Jonathan Dobres

Season two is a disappointing downgrade from season one. The baffling decision to include the Savage Land in almost every episode is most of the problem. Those interludes steal precious minutes from every story, all so that Xavier and Magneto can inch through repetitive encounters with dinosaurs and Mutates. To make matters worse, the interludes culminate in a season finale that continues to showcase the Savage Land at the expense of character, plot, and anything fun.

Isolating Xavier and Magneto in a jungle for the whole season is consistent with season two’s habit of splitting up characters rather than letting them play off each other. We get several overcomplicated solo adventures that are bogged down in exposition, leaving little time for an actual story or fun character moments.

The season isn’t without its bright spots, of course, but there are a lot of missed opportunities here. I’m hopeful that the tone will change in season three, which tackles both Phoenix Sagas. If they’re doing it right, those stories should be heavy on the interpersonal drama and high stakes that were missing so often in season two. I guess we’ll see!

Worst Episode

“Whatever It Takes”. Why tell one good story when you can tell three bad ones? The Wolverine/Morph story is the best of them, but then the writers drop that ball until the season finale.

Dishonorable Mentions: “Mojovision”, though you’ve got to applaud Peter Wildman as Mojo. And of course “Reunion” has got to be on the Worst list, as it fails to pay off the season as a whole and instead just heaps on more Savage Land garbage.

Best Episode

“Beauty and the Beast”. Finally, Beast gets some attention, and it’s a season highlight. It’s also one of the best Wolverine stories in the entire series.

Honorable Mentions: “Till Death Do Us Part: Part 1”, “Time Fugitives: Part 1” (the show loads all the good stuff into the first half of its two-parters), and “A Rogue’s Tale”.

Worst Hero

Ka-Zar. You’d think that eight episodes of Savage Land interludes would have at least teased his existence. Imagine a version of the interludes where Magneto and Xavier keep surviving because of some shadowy guardian angel. But no, there’s not a hint of Ka-Zar until the season finale, where he finally shows up and starts sucking all the air out of the story. This Kirkland brand Tarzan contributes nothing.

Dishonorable Mention: Cable. His feature episode is a literal repeat of “Time Fugitives: Part 1”. He’s callous, mean, and feels like he’s from a different show. Let me just quote from my review of the episode:

He’s the kind of basic, brutish power fantasy that only young boys can or should find cool. Liefeld wanted to insert Arnold Schwarzenegger into X-Men and it shows. He’s just a big dude with an even bigger gun and a lot of far future tech that conveniently gets him out of every problem. He’s supposed to be a tactical genius but we never see much evidence of it. He has the emotional range of the sounds one makes on the toilet. And he’s got way too much in common with Bishop, making it easy to confuse the two. The X-Men universe has an infinite variety of mutants, and it just doesn’t need “big man with rifle”.

Best Hero

Wolverine. Marvel loves him so much that he’s the only character to appear in all 26 episodes so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in every episode of the series, but I’ll let you know if he misses even one. The outsized attention the show gives him would be grating were it not for Cal Dodd’s reliably great performances. Despite the overexposure, Wolverine is fun, cool, and even charming. His undercover operation in “Beauty and the Beast” puts him over the edge this season, finally pushing him beyond “angry little guy with claws” and into “frequent berserker who is also plausibly a former government agent.”

Worst Villain

The Shadow King. There’s not much to say. In the comics he’s the most malevolent force on the Astral Plane, but in “Whatever It Takes” he’s just a cackling ghost with the vaguest sketch of a plan.

Best Villain

The Friends of Humanity. The militant anti-mutant hate group picks up the torch from Henry Gyrich. They’re one of two recurring antagonists this season, appearing in at least six episodes by my count. The FoH’s bigotry is broad and cartoony, and yet it is chilling to sit through, a real gut punch even thirty years later. Why? It is indistinguishable from actual bigotry, because bigotry is its own parody. The ridiculousness is also the bigot’s first defense. It’s always oh, we’re just kidding, why can’t you take a joke, until things are suddenly very serious. The writers tried to portray bigotry for a kids’ show, but landed on a shockingly plausible version of it, because there just is no Kidz Bop version of racism.

Honorable Mention: Mister Sinister. He’s the season’s other recurring baddie, appearing in just barely five episodes. Of all the scheming masterminds the show has introduced, Sinister is the only one who sounds like he’s enjoying himself. Chris Britton revels in Sinister’s evil machinations and delivers every line like he’s on the verge of a little laugh. Just delicious. The FoH make me angry; Sinister makes me smile.

Most Improved

Cyclops and Jean. Cyclops is still uptight, but at least he’s yelling at people who deserve it (mostly Bishop, who thought he was going to fix his timeline with a rifle). He also finally gets some cool moments, learns how to banter with the bad guys, and starts showing us why he’s in charge. Likewise, Jean finally graduates from holding her hands to her temples and then passing out (though she still does that a little). She saves the day in several episodes (“X-Ternally Yours” and “Mojovision”, for example) and offers Beast some astute advice on his love life. These character upgrades are important. Cyclops and Jean will feature heavily in the upcoming Phoenix Sagas.