Despite planting little teasers here and there concerning the main threat, it was starting to feel like X-Men ’97 was starting to get off-mission a bit. After an unfeasibly strong opening four episodes, the middle section of the season managed to lose momentum on the whole, overarching Apocalypse plot by busying itself hastily adapting random comic book arcs from the 2000s. OK, so it was cool to see such elements as X-Corp, Danger, Exodus and those black puffer jackets show up, but it felt that with every side-plot focused episode, we were getting further and further away from the big picture.
Well, in the penultimate episode of the season, it seems that the big picture is starting to get bigger once more as we start getting answers to long awaited questions. However, the episode certainly makes you work for it as once again, we have yet another rogue group of mutants to be rounded up before we get to the actual point. But once every hand has been dealt, is there truly a hope for a resurrection on the cards?
A mystery has been growing under the nose of X-Corp ever since they returned from various points in the history of Apocalypse. The first involves what the Darwinian maniac did with the body of the slain X-Man known as Gambit, after scraping up his lifeless form after the fall of Genosha – but the second proves to be far more disturbing. After locating what looks like Apocalypse’s dessicated corpse and no sign of Gambit’s body, it seems that the genocidal monster met a sudden end at the glowing hands of the ragin’ Cajun – but where is Gambit and what state of mind is he in?
Unsurprisingly, the corrupted thief has returned to New Orleans and his using his augmented powers to enslave the Thieves’ Guild to become his vicious muscle. After discovering that her abilities, won’t be enough to purge the evil out of her former love, Rogue discovers that even when evil, Gambit still loves her – but when the combined might of the X-Men and X Force team-up to take him down, matters soon go out of control.
Despite pretending to play nice, Cable’s team is actually still dead set on eliminating Apocalypse’s evil, rather than trying to save Remy LeBeau from it, but once Cyclops and Jean discover what their driven son is planning, its a battle royal with Gambit’s soul on the line.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to free Gambit by attacking on the astral plane, Xavier discovers that rather than being dead, the life essence of Apocalypse dwells within his brand new, Cajun skin suit; but after a fierce battle, the Professor is unable to extract LeBeau’s mind from that all-smothering evil. With the battle ending in a draw, and the X-Men leaving with their fallen teammate, the desperate remnants of X Force strike up a worrying partnership to lauch one last attack on the X-Men. Enter X-Factor.
While it’s a good thing that X-Men ’97 doesn’t want to let its rapidly swelling cast remain in the background, there’s a feeling that it’s done so at the expense of building the main threat. While I was content to take little side trips to watch Wolverine get his adamantium back, Polaris accept her legacy and Nightcrawler and Colossus debate the merits of mercy, they’ve often felt more like distractions than additions that strengthen the overall story. Similarly, now that the X-Men seemingly now has upward of around fourteen members by the end of this episode, maybe it’s time to retire a couple, especially seeing as some of them are seeing precious little action. But once again, for the most part, we have yet another episode that speeds through an unnecessarily complex plot in order to set up yet another disposable mission. Did we really need to dig into the past of the Thieves’ Guild’s ancient patron, the External, in order to swipe a magic jewel because she once was Apocalypse’s girlfriend?
At times, “The Dead Man’s Hand” comes dangerously close to getting utterly wrapped up in hastily setting up Gambit’s new army, mission and powers set, but after a first half that’s practically drowning in rushed exposition, the episode ultimately finishes strong by delving into another one of those visually innovative and genuinely emotional battles the show often excels at. Be it the POV of a possessed Nightcrawler as he delivers a succession of stinging blows to multiple opponents as the same time, or the sight of a bloated X team taking on all comers to protect their corrupted colleague, the episode peaks with Xavier going brain to brain with Gambit in a stunningly colourful brawl of the mind. Watching the Cajun attack by surfing on a wave of energy-charged tarot cards is impressive in of itself, but witnessing Charles return fire by imagining himself as a twenty-foot gladiator is undeniably impressive.
Elsewhere, the episode keeps the emotional angle alive by not only focusing on a shell shocked Rogue trying to process everything that’s happening, but also finally revealing what’s actually going on with Apocalypse as his case of the Captain Howdy’s proves that there’s life after being found as a mummified corpse. The fact that both Charles and Rogue fail to draw the villain’s essence out like poison from a wound means that the battle for Gambit has only begun, but you can feel the anxiety as the thief slowly gets dragged by into Apocalypse’s corrupting mass.
Almost getting utterly overshadowed by all of this is the continuing drama of X Force, who have to perform the act of betraying the X-Men if they’re going to actually get close to their hated target. In fact, if you blinked, there’s a chance that you’d miss Jubilee and Sunspot finally rebelling against Cable’s kill Apocalypse at costs attitude, which is something of a shame seeing as this particular arc received such a strong start back in episode 2. Also, we get some classic dissention within the Summer’s clan as Cable finds himself a loggerheads with his more benevolent parents, but when isn’t that family generating its own drama, y’know? However, while cluttered and somewhat rushed, what “The Dead Man’s Hand” manages to ultimately succeed in is getting its immense cast into one place for the final battle. With such old alumni such as Polaris and Colossus back in the fold and high emotional stakes, if the series can manage to keep it all together and focus primarily on its strengths, we could have a finale that’s as strong and devestating as those superlative opening episodes.
However, I’d have to speculate that this could be an exceptionally difficult target to nail thanks to that gargantuan cast and so many moving parts to account for. Can the X-Men persevere over a swollen amount of characters and a hefty to-do list the way they do against Juggernaut, or the Hellfire Club? We’ve only got seven days to wait…
After some noticable wobbles, X-Men ’97 manages to straighten itself out before the big finish. But even though it manages to close out this penultimate episode by shifting its bustling population all into the places they need to be, I truly hope the show doesn’t blow its use of Apocalypse the way the 2016 live action movie did – not after such a phenomenonal start.
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