First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.13.
If the “Dark Phoenix” saga unfolds as I expect, with Phoenix being defeated and Jean being redeemed, I’m wondering if that starts here or is contained to Part IV. She just made the full heel turn, complete with new costume and the Dark Phoenix moniker, at the end of Part II, so I hope we get to enjoy her fully in that role before Jean returns.
Also… what an episode title… The Dark Phoenix colon The Dark Phoenix… such originality.
4 Things I Like
4. Horny Gambit
Even in the middle of a calamity, when the Dark Phoenix blasts the whole team off a building, Gambit’s like, “Gambit can’t help but notice you save him, chere, and not Wolverine. Must be my way with women.” He’s a scumbag half the time, but you can’t argue with the consistency of his one-track mind.
(Also, because Wolverine doesn’t get saved by Rogue and falls into a lake, we get to hear him say, “Ducks… I hate ducks.” Relevant? Not at all. But completely worth mentioning.)
3. Wolverine Questions Phoenix’s Heel Turn
“Speaking of mood swings, what’s bugging the Phoenix? She used to be on our side.”
Wolverine
We already got the answer I wanted most—about why Phoenix, who heroically saved countless lives and galaxies in “The Phoenix Saga,” is now evil. And that answer doesn’t change here. Beast reaffirms what Professor X had said previously—that it seems Phoenix has been taken in by the human experience of sensations and emotions, and she’s not willing to let them go.
Still, I appreciate Wolverine asking about this. I’m not sure the whole team was there when they determined this answer back in Part I. So it’s good to know there’s a team member wondering about the same obvious question I wondered about.
2. Shi’ar Death Sentence
Just as the team has finally contained the Phoenix and has Jean back, at least temporarily, Lilandra shows up with Gladiator and a contingent of Shi’ar.
Some Shi’ar goons discovered the Dark Phoenix feeding off the sun in a dead star system they were mapping, and Lilandra immediately understood the magnitude of this problem. She calls it their “worst nightmare” because she knows the Phoenix’s power. And if that power is used for evil, it’s essentially unstoppable.
This is a compelling cliffhanger, mainly because the Shi’ar’s position is reasonable. Executing Jean might be the only way to save billions of lives.
And yet… the X-Men just got Jean back and have finally bought themselves a little time to figure out how to expel the Phoenix from Jean for good.
I’m sure this death sentence isn’t going to be carried out, but I’m very curious how this scenario actually plays out.
1. No One Can Pull the Trigger
“Logan? Do it. Quickly, while I still have control. Stop her now!”
Jean Grey
Wolverine and Cyclops both get chances to end Phoenix by killing Jean in brief moments when Jean regains control. She even pleads with them to do it, because she knows they need to end this threat. And every time she regains control, it never lasts long because Phoenix is too powerful.
Their anguish, as they can’t kill the woman they love—not even to save whole galaxies—totally sells this whole saga.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Solar Feeding Frenzy
We know Phoenix was in the Sun once before. That’s where the M’Kraan Crystal now lies.
But now she goes to another star system to feed off their sun…
Where did this idea come from?
Hasn’t Phoenix been a nearly invincible cosmic force all along?
If a sun gives her even more powers, or can recharge her, it would’ve been nice if that had come up previously. I like the idea, but it comes out of nowhere.
1. Jean Grey Is No More! (Oh Wait, Here She Is)
A lot of the tension in this saga comes from the push and pull of whether Jean is fully gone, or if enough of her is left in her body that there’s still hope. So it has to remain an open question. But to be honest, I’m getting tired of hearing Phoenix, Professor X, Cyclops, and maybe others declare Jean is no more, only to find that’s not true and have her reemerge seconds later.
We heard it from Phoenix in her big speech at the end of Part II, when she got her costume upgrade and declared herself the Dark Phoenix.
And with this episode picking up right where Part II left off, Cyclops tries getting through to Jean, but Phoenix says, “Jean Grey can hear nothing. Speak only to the Phoenix.”
Of course, moments later Jean reemerges thanks to Cyclops’ pleading, and she begs for help.
Later, Professor X says, “I’m afraid Jean Grey no longer exists.”
But then he contradicts himself by acknowledging that, if Phoenix agreed to leave Jean’s body, that’d be the one way they could get Jean back.
And we get an emphatic “Jean Grey no longer exists!” toward the end of the episode. But minutes earlier, Jean was traipsing through her childhood home. And then, they get her back again before the episode ends.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Homeward Bound
“Daddy? Daddy’s home!”
Jean Grey
Jean’s return to her childhood home is bizarre.
At least, I guess it’s Jean in charge here. She’s definitely not acting like Phoenix, with the haughty voice. And Jean’s childhood home means nothing to Phoenix. But the way she acts here seems way too childlike to be Jean. She twirls and falls onto her bed like a little girl, plays with her stuffed animal (a mythological Cyclops—nice touch), and calls for her daddy.
And even if Jean is in control, why go there? She’d never put her parents in such danger… right?
Not to mention, why is Jean back in control? Didn’t Phoenix just “feed” from a sun?
Tim Matassa
