"Day of Recovery"
Writers: Cydne Clark and Steve Granat
Director: Gary Graham
Original Air Date: September 14, 2002
Introducing: Caliban
Synopsis/Review: After the necessary
recap of "Day of Reckoning", and an
all-new, lengthier, cooler intro number now featuring Beast and short clips
of the New Mutants, this episode begins right where Season Two left off-
with Scott confronting Mystique, who was revealed to be Professor Xavier
all along. He yells at her how he found out- when he was checking Sentinel's
backup files earlier, he saw the security replay of her activating Defcon
4, then quickly exiting while morphing back into Professor Xavier.
Jean tries to probe
Mystique's mind for the answers about where Xavier is, but Mystique responds
that it won't work- and she's right, she's somehow blocking Jean. Scott
threatens Mystique to cough up the answers NOW, but Mystique tells him
to back off if any of them ever want to see Xavier again.
However, at just this
time, a HUGE mass of army helicopters, trucks, and police cars enter the
Mansion grounds, obviously coming after all the Mutants after the mishap
earlier with the Sentinel robot. Two policemen get out immediately and
aim their guns at the assembled Mutants, telling them to "freeze"- big
mistake, as Iceman quickly ices up and slips up the policemen with his
ice. This is the Mutants' cue to scatter, and scatter they do, everyone
going off in different directions. A really cool bunch of action scenes
follow. The Brotherhood members make their way through the forest, and
we also find out that Toad has a crush on Wanda... The New Mutants (minus
Iceman) also manage to evade the law enforcement personnel, making their
own way out, and the 'Crawler manages to steal a vacant police car, with
Jean, Shadowcat, and Iceman managing to make their way into it, Jean eventually
using her telekinetic powers to fly it out of there, out of the reach of
the policemen. Storm flies off with Scott, and as they all escape, we hear
a voiceover of Scott telling the four X-Men in the police car that they're
to meet that night at Lookout Point...
We then go through a
series of television news snapshots, and the severity of the Mutants being
made public knowledge is revealed. People are panicking left and right,
many refusing to leave their houses, and it's neighbor versus neighbor
as the military and the President urge everyone to stay calm why they try
to figure out what the heck happened. The Mutants that were frozen up by
the Sentinel goo in the earlier fight- Blob, Rogue, Spyke, and Beast- plus
an unconscious Wolverine, who was recovered from Dr. Trask's base- are
being taken to a top secret location. The Mutants are also positively identified
on the news, so there goes any anonymity they may have had...
We then go to that night,
as the New Mutants (again, minus Iceman) barely manage to evade searching
military officials. Berzerker herds the Mutants over to a sewer cover,
telling them that he "knows of a place"...
The next scene takes
place on Lookout Point. Jean, Iceman, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat are waiting
in silence for Cyclops and Storm, who show up after startling them all.
To their surprise, Mystique, Scarlet Witch, Toad, and Avalanche also show
up. Mystique tells the X-Men that they'd better get used to this- it's
a different world out there. Cyclops demands answers, but Mystique insists
that she'll tell them "when she's ready". She also tells them that she
had nothing to do with Magneto's plan to expose Mutantkind publicly, either-
but it does prove that Xavier was wrong, and that Mutants and humans can
never hope to live in peace together... Jean angrily asks Mystique what
she wants, and the blue lady responds that she wants what they want- her
team member back. They hear a voice in the woods that "he can help", and
a man comes out that we recognize as Nick Fury, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.-
he's been tracking them for hours. Mystique calls up her cohorts, telling
him menacingly that he'd better "forget where they found them". Fury just
snaps his fingers as at least a dozen stealth agents step out from the
woods around them, aiming their guns at the Mutants...
...Fury quickly snaps
his fingers again and calls his troops off, telling the Mutants that that
was just to prove a point- if he wanted them captured, then they'd be captured.
