"Mainstream"
Writer: Michael Merton
Director: Frank Paur
Original Air Date: September 28, 2002
Synopsis/Review: This episode begins
near the Mansion, which is now under reconstruction. Some guys in masks
are sneaking up on the place, while in a temporary bunker/living quarters
establishment below ground, Shadowcat's up for a late night snack. Just
as she's about to sleepily drink from a milk carton she got out of the
fridge, Kurt suddenly pops in front of her, yanking the carton out her
hands, and insisting that he "KNEW that she drank right from the carton".
Kitty tries to make up an excuse, but is interrupted as she sees the shadowy
intruders on the security camera screen behind Kurt. She point it out to
Kurt, and they pop out above ground, thinking that it's the Brotherhood
come to wreak havoc. They split up, but as Kitty phases through a wall
to surprise the intruders, she notices that they're not the Brotherhood...
Kurt suddenly pounces
on the guys from behind, and he and Kitty quickly take care of them. Kitty
and Kurt pull off the intruder's masks, and it turns out that it's three
of Duncan's football buddies from the high school. Kitty also notices at
about this time all of the graffiti that they've spray-painted over some
of the reconstructed Mansion... Kurt angrily tells the guys to get out
of there, NOW. They oblige, but not before yelling back at the two Mutants
that they're freaks and no one wants them, laughing as they run off into
the woods. Kitty remarks that it was so much easier when they only had
the Brotherhood to deal with...
That morning, Wolverine
and Xavier are sadly seeing Jubilee being taken back home by her parents...
permanently. Logan can't believe that parents are actually pulling their
kids out- first Rahne (Wolfsbane) left, and now Jubilee... Xavier says
that he really can't blame them- he had promised that their kids would
be safe at the Institute, but that hasn't proven to be the case... Logan
still doesn't like it, though, and tells Xavier that he's going for a ride.
Slightly later in the
day, the rest of the students are woken up from their small shared quarters
by Xavier's voice over the PA system, telling them their scheduled breakfast
times. Rogue states the obvious; it's waay too crowded down here...
After the main X-Kids
are ready for the school day ahead, they gather in the main room for a
meeting with Xavier, who discusses with them that the school has allowed
the Mutants to come back for a day- and only a day, as that night, the
school board will be voting on whether to enact a permanent Mutant ban
on public schools. So, of course, he tells them to be on their best behavior.
Kitty admits that she's afraid to go back there- there's no way they're
going to fit in anymore. Xavier responds that it will be hard at first,
but in time, they will be accepted for what they truly are. Kurt takes
the paper that Xaiver was holding (which had an article about the Sentinel
disaster on it), and glancing at the article, mentions to Kitty that they
list him as unknown- the only pictures of him are blue and furry, so no
one's made the connection that it's him! Scott tells Kurt that they will,
and soon- especially those who know that they live at the (former) Mansion
with them. This lets Kurt down a bit, understandably, but it's time to
go, Xavier says, so make they should make the best of their first day back.
Later at school, the
Mutants are walking through the front yard, where many of the students
have gathered and are yelling out insults to them. Kitty noticed Kurt isn't
anywhere to be found, however, and looking behind her, sees him associating
with some normal kids, refusing to even acknowledge them... Kitty goes
off in a huff as Cyclops notices that Terran won't talk to him anymore.
Duncan, though, tells Jean that this won't change anything. Jean's surprised,
until Duncan explains that they could use it for final exams and stuff,
and Jean backlashes at Duncan, the jerk, and tells him that they're through.
She grabs Scott by the arm and drags him inside with her, the other Mutants
following behind them/ shoving Duncan. Principal Kelly is in his car seeing
all this, though, and narrows his eyes before starting his car up and leaving
the school grounds...
In the hallway, Jean
apologizes to Scott for that whole mess, and Scott says warmly that it's
no problem, that's what friends are for. They say adios to each other and
continue off to their classes.
Meanwhile, Logan's out
riding his motorcycle through the city streets. Suddenly, another cycle
rider pulls up next to him, and makes his fist steel- it's Colossus! Logan
follows him, and Colossus merely responds by punching a truck in his way-
Logan manages to jump over it, though, and continue the chase.
At the Brotherhood house,
Todd and Freddy are bugging Lance about the fact that Kitty won't even
come near the guy anymore. Lance gets so mad he's about the bring the ceiling
down on their heads, when the doorbell rings. Lance opens it up, surprised
to find Principal Kelly there. Mr. Kelly asks the boys to come back to
school. Blob and Todd, at first, refuse, knowing when they're not wanted.
