2x03 Whatever It Takes

[7.5/10] I like these episodes so much more when there’s focus! We basically have an A-story, a B-story, and a tease for the next episode here, both of which . Thus far, most X-Men shows have had a little bit of everything, which is cool in its way, but can also leave them feeling a bit scattered.

But this one is comparatively straightforward. In the A-story, Storm and Rogue travel to Africa in order to investigate a disturbance that's affecting Storm’s godson, MjNari. There’s a strong idea at the core of this one, of members of a tight knit family being willing to do anything they can for one another. When Storm was a child, she was haunted by a malevolent force called The Shadow King, and Professor X helped banish it. But now it’s broken out and is trying to gain leverage over her again by possessing her godson. The lengths she’s wiling to go to save and protect MjNari reveals the depth of her feelings in a way that's easy to relate to despite the melodrama of the series.

This one gives us a fair bit of backstory on Storm. We learn she was an orphan, that she was taken in by a community and became one of them, that she helped raise a child as a second mother, and that like so many of the X-Men, she got help from Xavier to overcome the things that were challenging her as a mutant.

So she tries to do the same for MjNari. He too is a mutant, with super speed and vision into the astral plane. While these are gifts, they also make him a target for the Shadow king. It takes Storm offering herself up as a host for the Shadow King to save MjNari, over Rogue’s strenuous objections. Rogue tries to save Storm even when Storm’s possessed, and Storm tries to spare Rogue from the Shadow King’s evil machinations.

And while there’s a fair amount of convenient magic involved, the three of them banishing the Shadow King back into the astral plane through the same tear he came out of is a nicely clockwork solution. That's especially true since it requires MjNari to rise to the occasion, racing through the plane, and getting help from his second mom to make it out. There’s a camaraderie, a teamwork, a mutual sacrifice that elevates this one.

And it lends itself to the other theme of the episode -- that Xavier or not, the X-Men are carrying on his legacy in their hearts and minds. I’m not sure that I bought Xavier was really gone even when I was in elementary school. But even so, it’s heartening to see Storm and Wolverine affirm through their words and through their actions that the spirit and mission he’s left them with will survive him, and that they’ll show the same kindness and altruism to others that he showed them.

That includes Morph. It’s really cool watching Wolvie hunt down his shapeshifting old buddy in the hopes of helping him recover from what’s troubling him. By the same token, I love seeing Morph taunt Wolverine psychologically with the visages of Jean or other foes or even Wolvie himself, since Morph knows he can't do much to Wolverine physically. I’ll say this for Morph. In a show full of loud villains with generic plans, Morph is pretty darn clever as an antagonist, and it makes him my favorite foil so far.

But the point, even though Morph gets away, is that Wolverine wants to help him however he can. It’s what the Professor would want, and the principles he’s instilled in his pupils are more important than the man himself.

Speaking of which, I’m a little skeptical of the tease for the next episode. I vaguely remember the Savage Lands from other Marvel shows, and recall it as a sort of silly concept. But comic book-y goofiness or not, all the death fakeouts are starting to get a bit tiresome, so we’ll see how things go when Charles and Magneto end up inevitably unscathed despite the waterfall plunge the show leaves us with.

Overall, a much more focused and improved hour than even many of the best episodes off the show thus far can offer.