Wolverine and the X-Men 1x05, 1x06
Sep. 14th, 2020 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsWolverine and the X-Men 1x05: Thieves' Gambit
I'm going to tell you my small issue with this story before I get to my bigger issue with what this story is saying. It's a small issue but it was super obvious all the way through as they were handing the box with the collar around that at some point someone was going to hand off the box having taken the collar out. I pretty much expected it every time the box showed up; hell I half expected Forge to have had it out of the box and just no one had noticed until most of the way through the story that they were passing around an empty box.
But now the bigger thing. This episode basically, intentionally or not, shows every reason why the X-Men are wrong on a lot of things. I doubt that's the intent, but it is the effect with me.
It's okay for the X-Men to be developing power suppression devices, but it's completely wrong for anyone else to have them? I get the fear of misuse, but the X-Men are not going to be around every time some teenager's powers go haywire and need to be interrupted. Especially since it's a suppression device unlike the cure in X3 which was a supposedly permanent effect where it being weaponized for mass use would be a bigger threat.
Why would they put the girl at the beginning on a plane, what if she gets scared by something and melts the plane itself? Has she learned anything about controlling her powers to that point? Wolverine with the collar stopped her from going nuclear, but what happens the next time? Do she, he, we, anyone even know if she just has lava feet or does anything she touches melt?
The thing is, many mutants *are* dangerous, especially without training. While the cure hasn't come up in this show so far, I think it might and if it does I expect the X-Men to oppose it...but what about melting girl, or movie Rogue (show Rogue so far seems a bit more at peace, with her power at least), or Cyclops who might want a break from the glasses and be able to look at people and things normally?
What about all the destruction at the beginning? I think back on Cyclops using his eye beams on his TV a few episodes ago and I want to know what he got charged when he moved out of that apartment. If you have a dog that pees on the carpet, that's coming out of your security deposit; but what if you feet turn the floor to lava? Wouldn't it be fair to charge you for property damage?
And what about all the destruction that would have occurred if Logan hadn't been in the area and or they hadn't been working on the collar? That girl could have killed dozens or hundreds of people; she wouldn't have meant to, she clearly wasn't in control, but that's just as scary. The MRD aren't the bad guys here, it's just as easy for me to say that they're the Cavalry and if they'd shot her, they would have been saving countless people's lives. Wolverine tries to frame it that they chased her into a populated area so she'd cause destruction that would give Kelly cause to tighten his grip on mutants even more, but that could just be his interpretation. He could be right (and I suspect the show sees him as right), but I don't know that I have to take him at his word from what we see; we don't know where she was when the chase started, we don't know if it lasted a few blocks or several miles, we know she'd be easy to track since she sets all her footsteps on fire so they probably didn't have to work too hard to catch her.
I kind of thought they were sending her to Genosha, and was prepared to rant a bit about that being a super convenient other option this series gave itself when it comes to mutants who don't have their own control but can exist in heavily controlled environment, but they weren't even doing that. There's clearly some story point being set up with all the things they don't say about her life in Brazil (even if it's just that she shows up later having resolved some stuff off screen). It also raises a point that often, including here, gets overlooked; what is the mutant situation in other countries? Is she safe going to Brazil or is she in as much ore more danger? Is there a Brazilian Xavier and/or a Brazilian MRD? We have seen that 'Africa' is cool with Storm using her powers, but what happens with other mutants? What if hot-foot's powers had manifested in Hong Kong instead of New York?
I think after five episodes I can safely say that this seems to be a world like the X-Men movies rather than the comics; mutants being basically the only super powered folk out there. And as heretical as it is when so many people apparently want the X-Men in the MCU, I prefer the X-Men as a separate thing. I think the world's attitude to mutants makes a lot more sense in a world without the Avengers as superstars. The X-Men as an oppressed minority who can't help the way they're born is more valid when you don't have people who have been actively seeking superpowers for generations. And I also just think that in the modern world (much less that of a shared superhero universe) the large scale and societal impact of mutants becomes more important to consider.
While I think s3 of AoS had some major problems, it got some things right, Up until then the Inhumans had been a small, insular group that worked to stay undetected by society at large; but when new ones start popping up all over the world, they aren't just treated with scorn, they're commodified. It's not just a race between SHIELD and Hydra for who protect or ensnare new Inhumans; governments want them in a new arms race. And that's with strong enough Inhuman genes being about one in a million odds if not lower plus needing to be activated; even if mutants here are half a percent of the population of the world, it's still a worldwide issue where international behavior is going to be seen and judged.
