Warning: this review contains full spoilers for X-Men: Season 1, Episode 10!
X-Men ’97 saved the best for last. The 10th episode of Season 1 wraps up the three-part “Tolerance Is Extinction” storyline in grand fashion: It’s a finale full of massive stakes and major emotion, one that properly wraps up the season’s many ongoing threads while laying the groundwork for an equally thrilling Season 2.
One could never accuse X-Men ’97 of being slow-paced or plodding. There’s a lot of plot crammed into each and every episode. While those many moving parts have often worked together as a cohesive whole, there have been points where the cracks have begun to show and certain characters fail to receive the attention they deserve. As strong as Episode 9 is, one could argue it attempted to do too much in too short a time.
Fortunately, that’s not a problem with the finale. Part of that is simply down to the runtime. At a relatively hefty 42 minutes, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3” is given more breathing room than any episode that came before it. That extra space is most appreciated when it comes to the recurring scenes set inside Magneto’s beleaguered mind. It’s immensely satisfying to see X-Men ’97 take a step back to explore the friendship between Charles Xavier and Erik Magnus Lehnsherr and directly address the latter’s experiences in the Holocaust. It’s one of many ways this episode keeps the stakes personal even as the world itself hangs in the balance.
It’s also fascinating to see the morality of Xavier’s actions addressed. No matter how noble his intentions, there’s no getting around the fact that he breaks the Prime Directive of telepathy here – hijacking someone else's mind and robbing them of free will. I have to assume Season 2 will explore the fallout of that act and the darker side of the otherwise noble, benevolent Professor X.
Episode 10 is also a banner chapter for the Summers family, with both Cyclops and Jean Grey enjoying some terrific moments of heroism. We learn that the Phoenix hasn’t necessarily left Jean behind, allowing her to truly show off her awesome might and get some well-deserved revenge on Mister Sinister in the process. Cyclops, for his part, shines brighter than ever as he prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice in service of his family (well, families). X-Men ’97 captures the noble and downright cool side of Scott Summers in a way X-Men: The Animated Series often failed to do.
Emotionally, this episode peaks during its quietest moment, as Scott and Jean bid a psychic farewell to their son, Cable. This is an intensely emotional scene that cuts through all the convoluted Summers/Grey melodrama and gets to the heart of their bond. I also greatly appreciate that this episode avoids using Cable in his capacity as a time traveler. Rather than attempting to undo or mitigate the many tragedies that have befallen the X-Men this season, the finale moves full steam ahead and leaves the painful sting of Genosha in place.
Nearly every character gets a spotlight moment in Episode 10, whether it’s Rogue repeating Gambit’s name to Bastion or Sunspot embracing his mutant side at long last. Bastion himself is a more compelling villain than ever, one haunted by the tragedy of his existence and bolstered by a truly excellent performance from Theo James. Rather than relishing in Bastion’s defeat, Episode 10 makes us feel pity for a man who is neither human nor mutant. I have to wonder if this episode was in some way inspired by Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men work and its notion that machines are the true losers in the eternal conflict between humans and mutants.
The only character who feels slightly underserved here is Wolverine, who never emerges from his coma to lend a helping hand. It felt as though the episode was building to something there, à la Wolverine’s heroic rescue of Jean Grey in the climax of the comics’ “Fatal Attractions” storyline. Instead, he simply vanishes from the picture. This is the one spot in Season 1 where more Wolverine might have been a good thing.
The finale hardly disappoints on the action front, particularly when it comes to the dynamic Rogue vs. Bastion battle and the scene where Jean unleashes the full fury of the Phoenix. The many cameos from other Marvel heroes dealing with the Prime Sentinel threat turn out to be more than fun Easter eggs – these scenes remind us that the X-Men aren’t the only heroes in this world. They’re part of a larger universe, and that helps the scope of X-Men ’97‘s conflict feel that much more dire and real.