Storm asks him what he wants, then, and Fury answers him that he's here
to provide them with maps and schematics of the area where the government
is holding their captured Mutant friends. Mystique suspiciously asks Nick
why he's being so helpful, and Fury just smiles and responds that he's
got his reasons. He can't get involved officially, but he can "point them
in the right direction". He wishes them good luck, and he and his troops
quickly fade back into the foilage of the forest, and they're gone as quickly
as they arrived. Avalanche is still wary if they should trust them, but
Jean tells them that she sensed he was telling the truth. Storm starts
to tell the other Mutants what's going to happen- until Mystique grabs
the schematics from her and insists that SHE'LL be the one heading this
operation. Storm is about to strike back at Mystique, but Jean reminds
her of Xavier, and Ororo relucantly backs off. Mystique, now satisfied,
orders Toad to go back to the area where the Sentinel battle happened and
try to find if Magneto is really dead or not, considering how slippery
of a devil Magneto is... Wanda insists on going too, for obvious reasons,
and Mystique lets her go with Toad, much to the latter's delight. Mystique
mentions to the others that they'll all be going on this flight into the
place where they're holding the Mutants, but they'll need some transportation
first...
...So, with the help
of Jean's powers, they manage to steal the Blackbird from a nearby air
base, right under a guard's nose, heheh. As they zoom off with their new
acquisition, Iceman points out that the coordinates that they're headed
are in Nevada- Area 51!
We then go over to where
Toad and Wanda are. Wanda's using a pair of binoculars to examine the site
where the destroyed Sentinel's remains are being removed from the building
it crashed into- Magneto's not there... Toad tries to hit on her in his
ever-so-hilarious way, and gets his foot stepped on in the process. Wanda
gets back to business, and tells Toad that she has to know if Magneto survived
or not. Toad spots a nearby news van, and tells her that he knows just
where to find out...
Next thing we know,
someone's knocking on the news van's do-o-oor, and big surprise, it's Todd
and Wanda. They quickly deal with the reporter that comes to answer it,
and they enter, searching through the recorded news footage in the computers
until they find the spot they're looking for- when the Sentinel falls on
Magneto. Slowed to slow-motion, it shows Quicksilver speeding his father
out from under the Sentinel's downwards spiral at the last second... that
means Magneto is still alive!
We then go into the
sewers, where the New Mutants are being led by Berzerker to an unknown
location. A lanky Mutant steps out from the shadows, startling them all
as he asks why they are here. Berzerker nervously tells the pale man that
they're Mutants, from the Xavier Institute, and they just need a place
to stay for a while, since they're being hunted above ground. The pale
man tells them that he knows that they are Mutants- he has always known...
He quickly regathers his thoughts, though, and tells them to follow him-
they'll be safe here...
Off we then go to Area
51, as an eagle flies into the facility at night, flying into a window...
A soldier sits in his
chair, surrounded by security camera screens. All's quiet, or so it seems...
Another soldier comes up behind him, telling him that the commander wants
to see him. The soldier on monitor duty reluctantly gets up and leaves,
leaving the remaining soldier- who morphs into Mystique- left by herself
at the controls. She turns off the perimeter sensors, and radios to Storm
and the others that she's done so. We gather that Storm is staying with
the Blackbird for pickup, while the others are helped into the facility
by the help of either Shadowcat or Nightcrawler. Shadowcat and Iceman split
off from the others, making their way towards another destination while
the rest of the Mutants go towards where their friends are being held captive.
Meanwhile, Wolverine
is being questioned fiercely by the commander-in-chief of Area 51, and
the commander isn't getting any answers from an enraged Wolverine. We also
see Beast, Rogue, and Spyke caged up behind him, and some of the scientists
are working on cutting a caged Blob free from the hardened goo around him...
Back with the infiltration
mission, Mystique tells Iceman and Shadowcat via comlink that she'll cut
the motion sensors in the room they're about to enter, but before she can
do so, the aforementioned soldier re-enters the room, mumbling that the
commander didn't want to see him, but- heeey, who are you? *KICK* *slump*
Well, he's out...
Meanwhile, Shadowcat
phases both her and Iceman into the room where they were directed to go-
but the floor motion sensors are still on... Luckily, Iceman ices them
both a bridge over the sensors, and lands them on the far side of the small
room, where the control circuits to the security alarms for the entire
compound rest on a small box. Iceman opens it, insisting that he knows
what he's doing to an unsure Shadowcat as he clips a wire... and nothing
happens. Yep, he clipped the right one, looks like they're okay. Unfortunately,
he drops the wire clippers into the motion sensors, and the alarms go off...
Alarmed soldiers start
pouring out of every hallway, and the group of Mutants that are proceeding
through the hallway towards their captive friends find themselves surrounded...
