TV REVIEW: X-Men (Season 3)

3 Things I Like

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3. Dark Xavier

We see a different side of the Professor this season. Not all the time, or even most of the time, but it’s there.

It comes out most clearly in Part II of “The Phoenix Saga,” when a psychic split causes his dark side to lash out. He’s particularly harsh toward Wolverine and Gambit. He calls Wolverine an animal and says he never should’ve saved him, and he tells Gambit he can’t be trusted.

We see his harsher side elsewhere, too. At the start of “The Phoenix Saga,” he sends the team into a confrontation blind that almost gets them killed, then takes no accountability for doing so when Cyclops calls him out for his recklessness.

He’s also on the defensive during “Cold Comfort,” as Iceman brings out the worst in him. Xavier and Cyclops get heated because Cyclops resents that Xavier always cut Iceman more slack than the rest of the team. Yet Xavier and Iceman have a fraught relationship. He even imprisons Iceman using a contraption Beast put together that was definitely not intended to imprison anyone.

By and large, Xavier is still a good man trying to do good in the world. But he has a dark side like anyone else. And he’s just as fallible as anyone.

2. Intergalactic Adventures

Season 3 brings many space adventures, including two major arcs — “The Phoenix Saga” and “The Dark Phoenix.” There are a few other episodes that involve aliens and space, too. And though I don’t like them all, I enjoy expanding the world of this series. And “The Phoenix Saga” feels like the biggest thing the show ever did. They tease it at the end of the second episode, and it’s the first five-part arc they’ve done.

1. Moral Quandaries

The X-Men face a number of moral quandaries this season. The best part of “The Dark Phoenix” is the argument about how to handle Jean when she’s possessed by the Phoenix, who’s turned fully evil. Should they kill her before she’s really hurt anyone, simply because she has the power to destroy galaxies and is too dangerous to exist? Or do they say it’s wrong to punish someone for crimes they haven’t actually committed, while risking the existence of the galaxy?

A similar issue comes up during “The Phoenix Saga,” when Corsair’s plan involves tricking D’Ken so Cyclops can take a free killshot. Cyclops says he won’t take a life in cold blood, but later agrees that, for the sake of the universe, he has no choice.

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2 Things I’m Mixed On

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2. Return to the Savage Land

I was excited for the two-part “Savage Land, Savage Heart” arc, but it’s not as great as I had hoped. I often say how cool I think the Savage Land is as a concept. And there are some interesting things here, like making Storm the center of the villains’ plan, and finding out there’s a good man who has been transformed into Sauron but who can still be saved. Unfortunately, it’s a convoluted plot involving bringing back a god, and the story just doesn’t work well.

1. Cyclops’ Struggles

Cyclops is at his most compelling when he isn’t just the good soldier. I love when he argues with the Professor during and after “The Phoenix Saga.” He doesn’t want to hear empty platitudes about how Jean would want them to move on when they think she’s dead. He’s also great when arguing with Iceman, and calling out the Professor for him treating Iceman with kid gloves.

The flipside is that Cyclops is also whiny and shitty.

I went on and on about how petulantly he acts after he finds out Corsair is his father. It’s understandable that it’s a lot to process, but he still handles it poorly.

He’s also ready to give up when they fight Apocalypse alongside Archangel. And he acts in ways I simply don’t buy during “The Dark Phoenix” episodes. There’s no way he’d leave Jean’s bedside to return to the club to protect Dazzler. And even before that, I don’t believe he’d stay at the mansion to lead missions for weeks on end while the Professor and Moira run tests on Jean on Muir Island, trying to rid her of the Phoenix. Actions like these make Cyclops look bad, and I don’t think they’re true to his character.

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4 Things I Don’t Like

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4. Professor X’s Love Life

Professor X has always struck me as an asexual character. I just can’t see him wanting this romantic connection. Throw in the fact that it all stems from Lilandra connecting with him psychically—nothing more—and I don’t care about this. Their goodbye at the end of “The Dark Phoenix,” when Lilandra realizes that trying to be together is a losing proposition, should be emotional, but it’s not.

3. Rogue’s Apologies

This is solely from the season finale, but it really bothered me the way Rogue gets gaslighted and manipulated by her old flame, Cody. He leads her right into the grasp of alien roaches, yet she’s made to believe she did wrong by him and owes him apologies. It feels like the show wants us to sympathize with Cody, but he absolutely sucks.

2. More Mojo

Mojo comes back for one episode, and it made me miserable. I can’t stand this character. Not only is he extremely annoying, but I don’t find anything interesting about the TV world he controls. I really hope this is the last of him.

1. Jean’s Quick Return

Jean makes her major sacrifice and has an emotional goodbye with the team at the end of “The Phoenix Saga,” yet at the end of the next episode, Professor X and Cerebro find her alive.

I would’ve loved it if they let Jean remain presumed dead for the rest of Season 3, then promoted “The Dark Phoenix” arc as a massive event, the same way they did with “The Phoenix Saga,” at the start of Season 4.

Also, within “The Dark Phoenix,” Jean’s death leads to the Phoenix finally leaving her body and returning to a more peaceful state. Then Jean is brought back within about two minutes.

This, too, could’ve been drawn out so it resonated more. They could’ve at least let Jean remain dead for the better part of an episode before resurrecting her. It’s hard to feel the emotion of her dying when it’s undone almost immediately.