XTAS reviews
May. 11th, 2010 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisMore reviews of X-men: The Animated Series.
Episode: Repo Man
Brief summary: Wolverine is captured by his former team, Alpha Flight, who are under orders to experiment on him and his adamantium skeleton.
- Wolverine still has feelings for Heather; he goes after her when he’d been tricked into thinking that she needed his help. Is there a nice way to tell someone to stop pining over women he can’t have??
- It was nice to see Alpha Flight! And kudos to the creators of Alpha Flight for giving us one of the first openly gay superheroes.
- But I gotta say that Alpha Flight didn’t put up too much of an impressive fight. Why does it take 7 people to subdue Wolverine? Why don’t they fight better as a team? (Was it just easier to introduce each character during their one-on-one combat with Wolverine than if Alpha Flight had all piled on at the same time?)
- This is one of several episodes that gives hints at Wolverine’s tragic past. This guy has been through a lot. Maybe I need to cut him some slack for not being over Heather. Or Jean. Maybe he’s just used to pain.
- I’ve “used” Alpha Flight in some of my fanfic, because they were Northstar’s team. Although she’s not Alpha Flight’s leader here, Heather has led the group in the comics – thus, I’d kind of envisioned her as a bit more assertive and strong. When rewatching this episode, I was a bit disappointed because she seemed somewhat weak here. However, she sure makes a comeback at the end – standing up to her evil boss, even quitting her job rather than torturing Wolverine.
- Alpha Flight seems angry (Vindicator) and hurt (everyone else) that Wolverine left. We even hear that his “desertion has weakened this department”. Plus it does seem like Shaman, Puck, and the others truly liked him.
- There’s a scene in this episode (not a flashback) where Wolverine is strapped to an operating table and about to be experimented on again. I felt really bad for him. Seeing him in the compromising position, I had to let out an exasperated, “Again?!” Leave the poor man alone!
- Other than Wolverine, only four other X-men have speaking roles in this episode: the Professor, Jean, Gambit, and Cyclops. I like scenes – brief as they were here - that show glimpses of the X-men’s personalities and interactions. Gambit’s got his sense of humor. Jean senses that Wolverine is in “such pain”. Gambit says, “Man’s been a pain since the get-go”. Then serious Cyclops tells him to knock it off; he’s really concerned with his teammate.
- So the rest of Alpha Flight hadn’t realized what their leadership really wanted to do to Wolverine, and when they learn the truth, they work to free him. Yay! Some redemption for the team. But I guess it was too little too late. Wolverine tells his former teammates not to come after him ever again, and for the remainder of XTAS’s course we never again see Alpha Flight in speaking roles.
- Rating: Three and a half stars, mainly because it was cool to see Alpha Flight and nice to learn a bit about Logan’s past.
Episode: X-Ternally Yours
Brief summary: Gambit is summoned back to New Orleans and finds himself again caught in the conflict between the Thieves and the Assassins.
- I won’t even try to be objective here. I love Gambit and this is one of the few episodes that focuses on him. So right away – awesome.
- Interesting that last episode had Wolverine pulled away by people from his past, and in this episode it’s Gambit’s turn!
- You gotta admire Cyclops’s work ethic. He tells Gambit to crank it up in the Danger Room. Cyclops wants to be sure he’s getting the most out of his training.
- But can someone tell me why the phone rings and Gambit answers it? With the greeting “Xavier’s School”? It is truly a shame that they don’t have money to hire a receptionist or get a voice mail system. ("If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for Xavier, 2 for Cyclops...")
- As absorbed as Gambit is in the phone conversation, I just can’t believe that he didn’t notice that he accidentally cranked the Danger Room up to an unreasonable setting. I don’t think the guy’s perfect but I think he’s at a point where he takes his duties as an X-man seriously enough.
- I like to try to estimate the X-men’s ages. Here we are treated to a flashback from exactly ten years ago. Gambit looks much the same as he does now; I can’t imagine that he was any younger than, say, 18 in the flashback. (In fact, he could very well have been several years older than that). So Gambit has to be at least in his late twenties now, if not older.
- The voice of the External bears a disturbing resemblance to that of Storm’s. (And Storm herself doesn’t actually appear in this episode. Hmmm….)
