First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.12.
I liked the Inner Circle when they were introduced in Part I, and this episode is named after them. Sounds promising…
3 Things I Like
3. The Good & Bad of Mastermind
Wyngarde’s power of illusion is very cool. He can create a full-blown fantasy in someone’s mind and make it feel completely real, giving him the power to manipulate them to his will. Scary…
But here’s what’s scary for him…
If a mutant is powerful enough to fend off his mind probe, as Phoenix eventually does, he has nothing else going for him. All his leverage when it looks like he’s going to take control of the Inner Circle is tied up in his ability to control the Phoenix. But not only does he lose that control, she even reveals what I assume is his true form as an ugly, decrepit old man, which he hides from the world.
2. Inner Circle Infighting
“You see, Sebastian. Our new queen is more powerful than the rest of the Inner Circle combined! And I control her. Will you yield your place as chairman, or do I have to take it?”
Jason Wyngarde
The Inner Circle was a well-oiled machine in Part I, but the infighting starts right away in this episode. And though they’re too arrogant to realize this, their problems are all self-inflicted.
They’re so desperate to bring Phoenix into the Inner Circle that they don’t realize she’s splintered the group. At first, Wyngarde deceives her into believing she’s his wife, but Shaw clearly wants her for his own purposes. Meanwhile, Emma Frost is the only one thinking clearly and not being an overconfident ass. She says to Wyngarde and Shaw…
“Would you two geniuses think for a second? We can’t deceive and control the Phoenix forever. Someday she’ll discover the truth and turn against the Inner Circle.”
She’s right, of course. But before Phoenix tosses Wyngarde aside, the rest of the group votes to replace Shaw with Wyngarde as their leader.
I often like good guy vs. good guy or bad guy vs. bad guy stories, and this is no different. You get to see the villains’ pettiness come out in full force and ruin their chances of success, even as they’re on the same side.
1. Full Phoenix Heel Turn
“The mortal Jean Grey is no more. I am fire made flesh! Power incarnate! I am the Dark Phoenix!”
Phoenix
It’s mostly Phoenix we’re dealing with throughout the episode, but Jean does bleed through for a few brief moments here and there.
Every time Phoenix regains control, though, she’s embraced the darkness even more. The evil Wyngarde deceived her into doing has made her hunger to do more evil, until we finally get the quote above at the end of the episode.
To me, this is the rock bottom moment where she’s achieved her peak evil—before Jean’s inevitable return and redemption.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Blocking Professor X’s Probe
Emma Frost blocks Professor X’s psychic probes when he tries to contact the X-Men from a distance. After he fails to get through, he looks weak and tells Cerebro…
“Keep probing. I need a moment’s rest.”
It’s almost like all the stress of the past few weeks since they recovered Jean has left him weak and vulnerable.
This is exactly what I wanted the reasoning to be in Part I for why Frost was able to get the info the Inner Circle needed. But instead of using it as a reason why the Professor would be in this state, they used it as a reason why Cerebro was vulnerable, which makes far less sense.
Now it seems like they’re going in the direction I wanted, but it doesn’t follow what happened in the previous episode as logically. And they never actually acknowledge that overwhelming stress really is what’s put Xavier in this state.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Scott and Jean’s Psychic Connection
“Jean. Jean. Can this dark place be your mind?”
Cyclops
Ultimately, I think this connection will save Jean. They hinted as much in Part I. But it’s still unclear exactly how it works.
I understand that their psychic connection gets muddled thanks to Phoenix. And it’s made worse when Wyngarde invades Jean’s mind, overpowering Scott’s connection with her and forcing him into an illusion.
Maybe my main confusion, though, is because it seems at this point as if Phoenix has already fully taken over Jean’s body and mind. Yet Jean resurfaces thanks to Wolverine, and Scott survives what should’ve been a mortal blow from Wyngarde inside the illusion because he’s still connected to Jean.
It seems like their psychic connection is a catchall excuse the writers can fall back on for whatever they need from Jean or Scott at any given time, without ever clarifying how it works.
Tim Matassa
