Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
[8.210] Holy cow! A lot freakin’ happens here.
Let’s start with this. I love the memorials for Gambit. The show feels especially solemn and impacted by the loss of one of its main characters, which is as it should be. Nightcrawler’s eulogy is lovely, an appropriate blend of card metaphors to befit the guest of honor, but also with words that speak insight into the noble man who was dealing them. And you can feel the impact that the loss of Gambit has on everyone in the X-Men and beyond. Especially Rogue.
I kind of love Rogue’s roaring rampage of revenge here. On the pure fanservice front, it gives us the (I think?) first glimpses of the wider Marvel Universe we’ve had in X-Men ‘97 outside of the mutants’ corner of it. Rogue threatening none other than General Ross in an anti-Hulk base, and crossing paths with Captain America (replete with Josh Keaton reprising the role from What If), has a cool factor to it, and makes the show feel part of a bigger world.
On the personal front, it’s a sign of how much Gambit meant to Rogue. There is something that's always compelling for me about the person who’s lost some semblance of control, and their usual grip on what’s right and wrong, in the throes of grief. It’s a very human act to be unmoored after a great loss. Seeing Rogue throw out the usual rulebook, threatening government representatives, clashing with erstwhile allies, rejecting doing anything by the book, is a reflection of how messed up she is by what happened to Remy.
I appreciate Nightcrawler being there for her as a sibling, helping her process that loss in healthier ways. The acknowledgment that her pain is real, but that she has a whole family behind her, is a heartening one. The show smartly doesn’t diminish the intensity of Rogue’s feelings, or shortchange the time she has to express them in messy ways, but circles back to her support system, even as she’s clearly not better given the events at the end of the episode.
But that also speaks to an interesting curing theme in an episode chock full of complex ideas -- a sense of anger and even disgust at the sympathetic moderate. Cyclops reacts with anger to President Kelly pulling resources because siding with mutants isn’t good optics in the political scene right now. Beast responds with out-of-character scorn for the reporter who sits idly by as a neutral party when tragedy is happening, whatever sympathies she may offer. And Rogue refers to Cap himself as a “top cop” when he’s on her side, but doesn’t want to act to address the problem, lest the imagery of his presence knocking heads in Mexico City be an issue.
What I like about this is that the foils in these discussions are not one-note, caricatured bad guys. They’re people making points that make sense from their perspective, some of which are fair. But they also fall as cheap words upon the ears of a maligned community that's facing a monumental collective tragedy. The people who aren’t there to hurt them, but won’t step in to help them, despite the injustice of Genosha, are still painted in a bad light for their unwillingness to take the side of the people in genuine need, because of others’ prejudices. That lack of integrity is damning.
It’s why my favorite scene in this whole thing might be Roberto coming out to his mother. In contrast to the scene from the X-Men film series, there’s no rejection or fear from his mom. Instead, she offers acceptance, a confession that she’s always known, and the parental sense of wanting a child to tell their own secrets in their own time. It’s the kind of warm response you don’t expect, something that calms Roberto’s fears and makes him realize that his mother will love him no less.
But then she drops the bombshell -- that even if she personally accepts him, their company’s shareholders won’t, and so he’ll be expected to keep his full identity under wraps. It’s a different, but no less pernicious form of marginalization than the kind that Rogue faced from her father. Accepting someone behind closed doors only, giving into the prejudices on the outside for pragmatic or financial reasons, is a different type of oppression than that of the outright bigots, but it’s no less insidious. As with so many things, the way X-Men ‘97 picks up that baton from the original show, and takes it to more complex places, is masterful.
I’m also impressed by how much the crimes of Genosha are allowed to resonate. I’ll admit, one of my gripes with the old show is that some gigantic, incredible thing would happen, and then it’d be just on to the next thing. That is, to some extent, the nature of comic book storytelling. But it makes the destruction of paradise in Genosha a bigger deal when we get to linger on it, and really sit with the mutants mourning not just their dead, but this paradise lost. The simple triumph of rescuing Emma Frost from the rubble, matched with the stark reminders of who’s still missing, give this a punch. And Beast quoting no less a saint than Mr. Rogers tugs at the heartstrings.
