Ron: Hello and welcome to a new episode of Stereo Geeks. Today we’re chatting about season 1 of X-Men ‘97.
I’m Ron.
Mon: And, I’m Mon.
This episode is about the full season of X-Men ‘97, so yes, there will be spoilers. If you haven’t watched all ten episodes, go finish them and then return.
Ron: We had discussed the first three episodes of the show and our experience at the Toronto premiere–which we’ll link to in our show notes–but now we’re going to unleash all our thoughts. So, overall feelings about the show?
Mon: This show gave me life.
Ron: Yep, loved every minute! Each episode stuck the landing in the most unexpected ways. It was obvious that the people behind this show loved the characters and the universe of X-Men.
Mon: Nothing can surpass the excitement of 2 months of X-Men day. I’m so glad we got to have this and spend time with the X-Men.
The show’s animation is just gorgeous. The colours, the movement, the details–they added to the immersive experience of the story.
The characterizations were stellar–characters who hadn’t been given their due came alive here, especially Jean and Gambit, as well as Storm, to an extent.
Ron: We got so many meaningful arcs for Cyclops, Rogue, Jean, Storm, Jubilee, even Cable.
There were so many fun cameos–Blob, Pixie, Exodus!
The dialogue this season–wow!
Every word Nightcrawler said was amazing. His eulogy for Gambit? Actual perfection.
Also, Xavier’s diatribe against the Shiar about equality? Print that and hand it out to politicians!
Ron: Some of the plots did feel curtailed though.
Madelyne Pryor’s arc could have been a couple of episodes. Would have been a great way to reintroduce Havok.
In fact, in the Krakoa comics, Maddy and Havok are together.
Lifedeath is another story that could definitely have been longer.
That teaser for the second season though. I can’t wait.
Mon: Honestly, the soap opera drama is why this show is killing it.
Mon: But, the show had issues
Morph being non-binary was a footnote, and they were the only character who had absolutely no story or arc
The characters of colour were shunted to the side–Storm being depowered meant she disappeared a lot, Forge was only shown in context of Storm, Bishop vanished after 3 episodes, and ‘Berto…
We love ‘Berto, but while Gui Augustini is Brazilian-born, he’s not Afro-Latino. I didn’t clock that ‘Berto’s comic origins were re-written on the show (because the OG is so ingrained in me). And then his skin colour just kept getting lighter. What the hell? People are rightfully angry about him.
Ron: Yeah. I had mentioned the skin colour issue in our previous episode. It… did not get better. Sigh.
Mon: Shall we chat about the rest of the voice-cast? Because the voice-acting sold us on the stories and emotions. I loved Lenore Zann, who allowed her personal tragedy to inform her powerful and emotional performance as Rogue.
Ron: The voice cast was stellar. Lenore Zann and Alyson Sealy-Smith were highlights for me.
The way Zann channelled Rogue’s grief and rage after Gambit’s death–I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
Sealy-Smith brings the regality to Storm that her character deserves. She’s got a majestic voice and was somehow even better in this season than the 92 show. I can now only read Storm in her voice now.
Mon: Alison Sealy-Smith was seamless, and powerful.
Ron: AJ LoCascio was such a delight as Gambit. He clearly adores the character and made such an impact in just five episodes.
Mon: The newcomers were all so good. Ray Chase (Cyclops), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Matthew Waterson (Magneto), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), and A.J. LoCascio were exactly what you’d expect these characters to sound like. Love love loved them. Chase is the voice of Scott for me now. And LoCascio’s love for Gambit came through in every scene of Gambit.
I also love that Catherine Disher came back but not as Jean Grey. She played the heck out of Val Cooper. She got an iconic monologue and said THE LINE - Magneto Was Right!
Ron: So many characters to love here. But do we have a favourite?
Mon: I think we may have the same favourite.
Ron: I’ve loved Gambit for so long but this season was the first time I felt a story did him justice.
He’s got such a big heart and he loves Rogue completely. He doesn’t even care that she can’t touch him. I love that about him.
I also love that he took their breakup so well.
I was so worried about that scene but Gambit still wants to be Rogue’s friend. It’s so sweet.
Mon: Yep, I concur. I am in love with Gambit.
The creators purposely made him loveable, likeable and sexy. They made us want to fall in love with him, and they succeeded!
It’s the little things that made Gambit such a tragic hero.
He’s besotted with Rogue, he loves her even though physical touch is impossible for them, he is willing to let her go and love her as a friend when she chooses Magneto, and he dies for the people he loves. Tears all around.
