X-Men ’97 2×07, 2×08 and 2×09 Review: “Survival of the Fittest”

X-Men 97 season 2 came to a somewhat disappointing conclusion after making fans sit through a whole bunch of unfocused storytelling and setting up a primary narrative that unexpectedly changed course near the end.

Even though the animated X-Men 97 series has been renewed for a third season, after the messiness that was season 2, I would frankly be okay with this show not returning. Yes, I found it to be that disappointing. The primary narrative involving Magneto, Professor X, and Apocalypse during the three-episode premiere took such a surprising turn as the season progressed that I have no idea how such a pivot was even thought of and then approved by a whole writing team.

Episode 8, titled ‘The Dead Man’s Hand’, made it seem as if the show had transformed into What if… X-Men 97 instead of an actual continuation of X-Men 97 season 2. Like, what the heck to you mean that Apocalypse took over Gambit’s body instead of using him as a Horseman? What do you mean the final villain was a hybrid of Gambit/Apocalypse and a Cosmic-powered Rogue was needed to save Gambit’s soul?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of X-Men comic books. I’ve been reading them for decades. However, the well-written stories at least put in the groundwork to add context to “out there” ideas and twists. Episodes 8 and 9 of X-Men 97 seemed to be doing stuff just for the sake of shock value, made all the more tough to swallow due to the rushed pace. It was as if the writers were trying to use the accelerated momentum to keep the audience hooked, not allowing them the time to think of what was actually happening and realize that not much of a story was being told.

Yeah, I am heated. Episode 8 and especially episode 9, titled ‘Survival of the Fittest’, were some of the poorest superhero writing I have experienced.

Anyway, before I talk more about those two episodes, I’m going to share some of my thoughts about episode 7, titled ‘Strange Land, Savage Heart’. With Cable’s team trying to track down Apocalypse in the present, this particular chapter focused on the political landscape. Graydon Creed had garnered a whole lot of support and, of course, announced running for President. The Acolytes of Magneto, led by Exodus, decided to kidnap Graydon and used his life as a way to make X-Force release imprisoned mutants.

Understandably, Professor X’s newest X-Corp team involved itself to rescue Graydon and prevent any escalation. Also, Graydon being Nightcrawler’s half-brother added a personal layer to the dilemma.

I’m not the biggest Nightcrawler fan, but I liked how he was handled during episode 7. Being a man of faith and always wanting to see the best in people, Kurt couldn’t help but fight for Graydon’s life. According to Kurt, everybody, including Graydon, had the potential to be better.

Kurt’s moral stance regarding a vile person like Graydon didn’t sit well with me. But again, his opinions made sense for his character. And, as far as I’m concerned, that’s good character work. The episode even had Kurt participate in a trial to convince Colossus to spare Graydon’s life. It was rushed. But enjoyable, especially because you could tell that Kurt didn’t have a good case supporting Graydon’s release.

Kurt even tried to make Graydon realize how his hatred for Mystique and Sabertooth had manifested in Graydon channelling his hurt and anger toward mutantdom. But to no avail. There was no saving Graydon. Which, unfortunately, is the case in real-life for many such people fueled by blinding rage and hatred toward minorities and other similar groups.

One of the best moments for me was Kurt realizing said truth and how that clashed with his moral stance of wanting to save others. Kurt didn’t take Graydon’s life, but he did leave Graydon up to the elements and the will of God. Again, some good character work.

As for the action sequence involving Kurt vs Exodus, there’s no way Kurt would actually stand a chance against someone like Exodus. But oh well, I guess the writers just wanted Exodus off the board ASAP. Also, the Genosha flashback with Magik willingly dying from an incoming laser beam? Again, sigh! As I mentioned at the beginning of this review post, this wasn’t a well-written season of X-Men 97.

Coming to episode 8, ‘The Dead Man’s Hand’ was about a recently resurrected Dark Gambit taking matters into his own hands after, somehow, killing Apocalypse. From what I could understand, Dark Gambit wanted revenge against the X-ternal Candra, who faked falling in love with Apocalypse to steal a bit of his power. Dark Gambit planned to get that particular piece of power back from Candra and use it on Rogue to bind them together as an immortal couple.

While we got to see some of Rogue’s emotional turmoil over Gambit’s return and being asked the question to spend eternity with him, it was quite surprising (and again, poor writing) to see the rest of the X-Men, especially Storm, not sharing an emotional moment with Dark Gambit or even having a talk amongst the team about Dark Gambit and how to put a stop to him.

The Astral Plane fight between Dark Gambit and Professor X revealed that Apocalypse still existed inside Gambit’s mind. Prof X needed to keep Apocalypse contained before he could completely overtake Gambit’s psyche.

Why didn’t Jean Grey support Prof X during the Astral Plane fight? That’s because the writers weren’t interested in giving Jean much to do this season. Sis even struggled trying to telekinetically hold together a single cargo plane in episode 8. Sigh!

Episode 9, the season 2 finale, continued with X-Corp trying to keep Gambit safe while they figured out a way to extract Apocalypse from his mind. On the other hand, X-Force and X-Factor joined forces to kill Gambit. Those two teams couldn’t risk Apocalypse breaking through Prof X’s psychic containment.

The rescue mission led to Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast entering Apocalypse’s spaceship to find an answer, developing into Rogue talking to the Celestial Eson. Having Eson be convinced by Rogue’s willingness to fight for love was cheesy. But then again, the X-Men storylines do have a major cheese factor when it comes to certain couples.

Rogue transforming into Cosmic/Celestial Rogue was eye-roll-inducing, though. The first season of X-Men 97 had Jean tap into the Phoenix Force. Season 2 had Storm use her powers at the Cosmic level. And yet, both Jean and Storm weren’t used as Cosmic-powered fighters to either supercharge Rogue to unlock her Cosmic Form or even stall Gambit/Apocalypse until Cosmic Rogue’s appearance on the battlefield.

Also, seeing Gambit/Apocalypse easily take over freaking Jean Grey’s mind without the Omega-level telepath even putting up a fight was incredibly disappointing.

You could just feel the moment where Onslaught’s appearance would have made sense as Gambit/Apocalypse used Prof X’s own students against him. But nopes. The writers wanted to give us a What if… X-Men 97 instead of a well-written X-Men 97 season 2.

With Gambit/Apocalypse defeated by Comic Rogue in a lackluster confrontation, the show set things up for season 3 with Mystique taking over Dr. Cooper’s identity and Graydon being elected President of the United States.

I really hope the writers get it together for season 3 of X-Men 97 because season 2 was not it.

Did you watch X-Men 97 season 2 episodes 7, 8, and 9? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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