X-Men 97

What the hell?! 

I can’t quite process what just happened. Shows like this with hyperbolic spectacle bug me. I know it opens up new story. I also saw the theme of untouchable until touched in episode 5. But it just comes off as loud sometimes. 

It is very much in line with the way comics are told now. I mean they are just characters in a story. They’ll be used again to tell stories. This is definitely pointing toward (I don’t know how to put in spoilers so I’ll just say) uh huh that sadistic person/thing. It has to be. Another hyperbolic story in X-book. 

Thwipp!

Definitely didn't see that coming. I think there's a lot of 'this was good' reaction coming mostly from the big gut punches throughout. But REALLY, this episode continues the trend of having the exact same problem as every episode before it: rushing through material.

The CONTENT is great. The story they're telling is engaging and fantastic. But it deserves to breathe, and they're not letting it. It feels like the most beautiful scenery you've ever driven through.. while going 80mph. And that's very frustrating.

I thought the episode was decent but again, rushed.  We're going to have knocked out 4 major stories in under 6 episodes including broaching the Morrison run AND having facets of Krakoa?  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the show, but this whole season I haven't really liked duplicitous Rogue; I liked her a lot in the animated series and the comics, and while I understand the Magneto relationship was a thing, this didn't seem all that well executed so much as to turn the X-Men into Melrose place now that Scott and Jean don't even get along.  Granted there have been times of upheaval in the comics, like Psylocke trying to seduce Scott in the 90s, but it's done very heavy-handed and seems forced with how fast it's all happening.

I did like the inclusion of the reporter that spoke w/ Beast for obvious reasons.  Gambit got a little more to do this episode, but I wouldn't really call it "about" him so much as there was more of a limited cast so he got a bit more screen time than usual.  Nightcrawler seemed rather spastic and hyper almost in an animated Teen Titans sort of way.  I liked the voice actor coming back, but overall it was kinda meh and I love Nightcrawler in general.

I dunno if Beau DeMayo likes Madeline Pryor as a character and dislikes Gambit, but it seems like he certainly has favorites.  Other than a few fight scenes Wolverine hasn't amounted to much.

I enjoy the show for what it is, but it only feels like a continuation of the old show in certain facets, in other ways I prefer the pacing of the old show and feel like the voice acting quality was better.  I usually watch each episode at least twice, though the Mojo one I didn't bother rewatching as it didn't feel worth it.  I do like cameos, but this show seems very heavy on them as if all these notable mutants are around one another all the time...like Krakoa.

Didn't really like Scott's tantrum with the reporter, as that seems more like "modern" comics Scott rather than the tempered and strategic leader I remember from the comics and the show.  It is what it is, and I'll continue to watch, but the tropes of this show are starting to become apparent the more I watch of it.  Still entertaining for the most part though.

The third act blew me clean away.  The first two thirds were a soap opera.  I loved it.

That said:

Posted by: @theknightdamien

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Definitely didn't see that coming. I think there's a lot of 'this was good' reaction coming mostly from the big gut punches throughout. But REALLY, this episode continues the trend of having the exact same problem as every episode before it: rushing through material.

Spoiler

Spoilers

Rogue went from 'I'm going to be with Magneto' to 'I choose Gambit' in like.. what.. 9 minutes? Less? That easily, in any other show, would have been at least an entire episode focused almost entirely on that relationship and the related characters' thoughts and feelings. Nope.

Cable's 'WATCH OUT' and then disappearing into the ether felt the same - like literally they put the first appearance of adult Nathan on fast forward because it needed to happen but they didn't really want to spend any time on it.

Scott's over here having an entire psychic affair and it happening, getting caught out, the ensuing argument happens in minutes that can be counted on a single hand.

The CONTENT is great. The story they're telling is engaging and fantastic. But it deserves to breathe, and they're not letting it. It feels like the most beautiful scenery you've ever driven through.. while going 80mph. And that's very frustrating.

Again, you're absolutely correct about all of this and I think this is more a reflection on the way modern TV watching is set up.  They have all these ideas about what they want to do, but oh, we have ten episodes, usually less, to tell the story (or stories) we want to tell.  How many other TV shows have to deal with this too?  I'm not making excuses for it, and I could go off into a bigger rant about it but I won't.  I'll just say it kinda sucks and leave it at that.  I wish this season was 30 episodes.

I'm far more satisfied with the pacing of this week's episode than I suppose most are. I didn't have any issues with Rogue. I see her relationship with Magneto as a purely physical one and one she was trying to sell herself on as much as she was Gambit in their talk. She's spent more time with him at this point (I assume, the passage of time in the original series was always rather undefined) than she did with Magneto and it's not something that's easily cast aside.

I also liked the portrayal of both Nightcrawler and Cyclops. In the first series, we only saw Nightcrawler as someone who was out of place, forced into hiding, or worried about the fate of his mother. He was a sad character. Now he is in a place he feels he's welcome and his personality has adjusted as well. I saw it as Nightcrawler adopting his comic personality from when he was with the X-Men more than what he had been before. I hope to see more from him. And with Cyclops, I'm just glad he's not doing the comic thing and just running back to Jean. That's a whole messed up situation and the scenes played out with the right amount of tension. I do think the psychic affair was the one aspect of the episode that was rushed (well, that and Cable which was both rushed and confusing). That needed to go on for a bit before Jean found out. Cyclops' choice of words when he blew up at the interviewer were also a little forced. There were parts of that speech where he didn't sound like Cyclops to me, but I think he's also hit his breaking point which we have never seen before in the show.

And, of course, the final act is what everyone is talking about mostly when they call this the best episode yet. I think I'm still partial to the second episode, but this one was certainly a spectacle. The action set pieces were, again, exceptional and the dramatic moments were also framed very well. There were just enough callbacks too for it to really hit home. And like most, I'm eager to see what happens next.

Magneto does get some great dialogue in this show. Actually dialogue in general is very enjoyable. But Storm and Magneto get some memorable and quotable lines.

Thwipp!

Jesus christ I did not see that coming

Phenomenal episode. Loved it. 

Some of my favorite lines from this week's episode, I jotted down on the rewatch: