We have reached the end of season two of X-Men ’97, albeit probably sooner than we would have liked given the nine episode order. Ten already seemed short compared with the 13 the original series used to get so nine is borderline cruel. All that said, before we dig into the review for the season finale I do just want to say how happy this show has made me. It still blows my mind that I’m watching a continuation of something I loved as a child. When that theme song starts up, I get goosebumps all up and down my arms and the feeling that comes over me is something akin to a high. It’s fantastic, and I hate that it’s all over so quickly.
“Survival of the Fittest” is the culmination of the season long arc involving Apocalypse (Ross Marquand). Even though the big guy was somewhat put on ice after the fourth episode, he’s back and ready to go for the finale and caught in the crossfire is Gambit. Last week, Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) made his long telegraphed re-debut as he rose from the grave with an all new look, but an all new mind set as well. Gambit quickly set out to putting together a crew and he turned to his roots for that as he returned to Louisiana to corrupt the assassins and the thieves. Gambit choosing to return home should have been a tell for all who love him because Gambit vowed to never return there and by episode’s end we found out he wasn’t the one calling the shots: Apocalypse was. X-Force had found the withered husk of the mighty Apocalypse in the previous episode and the conclusion everyone seemed to draw was that Gambit had been resurrected as his horseman of Death and he made his maker his first victim. Oh, how foolish for Apocalypse cannot be killed so easily, and especially not by one of his own making. He likely needed a new host body and Gambit was his chosen vessel, but before he could resume his crusade against all he deems weak he needed to visit someone from his past: Candra.
Candra (Debra Wilson) is who we were introduced to during the second season of the original series as the X-Ternal. She is the apparent deity the thieves and assassins aim to please in exchange for their supernatural powers. We saw Candra make an appearance in the past as part of Rama-Tut’s court, but at the time it wasn’t clear why? It turns out, she and Apocalypse would meet sometime after the events in Egypt and the big guy apparently took a liking to her so much so that he bestowed upon her some of his awesome power. She took it and ran and Apocalypse has been trying to reclaim it ever since. Now, it makes sense why he’d have interest in Gambit. If he knows about Gambit’s connection to her via the thieves (and why would he?) then posing as Gambit could bring her out of wherever it is she goes when she isn’t in that swamp and allow him to reclaim what he once gave up. And that’s exactly what happened and the only challenge Apocalypse faced came from a likely expected source in the X-Men. In particular, Xavier (Marquand) and Rogue (Lenore Zann). Xavier chose to battle Apocalypse in Gambit’s mind in what was nearly a 1:1 recreation of a similar battle for the soul of Jean during The Dark Phoenix Saga. Only this time, Xavier failed and it was Rogue who somehow was able to enter Gambit’s mind and make the save. I say “some how” because she and Gambit have never demonstrated a psychic rapport before, but he also handed over the power he took back from Candra to her. Perhaps that’s doing the heavy lifting here?
Speaking of, why did Apocalypse do that? Does this all go back to that conversation he and Rogue shared in the past regarding love? That’s one of the questions I had going into “Survival of the Fittest” where the X-Men need to free their friend from Apocalypse’s control, but also contend with recently allied X-Factor and the remnants of X-Force. Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Sunspot (Gui Agustini) defected from Cable’s (Chris Potter) team when it became obvious that Cable’s only objective is destroying Apocalypse even if that means killing Gambit in the process. X-Factor has it out for Charles and his X-Men and their choice to get involved on US soil has put them in the crosshairs. Will the supposed good mutants all figure out they have a problem bigger than each other or will everything just fall apart and play into the hands of Apocalypse?
For the finale, Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) is given the honor of stating the “Previously,” line, though if you think that’s a tip for how the episode will go I will say it most certainly is not. Jubilee and Sunspot are back in the roll call this week, though Colossus still remains on the sidelines. Perhaps he’ll be a season three addition? The ending clash has also been changed to feature Xavier’s X-Men on one side and Val Cooper’s (Catherine Disher) X-Factor on the other. The X-Men remained in their Jim Lee era costumes for this clash all season and I wonder if that will be changed next year? Or maybe leaving them in those looks will always be a way to celebrate the original series? I wouldn’t mind a return to those looks, personally. I’ve never been a fan of the black and yellow which, like the original movie suits, seemed to be born out of the idea that the old, colorful, costumes were something to be embarrassed by.