Part of the problem with this episode is probably that I don't particularly care about Wolverine going off on his own. At least him trying to be a leader is complicated and can be interesting (him with Rogue would be more interesting), but like this he's really not. And while I know Gambit is a favorite of a lot of people, my admittedly limited experience with the character has never found a reason why I should like him. So with two characters I don't really care for I find myself all the more willing to root for the other side in their fight. Intellectually I know I shouldn't side with the MRD, not only because the show clearly doesn't want me to but also because if we lived in that world I'd probably agree they seem like jack-booted thugs. But I also don't think they're completely wrong, and I definitely don't think either of the 'heroes' here can claim the moral high ground.
Wolverine and the X-Men 1x06: X-Calibre
This turned out to be one of the episodes I actually remember from watching the show before, and that brings back the fact that it tends to be the good things about shows that stick with me instead of the bad stuff. Because I still mostly liked this episode, and it's probably not a coincidence that it involves little of Wolverine or the X-Men. Thinking back on it now, a lot of what I remember about the show was Nightcrawler's plot on Genosha and Xavier in the future, and a little bit of Rogue's conflicted ideology and loyalty; the top billed characters I don't remember much about at all.
But because I liked this episode more than the last few, that makes it interesting to analyze; why did I like this so much more? For one, Kurt is a better character and leader than Wolverine; for another I think I know Squid Boy better after one episode than I do most of the X-Men at the mansion; I'm also going to need to work through my thoughts on the antagonists (both human and apparently not) of the episode, because I have thoughts.
I actually think the human antagonists of the episode do a better job at conveying Mutant oppression and disenfranchisement better than the MRD does. Because on a grand scale, I'm not completely convinced the MRD are the bad guys; given too broad of powers and jurisdiction, yes; and too quick to exercise extreme force; but there does need to be a way to police mutants who, intentionally or not, cause harm and destruction. But these guys are effectively extorting refugees and that's not good. Now the show shortcuts the situation by making them all so clearly bad instead of a collection of people, but that's clearly the intent in the storytelling here.
And while this episode equally shortcuts that all the mutants are perfectly innocent of wrong-doing and many are children, it's not at odds with itself in that portrayal the way last episode was. These were meant to be just innocent people looking for a better shot in life and hoping to find it on Genosha, and people who seemed to either have 'harmless' powers or had control of them so weren't threatening.
I do also want to talk about the kids with 'useless' powers and how much bullshit that is. I can just about grant how the aliens (they were aliens right? They might not have been) would classify them that way, especially combined with being younger. Spark-throwing-mom has a much more useless power than machine-girl; but would be a lot less showy in a combat arena. But just Squid Boy and goo guy could have made sure the people left on the ship survived, they just couldn't have gone after those that were taken. And there has to have been something more useful for butterfly girl to have done than hang a flag.
There's another thing I liked about this episode, that I think it would be even better if it was carried through as a theme in the other episodes of the season, but so far hasn't been (although they kind of seem to think it has). They really should have left Charles MIA and presumed dead for half the season or so and shown us how his legacy was being carried on (or not) by the team that was left behind. Wolverine trying to hold a team together but held back by his own inadequacies as a leader. Rogue left adrift because she's still seeking a community she can rely on. Kurt paying forward the good and kindness he was shown when he had been cast out. Maybe even Magneto is honoring Charles in his own way by building an actual community for mutant kind instead of an army to fight for it. Show that while the world is still not good for these characters, they're still working to make it better. Then after a few episodes of that you tell us that it's doomed to fail in spectacular fashion and they need to do more if they want to avoid that doom.
Then again, I think that comes back to me wanting this to be a different show than it actually is so far. Because the weakest part of this episode comes in its need to have a powerful threat to fight against instead of getting a collection of stories from the characters about a world that's actually darker than it looks to us or the main characters. Nightcrawler acting as guardian angel and offering his own advice to the next generation of mutants apparently wasn't considered enough of a plot and we had to have a threat to fight against.
I keep saying that I'm assuming the pirates were aliens, but that's mostly owing to their tech, not because there's any reason to assume this isn't happening on Earth. Again, mutant exploitation when people want to see mutants fight each other, and the point is just entertainment. Which ironically, is kind of meta, since the episodes all have to find a way to make mutants fight (usually each other) for the entertainment of the audience in our world.
Also, I was left to question what happened to the normie crew of the ship after the pirates came through. Again with me being more interested in the interpersonal effects of this than watching a fight. Although it was a pretty good fight.
