Synopsis: Professor X is being haunted by bad dreams, and the X-Men find him unconscious! What they don't know is that the evil Shadow King, whom the professor locked in a void twenty years ago, has escaped and is bent on bringing him down! When the Shadow King invades Xavier's body, the X-Men aren't sure what to do; hurting him would mean hurting the professor! Will they be able to bring their beloved leader back?
The Good: This was a different sort of episode, but a fun and exciting one. The production values were great, as usual.
The Bad: The scene during the closing credits didn't make much sense.
Content Concerns:
Sex: None.
Nudity: Woman in bikini; shirtless guys.
Language: Name-calling, and one use of "heck".
Violence: Fantasy action violence throughout.
Drugs: None.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: Scary villain, perilous scenes, and emotional intensity.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-28T22:19:27Z
[7.7/10] I am a sucker for a good vision quest episode. Something about using the realm of the spiritual or fantastical to explore what makes someone tick is catnip to me. I can’t explain it, but I’m an easy mark for it.
So doing an episode where Xavier goes on a spiritual journey, albeit a harrowing one, at the hands of the Shadow King, is right up my alley. I love that we see what Xavier fears most. It’s not being beaten or trapped by his adversaries; it’s those foes bringing down his beloved X-Men, it’s each of his surrogate children succumbing to their fears and threats with him powerless to stop them. And we also see what his idea of paradise is, a place where he’s both reunited with the mother he thought he’d never see again, but also where the X-Men no longer have to fight, where there’s no more contention or strife, just peace and harmony.
It’s the biggest rendition of Xavier’s dream to date. It’s obviously not practical on either account. The chances of Sabertooth, Sinister, a Sentinel, etc. all striking at the same time is minima And the possibility of their never being a problem to worry about is slim. But in seeing his heaven and hell, we understand better what drives Xavier, both positively and negatively.
Granted, I’m a little more sanguine about the flashbacks to explain why Xavier started the X-Men. I do appreciate the continuity connection where it turns out it was a product of his encounter with the Shadow King that was mentioned in the episode where Storm returns home. In fact, I’m a big fan of the Shadow King being the cause of all the trouble here, since he makes sense as a psychic challenger to Xavier and someone with the power to drive him to these thoughts.
But it seems awfully reductive to say, “Xavier started the X-Men because he met one bad dude who used mutants for ill and didn’t like humans” rather than in response to the broader injustices and chances for reconciliation he saw in the world. Still, you can approach it as representative of those larger ills, symbolic of the malign forces Xavier wants to fight against, and the better purposes for mutants he sees in this word.
The ensuing fight in the astral plane is reasonably cool. In truth, it suffers from a lot of the same action foibles as the rest of the show does. But frankly, that’s the benefit of doing an episode like this one, which changes up the setting and style a little given the quasi-mystical nature of the proceedings. Sure, it’s a little silly seeing Professor X and the Shadow King do battle as giant lizards. But watching white and black outlines of the characters do battle in liminal space adds some extra flair. (I also like the continuity touch of Xavier returning to the odd gladiator look he used to fight Phoenix.) The pairing of Xavier and Jean to do psychic battle with this evildoer is a nice touch, building on their rapport while demonstrating the strength and partnership Charles has found by starting this group.
The closing moments lay it on a little too thick, but I like the idea that this confrontation was a reminder to Xavier of what evil he must remain vigilant about, but also the good that he’s fighting for. This is X-Men at its most reflective and aspirational, and while I wouldn’t want it every week, it’s the type of episode that definitely works for me.