Ron: And that brings me to the best character arc.
I’ve also loved Rogue for a very long time and I absolutely adore her arc in ‘97.
This show wasn’t afraid to dive into sexuality with Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto.
Gambit is so comfortable in his sexuality in the first episode.
But with Rogue not being able to touch people, this season really leaned into her indulging her physical requirements with Magneto because she needs that fulfilment in her life.
Loving Gambit isn’t enough for Rogue. I like a lady who takes charge of her desires!
Then there’s her anger at losing Gambit. She goes for the jugular with everyone who took her man. I loved seeing her fight and be ruthless.
Rogue and her brother, Nightcrawler, get such an incredible scene together.
You can really see how Rogue, who starts the show as a pacifist, by the end of the season, she’s throwing Trask out the window.
No wonder she joins Magneto. He’s the only one who understands her pain.
Mon: Rogue’s arc was undeniably great. But I’m going to go against the grain here and talk about our Team Leader, Cyclops.
I love Cyclops so much, and have for a very long time.
He’s complicated and wrong, and sad, and human.
He has a great arc because it’s about love and family.
I think he really goes through it with his emotions because he’s in love with Jean, always has been, but then finds out he was with her clone
The fact that he goes from boy scout to pissed off when he has to justify himself and his reluctance to talk about his son to Trish Tilby the reporter, was, well, a choice. But it’s like the dam burst for him.
It’s a reflection of a very real problem. If you’re from a marginalized community, it’s assumed you can never be objective. But you can always be objective when you’re the ‘default’ community.
So when Tilby is pushing Scott to explain why he’s supposedly lying about the existence of his child, she’s basically suggesting, as a mutant he has to be perfect, and Scott’s outburst is saying ‘no. if humans can be flawed and have secrets, so can he and mutantkind.’
He’s such a great human, though.
He’s willing to take the punches from the X-Cutioner in the second episode because he has to protect people from his blasts.
He’s willing to sacrifice himself in the finale so his son and the world can live.
He wants to give people a chance–save Magneto, appeal to Bastion–despite being a child soldier, he tries to break out of the mold that Charles has tried to shape him in
Scott’s love for Nathan is so dang palpable. You can almost feel his heart breaking for all the lost years.
And that bloody line of dialogue to Logan in the finale, ordering Logan to do what he’s best at, heal, so Logan doesn’t break Jean’s heart–Scott just wants Jean to be happy.
Ron: Wow. We’re so predictable.
Mon: Earlier, I mentioned the drama on the show. Talk about soap opera - who isn’t in love with the wrong person on this show!
R. Absolutely. A lot of the soap opera stuff has to do with the romances and love triangles/quadrangles!
Ron: I was uncomfortable with Magneto/Rogue/Gambit but I get it.
Mon: The Rogue/Magneto romance is still icky to me. There’s too large a gap and power-imbalance. But Maggie gives Rogue something no one else can, so I get why she turns to him.
Mon: The Scott/Madelyne/Jean triangle is very complicated, and they wrote it well, where none of them are perfect, but they’re trying.
Jean kissing Logan felt forced to me–Logan has been in love with her forever, but has she felt anything for him? Or is she, in a state of weakness, picking up his emotions and projecting back?
Also, was ‘Berto introduced just to be Jubilee’s boyfriend? Boring.
I’m not convinced by Storm and Forge’s romance either. She went from feeling betrayed by the revelation that it was his invention that depowered her to being in love with him. superquick.
Ron: I see what you mean but I want Storm to find love with Forge.
Ron: I am very interested in Morph/Wolverine/Jean though.
In Fire Made Flesh, Morph’s demon takes the form of Wolverine saying he and everyone else know what Morph is. And Morph looks so scared.
I was wondering why Wolverine?
Mon: Why naked Wolverine?
Ron: Yeah right?
I know they’re best friends in the show.
But the finale explains it–Morph is in love with Wolvie. Who wouldn’t be?
Of course, we know Logan’s been in love with Jeanie forever. So Morph takes Jean’s form to confess their love.
Mon: Morph being in love with Logan is unexpected–but again, why isn’t that part of the text of the show? Why is everything to do with Morph an afterthought?
I don’t hate that Morph’s feelings for Logan have evolved from platonic to romantic, considering Logan has been their biggest champion and friend and support from the get-go. The two of them have always been close. But we need to see their romance/friendship grow on screen!
