First Things First…
Part One was better than I thought it would be, based on nothing but the description and the physical appearance of the Phalanx. That makes me more excited to finish the story. I want to see how the rebels stop this seemingly unstoppable enemy. And how Beast and company will work together with Mister Sinister.
6 Things I Like
6. Return to Muir Island
“Muir Island! It is isolated, and its mutant research facilities are among the finest in the world!”
Beast
The team needs a lab, and Mister Sinister’s has already been destroyed or assimilated. So Beast comes up with the idea to pay Moira a visit on Muir Island. Not only does she have a world-class lab, but they’re on an island, isolated from the Phalanx.
Of course, that doesn’t last. It’s creepy when a bird from the mainland flies in and reveals it’s part of the Phalanx by assimilating Sinister’s ship. But at least they accomplish what they set out to do, even if they lose Moira and Banshee (for the moment) in the process.
5. Cyclops Almost Blows It
“Sinister! I should have known you were responsible!”
Cyclops
I don’t think Cyclops was even in Part One, but now he’s been captured by the Phalanx, along with most of the X-Men.
I actually thought to myself early in the episode that it’s good Cyclops isn’t in this story because they’re working with Mister Sinister.
This is why.
Conveniently, Mister Sinister is the one who frees him. And Cyclops wastes no time before blasting away the moment he sees him.
Thankfully, he doesn’t ruin things. Amelia, who came on board on Muir Island, tells him to cut the shit, because Sinister is actually on their side.
But I love the callback to Cyclops’ hatred of Sinister, which dates back to Sinister abducting him and Jean at their first attempted wedding in Season 2, and continues through his second abduction of Jean in “Beyond Good and Evil” last season.
4. Wolverine Helps the Enemy
“Your healing factor poses quite a problem for us. You resist assimilation even more than other mutants. But your entire skeleton is bonded with adamantium, a very good conductor. By assimilating your bones, the Phalanx will examine you from the inside out.”
Cameron Hodge
It’s unintentional, of course, but the Phalanx use Wolverine’s adamantium against him. It’s the key that unlocks for them the secret to assimilating mutants who, to that point, had proven immune.
And assimilating mutants is key to their whole plan because of their powers.
It sucks for Wolverine. But his powers are unique, even among mutants. They’ve been used for good in the past, like when they helped develop the antibodies to fend off a plague. It makes sense that, eventually, they’d also be used for ill.
3. Perfect Sameness Versus Individuality
“The assimilation of all organic life, everywhere in the universe!”
Cameron Hodge
There’s a great juxtaposition at play between the Phalanx’s ultimate goal of eliminating the errors of organic reproduction and genetic mutation, and the individuality and uniqueness fundamental to life.
Because the Phalanx makes exact replicas of itself, reproduction is error-free. There are no “inferior strains of mutation,” as Cameron Hodge puts it. He refers to this as a “cleansing “of the universe. But Beast sums up the collateral damage this will cause, saying the whole universe will be…
“… forever free of individual thought and emotion. Love, hate, curiosity, wonder. All the things that make life life!”
It reminds me of Robin Williams’ monologue in Dead Poets Society about why we read poetry. It touches on the wonder and beauty of life—all of which would be eliminated if the whole universe were to become the same.
2. Earth Guide to the Stars
“Your mutant friends cost me an arm and a leg! Thanks to the Phalanx, I’ve made a complete recovery. In return, I am a kind of guide for their operation on Earth.”
Cameron Hodge
Cameron Hodge describes himself as an Earth guide to the stars.
Other than briefly seeing him in Part One—without realizing it was him—I don’t think we’ve seen Hodge since Season 1. Now he’s back, and his anti-mutant agenda makes him the perfect host for the Phalanx.
Even though I’ve criticized the appearance of the Phalanx in general, seeing Hodge’s face as it’s been assimilated into the Phalanx is incredibly creepy.
And he’s largely responsible for this crisis. He says…
“The Phalanx found me, but it was I who let it know the urgency of absorbing mutants, to increase its own power!”
They try to perform a “cleansing” of all organic life throughout the universe, and he’s at the helm. Hodge is truly one of the vilest villains we’ve seen on the show.
1. Magneto Is Weary
“Then let it come. Losing Asteroid M has made me weary of this life, Dr. McCoy, weary of this endless struggle. Go! Leave me in peace!”
Magneto
Here’s another great callback…
I love Magneto’s weariness here, especially as it relates to losing Asteroid M. He’s grown a beard and is tired of the world, so he’s isolated himself in his fortress in the Arctic Circle.
And he has no desire to help, even if it means the end of the world, until he’s told Quicksilver has been captured. So it’s another callback to his discovery of his children that motivates him to join the cause.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. The Quicksilver Conundrum
Including Quicksilver in this story provides the perfect motivation to get Magneto to join the cause. That makes sense.
But that’s Quicksilver’s only role here. He barely qualifies as a character. He’s just a plot device. An effective plot device—but I’d still like to see him offer something other than just being Magneto’s son.
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Life Partner Survives
I was all set to praise Warlock for volunteering to be used as bait, being willing to sacrifice himself and die alongside his life partner.
But as it turns out, he survives. And so does his life partner.
I have nothing against her. She’s never a real character until the end, so I couldn’t dislike her. And according to Warlock, she was a victim of Cameron Hodge, too.
But I don’t understand how all the rest of the Phalanx appears to be destroyed by the cure, but she miraculously survives. No explanation is given. It just feels like a cheap way out of killing her—and either killing Warlock, too, or having him be very sad at the end of an otherwise happy ending.
They had a chance to do something really poignant here, but they took the easy way out.
Tim Matassa
