First Things First…
Looks like this will be our first meeting with Iceman. I don’t know him well from the comics, and I’m neutral on him from the movies. I’m not overly excited for his introduction, but I’m at least curious if he’ll resonate more strongly with me here.
5 Things I Like
5. Dimwitted Security Guards Argue About Moisture
“The humidity just makes me wet…”
Security Guard #2
The episode opens with quite the enlightening conversation about heat versus humidity…
4. Professor X Repurposes His New Toy
Despite Iceman’s pleas to the contrary, Professor X does send him to detention hall…
… but this time around, it’s not being trapped in a classroom but in a gravity-suspension device.
One thing that’s cool about it is that Beast built it “using technology gleaned from the Shi’ar craft found in the Morlock Tunnels.” I love this callback to the start of Season 3, and that the Shi’ar, who were at the center of “The Phoenix Saga,” continue to have an impact on the X-Men.
But more importantly here is how Professor X has repurposed this machine. Beast says…
“It is designed to promote healing. I see it also serves another function.”
So the Professor has taken a contraption meant to heal and uses it as a prison.
It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally, these dark, hidden corners of Professor X’s mind are exposed to the light. And even though it’s clear he cares about Iceman, wants to help him, and doesn’t try to stop him from leaving at the end of the episode, it’s fascinating to see the darkness he’s capable of.
3. Jubilee Steps Up
This is the second straight episode in which Jubilee cares for a man much older than her. Thankfully, this time it’s not a crush, just sympathy. Consequently, she acts honorably, and even makes the professor proud, despite working against him.
She’s moved by Iceman’s story about losing Lorna, so she frees him from the contraption Professor X trapped him in, and she helps him break back into the government facility.
Jubilee also stands up for herself in the process. When Iceman tells her to stay behind once they arrive, just like Professor X ordered her to stay behind earlier in the episode, she refuses and says…
“I was good enough to help you back at the mansion, I’m good enough to help you here.”
Even better, she puts Cyclops in his place when he yells at her for helping a “misfit” escape, saying …
“Because he needed us! The Professor and the rest of you guys were too busy condemning him to notice it!”
I didn’t like her role in “Longshot,” but this is a strong episode for Jubilee (among others).
2. The Peanut Gallery
“A touch of overkill there, squinty.”
Wolverine
Wolverine is always hilarious in this series, as long as he’s not heartbroken or pissed off (and sometimes even when he is pissed off). But this is a new angle for him. He just sits back and cracks jokes about the crackling tension—first between Cyclops and Professor X as they argue about Iceman, and then among all three of them when they capture Iceman. Wolverine really goes in, no matter how personal shit gets among the other three.
1. Surrogate Dad Vs. Rebellious Son Vs. Good Soldier
“You always made excuses for him! You’d never let the rest of us get away with half the things he did! I’m not surprised Drake’s gone bad. He’s a renegade!”
Cyclops
As funny as Wolverine’s barbs are, the tension he jokes about is the most compelling part of the episode.
Cyclops and Professor X fight because Cyclops is hurt that, in his mind, the Professor always let Iceman get away with way more than he’d let the rest of the team get away with. He even accuses Beast of coddling Iceman when he feels Beast makes excuses for his bad behavior.
Then, once Iceman arrives, he and Professor X fight immediately because, as Beast says, they have “a surrogate father/son dynamic, with unresolved issues of dominance.” Iceman even says…
“I tried doing what Xavier wanted. It was never enough to please him.”
And Iceman and Cyclops are at each other’s throats, too. With Iceman the renegade who always causes trouble, and Cyclops the goody-two-shoes who does what he’s told, there was no way they’d get along.
It’s impressive how quickly the show creates a compelling dynamic among these three characters very quickly.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Enter: X-Factor
“Great. Now they’re hiring mutants to wipe out other mutants.”
Wolverine
The arrival of X-Factor shocked me. There was no indication in the episode preview on Disney+ that they’d be here. It was only about Iceman. And knowing one major X-Man was already being introduced, I never expected this. It’s very cool…
But it’s an entirely new team… the only team member we’ve met previously is Forge… and they’re only in the final few minutes… so we learn almost nothing about them.
Even the explanation of why they’ve formed—as a government program, which is somehow hidden from Professor X—is odd. Aside from the coolness of seeing them, their introduction could’ve been more fleshed out and less clunky.
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. Disregarding Quicksilver
After just saying I wish they did more with X-Factor’s introduction, singling out a team member is admittedly a nitpick. But there are hints about Cyclops’ relationship with Havok. If you know they’re brothers, their similarities make sense.
I wish they did something like that with Quicksilver, too. I wish there was some hint or easter egg that he’s Magneto’s son, especially since Magneto has been so important to the series.
1. Not Ready for Iceman
When Iceman and Jubilee get captured, X-Factor is ready for Jubilee. They know her powers, and they have special gloves in place to negate them. We later find out they’ve been scouting the X-Men, which is how they’re prepared for all their team members. In that regard, it makes sense that they wouldn’t be prepared for Iceman. He’s not an X-Man anymore and isn’t on their scouting reports.
But he already attacked their facility once before. Weren’t his powers obvious? I think by now they know what they’re dealing with. And yet, he escapes his restraints immediately because it’s as if they’d never seen him before.
Tim Matassa