I'm going to tell you my small issue with this story before I get to my bigger issue with what this story is saying. It's a small issue but it was super obvious all the way through as they were handing the box with the collar around that at some point someone was going to hand off the box having taken the collar out. I pretty much expected it every time the box showed up; hell I half expected Forge to have had it out of the box and just no one had noticed until most of the way through the story that they were passing around an empty box.
But now the bigger thing. This episode basically, intentionally or not, shows every reason why the X-Men are wrong on a lot of things. I doubt that's the intent, but it is the effect with me.
It's okay for the X-Men to be developing power suppression devices, but it's completely wrong for anyone else to have them? I get the fear of misuse, but the X-Men are not going to be around every time some teenager's powers go haywire and need to be interrupted. Especially since it's a suppression device unlike the cure in X3 which was a supposedly permanent effect where it being weaponized for mass use would be a bigger threat.
Why would they put the girl at the beginning on a plane, what if she gets scared by something and melts the plane itself? Has she learned anything about controlling her powers to that point? Wolverine with the collar stopped her from going nuclear, but what happens the next time? Do she, he, we, anyone even know if she just has lava feet or does anything she touches melt?
The thing is, many mutants *are* dangerous, especially without training. While the cure hasn't come up in this show so far, I think it might and if it does I expect the X-Men to oppose it...but what about melting girl, or movie Rogue (show Rogue so far seems a bit more at peace, with her power at least), or Cyclops who might want a break from the glasses and be able to look at people and things normally?
What about all the destruction at the beginning? I think back on Cyclops using his eye beams on his TV a few episodes ago and I want to know what he got charged when he moved out of that apartment. If you have a dog that pees on the carpet, that's coming out of your security deposit; but what if you feet turn the floor to lava? Wouldn't it be fair to charge you for property damage?
And what about all the destruction that would have occurred if Logan hadn't been in the area and or they hadn't been working on the collar? That girl could have killed dozens or hundreds of people; she wouldn't have meant to, she clearly wasn't in control, but that's just as scary. The MRD aren't the bad guys here, it's just as easy for me to say that they're the Cavalry and if they'd shot her, they would have been saving countless people's lives. Wolverine tries to frame it that they chased her into a populated area so she'd cause destruction that would give Kelly cause to tighten his grip on mutants even more, but that could just be his interpretation. He could be right (and I suspect the show sees him as right), but I don't know that I have to take him at his word from what we see; we don't know where she was when the chase started, we don't know if it lasted a few blocks or several miles, we know she'd be easy to track since she sets all her footsteps on fire so they probably didn't have to work too hard to catch her.
I kind of thought they were sending her to Genosha, and was prepared to rant a bit about that being a super convenient other option this series gave itself when it comes to mutants who don't have their own control but can exist in heavily controlled environment, but they weren't even doing that. There's clearly some story point being set up with all the things they don't say about her life in Brazil (even if it's just that she shows up later having resolved some stuff off screen). It also raises a point that often, including here, gets overlooked; what is the mutant situation in other countries? Is she safe going to Brazil or is she in as much ore more danger? Is there a Brazilian Xavier and/or a Brazilian MRD? We have seen that 'Africa' is cool with Storm using her powers, but what happens with other mutants? What if hot-foot's powers had manifested in Hong Kong instead of New York?
I think after five episodes I can safely say that this seems to be a world like the X-Men movies rather than the comics; mutants being basically the only super powered folk out there. And as heretical as it is when so many people apparently want the X-Men in the MCU, I prefer the X-Men as a separate thing. I think the world's attitude to mutants makes a lot more sense in a world without the Avengers as superstars. The X-Men as an oppressed minority who can't help the way they're born is more valid when you don't have people who have been actively seeking superpowers for generations. And I also just think that in the modern world (much less that of a shared superhero universe) the large scale and societal impact of mutants becomes more important to consider.
While I think s3 of AoS had some major problems, it got some things right, Up until then the Inhumans had been a small, insular group that worked to stay undetected by society at large; but when new ones start popping up all over the world, they aren't just treated with scorn, they're commodified. It's not just a race between SHIELD and Hydra for who protect or ensnare new Inhumans; governments want them in a new arms race. And that's with strong enough Inhuman genes being about one in a million odds if not lower plus needing to be activated; even if mutants here are half a percent of the population of the world, it's still a worldwide issue where international behavior is going to be seen and judged.
