Synopsis: Cyclops heads out to the town of Skull Mesa to see his old friend, Dr. Prescott, only for his plane to be shot down and for him to lose his vision blaster power. Worse yet, his friend is nowhere to be found, and all of the mutant denizens in the town seem to be in hiding. What's going on? Where is Dr. Prescott? It's up to Cyclops to figure out this mystery.
The Good: This episode has pretty much all of the hallmarks of this series, and is rather fun. It had a plot that kept me guessing.
The Bad: As I said in an earlier review, when a television series starts to lose focus, it's usually a sign of the end. With an entire DVD volume and then some to go, I wonder if the later episodes will hold up.
Content Concerns:
Sex: None.
Nudity: Shirtless guy.
Language: Name-calling.
Violence: Fantasy action violence throughout.
Drugs: None.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: Scary villains; emotional intensity; a scene of bullying.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-31T21:50:36Z
[4.0/10] I can see what X-Men is trying to do here. This is a mutant-themed rendition of the classic wild west story, where a noble gunslinger comes to town, minding his own business, but ends up having to right the wrongs of a corrupt group of thugs in control of the place. Hell, it goes all the way back to films like Yojimbo if you prefer the samurai-focused originators. It’s a neat idea, especially in the context of mutants who don’t want to make waves since this is the only place they’ve known peace from oppression.
But the rendition of the idea is lackluster at best. This is Cyclops at his most flat and generic, yelling every line of dialogue, practically, and seeming randomly belligerent with just about everyone. Solar, Clint,and Toad come off as the most generic, bland thugs you could imagine, with the standard intimidation routine, and nothing by way of interesting motivation. They want the gold mine that the reified Dr. PRescott has apparently been sitting on, and will strongarm the town to keep it. THat’s it. Their powers aren’t even particularly interesting.
Nevermind the fact that the living MacGuffin for this whole thing is that same Dr. PRescott, whom we’ve never seen hide nor hair of before. Instead, the episode delivers some clunky flashbacks to suggest not only that he’s important in Scott’s life, but that he’s always been important in that way. It feels tacked on and generic, even if I can appreciate the show’s attempt to ground the conflict in a meaningful personal connection via those vignettes.
The only thing “Secrets, Not long Buried” has going for it is the Twilight Zone-esque aura when Cyclops gets to town and nobody wants to talk ro even interact with him out of an ambient fear that pervades the places. “Town with a dark secret” is an over familiar trope, but one that often works on me from the inherent eeriness of it.
There is something mildly rousing about the various townsfolk rising up to help Cyclops in his hour of need. But (a.) the show lays on the “It can start with just one person!” material way too thick and (b.) the mutants who help him are ridiculous, from Tusk whose power is...shooting a mini version of himself out of his shell(?!) to some kind of green, plant-based Aunt May.
Overall, this is a real dud to end this run of episodes on, and an episode that feels characteristic of the more underwhelming standalone installments the show trots out from time to time.