- I liked Gambit’s outburst against the madness he left: “Who cares about the stupid tithe? When will it ever stop? Assassins kill Thieves, Thieves kill Assassins. For 300 years. No one knows why anymore. This feud is crazy!” I thought it shows growth and maturity that he chose to leave it.
- This is one of the rare early episodes where Jean goes on a mission. It seems to me that as the series went on, she did more of this than at the beginning.
- I also liked her insightful comment about Gambit, when she says she wishes he had asked the rest of the X-men for help. “After all this time, he should trust us,” Jean says. I agree with her. I guess that trust takes time, and for Gambit it’s just not easy.
- I was surprised when Bobby greets Gambit with, “The big X-man finally come home for a visit”. I thought that most people like didn’t know about the X-men or what went on at “Xavier’s school”. So… Gambit writes letters home and tells Bobby what he’s up to? Seriously, I guess he must because later on, other Thieves easily identify Jean, Wolverine, and Rogue as X-men. And how else would they have known how to contact Gambit in the first place? (Does Gambit blog about his experiences in the X-men?)
- I sure would’ve liked to have known more about XTAS’s version of Gambit’s history. We get a few tantalizing glimpses. We learn that Bobby got him into the Thieves and that they are brothers. If I’m correct with the comic canon, they are foster brothers, not biological. I want to learn more!
- And speaking of learning more and of Gambit’s growth, I am very impressed by what he and Belladonna had tried to do 10 years ago. He says that they had hoped that their marriage would have brought the guilds together and stopped the fighting. Probably the wrong method, but I’m glad that he had tried to stop the madness.
- I know that Wolverine and Gambit haven’t always gotten along like angels, but the Canadian makes a few too many comments about the “dump” that Gambit is from. But then again, Gambit took a dig at him in the previous episode. I do think this snipping is somewhat amicable though. They were there for each other in “The Final Decision” anyway! And hey, later on Wolverine is very pissed with one of the Thieves, telling him that “Remy is not a piece of meat” to be traded.
- Rogue gets quite jealous over Belladonna! I guess we see her true feelings now. I got a kick out of seeing them fight over Remy.
- And yay to Jean for using her powers to just take the weapons from the two warring guilds. And even bigger yay for her using her powers to help the External see the truth. She’s smart and so crucial to the mission – she needs to get out of the mansion more often!
- There is one line of Belladonna’s that has always perplexed me. She says a word that sounds like “screws” to me, but it doesn’t sound quite like “screws” and I can’t imagine that that word would’ve gotten passed the sensors anyhow. She says, “Remy ____ many women but loves only one.” Does anyone have a clue what she actually says? I imagine it can’t really be “screws”. It sounds a bit more like “skis”, but that makes even less sense. Is it “sees”?
- Gambit leaves little doubt where his heart is. “I am an X-man. And I’m never coming back,” he tells Belladonna. I also liked that he puts his arm around Rogue as he leaves.
- I also loved the ending scene with Scott and Jean speculating on how they can get Gambit to open up and trust more. Though I still say, based on the above point, that he’s come very far. Regardless, I like these little touches – showing how Scott and Jean care about the team and want its members to be happy.
- Rating: Five stars. So much character growth!
Episode: Repo Man
Brief summary: Wolverine is captured by his former team, Alpha Flight, who are under orders to experiment on him and his adamantium skeleton.
- Wolverine still has feelings for Heather; he goes after her when he’d been tricked into thinking that she needed his help. Is there a nice way to tell someone to stop pining over women he can’t have??
- It was nice to see Alpha Flight! And kudos to the creators of Alpha Flight for giving us one of the first openly gay superheroes.
- But I gotta say that Alpha Flight didn’t put up too much of an impressive fight. Why does it take 7 people to subdue Wolverine? Why don’t they fight better as a team? (Was it just easier to introduce each character during their one-on-one combat with Wolverine than if Alpha Flight had all piled on at the same time?)
- This is one of several episodes that gives hints at Wolverine’s tragic past. This guy has been through a lot. Maybe I need to cut him some slack for not being over Heather. Or Jean. Maybe he’s just used to pain.
