Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
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Nine must be a lucky number because after a few episodes in the recent bunch and some mediocre turns, "FUTURE X" offers continued improvement upon the show, which started on the right path last week with "TIME BOMB". Ironically, it is one of the best episodes of the show so far, and it stars virtually none of the established cast aside for Xavier. Much as the Nightcrawler episode was incredible but also featured none of the stars aside for cameo roles. Perhaps it shows that the writers here are capable of some good stuff once they step outside some of the "boxes" they have written themselves into with the show, and escape from some of their characters playing to type.
"FUTURE X" is a solid episode coming at a crucial time; while Season 1 has 26 episodes, most shows only have about 13 for a season, so how the show stands at the midway point there will be crucial to determining what the rest may show. And what this episode shows is there is a storyarc that is mature, a little dark and important. That the struggle between mutants and humans gets messier before it gets better. And that in the end, teamwork will prevail. Classic X-Men themes.
Now if only we could get an episode that is this good, but with the actual main cast. Eh, maybe next week.
A step in the right direction as we reach the pivotal midway point of the season.
The episode spends much of it's time in the year 2028 with Future Xavier while showing brief snippets from present day with Wolverine's team. Time travel is always a shaky concept and often can be a distraction for the X-Men, but this show is starting to weave it very well. I also caught an allusion that I am amazed I didn't before; guess I was too busy complaining. Future Xavier communicating psychically into the past of course reminds me of Future Kitty (with Rachael's help) communicating through her "current self" during DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, which this show's storyline relies heavily on. Using his past self as a conduit, Future Xavier communicates with the X-Men of the past to try to prevent his own hellish future.
Some people may be asking, "The X-Men have already done some things that Future Xavier has asked them to do; why the world still stink?" The answer may be time paradoxes, of course. Not everything is as simple as one specific events, but a chain of events. Note in the 90's series, Bishop went back in time at last twice to try to prevent his own future, but it never worked; every time he would remove one catalyst, another would spring up out of nowhere. Also, for all we know, Xavier's future COULD have changed slightly; it just may not have been reversed completely yet, because the X-Men have yet to find the right catalyst (in the past/present). Yeah, it's complicated, but not nearly as much as the typical episode of HEROES.
In real time, Wolverine meets with Future Xavier to psychically go over his mission with Gambit a few episodes back to recall Forge's inhibitor collar from Trask. This, naturally, further establishes the serial storytelling of the series, which is very key, and very appreciated. Logan goes back to a screen he glances that said MASTER MOLD on it, deeming it very important. Future Xavier, however, does not know of it, citing a lack of electronic records in the future. Wolverine decides to lead the team into a mission to reclaim any data from Trask's base that was not destroyed, or to get any leads.
In a first, Cyclops makes a wisecrack about Wolverine's leadership, or lack thereof, without someone having to mention Xavier or Jean to him. It was amusing, although he still is "optic blast guy" and not really a character unto himself, like Beast or Emma are at this point. Iceman and Kitty have some fun taking down two inept MRD guards, but Wolverine finds, to his dismay, that the warehouse was empty. Frost couldn't detect any minds inside the structure, but there are always psychic blocking technology, so the site had to be checked anyway. Storm is also there, but all she does is make it rain. At the very least, it is a second episode in a row with the full team, even if all they do is raid an empty building.
But the meat of the episode was based in 2028 (or "20 years in the future" since the show doesn't want to date itself like the 90's show did). Xavier, who is somehow able to walk with two mechanical brace thingies, lives alone with Cerebro in the mangled wreckage of the X-Mansion. While leaving the machine to do some research in some books (one apparently written by Beast), Sentinels attack him, capture both him and Cerebro, and take him to a mutant concentration camp. That isn't what it is said to be, but that is what it is, with mutants wearing mass produced inhibitor collars as well as uniforms with the M word on it, not unlike Jews with the numbers on their arms.
The Sentinels themselves look as you would expect; large lavender robots. Frankly, the design from X-MEN EVOLUTION looked a lot more imposing and, dare I say it, robotic. They appear a little more inspired by some anime designs than on the classic stuff, as the 90's cartoon Sentinels were. The only major caveat is that the sound effect for their voices made some of their robotic lines almost impossible to figure out, although if you really focused you could get the gist.