Part of the problem with this episode is probably that I don't particularly care about Wolverine going off on his own. At least him trying to be a leader is complicated and can be interesting (him with Rogue would be more interesting), but like this he's really not. And while I know Gambit is a favorite of a lot of people, my admittedly limited experience with the character has never found a reason why I should like him. So with two characters I don't really care for I find myself all the more willing to root for the other side in their fight. Intellectually I know I shouldn't side with the MRD, not only because the show clearly doesn't want me to but also because if we lived in that world I'd probably agree they seem like jack-booted thugs. But I also don't think they're completely wrong, and I definitely don't think either of the 'heroes' here can claim the moral high ground.
Wolverine and the X-Men 1x06: X-Calibre
This turned out to be one of the episodes I actually remember from watching the show before, and that brings back the fact that it tends to be the good things about shows that stick with me instead of the bad stuff. Because I still mostly liked this episode, and it's probably not a coincidence that it involves little of Wolverine or the X-Men. Thinking back on it now, a lot of what I remember about the show was Nightcrawler's plot on Genosha and Xavier in the future, and a little bit of Rogue's conflicted ideology and loyalty; the top billed characters I don't remember much about at all.
But because I liked this episode more than the last few, that makes it interesting to analyze; why did I like this so much more? For one, Kurt is a better character and leader than Wolverine; for another I think I know Squid Boy better after one episode than I do most of the X-Men at the mansion; I'm also going to need to work through my thoughts on the antagonists (both human and apparently not) of the episode, because I have thoughts.
I actually think the human antagonists of the episode do a better job at conveying Mutant oppression and disenfranchisement better than the MRD does. Because on a grand scale, I'm not completely convinced the MRD are the bad guys; given too broad of powers and jurisdiction, yes; and too quick to exercise extreme force; but there does need to be a way to police mutants who, intentionally or not, cause harm and destruction. But these guys are effectively extorting refugees and that's not good. Now the show shortcuts the situation by making them all so clearly bad instead of a collection of people, but that's clearly the intent in the storytelling here.
And while this episode equally shortcuts that all the mutants are perfectly innocent of wrong-doing and many are children, it's not at odds with itself in that portrayal the way last episode was. These were meant to be just innocent people looking for a better shot in life and hoping to find it on Genosha, and people who seemed to either have 'harmless' powers or had control of them so weren't threatening.
I do also want to talk about the kids with 'useless' powers and how much bullshit that is. I can just about grant how the aliens (they were aliens right? They might not have been) would classify them that way, especially combined with being younger. Spark-throwing-mom has a much more useless power than machine-girl; but would be a lot less showy in a combat arena. But just Squid Boy and goo guy could have made sure the people left on the ship survived, they just couldn't have gone after those that were taken. And there has to have been something more useful for butterfly girl to have done than hang a flag.
There's another thing I liked about this episode, that I think it would be even better if it was carried through as a theme in the other episodes of the season, but so far hasn't been (although they kind of seem to think it has). They really should have left Charles MIA and presumed dead for half the season or so and shown us how his legacy was being carried on (or not) by the team that was left behind. Wolverine trying to hold a team together but held back by his own inadequacies as a leader. Rogue left adrift because she's still seeking a community she can rely on. Kurt paying forward the good and kindness he was shown when he had been cast out. Maybe even Magneto is honoring Charles in his own way by building an actual community for mutant kind instead of an army to fight for it. Show that while the world is still not good for these characters, they're still working to make it better. Then after a few episodes of that you tell us that it's doomed to fail in spectacular fashion and they need to do more if they want to avoid that doom.
Then again, I think that comes back to me wanting this to be a different show than it actually is so far. Because the weakest part of this episode comes in its need to have a powerful threat to fight against instead of getting a collection of stories from the characters about a world that's actually darker than it looks to us or the main characters. Nightcrawler acting as guardian angel and offering his own advice to the next generation of mutants apparently wasn't considered enough of a plot and we had to have a threat to fight against.
I keep saying that I'm assuming the pirates were aliens, but that's mostly owing to their tech, not because there's any reason to assume this isn't happening on Earth. Again, mutant exploitation when people want to see mutants fight each other, and the point is just entertainment. Which ironically, is kind of meta, since the episodes all have to find a way to make mutants fight (usually each other) for the entertainment of the audience in our world.
Also, I was left to question what happened to the normie crew of the ship after the pirates came through. Again with me being more interested in the interpersonal effects of this than watching a fight. Although it was a pretty good fight.