- I’ve “used” Alpha Flight in some of my fanfic, because they were Northstar’s team. Although she’s not Alpha Flight’s leader here, Heather has led the group in the comics – thus, I’d kind of envisioned her as a bit more assertive and strong. When rewatching this episode, I was a bit disappointed because she seemed somewhat weak here. However, she sure makes a comeback at the end – standing up to her evil boss, even quitting her job rather than torturing Wolverine.
- Alpha Flight seems angry (Vindicator) and hurt (everyone else) that Wolverine left. We even hear that his “desertion has weakened this department”. Plus it does seem like Shaman, Puck, and the others truly liked him.
- There’s a scene in this episode (not a flashback) where Wolverine is strapped to an operating table and about to be experimented on again. I felt really bad for him. Seeing him in the compromising position, I had to let out an exasperated, “Again?!” Leave the poor man alone!
- Other than Wolverine, only four other X-men have speaking roles in this episode: the Professor, Jean, Gambit, and Cyclops. I like scenes – brief as they were here - that show glimpses of the X-men’s personalities and interactions. Gambit’s got his sense of humor. Jean senses that Wolverine is in “such pain”. Gambit says, “Man’s been a pain since the get-go”. Then serious Cyclops tells him to knock it off; he’s really concerned with his teammate.
- So the rest of Alpha Flight hadn’t realized what their leadership really wanted to do to Wolverine, and when they learn the truth, they work to free him. Yay! Some redemption for the team. But I guess it was too little too late. Wolverine tells his former teammates not to come after him ever again, and for the remainder of XTAS’s course we never again see Alpha Flight in speaking roles.
- Rating: Three and a half stars, mainly because it was cool to see Alpha Flight and nice to learn a bit about Logan’s past.
Episode: X-Ternally Yours
Brief summary: Gambit is summoned back to New Orleans and finds himself again caught in the conflict between the Thieves and the Assassins.
- I won’t even try to be objective here. I love Gambit and this is one of the few episodes that focuses on him. So right away – awesome.
- Interesting that last episode had Wolverine pulled away by people from his past, and in this episode it’s Gambit’s turn!
- You gotta admire Cyclops’s work ethic. He tells Gambit to crank it up in the Danger Room. Cyclops wants to be sure he’s getting the most out of his training.
- But can someone tell me why the phone rings and Gambit answers it? With the greeting “Xavier’s School”? It is truly a shame that they don’t have money to hire a receptionist or get a voice mail system. ("If you know your party's extension, you may dial it at any time. Press 1 for Xavier, 2 for Cyclops...")
- As absorbed as Gambit is in the phone conversation, I just can’t believe that he didn’t notice that he accidentally cranked the Danger Room up to an unreasonable setting. I don’t think the guy’s perfect but I think he’s at a point where he takes his duties as an X-man seriously enough.
- I like to try to estimate the X-men’s ages. Here we are treated to a flashback from exactly ten years ago. Gambit looks much the same as he does now; I can’t imagine that he was any younger than, say, 18 in the flashback. (In fact, he could very well have been several years older than that). So Gambit has to be at least in his late twenties now, if not older.
- The voice of the External bears a disturbing resemblance to that of Storm’s. (And Storm herself doesn’t actually appear in this episode. Hmmm….)
- I liked Gambit’s outburst against the madness he left: “Who cares about the stupid tithe? When will it ever stop? Assassins kill Thieves, Thieves kill Assassins. For 300 years. No one knows why anymore. This feud is crazy!” I thought it shows growth and maturity that he chose to leave it.
- This is one of the rare early episodes where Jean goes on a mission. It seems to me that as the series went on, she did more of this than at the beginning.
- I also liked her insightful comment about Gambit, when she says she wishes he had asked the rest of the X-men for help. “After all this time, he should trust us,” Jean says. I agree with her. I guess that trust takes time, and for Gambit it’s just not easy.
- I was surprised when Bobby greets Gambit with, “The big X-man finally come home for a visit”. I thought that most people like didn’t know about the X-men or what went on at “Xavier’s school”. So… Gambit writes letters home and tells Bobby what he’s up to? Seriously, I guess he must because later on, other Thieves easily identify Jean, Wolverine, and Rogue as X-men. And how else would they have known how to contact Gambit in the first place? (Does Gambit blog about his experiences in the X-men?)
