Wolverine and the X-Men 1x09, 1x10

[jedi_of_urth]

I actually did a fair amount of reviewing last week, I just kept forgetting to post anything on the right days (and I make no promises I'll remember on Friday). But to make up for it, I'll give you a couple in today's post.

Wolverine and the X-Men 1x09: Future X

I feel a bit torn on this one; on its own I liked it, maybe a lot, and I kind of remember that I did back in the day too; but since I'm watching it with the level of analysis I've been giving this, it's also got problems. Not awful problems for once, but there are issues.

While I don't think I was as aware of it when I first watched this show, this time I'm very aware of how I enjoy this show a lot more when Wolverine isn't around. And as I remember that I was quite fond of the future plot first time around, I think that was always the case. What I remembered about the show, in that I remembered anything about it at all, was the future plot, Rogue's plot, and Nightcrawler's adventures on Genosha (which I assume we get back to at some point). Even first time around I apparently found Wolverine and the X-men the most forgettable part of Wolverine and the X-men.

But just as a note, I maybe could have used a bit more obvious clue that the opening scene was meant to be distorted, because I restarted the DVD player, thinking it was just playing the episode weirdly. Then considered whether I was going to need to go and find a copy from somewhere else even when I actually do own this show. It was too good of quality to quickly convey that it was supposed to be an imperfect memory, but bad enough to be noticeable that it didn't look right.

Mostly I wish this episode had been some kind of flashback. That after Charles woke up he'd gotten captured quickly and been learning bits and pieces about this future; then when they breakout of the camp they grab Cerebro and somehow Charles figures out how it to use talk to the past. If it was somehow connected to whatever the machines had done to the controls while they had it, that also could have worked. But that order of events would actually explain why Xavier thought that Logan absolutely needed to be the one put in charge; because he is in the future and starting it earlier would possibly help things. And if they had somehow made that the reason Charles could contact Logan easier than everyone else was because Logan is with him in the future (not too dissimilar to how the DoFP movie plays it), that would have made me feel less annoyed that Logan is treated as the special one above characters I think have earned the responsibility more.

Also, where did Xavier find the leg braces that allow him to get around in the future? Since I'm fairly sure we're not supposed to be in time loop territory I can't suggest someone left them for him when he woke up. Also, I think this all would have played better if Xavier had just gotten blasted to the future instead of supposedly being in a coma for that time. Because he is actually there, I find it weird when he talks about it being the future; that is his present, not just where he is but where he's gotten to the long around. He's not just a visitor there to learn, he's a resident of that time. From his perspective I'm not sure quite how much difference it makes to him if he took the short road or long road; but it bugs me and makes me question how his body survived that long, nor was it completely atrophied, nor had the Sentinels bothered to go the mansion and find him before now.

This, like most DoFP style stories, raises a question I'm not sure is the intent; aren't the robots the real bad guys? The X-men are about the dangers of prejudice and racial injustice (as flawed a metaphor as I find it to be), but what seems to destroy the future is giant robots. We don't see how non-X-humans are treated in this future; but this version definitely implies that everyone is living the machine apocalypse. I get that the idea is that humans go too far in their attempts to feel secure from mutants and end up creating machines that will just destroy everything; but that's basically Terminator and Skynet.

Also, watching this I have to question how practical the giant robots even are. They can't go inside the human buildings to do anything; watching one awkwardly reaching down trying to find people made it very clear that there should be more variety and fit-for-purpose robots. Yes they seem to want the giant ones to be intimidating and tough when out hunting for mutants (and probably able to hold more attack options), but they don't have a lot of function in the camp (they apparently don't continuously scan for anything out of the ordinary, just stand around intimidatingly).

There's something a touch old fashioned about the Sentinels as a concept. I don't know when they were invented in the comics, but it feels like the 80s or maybe early 90s. When people were amazed by bigger and bigger things that could be done with computers; while we kind of know now to judge how advanced technology is by how compact it is. That idea only partially works here as this show was made in 2009 and they didn't do a lot to update the idea. Even DoFP the movie did a bit more to show why the robots might have self-developed in that directions. I do however like what we've been shown here about the early days of the technology in the present day story, that's been one area where some thought was put into how to show the tech.

The fact that the Sentinels also seem a bit Skynet may also contribute to my feeling that they were designed in an older cultural environment.

And also, it's still kind of hard to take the mutants side in this. In the future they don't tell us what's going on with the rest of the world, so maybe I'm assuming the worst of them by assuming they don't care that non-mutants are also being subjugated, but it seems entirely possible. Because mutants are shown to be dicks even to their own kind by the way they treat Forge. Oh your powers aren't cool and flashy and good in a fight, therefore you're just a nerd who nobody really wants around. Granted I would put the techy abuse on the writers as much as the characters, this would hardly be the first show I've ever watched that was anti-intellectual in that it treats the people who build stuff as less important than those who destroy.

I don't know the first thing about Forge, but assuming the series is going to make him the butt-money makes me want to stan him forever.



Wolverine and the X-Men 1x10: Greetings from Genosha

That was a really good episode, though it did cover most of what I remembered about Nightcrawler on Genosha, I guess that's what I get for thinking Magneto's paradise could hold up for more that 12 hours of observation.

I'm not going to talk much about the plot back at the mansion; it's fine if clearly there for action, the time scale doesn't make a lot of sense, and there's yet more Forge abuse. The Forge abuse and the Mystique question both relate to things writ larger on Genosha so I'll basically handle it through that.