Jim Ward, who plays Xavier, gets the most time to play here and he does fine; Xavier usually sounds the same in cartoons and here is no exception. I was impressed that rather than be helplessly depowered, Xavier uses his power at the right split second to avoid losing them. Sure, you could argue that the only reason the cybernetic General Moss (played by the always evil sounding Michael Ironside) was to serve as Xavier's patsy for a while, the Sentinels have often forced humans to do their bidding, especially those with like goals.
There are quite a few cameos, but the main ones are Marrow, Bishop, Hellion, Berserker, Vanisher, and Kamal (and a fire-using girl who may or may not be Firestar); Domino also gets a key role to play. Once Xavier is introduced to the group, Marrow and Domino dismiss him as a "crazy old man", but Bishop is not so easily deterred. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson (who appears to voice any black male character who isn't voiced by Phil LaMarr these days), I can easily say this was the best version of Bishop animated. I can easily say that because Bishop is usually a character, like Gambit, who I can't stand. Only this time he comes off better than the Cajun. The bald design looks better than his 90's big hair one of the last cartoon he popped up in. He isn't dripping with massive exposition. He doesn't even say "I'm a cop" or "you just hit a living battery, pal", which usually are the two things he says over and over in the comics. Instead, his power speaks for itself. He is all soldier and all business, taking Xavier seriously because Wolverine does. Wolverine is still the leader of the X-Men in this future, but is MIA and presumed dead. Xavier doesn't buy and it and neither do I. Wolverine never dies.
Seeking to not only free everyone in the camp, but reclaim Cerebro, Bishop and Xavier find what is left of the machine, and also learn that the Sentinels are somehow learning how to adapt mutant powers to themselves via...um...hooking mutants up to machines and making them scream a lot. Yeah, it's a dues ex machina, but whatever. This naturally has to be stopped, and Xavier gets some key scenes encouraging Hellion to focus with his powers during the emergency. The episode helped showcase why Xavier is the founder of the team, from encouraging his rag tag bunch to victory to even saving Marrow's life from a Sentinel (despite his powers being useless against robots).
The fight scenes against the Sentinels are pretty damn good. Without any BS&P getting in the way of destroying giant robots, the animators can go to town with a lot of flare. Kamal (or "the purple guy") gets a bit of play absorbing stone/metal and then smashing robots with incredible strength. It was very vibrant, exciting and easily got the attention of most viewers here. Such a shame the X-Men don't have a long term member who offers super strength or metallic skin. Because obviously such characters respond well with audiences in battles. Who knew? People like seeing tanker characters smash things in an action show. What next? Superman?
Domino's "luck" power is alluded to without really explaining it, and the only bit about the fight that was an "oh, come ON" moment was when Marrow somehow prevented the Sentinel from squishing them by tying up it's leg with a cable attached to a satellite dish that in NO WAY would have held up considering they could walk through metal walls without any problem. It would have been easier if she just used a lot of bone shards to disable it. The creators of the show obviously liked Marrow considering they invented Spyke in EVOLUTION who essentially was the same character, and so her being animated proper was a long time coming. A whole, what, 14 years? Hellion only had to wait 5 years. Back in the 90's, neither Jubilee or Gambit were over 3 years old when they got animated. I suppose it is good to see some newer X-Men characters get a shot at animation glory, as there have been a batch of new ones not only since the 90's show ended in 1997-1998, but even since Evolution ended in 2003! Which is a blast if you happen to like them. I don't care for either Marrow or Hellion, but naturally random cameos is what X-Men cartoons are all about. In a way it shows that original characters did not stop appearing last century.
In the end, the rag tag future X-Men are able to escape and reassemble a base, but Master Mold figures out that Xavier is still alive after all this time. It is now a female robot (perhaps a blend of Whedon's overrated Danger character), but it makes perfect logical sense for Master Mold to be a female robot. Master Mold literally gives birth to all the Sentinels. Having it be like a "motherboard" makes perfect sense. Remember, when Master Mold was made in the 60's, comics were far more chauvinist than they are now.
Really, the only thing I didn't care for is the lengths the show will go through to have any super strong character besides Colossus look good in an episode, or even show up. It seriously isn't fair when Hellion (circa 2003) gets to look good in an episode but Piotr has yet to in a cartoon this century. 33 years in existence, and his best animated moment is STILL smashing Omega Red with a tank in "RED DAWN" in 1994.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaE-VETiNnU&feature=related
The rumor is that he returns in episode 21 (out of 26 for the season), but I sincerely doubt he will do anything of any real consequence besides punch something. But that's my beef with the show in general, which means there is really little to gripe about here fundamentally.