- I sure would’ve liked to have known more about XTAS’s version of Gambit’s history. We get a few tantalizing glimpses. We learn that Bobby got him into the Thieves and that they are brothers. If I’m correct with the comic canon, they are foster brothers, not biological. I want to learn more!
- And speaking of learning more and of Gambit’s growth, I am very impressed by what he and Belladonna had tried to do 10 years ago. He says that they had hoped that their marriage would have brought the guilds together and stopped the fighting. Probably the wrong method, but I’m glad that he had tried to stop the madness.
- I know that Wolverine and Gambit haven’t always gotten along like angels, but the Canadian makes a few too many comments about the “dump” that Gambit is from. But then again, Gambit took a dig at him in the previous episode. I do think this snipping is somewhat amicable though. They were there for each other in “The Final Decision” anyway! And hey, later on Wolverine is very pissed with one of the Thieves, telling him that “Remy is not a piece of meat” to be traded.
- Rogue gets quite jealous over Belladonna! I guess we see her true feelings now. I got a kick out of seeing them fight over Remy.
- And yay to Jean for using her powers to just take the weapons from the two warring guilds. And even bigger yay for her using her powers to help the External see the truth. She’s smart and so crucial to the mission – she needs to get out of the mansion more often!
- There is one line of Belladonna’s that has always perplexed me. She says a word that sounds like “screws” to me, but it doesn’t sound quite like “screws” and I can’t imagine that that word would’ve gotten passed the sensors anyhow. She says, “Remy ____ many women but loves only one.” Does anyone have a clue what she actually says? I imagine it can’t really be “screws”. It sounds a bit more like “skis”, but that makes even less sense. Is it “sees”?
- Gambit leaves little doubt where his heart is. “I am an X-man. And I’m never coming back,” he tells Belladonna. I also liked that he puts his arm around Rogue as he leaves.
- I also loved the ending scene with Scott and Jean speculating on how they can get Gambit to open up and trust more. Though I still say, based on the above point, that he’s come very far. Regardless, I like these little touches – showing how Scott and Jean care about the team and want its members to be happy.
- Rating: Five stars. So much character growth!
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-18 03:15 am (UTC)Maybe it was on hold and got transferred down to the danger room. I like that they answer it as Xavier's school, though I expect Gambit to be more cavalier.
From watching other episodes it seems to be more than on way to level up in the Danger room.
I guess that trust takes time, and for Gambit it’s just not easy.
It is a bit of a family matter also. Gambit thinks it's too personal and he doesn't want the X-men nosing around though his dirty laundry. And it is asking a lot expecting Gambit to trust them. It seems when ever something goes wrong his is the name that usually comes up first. :)
They are a Thieves Guild. I'm sure they can get the intell. Gambit can't just leave. I'm sure they keep tabs on him.
I think in the comic he's got a brother named Henry and the Thieves adopted him when he tried and failed to nick from their leader. ;)
Awww I like the bit where Rogue speaks up for Gambit concerning Logan. I imagine he gives her a hard time for her affections to Remy. He's so protective over all the ladies. But I like when Rogue says "I've seen some of the rat traps you've held up in!"
I swear he said that just to get on her nerves. lol
I enjoy the banter.
Her accent. "Remy's kiss many women. chere, but love only me." And for some reason that really pissed off Logan. LOL
"BITCH! THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!"
BTW. did you lol at that tear-away tux! Okay Belle. She wants to get to the honeymoon quick!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-18 11:45 am (UTC)Awww I like the bit where Rogue speaks up for Gambit concerning Logan. I imagine he gives her a hard time for her affections to Remy. He's so protective over all the ladies. But I like when Rogue says "I've seen some of the rat traps you've held up in!"
Very good observation.
And hilarious on the tear-away tux! How could I have failed to make a snarky comment about that?!
They are a Thieves Guild. I'm sure they can get the intell. Gambit can't just leave. I'm sure they keep tabs on him.
Oh yeah, great point there too!