Watching Magneto and Mystique has that persistent problem of not knowing the history involved here. If the X-men have fought against Magneto as much as is sometimes implied, they should be actively discouraging people going to Genosha because there's no way they would give Magneto a chance to grow an army following his ideals. Kurt even references that Magneto had tried to take over the world several times (along with trying to kill the X-men), which makes me wonder, how well known a terrorist was he before he set up Genosha (along with how long would take have taken; even with all the mutant powers they have on hand, this Rome wasn't built in a day). Do you really see the US government allowing a known terrorist to take control of an island (that can't be that far from New York) and recruit impressionable young people from around the world; throw in that in this world mutants are considered WMDs (and maybe should be), how long do you think this would be allowed to go on? Why is Kelly bothering with mutant registration when the real mutant problem is sitting 100 miles off shore?

I really just don't have a good read on any of these characters relationships to each other, or the history between them. How long has Mystique been working with Magneto if the X-men don't know who she is or at least that Magneto has a shape-shifter lieutenant? It's why I don't understand this series having Xavier and Wolverine be so chummy when we're not told how long they've even known each other. Kurt had apparently never heard of Wanda before; was she not with her father until recently or are the X-men that clueless about a guy they've apparently had all these fights with? I think the only relationship we've seen that I feel I have a good sense of is Logan and Rogue, and that's at least half because the basics track with my movie knowledge, and the other half explained in the premier; they're kindred spirits and usually on the outside of groups unable to decide how in they'd like to be. But how long have they been hanging out with the X-men to still feel like outsiders...or not if Logan can be the leader. I get in the comics' style sliding time scale that they don't want to commit to things like character ages or how long certain things take, but you need a general idea so things don't come out as conflicting details like Magneto being trusted enough by the world to start a mutant colony and also a known terrorist in the same span of history.

This lack of specificity also makes some scenes hard to know how I should take, because I don't know how old characters are supposed to be. In this case that mostly applies to the scenes between Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch. I don't know if they're peers or if there's a decent age gap between them. I don't know if she's been kept sheltered through much of her life or if Magneto has had a lifetime to condition her to go along with him. I don't know what to think about Kurt's level of experience is with certain types of feelings, if he's young and inexperienced, or just inexperienced (which could make sense as he seems to have faced more problems through his mutation than several of the other mutants we see; but then, how long ago did Xavier find him because among mutants you'd think he'd lose a little of that attitude), or if I should be suspicious of what's going on just because Magneto is pimping out his daughter to keep Kurt distracted.

And that's to say nothing of the fact that I think in most continuities I know, Wanda is also a telepath. I actually forgot that as I was watching the ep, but I still had a thought early on that telepathy isn't an unknown mutant power (in fact it's one of the few we've seen repeated), and the peace on Genosha always seemed like it might be a bit externally influenced, so what was to stop Magneto from having a telepath who would keep everything just this peaceful.

And then we got the fight later on, where my thoughts ran slightly differently. Mostly that Kurt was getting involved in a fight that he knew nothing about; so who was right and who was wrong? Kurt kind of seemed to easily accept that the more scary looking mutant was the one in the wrong, which highlighted what I kind of had been thinking on and off throughout this: mutants are still racist against other mutants. Not exactly in a self-hating internalized racism way, but actively judging other mutants for what they look like or how useful their powers are. Flaming skeleton guy was assumed to be in the wrong because his power looked scary to Kurt as he watched it; but Wanda, she's pretty and very human looking, and Kurt is entirely entranced by her.

And this is where the treatment of Forge comes back in; because if the point of this episode was to drill in that we need to apply the same scrutiny to mutant society that is applied to larger groups, it did that. Kitty and Bobby are bullies to Forge, and there's no evidence of that being called out; granted that's on the story-telling to some extent, at it portrays it as funny instead of them picking on a guy with an artificial leg. Magneto is not right simply because he's a victim of racial discrimination; it would not be out of line to compare him to Hitler, and he really ought to understand the kind of comparison that is (assuming the Holocaust backstory is still in play)/ He's a dictator, watching over a group of people where you must meet certain genetic criteria to be a member, who keeps control of his population with violence and 'reeducation programs,' whose palace is clearly meant for him rather than to represent the people of his nation (most people don't need or want that much metal).

That said, when I thought the appearance of safety would last longer I did find myself thinking about some of the story possibilities for a slow reveal of the rot at the heart of this 'paradise.' To have Nightcrawler actually able to believe there's some truth to what Magneto's trying to do, and do so for more than eight hours while he was being distracted from looking too deep into things by Wanda. To more gradually hear about people going missing or notice how superficial the freedom of Genosha was. Mutants are free to use their powers however they wish (though I have questions about that too), but they're not allowed to act or speak in ways that don't serve Magneto's interests.

What is schooling like on Genosha? Both for people to learn to use their power best and more general ed. Are kids taught that they are superior than humans and/or that humans are the enemy that seeks to destroy mutant-kind? Are people being pressed into some for of defense service that would look a lot like at army with enough people? An army where each person might be a WMD. Nightcrawler even remarks that he's sure not all new arrivals are treated the way he is, but also most people who come to Genosha probably don't have a lot of resources, so what challenges do new refugees face?

Also, it's all well and good to say mutants are free to use their powers, but what would happen to Nitro? Would Cyclops be able to not have his glasses? After all, per Magneto's propaganda I'm sure that type of control is placed on mutants to make them passable in the human world, but Genosha is 'free?'

This is a general complaint as much directed at the movies as this show, but Mystique's powers always trip me up, especially when she's fighting Wolverine. In going claw to shape-shifted-claw, hers should simply get cut off because they're not actually made of adamantium. They're not even part of his mutation, they're an add-on (not that Mystique should be able to shape-shift other people's powers since she'd be absolutely unstoppable at that point, and why not just shape-shift Angel's wings when she goes to leave if she can fly with them?). That's just something that's bugged me for 20 years or so.