First Things First…
I’m really excited for this five-parter. I think I saw it when I was a kid, but I don’t remember for sure. I’m actually a little confused, because the teaser at the end of the last episode is about an intergalactic war, but it doesn’t show anything about Jean Grey. Maybe only the Dark Phoenix Saga, which is coming later this season, is about her, and this is totally different? I guess it’s kind of cool that I’ll get to be surprised.
3 Things I Like
3. Cyclops Questions Professor X
“Don’t you trust us? Don’t you trust me to lead the team?”
Cyclops
Typical Cyclops.
He tells the rest of the team, “You heard the professor. We’ve got a shuttle to catch,” after they’re roused from bed in the middle of the night…
… and tasked with breaking into a government facility and sneaking onto a spaceship in time for a launch the next morning!
And for what purpose?
Oh, the professor can’t tell them that. They just have to trust they’re leaving Earth for a good reason.
Their concerns are legitimate, and Cyclops just brushes them off because he’s the leader and has to follow orders no matter what.
Thankfully, he’s not that much of a robot…
And it’s refreshingly out of character when Cyclops privately questions Professor X. Why can’t they know what he wants them to do? Doesn’t he trust them? Doesn’t he trust Cyclops?
2. Jean Overrules Scott
“I’m sorry, Scott. There’s no other way.”
Jean Grey
We’ve seen Cyclops make hard decisions regarding his teammates before. Way back in the first episode of the series, he left Morph and Beast behind, at the Sentinels’ mercy. But he can’t make the same kind of objective decision when it comes to Jean. He’d rather fly the space shuttle back to Earth, exposing himself to radiation that’s nearly certain to kill him, than let Jean risk it, even though she believes she can protect herself from the radiation by generating a psychokinetic shield.
Well, apparently Jean isn’t the rule-follower Cyclops is. She uses her powers to knock him unconscious so she can fly the ship.
That couldn’t be easy for her, considering Cyclops is her team leader and romantic partner. But she steps up, takes initiative, and does what they all know is the right thing to do—even if it isn’t her call to make.
1. Intergalactic Villains
Eric the Red and his leader, who we don’t meet in person yet, are new villains to me. That might normally make it harder for me to care about them at first. But this saga feels so big that I’m into them already.
A big chunk of credit goes to the teaser from the end of the last episode. Xavier’s nightmarish visions are very effective.
We get more of that here. He’s legitimately frightened and in serious distress over the horrors he’s seeing. The only thing he even understands about his visions is that their implications are massive.
Plus, these villains actually seem badass—even Eric, who ultimately might just be the typical lackey in the vein of Destro or Starscream who fails to get the job done.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Rogue on Assignment
Rogue has been conspicuous by her absence lately. In the two-parter that kicked off the season, she was the only team member not there to battle the Spirit Drinker, and they never mentioned it. Here, she’s again the only one missing, though the professor says she’s still out on a mission. I just wonder why. I’m glad they acknowledge it, but is there a storyline reason to keep her out of this? Will she come to the rescue later in the saga? Or was the voice actress just unavailable when they were recording?
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Sneaking onto a Spaceship Shouldn’t Be This Easy
“Breaking into government installation’s not usually our style.”
Gambit
Even with a team full of mutants, and even in a pre-9/11 world, security for this massive launch shouldn’t be this lax, and getting onto a spaceship shouldn’t be this easy.
It’s crazy enough that they could even put a plan together to do this in a matter of hours. But a security breach in this situation, mere minutes before a space launch, doesn’t shut things down? Just because they find Jubilee and assume they caught the culprit, they’re good? It makes for good drama, and ultimately I didn’t bump against this too much, but it’s still silly.
Tim Matassa
No mention of Wolverine accepting Jean’s decision and her giving him a kiss at the cheeck?