Ron: I really want to see where this goes. Friends-to-lovers is a very popular fanfiction trope and Morph deserves it.
However, we can’t forget it’s 1997 in the show and being queer isn’t easy.
So, will Morph get a coming out story?
The X-Men have already accepted Morph’s non-binary identity. But would they feel the same way about Morph being a queer person in love with Wolverine?
Will Wolvie accept them?
I would hate for them to stop being friends over this!
How great would it be if Iceman joined the team in Season 2 and had his own coming out story?
X2, the film, was a coming out allegory so why not have a real coming out story?
I just want to see Bobby Drake!
Mon: Me too!
Mon: Best episode?
Ron: I was tempted to go with Remember It because of Gambit and Tolerance is Extinction Part 2 because of that Magneto vs Wolverine ending.
But, it’s episode 2 for me. Mutant Liberation Begins
This episode is the first season’s manifesto
Magneto does everything that humanity, and the X-Men, expect of him
And the humans still fight him; they take Storm’s power. They still choose hatred.
Magneto gave them chances and offered them harmony.
But they refused; humanity sided with Bastion, they destroyed Genosha, they shot nuclear missiles at Asteroid M
The human beings in the X-verse deserve whatever Magneto dishes out to them
Mon: Like you, for me it’s also Mutant Liberation Begins
This, to me, was one of the best episodes of television, ever
This was a clear reflection of the divisions of the real world–artificial divisions along the lines of race, class, ethnicity, and beliefs, that literally kill and maim people.
The battle at the end where the X-Men are restraining themselves, getting beat down, while they protect the same class of people that are hurting them is poignant.
The problem is, it doesn’t matter how much our art shows us we’re on the wrong side of history, people will purposely choose to be on the wrong side of it.
I also want to talk about S1.E5 ∙ Remember It
Honestly thought this was going to be a game-changer. The start of a Krakoa-like era where the X-Men and mutants have found a home for themselves.
Ron: Never expect good things for the X-Men.
Mon:
And then we turn to the personal side of things when Rogue chooses Magneto over Gambit. I was like, ok, this is a character story, it’s about their arc.
And then boom, literally. You can have no peace in a world that actively hates you.
And lastly, S1.E10 ∙ Tolerance Is Extinction - Part 3
I thought the penultimate episode was one of the weaker ones of the season, so I was concerned about the finale. I was wrong.
It became about connections–Charles connecting with Magnus, Jean and Scott connecting with Nathan, Scott reaching out to Bastion in friendship. Very emotional.
Ron: This leads us to the most shocking moment.
It has to be Gambit dying, right? He’s a core character and he’s very much alive and kicking in the comics.
Mon: Honestly, did not expect Gambit to die. Like, I’m still reeling. I can only cope by knowing that he’s alive in the comics.
Ron: The show has done this before–Morph died in the pilot but they did come back eventually.
There’s speculation that Gambit will return but like, how? He dead-dead.
Mon: Another shocking moment was Rogue dropping Trask off the building–this was not something Rogue would do. I know she was angry, but she should have been beating him to a pulp, not letting him plummet to his death.
Ron: That was shocking but it felt right.
Ron: But also, Magneto ripping the adamantium out of Wolverine?
It’s straight from the comics! In fact, the animation was based on the panel in the comic.
Very exciting but poor Wolverine!
Mon: Hopes for season 2?
Ron: More Morph! I want to see them take the spotlight. Get a great arc, lots of action, and a full-on love story with someone. It probably won’t be Wolverine, because I doubt Marvel will make Wolvie queer. But someone.
Also, Mystique and Destiny. I love them so much and I need to see more of them. In the comics, Mystique and Destiny are ready to destroy the universe to save each other. I need to see that passion on screen.
But I’m worried that without Beau DeMayo, or a queer presence behind the scenes, we won’t get fulfilling queer stories.
I’d also love to see lots of new and old X-Men. Bring me Polaris, Havok, Iceman, Dani Moonstar, Rayne Sinclair, Synch. I need more Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Mon: I want more of the mutants showing up and helping Forge and team. Iceman, Archangel, the New Mutants. I’d like to see them become mainstays.
I really want more queer storylines, arcs, and characters. For all the updated sensibilities of this show, the queerbaiting irritated me.
That ‘Berto is back, he’s his comic book colour, his origins are retconned, and, while I love Augustini’s voice acting, we need a representative actor voicing him.
Someone please explain Val Cooper–something is up with her!
More soap opera drama and romantic entanglements. We live for this.