.
I’m not one of those chronic nerds who needs hard explanations for every fantastic event in a story like this, but this one just feels like the writers waving their hands saying ‘Look, it’s a demon. Just go with it.’ The looseness of the writing just doesn’t jive with the rest of the series. That’s not even mentioning the totally underbaked romance between Storm and Forge.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this pair of episodes might just rival that of episodes one and two. The poorer aspects of episode six never quite sink to the level they did in episode four, and the parts of episode five that shine are able soar above even episode one’s glorious heights.
This is a fantastic television show. If it wasn’t for one lacklustre plotline, I would be tempted to call it perfect.
As it stands it’s pretty damn close.
***
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