First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.11.
I remember the story of Dark Phoenix a little from X-Men: The Last Stand. (I’ve still never seen X-Men: Dark Phoenix.) But I don’t remember how or why Jean breaks bad. In “The Phoenix Saga” in this series, Phoenix is the guardian of the M’Kraan Crystal and is heroic. She saves the team. What goes wrong?
4 Things I Like
4. Hide the Salami
“Where’s that blasted salami?”
Wolverine
The episode cuts from a serious scene about Jean and Phoenix to Wolverine at the refrigerator, sniffing out the salami. So here we are…
3. The Inner Circle
I don’t know all these characters, and it’s not so much that I think they’re so cool. But I love secret societies in general, and this is no different. They seem like men out of time, with their Revolutionary Era suits and facial hair and the wood-paneled library.
Plus, I do know Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw from the movies, so I’m happy to have them introduced.
As for Wyngarde—apparently he’s Mastermind, though they never use that name in this episode—his powers of illusion make more sense when he’s dealing with Jean, who’s still a good guy when she’s in control of her own body and mind, than when he’s dealing with Phoenix. Phoenix would probably join him without being taken in by his illusions. Either way, it’s an interesting power, and he uses it effectively to nab a wife.
2. Cyclops Is Going Through It
“What treatment? It’s hopeless! How can anyone live possessed by another being? Especially one with the power of the Phoenix!”
Cyclops
Cyclops is going through it because of Jean’s inability to be rid of Phoenix. And seeing the boy scout lose his composure often makes for compelling TV.
1. Phoenix’s Hunger
“Yes! I hunger!”
Phoenix
Coming in, this was my biggest question. What would make Phoenix—a guardian responsible for saving billions of lives—break bad?
Professor X wonders the same thing. Before Moira MacTaggert gives up and tells the Professor to take Jean home, he asks Phoenix…
“Phoenix, why do you still inhabit Jean’s body? Your work is done. You do her harm by remaining!”
Phoenix merely laughs in reply.
Thankfully, when they get around to answering this question, it makes sense. After being in their mind, the Professor says…
“Phoenix’s mind is becoming dominant. There is turmoil, frustration, anger, yet an excitement. Perhaps through Jean’s body, the Phoenix is experiencing sensations she has never felt before. That may be why she refuses to leave.”
Phoenix has never experienced life as a human, including all the emotions and sensations that come along with it. It’s intoxicating. And she won’t give it up.
Pretty simple, pretty basic… and it works. This feels like very real motivation for a cosmic character like Phoenix to be taken in by the human experience.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Odd Choice for a Flashback
This episode is filled with flashbacks. Most of them relive relevant pieces of “The Phoenix Saga.” But there’s also a flashback we haven’t seen…
It’s of the team finding Jean—still possessed by Phoenix—and bringing her to Muir Island, where we learn she’s been undergoing testing and treatments for weeks as Moira and Professor X unsuccessfully try to get the Phoenix to leave.
Usually flashbacks either show events we’ve already seen—as most of these do—or events from prior to the start of the series. Yet we’re just learning now that not only Professor X and Rogue, but most importantly Cyclops and Wolverine, have already seen Jean since she returned to Earth? That’s a major development! How did we not see this already? Why wasn’t this part of the main narrative?
Maybe there’s confusion here because of the production delays and the episodes airing out of order. After Cerebro located Jean at the end of “No Mutant Is an Island,” we heard nothing about her since over the next few episodes, except for a throwaway line in one of them about her being on Muir Island. I thought it was weird then—like, when and how did she get to Muir Island?
Now we know, and it’s cool that it happened. It’s just so odd that they chose to tell the story this way.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. Hacking Cerebro
“Jean Grey’s plight has put Xavier under great pressure. He’s been distracted. And he’s been away for weeks. Still, it took great skill to breach his computer’s security and remain undetected.”
Emma Frost
I probably would’ve bought Emma Frost’s story about Professor X being weakened by everything going on with Jean if it allowed her to breach his mind because his defenses were down. But somehow, his defenses being down made Cerebro vulnerable?
That sounds like nonsense.
2. Absentee Partner
“Jean seems so distant, Professor. What can I do? All those weeks of therapy and she still isn’t any better!”
Cyclops
So Cyclops was there when they picked up Jean and brought her to Muir Island…
Why didn’t he stay with her throughout those weeks of therapy? Wouldn’t that be the move of a supportive partner?
And, frankly, I find it out of character for Scott to allow anyone to talk him out of being there with Jean while she went through this testing.
Not to mention, the Professor brings up Scott’s unique psychic rapport with Jean and says she may need to lean on him for support—he may be her only hope. Wouldn’t that make it even more important for him to be there?
And if the argument is that he had responsibilities to the team… try telling that to Storm after she got abducted by a power-hungry dinosaur and brainwashed into reawakening an angry god!
Cyclops conveniently missed all that fun in the Savage Land anyway. So I don’t see any excuse why he couldn’t have been away from the X-Men for a spell to support Jean.
1. Caught Kissing Dazzler
If there’s one trope I despise in any type of story, it’s when one person in a relationship who would never cheat gets caught by their partner in a compromising situation that isn’t their fault at the exact right moment.
I hate this. Way too much of Jean’s and Phoenix’s motivation hinges on this misunderstanding that they only saw because they walked into the club at the exact moment when Dazzler kissed Scott. This type of “possible improbability” always feels like bad storytelling to me.
Besides, just like I don’t buy that Scott wouldn’t have been with Jean on Muir Island for all those weeks, I also don’t buy that he would leave her side to return to the club. No matter what danger Dazzler might’ve been in, he easily could’ve sent Gambit back, and maybe had him bring Wolverine, Beast, or Rogue with him.
Tim Matassa
