X-Men – 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Hisako is in the Danger Room and facing a Sentinel but she is quickly defeated. The simulation over, Wolverine helps her up, saying she would have died. Cyclops makes a sardonic remark about Hisako’s training which she understands to actually be an attack against Emma.  She angrily confronts Cyclops about this because this isn’t the noted X-Men teamwork. Though Emma tries to calm her, Hisako won’t be calmed and storms off after Cyclops leaves. Xavier decides that Hisako will be a junior member and Emma will be a full member of X-Men. Cyclops objects to Emma but even though she won’t submit to a mind probe, Cyclops submits to Xavier. Sometime later in the lab, Hisako still fumes as she helps Beast with his work.  He tells her that Cyclops has deep wounds in his own heart that won’t easily heal.

Cyclops comes to get Hisako for more training. She doesn’t want him to train her but everyone is off to the Danger Room again. Cyclops tells her that her opponent will be him and that he won’t be pulling his punches. His reasoning for this is that Hisako doesn’t take the simulations seriously. Activating the simulation, Hisako and Cyclops are on the SR-71’s wing and he attacks. She pleads for him to stop but he won’t since enemy’s won’t. She flees and he attacks. Finally, she activates her armor ability and he blasts her. She finally attacks and he continues to provoke her until she goes into a rage. Wolverine and Storm want to stop this but Emma asks them to wait. Cyclops continues talking sternly with Hisako, which Storm and Wolverine see as referring to Jean, but his words reach Hisako and she gains control of her power.

Ororo talks with Hisako about her own experiences as Emma decides to submit to a mind scan to remove all doubts of her truthfulness and that she was not the one who was involved in Jean’s death. Her condition is that the other X-Men and Hisako be allowed to see this. Xavier agrees and Emma’s life from her childhood is projected where she was ostracized for her mind-reading abilities. As a teenager, it continued as she was blamed for things even if she had nothing to do with it. As an adult, she’s contacted by Mastermind, the leader of the Inner Circle, and after she joins, she commits crimes so that the Inner Circle gets rich. However, she eventually leaves and during the time of Jean’s death, she was with a young mutant boy. Seeing this, Cyclops apologizes and accepts her as a team member. Now, the X-Men, with new members Hisako and Emma, head to Tohoku.

Thoughts/Review:

I really liked this episode because it was a character developing episode for Hisako, Emma, and Scott. Obviously, Scott is still struggling with Jean’s death and his belief that Emma was behind it.  There’s also his job as the leader of X-Men and though the others doubted for a moment during the training with Hisako, Emma understood. For her part, we got to see her own struggles as a mutant and why she turned to crime so that now, Hisako knows that Emma isn’t pure.  For Hisako’s part, she learned some valuable lessons regarding what it means to be an X-Man and I think she’ll be OK.  I do wonder why Hisako was so easily able to help Beast in the lab though (wish that had been explained).

Despite this, the script had Wolverine and Storm doubting Cyclops during the training session with Hisako. Both are spouting their doubts and this whole, “He’s not holding back!” crap. Granted, it was partially done to allow Emma to be the trusting one but it made Logan and Ororo look like chumps.  I could tell that despite Scott’s words, he wasn’t really going all out on Hisako. It appeared to me that Cyclop’s optic blasts were carefully aimed to only nick or come close to Hisako to scare her. He didn’t full-out blast her until she’d activated her armor.  By then, Storm and Wolverine should have known the game but they are panicked as Cyclops provokes Hisako to teach her control.  🙁  Oh well.

The script does effectively make Emma and Hisako believable members of X-Men and trusted members as well. So, as the team returns to the Tohoku region, they now have two additional fighters. Hisako’s youth is still against her though the script tries to convey the fact that she has been training and ready.  I haven’t warmed up completely to Hisako as a character because she’s a screamer and that’s bothersome. Hopefully this improves with time.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I loved seeing the Sentinel, even if in a simulation. Weird how I’m not a mecha fan but love the Sentinels. ^_^;   Maybe it was the impact that the story “Days of Future Past” had on me when I went and bought those archived comic books from a comic book story. I doubt the Sentinels show up again because the story doesn’t seem to be going that way but I wouldn’t mind.

Finally, I liked the tribute to the Tohoku people from the seiyuu.  ^_^

I’m looking forward to seeing more and where things are going.