It’s weird. Last episode I felt that X-Men ’97 should slow that relentless pace down a little as to not speed read through some of the more monumental plots of the 70s and 80s era of the original comic. Well, either I have the rather pointless mutant ability to foresee television programmes or the makers of the show felt the same thing, because with its forth episode, the second coming of one of the 90’s most beloved cartoons has finally decided to slow its roll. A bit.
The main reason for this is that we spent some time with a de-powered Storm who is desperately trying to come to terms with being a regular homosapian; but while an entire thirty minutes devoted to a woman mourning her lost abilities might be a bit heavy for an animated show famous for its bombast, this installment decides to flip the script by making it a two-hander and giving Jubilee her own mini adventure. No, wait, come back! It’s actually really fun!
The first segment is the awkwardly titled Motendo, which sees a grumpy Jubilee hit her eighteenth birthday only to be told by a humourless Magneto that the X-Men will absolutely not be going to the local arcade to celebrate (even though he’d probably clean up on the penny machines). Pissed that their new teacher has just as big a stick up their butt as Xavier, a frustrated Jubilee has to settle with hanging out with Roberto da Costa instead back at the X-Mansion, but while romance seems to Bloom between the two, the firework flinging mutant spots a mysterious new “Motendo” games console left in her room.
However, once she turns it on, she finds that it’s the latest trap from the ratings obsessed, alien TV mogul, Mojo and before you can say “Jumanji sequels”, both sjecand Roberto are sucked into the game to fight for their lives.
Meanwhile, in an other story entitled Lifedeath – Part 1, we find a despondent Storm teaming up with mutant inventor, Forge, to try and cook up some sort of contraption in order to stir up those dormant X genes once more. However, as the two toil to try and return her to her former glory, all those deep conversations and picturesque horse rides inevitably lead to romance starting to bloom (I swear, it’s like Love Island every day with these X-Men).
However, when Storm discovers exactly why Forge is the right man to try and reverse her condition, she is horrified at the man Forge used to be when, in his darker moments, he it the one who pioneered the technology that led to the tech that stripped her of her powers in the first place.
However, all this tragic, romance novel stuff might need to be put on the back burner when a soul-sucking owl demon named the Adversary comes a-calling.
It’s weird to watch a show address my issues in the very next episode, but after trying to squeeze in the main bulk of the origin of the Jean Grey clone Madelyne Pryor, the birth and fate of little Nathan Summers and a villian turn by the likes of Mister Sinister in a meager thirty minutes, X-Men ’97 switches tactics in order to give us more focus on Storm and Jubilee. The problem is, that with so many unanswered questions lying about the place (How are Cyclops and the real Jean Grey going to reconcile? Where has she been all this time? When exactly was she swapped out?) suddenly locking on to the X-Men’s youngest member, who has absolutely nothing to do with any of the main continuing plot threads might not have been the smartest move.
However, while Motendo may not have the gargantuan stakes of the previous three episodes, it does prove to be something of a diverting pallet cleanser as we as a collective audience catch our breath. In fact, when it comes to that throwback feeling that the show runners have been desperate to emulate, Motendo may be the most nostalgic episode yet by a country mile thanks to the theme of using 90’s video games to stir the more whimsical among you. While its initially odd that Mojo is the one dabbling in arcade games and not – oh I don’t know – Acarde maybe, it gives the episode the chance to directly reference the four player X-Men coin-OP arcade machine that may not have been as familiar as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one, but it was certainly better than the Simpsons one.
Mojo may be one of the more (intentionally) irritating X-Men villains who usually was only reserved for gimmicky stories written for the annuals (The X-Babies? C’mon Chris Claremont), he proves to be a good, low level threat for the youngest X-Person and her tag along, Roberto and the segment even has a message about avoiding the lure of the past and to focus on what lies ahead – which is odd considering the entire show is just one big, glorious throwback. Still, it’s fun and the nostalgia levels are through the roof, but there’s been similar and better stories than this to adapt and they usually feature Kitty Pryde…
Anyway, over to the second story which, as the title might suggest, carries more emotional weight and is the first of a two-part story. There’s always been something extra tragic about Storm being stripped of her powers because probably more than anyone else – yes, even Wolverine – her abilities define her entire personality, so no longer feeling at one with the elements themselves is something virtually impossible to swallow. However; rather than succumbing to every day human life and trying to learn how to oay an actual bill, Storm instead pairs with Forge, a native American with the mutant power to invent anything. However, Forge has always proven to be something of a complex character because not only is he kittner out with various prosthetic limbs thanks to fighting in pointless homo-sapian wars (Vietnam in the comics), but he carries a heavy weight on his soul for being the man who first invented the tech that went on to be used to subdue mutant abilities. As dramatic twists go, it’s yet another twist of the knife for Ororo who now, on top of everything else, finds that she’s fallen for the same man who technically put her in the lowest point of her life. Up until then, they’ve been enjoying a picturesque romance right out of a romantic paperback complete with rides at sunset.
But this is X-Men ’97 and it can’t hold its water indefinitely when it comes to romantic sub-plots and soon the party is crashed by a screeching owl demon.
While there’s some big emotional cues embedded in both stories, you can’t quite escape the feeling that both Motendo and Lifedeath – Part 1 are merely filler material compared to the bigger, brassier, earth shaking plots that the show trades in. Hopefully the show will manage to address those balance issues as our band of photogenic heroes get shot-putted into yet another life or death (or lifedeath) situation.
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