[6.2/10] Well, I guess we had enough story centered on character experiences and reactions, so it’s time to go back to smashing action figures together. That seems to be a recurring theme with X-Men, where episodes focused on the characters’ psyches and larger issues are regularly interspersed with ones that amount to, “We just met this dude; let’s throw energy beams at him for a while.”
“Cry of the Banshee” is definitely the latter. Enter Banshee, who is Moira’s main squeeze and just so happens to be a mutant himself (or at least a person with powers), whose brother, Black Tom, just so happens to be teaming with Xavier’s brother to kidnap someone who just so happens to be Xavier’s new main squeeze.
This show already has something of a “small universe” problem. But I could forgive the convenience of the plotting if the scene-to-scene storytelling were better. Juggernaut and Black Tom have schemed to kidnap Lilandra and turn her over to Erik the Red. Sure. Fine. But what comes of it? A big fight over money that’s forgettable beyond showing that the Shi’ar dudes are super powerful.
And I guess that’s the point. This is a power game, meant to show that Phoenix is, as the kids say OP. The Juggernaut is a hulking dude who manages to withstand the combined efforts of Xavier and Lilandra, and has already given the X-Men a run for their money once and does it again here. Then, Erik the Red shows up and is able to get Juggernaut to a stalemate. Then the head of the Shi’ar Praetorian guard shows up and proves that he’s basically a funky-looking Superman, with Erik cowering before him, laser vision and windy breath, and him able to not only withstand Juggernaut’s blows without flinching but fling him across the landscape like he’s nothing. The point is, this is one big scary mofo.
And Phoenix, hearing Xavier’s cries for help, shows up and manhandles him. So Jean, who despite her powers, has often been more of a damsel in distress on the show relative to Storm, Rogue, and Jubilee, is suddenly the most powerful and unstoppable player on the board. Jean is still having these wild episodes of talking like a demigod, and now she’s proving that it’s no fluke. The visuals of the phoenix force are cool, but it’s hard to get too excited about an episode that’s effectively one long superpowered game of king of the hill.
None of the new characters who get introduced get much in the way of backstory or introduction. Banshee and Black Tom fight, and all we get is a perfunctory, “Hey, we’re brothers! And our powers don’t work on each other!” Erik the Red is still a generic goon in a silly costume. The tease of the Emperor coming to town in search of the macguffin doesn’t engender much excitement. And even the faux-Superman guy just pops in, beats people up, and then gets beat up himself. There’s some minor intrigue in the idea that he serves the office of the crown rather than the person, suggesting his loyalty will shift to Lilandra whenever she’s inevitably put on the Shi’ar throne. But otherwise, the episode seems more designed to set the pieces on the game board and sell more action figures than tell any new stories.
A couple minor things do interest me here. For one, with its U.K. setting in ancient castles and conflicts between magical relatives, this episode presages a bit of Gargoyles, which feels like a spiritual successor to X-Men. And not for nothing, I remember this episode pretty clearly from childhood! In particular, I recall Juggernaut trying to beat up Gladiator and getting beaten back for his troubles and Phoenix’s big arrival. Part of why I wanted to revisit this show in the first place is because it was heavily serialized for the time. Given inconsistent syndication schedules and extracurriculars, it was hard to get the full story. So hey -- good, bad, or otherwise – it’s still nice to scratch that itch all these years later.
Overall though, this is a long walk to “Phoenix is big and powerful” without much else beyond the gang establishing that Xavier didn’t imagine all of this. Hopefully now that the pieces are in place, we’ll get more of a character-focused episode next.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-10T16:55:31Z
[6.2/10] Well, I guess we had enough story centered on character experiences and reactions, so it’s time to go back to smashing action figures together. That seems to be a recurring theme with X-Men, where episodes focused on the characters’ psyches and larger issues are regularly interspersed with ones that amount to, “We just met this dude; let’s throw energy beams at him for a while.”
“Cry of the Banshee” is definitely the latter. Enter Banshee, who is Moira’s main squeeze and just so happens to be a mutant himself (or at least a person with powers), whose brother, Black Tom, just so happens to be teaming with Xavier’s brother to kidnap someone who just so happens to be Xavier’s new main squeeze.
This show already has something of a “small universe” problem. But I could forgive the convenience of the plotting if the scene-to-scene storytelling were better. Juggernaut and Black Tom have schemed to kidnap Lilandra and turn her over to Erik the Red. Sure. Fine. But what comes of it? A big fight over money that’s forgettable beyond showing that the Shi’ar dudes are super powerful.
And I guess that’s the point. This is a power game, meant to show that Phoenix is, as the kids say OP. The Juggernaut is a hulking dude who manages to withstand the combined efforts of Xavier and Lilandra, and has already given the X-Men a run for their money once and does it again here. Then, Erik the Red shows up and is able to get Juggernaut to a stalemate. Then the head of the Shi’ar Praetorian guard shows up and proves that he’s basically a funky-looking Superman, with Erik cowering before him, laser vision and windy breath, and him able to not only withstand Juggernaut’s blows without flinching but fling him across the landscape like he’s nothing. The point is, this is one big scary mofo.
And Phoenix, hearing Xavier’s cries for help, shows up and manhandles him. So Jean, who despite her powers, has often been more of a damsel in distress on the show relative to Storm, Rogue, and Jubilee, is suddenly the most powerful and unstoppable player on the board. Jean is still having these wild episodes of talking like a demigod, and now she’s proving that it’s no fluke. The visuals of the phoenix force are cool, but it’s hard to get too excited about an episode that’s effectively one long superpowered game of king of the hill.
None of the new characters who get introduced get much in the way of backstory or introduction. Banshee and Black Tom fight, and all we get is a perfunctory, “Hey, we’re brothers! And our powers don’t work on each other!” Erik the Red is still a generic goon in a silly costume. The tease of the Emperor coming to town in search of the macguffin doesn’t engender much excitement. And even the faux-Superman guy just pops in, beats people up, and then gets beat up himself. There’s some minor intrigue in the idea that he serves the office of the crown rather than the person, suggesting his loyalty will shift to Lilandra whenever she’s inevitably put on the Shi’ar throne. But otherwise, the episode seems more designed to set the pieces on the game board and sell more action figures than tell any new stories.
A couple minor things do interest me here. For one, with its U.K. setting in ancient castles and conflicts between magical relatives, this episode presages a bit of Gargoyles, which feels like a spiritual successor to X-Men. And not for nothing, I remember this episode pretty clearly from childhood! In particular, I recall Juggernaut trying to beat up Gladiator and getting beaten back for his troubles and Phoenix’s big arrival. Part of why I wanted to revisit this show in the first place is because it was heavily serialized for the time. Given inconsistent syndication schedules and extracurriculars, it was hard to get the full story. So hey -- good, bad, or otherwise – it’s still nice to scratch that itch all these years later.
Overall though, this is a long walk to “Phoenix is big and powerful” without much else beyond the gang establishing that Xavier didn’t imagine all of this. Hopefully now that the pieces are in place, we’ll get more of a character-focused episode next.