Evolution Reviews

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

Episode: On Angel’s Wings

Brief summary: In Evolution’s holiday episode, Angel makes his debut appearance. He comes to the aid of people who need him but is in hiding about who he is.


- I’m glad to see the creators consistently use the different pairings (or, really, potential pairings). Jean gets jealous at observing Rogue’s interest in Scott – I was so happy to see the creators reminding us that Jean isn’t perfect! And of course Rogue’s interest in Scott continues in this episode; I can’t tell if Scott is politely ignoring her interest in the hopes that it’ll go away or if he really is so dense that he hasn’t picked up on it. Kurt continues to like Kitty, but after she turned down his request for a kiss under the mistletoe, I thought he was way too persistent. (She said no, Kurt!) I had to laugh at the moment when Kitty expertly moves out of the way, and Kurt ends up kissing Bobby, leading to a predictable “ewww” moment from both boys. (But hey, who says Bobby never gets any slash action?)




- I don’t have a screencap of it, but the little girl who Angel rescued was staying in the darkest hospital room I’ve ever seen. I guess the creators wanted ambiance, but the darkness must’ve made it hard for the medical staff to see their equipment.


- Angel’s voice sounded a lot like Cyclops’s to me.


- As one of the X-men says, this episode shows that “Magneto’s back in business.” I’d forgotten that we haven’t seen him since “The Cauldron”.

- As always, I loved Rogue in this episode. She drains Magneto’s powers and then expertly uses them herself. Loved seeing her fly fearlessly.

- I still am wondering where Xavier is trying to take his X-men. Rogue tells Angel that the X-men just “try to fit in and make the best use of our abilities”. But we hardly see them use their abilities to the fullest extent because they are so afraid that someone will – gasp! – learn that mutants exist. I guess Xavier would say that he’s training them and getting them ready to use their powers for the benefit of society. It’s just that it seems to me like it’s taking forever.


- I was kinda glad when Angel declined the offer to join the X-men, only because Evo has really introduced a lot of characters. It’s doing a decent job at keeping current with the existing ones, but you don’t want to overwhelm your viewers either. On the other hand, maybe they figure that their viewers are already familiar with most X-men from outside of Evo, so no harm done in having lots of characters.

- The montage at the end of the episode – with the different characters celebrating the holidays in their own ways – was really lovely. Poor Logan though. He declined Xavier’s offer to spend time at the mansion and is playing pool in a deserted bar. Someone stage an intervention please!


Rating: Four stars, more for all the solid characterization we’re still seeing in Evo, as opposed to for any great plot.



Episode: African Storm

Brief summary: An enemy from Storm’s past returns, as Evan struggles with his place in the X-men.

- I’m not an expert in contemporary Africa, but something about this episode’s portrayal of it didn’t ring true. At least not according to anything I have read about contemporary Africa.






- Hank tells Storm that he “found” a bad progress report of Spyke’s in the trash. Seems to me that you don’t just “find” anything in the trash unless you’re looking for it. Does Hank make a habit of this?

- For a split second, I thought we might see it. I thought we might see some Rolo! Storm is disturbed in the middle of the night by signs of her old enemy coming to get her, and Logan rushes in. Alas, there was not a hint of Rolo in the air despite this scene of both of them at night in her bedroom. (Where they were soon joined by Xavier, Kitty, etc). Also, I don’t know why I enjoy seeing Storm enjoy something sensuous, but I loved the scene of her getting ready to take a bath.



- So Evan is on the brink of leaving, or being asked to leave, the Institute in this episode. Really? Last time we really saw him in action, in “The Beast of Bayville”, I thought he was doing much better with this whole X-man thing. Also, I thought it was odd that he was so close to leaving, to the point of packing, and neither Scott, Jean, nor the rest of the team (apart from Storm and Xavier) knew.

- So “Risty” (AKA Mystique) lets it slip to Rogue that she knows Storm is claustrophobic, and Rogue starts to wonder. I know I might’ve missed something, but how should Risty know about Storm in the first place? Storm doesn’t teach at Bayville High. I know there was that wild party at the mansion the time the adults were gone, but Storm wasn’t there either. Did Rogue whip out a picture and say, “This is Storm. My – uh – personal trainer.” Given that the X-men are a secret and Storm’s not a high school teacher, how does Rogue explain her to someone else? (“She’s Evan’s aunt?”, I guess).

- All things considered, I thought that Storm got a bit too easily wigged out and a bit too easily captured in this episode. Her enemy back home in Africa is powerful!


Rating: Four stars. Just like with the previous episode, in Season Two I enjoy the way the character dynamics unfold but I can’t say that any of the plots are much above average.