...Jean quickly telekinetically
pushes some of the soldiers away, while Avalanche knocks some more off
their feet. The Mutants make their way down the hallway, and run into Mystique.
She tells them all to stay there and hold off the soldiers, while she and
Nightcrawler will get the prisoners...
Meanwhile, as the prisoner
interrigators are distracted by the sounding alarm, Wolverine motions for
Spyke to sent one of his "quills" at the chains surrounding his arms, and
Spyke does, right on target. Now that one of Logan's arms are free, he
quickly cuts the rest of himself free, and cuts free and throws the table
he was laid on at the soldiers and commander, who just now realize what
happened. Wolverine quickly cuts Spyke free and tells him to free the others-
he'll deal with the army. All goes according to plan, and Spyke frees Beast,
who in turn frees Rogue. Blob breaks out of the hard goo surrounding him
and tosses his huge cage at advancing soldiers, effectively blocking anymore
from getting into the room that way...
About this time Mystique
and Kurt show up, and they lead Wolverine and the others back to where
Jean, Cyclops, Avalanche, Shadowcat, and Iceman are waiting. It looks like
they're going to get out of the complex successfully- until iron doors
manage to seal them off in a small section of the building. Wolverine tries
to slash his way through the steel doors, but they're too thick even for
him.
Iceman finds a hatchway
to the roof, though, and they quickly make their way up it, Mystique radioing
to Storm where they're coming out so she can fly the Blackbird over there.
She's the last one up the ladder, though, and surprsingly, a gate is slided
up in front of her before she can get out on the roof. Turns out it's Scott,
who's crouching impatiently above her on the roof, demanding that she tell
them where the Professor is, NOW, or he'll leave her there. Mystique is
furious, and tries to threaten her way out, but it doesn't faze Scott,
as he quickly closes the roof hatch as Storm manages to hover the Blackbird
up over the building. Avalanche confronts Scott over this, but Jean manages
to pull them apart- they can fight later, they need to move, NOW, before
the army helicopters and such catch up with the Blackbird. The Mutants
quickly pile into the Blackbird, and it takes off. Numerous base defenses
and a stealth jet try to stop the Blackbird's progress out of Area 51,
but they're all thwarted, either by Storm's lightning blasts, Iceman's
ice, or Cyclops' eye beams.
The next morning, at
the police-car-surrounded Brotherhood house, Toad manages to sneak out
with a sack of stuff, and is pulled into a hiding place where Blob, Avalanche,
and Wanda are waiting for him. Avalanche looks into the bag, and angrily
asks Toad where are all of THEIR clothes- this is just Wanda's stuff. Toad
just smugly answers that it doesn't matter what THEY wear- and suggests
to Wanda what to wear that day. Wanda just grunts, takes the sack, and
shoves Toad off his feet before stalking off. Toad just sighs, though-
he's in loooove...
Near the Mansion, Logan
looks through a set of binoculars at the destroyed Mansion, growling. Shadowcat
asks the X-Men what they're going to do now- the Institute is destroyed,
Xavier's missing, they can't go back to school and Mutants are being hunted.
Cyclops is also frustrated that he tried to get the answers about Xavier's
location out of Mystique, and it didn't work- now they have no lead on
where Xavier is. Storm tells them that they'll find Xavier eventually,
but they've got bigger problems right now- there's an entire world out
there that fears them, and they have to show them the real truth about
Mutants, before it's too late...
Last Words: Yeegads, what an awesomely great stupendously cool episode. Did I mention how awesome it was? Seriously, this episode was non-stop, heart-pounding action, and the story was top-notch, with flawless dialogue and writing. The powerful impact of Mutants being made known to the public was not downplayed at all, and the "newscast clips" couldn't have been done better. Scott's trapping of Mystique in Area 51 was also unexpected, but a good idea- after all, the X-Men weren't going to take being blackmailed forever. And as for something bad about this episode... um... well, the interrogation between the commander-in-chief and Wolverine seemed a bit... forced. That's it, the rest was perfect. Although all the soldiers looked all the same, which was kind of odd... I mean, I'm not trying to be overly politically correct here, but you'd figure some of them would be female, or black, or something.... But that's more of an oddity than an actual complaint. As of this writing (2/03), this is my favorite episode ever. Yet another perfect one!
Overall Rating: 10/10 ...Wow.