There still is the issue of, "why is Wolverine specifically the leader when all the leader has to do is listen to Future Xavier and virtually any X-Man but Marrow would do that" still stands, but is moot. Wolverine is the leader because he is the most popular character. Hence why Batman often appeared as a leader in JL/U, as well as in THE BATMAN. He has a "no nonsense soldier style" to him, but so far Logan has only been mildly cynical as he listens to whatever Xavier says. Still, what did you expect? Wolverine is the first one mentioned in the title. Duh.
Some people may be asking, "The X-Men have already done some things that Future Xavier has asked them to do; why the world still stink?" The answer may be time paradoxes, of course. Not everything is as simple as one specific events, but a chain of events. Note in the 90's series, Bishop went back in time at last twice to try to prevent his own future, but it never worked; every time he would remove one catalyst, another would spring up out of nowhere. Also, for all we know, Xavier's future COULD have changed slightly; it just may not have been reversed completely yet, because the X-Men have yet to find the right catalyst (in the past/present). Yeah, it's complicated, but not nearly as much as the typical episode of HEROES.
In real time, Wolverine meets with Future Xavier to psychically go over his mission with Gambit a few episodes back to recall Forge's inhibitor collar from Trask. This, naturally, further establishes the serial storytelling of the series, which is very key, and very appreciated. Logan goes back to a screen he glances that said MASTER MOLD on it, deeming it very important. Future Xavier, however, does not know of it, citing a lack of electronic records in the future. Wolverine decides to lead the team into a mission to reclaim any data from Trask's base that was not destroyed, or to get any leads.
In a first, Cyclops makes a wisecrack about Wolverine's leadership, or lack thereof, without someone having to mention Xavier or Jean to him. It was amusing, although he still is "optic blast guy" and not really a character unto himself, like Beast or Emma are at this point. Iceman and Kitty have some fun taking down two inept MRD guards, but Wolverine finds, to his dismay, that the warehouse was empty. Frost couldn't detect any minds inside the structure, but there are always psychic blocking technology, so the site had to be checked anyway. Storm is also there, but all she does is make it rain. At the very least, it is a second episode in a row with the full team, even if all they do is raid an empty building.
But the meat of the episode was based in 2028 (or "20 years in the future" since the show doesn't want to date itself like the 90's show did). Xavier, who is somehow able to walk with two mechanical brace thingies, lives alone with Cerebro in the mangled wreckage of the X-Mansion. While leaving the machine to do some research in some books (one apparently written by Beast), Sentinels attack him, capture both him and Cerebro, and take him to a mutant concentration camp. That isn't what it is said to be, but that is what it is, with mutants wearing mass produced inhibitor collars as well as uniforms with the M word on it, not unlike Jews with the numbers on their arms.
The Sentinels themselves look as you would expect; large lavender robots. Frankly, the design from X-MEN EVOLUTION looked a lot more imposing and, dare I say it, robotic. They appear a little more inspired by some anime designs than on the classic stuff, as the 90's cartoon Sentinels were. The only major caveat is that the sound effect for their voices made some of their robotic lines almost impossible to figure out, although if you really focused you could get the gist.
Jim Ward, who plays Xavier, gets the most time to play here and he does fine; Xavier usually sounds the same in cartoons and here is no exception. I was impressed that rather than be helplessly depowered, Xavier uses his power at the right split second to avoid losing them. Sure, you could argue that the only reason the cybernetic General Moss (played by the always evil sounding Michael Ironside) was to serve as Xavier's patsy for a while, the Sentinels have often forced humans to do their bidding, especially those with like goals.
There are quite a few cameos, but the main ones are Marrow, Bishop, Hellion, Berserker, Vanisher, and Kamal (and a fire-using girl who may or may not be Firestar); Domino also gets a key role to play. Once Xavier is introduced to the group, Marrow and Domino dismiss him as a "crazy old man", but Bishop is not so easily deterred. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson (who appears to voice any black male character who isn't voiced by Phil LaMarr these days), I can easily say this was the best version of Bishop animated. I can easily say that because Bishop is usually a character, like Gambit, who I can't stand. Only this time he comes off better than the Cajun. The bald design looks better than his 90's big hair one of the last cartoon he popped up in. He isn't dripping with massive exposition. He doesn't even say "I'm a cop" or "you just hit a living battery, pal", which usually are the two things he says over and over in the comics. Instead, his power speaks for itself. He is all soldier and all business, taking Xavier seriously because Wolverine does. Wolverine is still the leader of the X-Men in this future, but is MIA and presumed dead. Xavier doesn't buy and it and neither do I. Wolverine never dies.
