First Things First…
This originally aired as Episode 3.16.
It feels like the “Dark Phoenix” saga should’ve ended Season 3, especially knowing “The Phoenix Saga” was earlier in the season. They’re the centerpieces of the season. Instead, there are still two more episodes to go. This one brings back Corsair, which is cool. I’m guessing this is when Cyclops finds out the truth of their relationship.
2 Things I Like
2. Welcome Back, Starjammers
Now that we’ve seen them a bunch of times, the Starjammers have grown on me. Especially because they look like villains—and they often start out working against the X-Men, like here, where they subdue Storm—but they wind up on the side of good.
Corsair also reveals here that they rescued him and his wife from D’Ken way back when. I don’t know how he then became their leader, but they’ve always been heroic.
1. The Origin of Corsair
The transformation of Christopher Summers into Corsair is more straightforward than I imagined. It basically started as a straight-up alien abduction by D’Ken and the Shi’ar. And it involves having to send his two sons jumping out of a plane with a burning parachute, trying his best but believing there was no way they could’ve survived.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. X-Monorail
“I shall meet you at the monorail!”
Storm
Since when do the X-Men have their own monorail???
I mean… cool. But shouldn’t we have known about it by now? It’s awfully convenient that, when Cyclops and Storm need an underground escape near the mansion, suddenly there’s a secret trapdoor in the middle of the lawn leading down to their monorail.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. The Witness, the Double Agent, the Crooked Shi’ar Cop, and the Race for Lord Chamberlain’s Fortune
That headline might make it sound cool, but the plot that brings Corsair to the X-Men’s doorstep is told so haphazardly, with major pieces of information only being revealed when they’re about to come into play, that instead of caring about any of the reveals, I had to scratch my head and wonder why I should care.
It revolves around a new Shi’ar character we haven’t met before, Commander Raknar of the Shi’ar Intergalactic Patrol, framing Corsair for kidnapping and attempted murder.
Raknar gets pissed off when his troops board Corsair’s ship and find it empty. That means the witness managed to escape with the Starjammers undetected. But who was the witness?? We didn’t know anything about her yet.
Then, out of nowhere, we hear about the Lord Chamberlain’s fortune, which apparently Corsair and Raknar both want…
But wait… who’s the Lord Chamberlain? And what’s the deal with this money?
Meanwhile, Raknar’s navigator, who played no role up until this point, frees Cyclops after Raknar trapped him. Then, we find out she’s the one who originally tipped off Corsair about Raknar’s plot to get the fortune and murder the witness.
All of it would’ve been fine if the characters and plot elements that matter were introduced early in the episode, but that’s not how they tell this story, and it suffers for it.
1. No Nuance
“You’re my father? I don’t believe it! I won’t believe it! My father’s dead!”
Cyclops
I was hoping we’d eventually get some resolution for this story of Cyclops and Corsair. But the way it plays out lacks any subtlety or nuance.
First, Cyclops’ discovery that Corsair is his father is absurd. And I get that finding out your father—long thought dead—is not only alive, but is a space pirate who’s been an ally but is also a wanted fugitive, would take time to process. Still, Cyclops immediately acts like a petulant child, unwilling to accept the truth.
From there, he bounces back and forth to such extremes. He berates Corsair and obviously gets a lot off his chest when he says…
“For 20 years I dreamed about my father, a man to look up to, a hero who sacrificed his life to save his family! It was your family you sacrificed! You threw us away so you could go knock around the galaxy!”
He jumps to the most extreme conclusion before getting any information or giving Corsair a chance to explain. He even cuts off Corsair to say…
“Did I imagine the orphanage? The foster homes where nobody wanted me? Tell me, Dad, am I making this up?”
It’s that sarcastic “Dad” that really gets me.
But after Corsair tells Cyclops the truth, Cyclops gets all quiet and sentimental, gives Corsair back his dog tags, and is completely on his side…
… only to jump down his throat again when he discovers the girl Corsair saved is also going to help him find hidden treasure. Suddenly, Corsair is nothing but a criminal and pirate again. He even takes Corsair prisoner.
But not to worry… by the end of the episode, not only is Cyclops back on board, but they even make sure he calls him “Dad” in a much more genuine way.
Tim Matassa
Well, it must be hard to know your dad you thought was dead is actually alive, a pirate and is going after women, witness to be saved or not
No doubt. I don’t think his reactions are wrong. But I don’t like the way they make him come off when he bounces back and forth so much in a 20-minute episode. This could’ve been really cool as a 3- or 4-part arc. Then, Cyclops could sit with his feelings for a bit each time he learned more information about his father.