The episode wastes no time in getting to the conflict. X-Factor, along with Cable, Archangel (Christopher Barger), and Psylocke (Naoko Mori), are knocking on Xavier’s door while Gambit remains unconscious. He’s a ticking time bomb though and about the only answers anyone can come up with rests miles below the water’s surface. There, Beast (George Buza), Rogue, and Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) have come upon the celestial ship of Apocalypse, last seen in the past as a temple, but last seen in this era back in the episode “Obsession” from the original series. Beast still has a small fragment of the ship’s A.I. and it’s enough to revive it and reactivate the portal to the celestial realm we saw En Sabah Nur enter and emerge from as Apocalypse in “Rise of Apocalypse.” The ship warns the group that entering such a place requires a price, but Rogue is determined to do whatever it takes to save Gambit while Beast and Nightcrawler can do little but watch.
On Genosha, we get to watch as Cooper’s forces storm the X-Corp building in a bid to get Cable close enough to take out Gambit. They are convinced that destroying Gambit is the only way to eliminate Apocalypse and it’s only a matter of time until he takes over Gambit’s mind and body, as he’s done to so many before. There is some good action spots including Jubilee and Havok (Teddy Sears) battling it out in airplanes, Wolverine (Cal Dodd) and Morph (JP Karliak) taking on the duo of Archangel and Psylocke, and a big showdown between parents and son. There’s a lot to pack into 30 minutes (it would have been nice to get an extended ninth episode given they axed the tenth), but the pace felt solid. The action was satisfying and the character moments were also present. I might have preferred to have more character moments to go out on, but I also can’t critique the ending. Without spoiling anything, it was beautiful.
I went into this episode unsure if X-Men ’97 could stick the landing. The whole season had been building towards this confrontation, but along the way it reminded me that the big spectacles aren’t really the draw with X-Men. It’s the team dynamics, the inter-character conflicts, the soap opera elements that make the show unique among a litany of other options these days. It’s similar to how the draw with Spider-Man is less about Spider-Man and more about Peter Parker which was really on display in Brand New Day which appears on its way to be the most successful film at the box office ever in terms of number of dollars spent. Hopefully there is a lesson in there for Marvel. X-Men ’97 found a way to stick that landing and found it in an unexpected source. Should I have seen it coming? Perhaps, but I was content to just sit back and let the show take me on a ride this week and I never really found myself trying to forecast the end. I was concerned at the onset it would feel too much like the Dark Phoenix Saga because it certainly did the prior week. In a way, it did borrow elements from that this week, but with a different resolution. There was also the elephant in the room that is Apocalypse. I like Apocalypse as a villain, but my problem with him going back to the original series is that they never found satisfying ways to stop him. He would just sort of leave and the one time they really stopped him was at the end of “Beyond Good and Evil” when it was kind of a goofy, unsatisfying ending. One thing they absolutely get right with this finale is that it’s only sort of about Apocalypse, but it never loses sight of the fact that it’s primarily about Rogue and Gambit and the family they’ve acquired who will risk it all to help them. Even when it means, in the case of Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Jean (Jennifer Hale), taking on their actual family.
Like the end of season one, there is a post credits scene setting up season three so do make sure you stick around for that (or use the skip credits option). I’ll likely make a season two wrap-up post to get more into spoilers, but suffice to say I like what they’re setting up for season three. I just hope we don’t have to wait longer than a year this time (they showed a clip at San Diego Comic Con and could conceivably show another this weekend at D23 so that’s a positive sign) as that can really derail momentum. X-Men ’97 is one of the best things Disney and Marvel have going right now so I hope they don’t do anything to stifle that. This finale was terrific. If you felt the season was losing some of its momentum coming into the last episode then rest assured, this one is the payoff you likely hoped for. I do think it will be controversial and it will have some major lasting impacts on the show, but in the moment I found it satisfying even if a bit painful. Sometimes, that’s a mark of good art.
Previously…on X-Men ’97:
X-Men ’97 – “The Dead Man’s Hand”
This was the episode of X-Men ’97 we all knew was coming eventually. I don’t think I need to provide a spoilers warning given the episode title before I say this is the return of Gambit. This was all setup in the closing moments of the first season when Apocalypse (Ross Marquand) found the queen…
X-Men ’97 – “Strange Land, Savage Heart”
If you were hoping for a quick follow-up on the closing moments of last week’s episode featuring Apocalypse and a certain resurrected cajun, I’m afraid I have some bad news. The show is going to slow walk that plot as this week we’re dealing with more Genosha fallout. Considering the magnitude of the event, I’m…
X-Men ’97 – “Danger.exe”
After last week’s side trip up north to get Wolverine his skeleton back, this week’s episode of X-Men ’97 brings us back to the mansion which we really haven’t seen much of so far this season. The season’s sixth episode is centered on survivor’s guilt and the sins of a parent. For the guilt portion,…
The Nostalgia Spot 