Seeking to not only free everyone in the camp, but reclaim Cerebro, Bishop and Xavier find what is left of the machine, and also learn that the Sentinels are somehow learning how to adapt mutant powers to themselves via...um...hooking mutants up to machines and making them scream a lot. Yeah, it's a dues ex machina, but whatever. This naturally has to be stopped, and Xavier gets some key scenes encouraging Hellion to focus with his powers during the emergency. The episode helped showcase why Xavier is the founder of the team, from encouraging his rag tag bunch to victory to even saving Marrow's life from a Sentinel (despite his powers being useless against robots).
The fight scenes against the Sentinels are pretty damn good. Without any BS&P getting in the way of destroying giant robots, the animators can go to town with a lot of flare. Kamal (or "the purple guy") gets a bit of play absorbing stone/metal and then smashing robots with incredible strength. It was very vibrant, exciting and easily got the attention of most viewers here. Such a shame the X-Men don't have a long term member who offers super strength or metallic skin. Because obviously such characters respond well with audiences in battles. Who knew? People like seeing tanker characters smash things in an action show. What next? Superman?
Domino's "luck" power is alluded to without really explaining it, and the only bit about the fight that was an "oh, come ON" moment was when Marrow somehow prevented the Sentinel from squishing them by tying up it's leg with a cable attached to a satellite dish that in NO WAY would have held up considering they could walk through metal walls without any problem. It would have been easier if she just used a lot of bone shards to disable it. The creators of the show obviously liked Marrow considering they invented Spyke in EVOLUTION who essentially was the same character, and so her being animated proper was a long time coming. A whole, what, 14 years? Hellion only had to wait 5 years. Back in the 90's, neither Jubilee or Gambit were over 3 years old when they got animated. I suppose it is good to see some newer X-Men characters get a shot at animation glory, as there have been a batch of new ones not only since the 90's show ended in 1997-1998, but even since Evolution ended in 2003! Which is a blast if you happen to like them. I don't care for either Marrow or Hellion, but naturally random cameos is what X-Men cartoons are all about. In a way it shows that original characters did not stop appearing last century.
In the end, the rag tag future X-Men are able to escape and reassemble a base, but Master Mold figures out that Xavier is still alive after all this time. It is now a female robot (perhaps a blend of Whedon's overrated Danger character), but it makes perfect logical sense for Master Mold to be a female robot. Master Mold literally gives birth to all the Sentinels. Having it be like a "motherboard" makes perfect sense. Remember, when Master Mold was made in the 60's, comics were far more chauvinist than they are now.
Really, the only thing I didn't care for is the lengths the show will go through to have any super strong character besides Colossus look good in an episode, or even show up. It seriously isn't fair when Hellion (circa 2003) gets to look good in an episode but Piotr has yet to in a cartoon this century. 33 years in existence, and his best animated moment is STILL smashing Omega Red with a tank in "RED DAWN" in 1994.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaE-VETiNnU&feature=related
The rumor is that he returns in episode 21 (out of 26 for the season), but I sincerely doubt he will do anything of any real consequence besides punch something. But that's my beef with the show in general, which means there is really little to gripe about here fundamentally.
There still is the issue of, "why is Wolverine specifically the leader when all the leader has to do is listen to Future Xavier and virtually any X-Man but Marrow would do that" still stands, but is moot. Wolverine is the leader because he is the most popular character. Hence why Batman often appeared as a leader in JL/U, as well as in THE BATMAN. He has a "no nonsense soldier style" to him, but so far Logan has only been mildly cynical as he listens to whatever Xavier says. Still, what did you expect? Wolverine is the first one mentioned in the title. Duh.
"FUTURE X" is a solid episode coming at a crucial time; while Season 1 has 26 episodes, most shows only have about 13 for a season, so how the show stands at the midway point there will be crucial to determining what the rest may show. And what this episode shows is there is a storyarc that is mature, a little dark and important. That the struggle between mutants and humans gets messier before it gets better. And that in the end, teamwork will prevail. Classic X-Men themes.
Now if only we could get an episode that is this good, but with the actual main cast. Eh, maybe next week.
A step in the right direction as we reach the pivotal midway point of the season.
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