It’s enough to build some bridges between Cyclops and Jean. Tragedy has a way of bringing people together. That's the small silver lining. And seeing them acknowledge the complexities of their relationship, but still want to provide solace to one another at a difficult time for everyone, is heartening development after the high drama of their last interaction.
Amid all of this serious meditation on both the plight of oppressed peoples writ large and the personal struggles of our X-Men, the show does a good job of setting up the next grand villain. I’ll admit that I found Trask doing a quasi-Oppneheimer routine and then becoming a killer robot kind of cheesy, and I don’t know much about Bastion. But the episode does a good job of introducing him as a sly, craft, malevolent presence within the world of the show, one with the presence of an antagonist from Dexter, and a mastermind sensibility. Him having captured Magneto is an intriguing twist, and while he fulfills some standard villain tropes, they did a good of leaving me intrigued to see what exactly he has planned for our heroes.
Overall, another outstanding episode of the show, which raises some legitimately thorny issues in an emotionally potent way, and ably sets up the next challenge in an organic one (if you’ll pardon the expression).
I haven't slept for 24 hours, but I don't think it's my fault that this episode was a bit confusing, but the fight scenes were still great and it was emotional. Overall, it was a good episode. It was nice to see America's top cop too. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
Fuck man
Captain America
:fire::fire:
My head literally exploded as soon as Cap appeared!!!
that mutant parrot girl made me tear up really cute design :cry: and sad
The writers are not holding anything back this season. Bringing in a power house like Bastion is huge. That final fight is gonna be so good
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And since when does argue have superstrength?
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And I am totally confused with the Jean/Madeleine Storyline. I don’t understand it at all!
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And I am totally confused with the Jean/Madeleine Storyline. I don’t understand it at all!
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And I am totally confused with the Jean/Madeleine Storyline. I don’t understand it at all!
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And I am totally confused with the Jean/Madeleine Storyline. I don’t understand it at all!
I hate that every voice actor is overdramatising every single sentence. Also Animation is often really weird und ugly. They should have made a modern version of it instead of trying to keep the old look. And I am totally confused with the Jean/Madeleine Storyline. I don’t understand it at all!
I don't know where that road would lead us, but for now, once again, amazing.
All odd number episodes were near perfect or perfect.
p.s. I'm surprised they didn't used Total eclipse of the Heart with that title. Creators have iron will ;)
This episode was designed for me to talk about big bad bastion but for me captain America showing up cannonified X-Men in avengers universe .I hope one day we see big MCU battle between the X-MEN vs the Avengers.in the future
Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
Bright Eyes was pretty much place setting for the three part finale but like with all of X-Men ’97 it did so with a punch. While we see pretty much the whole cast throughout this episode this was Rogue’s story more than anyone else. Seeing her process her grief through sheer rage as she rampages to find the people responsible for the Genosha massacre was harrowing. She goes dark in a way that really reminds you she started her place in X-Men as a member of the Brotherhood and there’s a satisfaction to seeing her go ape-shit on everyone from Captain America to General Ross and finally Gyrich.
This episode also sees how everyone is coping with events post Genosha. We see Scott’s simmering tension with the human politics blocking aid to the country, Beast moving further away from Xaviers mission of tolerance and Jean be.ing psychically haunted by the echos thousands of lives but short in the tragedy. All small but viscerally impactful moments throughout the episode.
Given the consistent quality writing I’m so excited to see how this story unfolds in the weeks to come.
Shout by Zoso5VIP 4BlockedParent2024-04-24T11:34:34Z
Waking up early, bleary eyed and watching this show reminds me of early-morning cartoon watching when I was a kid. Except with more tears now!