1x02 Night of the Sentinels (2)

[7.3/10] Part 2 of the “Night of the Sentinels” duology is a satisfying enough conclusion to the opening arc. There’s less by way of introduction, which is ostensibly a good thing, since it allows the show to fully get up and running. But in practice, the second part feels a bit jumbled, even if it delivers enough exciting action and cool moments to make up for it.

The most peculiar part of it is the structure of the episode. We see the X-Men running into battle against the Sentinels. Then we get Jean Grey and Professor X effectively telling the audience that Morph is dead. Then we get the team back at the base reacting to what happened. And only then do we get a flashback to the battlefield to see what actually went down when they were fighting the Sentinels. I’m not sure why they put things together in such a confusing way. I actually rewound after the Jean/Xavier scene to make sure I hadn't missed something.

Still, I like how this one develops the rivalry between Wolverine and Cyclops. For all his gruffness, Wolverine is loyal to a fault, and what bothers him about this situation is his sense of having to leave good men behind. On the other side, Cyclops asserts himself publicly as the leader who won’t have his command decisions question, but behind closed doors, tortures himself over whether he made the right decision in the field. It gives both characters depth, and a principled reason not to see eye-to-eye beyond just Cyclops’ straight-and-narrow personality, and Wolverine's natural rebelliousness.

There’s also some solid worldbuilding. In addition to Gyrich as the head of the MCA, we meet Trask who’s actually building the Sentinels. We get the President talking about the Sentinels as a new but important part of the police force publicly, but then telling Gyrich to knock it off with the mutant registry. And we even get a change of heart from Jubilee’s foster parents, with the more worried dad telling Cyclops to get out of there before the Sentinels come. If nothing else, the second part of this one does a good job at hinting at the broader contours of anti-mutant sentiment on a national and individual level.

And of course, there’s plenty of action. Cyclops blasts a cell tower. Storm knocks down a door into some guards. Rogue drops one on the grass. Gambit blasts through a security gate. Wolverine crawls up a Sentinel's back. It’s hard to explain why, since it’s just explosive thing after explosive thing, but it’s all pretty damn cool. Even when it’s just a bunch of standard action sequences, the mix of powers and personalities make the fight scenes exciting.

In the end, the X-Men rescue Jubilee, and she agrees to join their school. It completes her arc of finding a place she belongs, and gives our perspective character a nice grace note to go out on. I’m not sure how I feel about completely letting her dad off the hook, but it’s still a nice place to land for her.

Overall, the pacing and structure of this one leaves it feeling a little mixed up, but the core elements are good and make for a nice opening salvo for the series.