First Things First…
We’re closing in on the end of the series, and this final season isn’t off to a great start. I’m hopeful about this episode, though, because we’re not done with Apocalypse yet. I thought we might’ve seen the last of him in the four-part “Beyond Good and Evil” arc that closed out Season 4, but the old boy has life in him yet!
5 Things I Like
5. Apocalypse Rides Again
Apocalypse’s spirit is stuck in the Astral Plane, in need of a host body, for most of the episode. But at the end, he betrays Cortez, just as Beast predicted he would, by taking Cortez as his host.
Of course, with only five episodes left in the series, Apocalypse’s return may amount to nothing. But it’s great to see him win again, after seemingly being destroyed at the end of Season 4. By pulling off this coup, he makes his astral appearances throughout the episode worthwhile.
4. Cortez the Wanderer
“How is it that I am here when you thought I had perished on Asteroid M? It’s very simple. I was saved for a higher purpose. I am the chosen one charged by the almighty Apocalypse himself to help him return to Earth.”
Fabian Cortez
It seemed we’d never get a payoff to the end of the Asteroid M story, when Apocalypse rescued Cortez—clearly for his own purposes.
Not only do we get that payoff here, but we even learn why Cortez wasn’t in the “Beyond Good and Evil” arc. Apocalypse empowered him and commanded him to wander the earth, rounding up “hounds” to serve Apocalypse. That explains the crew serving him here at Apocalypse’s temple—including Caliban, one of the Morlocks.
As for seeing Cortez again…
He’s a bit dramatic, but he’s still a villain worthy of reappearing in the show.
3. The Rise and Fall of Super Beast
Much like when the High Evolutionary turned Wolverine into a big-ass wolf, I’m a sucker for monstrous transformations like Beast undergoes here. And I’m aware of how weird it sounds to say that Beast—already a furry blue monstrous-looking creature—goes through a monstrous transformation. But he does. There’s no other way to explain it. He becomes even bigger, stronger, and more agile while losing his ability to talk and, seemingly to some degree, his intelligence.
That said, he’s moved by a picture of him with the team, and another of himself with Jubilee, plus the coffee mug Jubilee bought for him early in the episode. This prompts him to return to the temple and help rescue her.
But I’m glad the photos and mug breaking through his consciousness and causing him to help his friend only happens once. I thought it was about to happen a second time when Super Beast grabs Cortez and looks poised to kill him. Jubilee yells at him to let go, but this time she can’t get through to him. Cortez is forced to save himself by reversing Beast’s transformation. I found that a more realistic and satisfying story beat.
2. Jubilee and Hank
I can’t remember ever getting this pairing on their own. Usually, if Jubilee is with one teammate, I’d expect it to be Wolverine or Gambit. I wouldn’t have predicted that I’d like this pairing so much. But she and Beast have a great rapport. It’s super sweet when she buys him the “World’s Greatest Teacher” mug, which he’s touched by. And he says he’s happy to have had her along on this learning expedition, though it was coming to a close even before they stumbled into danger.
1. Failsafe
“… then he led me to this forgotten place, a failsafe built eons ago, a final insurance should all other plans fail. This temple of Apocalypse is the portal through which he shall return to our world, his world.”
Fabian Cortez
Even though he usually gets thwarted in the end, Apocalypse is often multiple steps ahead of everyone else. His use of Cortez on the side, even as he was off kidnapping all the telepaths and preparing to destroy time, is an example of that.
An even longer-running example is the mere presence of this temple.
Beast mentions that it looks like the people there have probably been worshipping Apocalypse for centuries, and that this temple is a replica of the Lazarus Temple Cable destroyed in Egypt.
Turns out it’s a failsafe he’s had for generations, and he finally uses it to return to a body, and to Earth.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Who Are These Guys?
When you don’t recognize a character in peril, nor do you recognize the monsters chasing him—even if they look cool—it’s not the most engaging way to start an episode.
I think a solution may have been to open with Apocalypse’s spirit talking to someone, then getting the reveal that Cortez is working for him, before showing this scene of the hounds chasing a potential vessel for Apocalypse.
1. Caliban
“I drag you out of the Morlock sewers, I give you power beyond your feeble imagination, and you repay me with incompetence? I should have left you as I found you, pathetic, despised, and weak.”
Fabian Cortez
I’ve never enjoyed the Morlocks much, so Caliban is on the back foot from the jump.
Even when Cortez depowers him and we see Caliban’s real appearance, he’s not one of the more recognizable Morlocks to me.
So, while a Morlock working for Cortez and Apocalypse but turning against them and helping the good guys is a good idea—especially since Jubilee has special history with the Morlocks, going back to the Christmas episode—it would’ve meant more if I liked the Morlocks more or if Caliban in particular was more memorable.
Tim Matassa
I checked Marvel Wiki for also wanted to know who he was and what was his plot in previous appearances – turns out Caliban (Earth-92131) wasn’t actually seen among Morlocks but in Genoshia in S1, and seemingly had a brief cameo in Asteroid M story’s Part 1 episode.
Nice, I’m glad it wasn’t just me who was confused about Caliban. There are a few Morlocks I’d recognize right away, even if I don’t know their names, but he isn’t one of them.