But Mr. Kelly says that they don't need to worry about kids picking on
them anymore- in fact, they're probably afraid of them, now... This gets
the Brotherhood's attention. "If you can't be cool, be feared", Todd says,
quoting his mama. Lance affirms that they'll be there, and Mr. Kelly puts
on the fake mask of being delighted by the news.
Back at Bayville High,
Kurt is putting his books away in his locker when Amanda comes up to him,
asking him how he's doing after the-- Kurt suddenly interrupted Amanda
and takes her around the corner, quietly explaining to her that no one's
made the connection that he's the blue and fuzzy one yet- stopping for
a sec to say hi to some passing students in a way-too-friendly manner.
Amanda isn't too crazy about Kurt's hiding of his powers, though, and tells
him that standing by his friends would be the better thing to do. Kurt
shrugs it off, though, saying that he's sure he'll be alright (although
he doesn't sound convincing even to himself).
Outside, however, Duncan
pushes Scott into a wall roughly, telling the Mutant that he's gonna make
sure he uses his powers, because then he'll be kicked out of Bayville for
good...
Duncan and his buddies
mess around with Scott a bit, who refuses to fight back even after his
glasses are taken off and worn by Duncan. Scott manages to kick their but
even when he's blind though. Finally, Duncan and his cohorts are bad enough,
and are ready to launch a full-out "assault" when Shadowcat and Rogue show
up, daring the guys to come any closer to Scott. Duncan finally backs off
a bit, throwing back Scott's glasses and telling them that "they won't
last two days". Rogue gives Scott back his glasses, who angrily/humilatingly
walks off. They're about to walk off (after being bugged by another kid),
when Shadowcat sees Kurt watching the fight from around the corner. Kurt's
confronted by two other anonymous school kids, who ask him if he's a Mutant,
because they could swear that he was. Kurt insists that he's not a Mutant-
he's not even friends with them. The kids walk off, still unsure, and Kitty
and Rogue appear behind Kurt, less than satisfied with his answer. Kurt
quickly makes tracks, "Hi, Kitty! Bye, Kitty!", leaving them behind, frustrated...
Principal Kelly has
seen all this from his office window, though, and tells his secretary to
page Duncan Matthews and have him report to his office...
Meanwhile, Logan tracks
Colossus to an old barn out in the country, and, after Colossus trashes
Logan's motorcycle, they start fighting. Whee.
Back at school, Duncan
comes into Principal Kelly's office, wondering what's up. Kelly mentions
to Duncan the fight earlier in the quad, and Duncan makes up a lame excuse
that they were just "goofing off". Mr. Kelly obviously doesn't buy it,
and tells Duncan to stay away from the Mutants- they stick together, and
he doesn't want to see Duncan get hurt. Duncan replies that he's not afraid
of those jerks, but Kelly counters that he ought to be. Oh, and look, he
says, pointing out the window at the Brotherhood members walking towards
the school- more Mutants. Mr. Kelly tells Duncan that what's odd is that
they actually have something in common with Mr. Matthews- they also hate
Scott Summers. Duncan gets the hint, and smiles an incredibly Grinchy smile...
Meanwhile, back with
Logan and Colossus, they fight and tear stuff up for a little while before
Colossus finally reveals that he's here to deliver a message- Magneto is
tired of the public persecution of Mutants (which is rather ironic, since
HE is technically responsible for it...), and they want Wolverine to join
their team and fight. Logan angrily counters that there's no way he's going
to become a lackey like Colossus, but Colossus insists that he is not a
lackey. Logan gets the hint that Magneto's got "something on" Colossus,
and stops fighting and asks Colossus earnestly what it is. Colossus refuses
to spill the beans, already realizing that he's said too much, and turns
down Logan's subsequent invitation to join the X-Men.
Back at school, the
Brotherhood members bust in the front doors, acting like they own the place.
Lance pushes some people around, and they decide to steal some lunch. "Who
knew school could be so much fun?" Toad says...
Meanwhile, Jean Grey
is playing some practice basketball with the rest of the team in the gymnasium.
She sinks a shot, and some members confront her, insisting that she used
her powers to do that, even though she didn't. The coach isn't convinced,
however, and calls Jean back to the bench. Jean sadly sits down, until
she notices Principal Kelly out in the hallway, taking down a bunch of
the school's trophies off the wall display and putting them into a box.
Jean walks up to him and asks what's going on, and Mr. Kelly rudely tells
Jean that many of the school's recent trophies have now been brought into
question, because of Mutants. He doesn't know if they deserve these any
more. Jean tells him that they've kept their powers under control, but
Principal Kelly is not convinced. He confronts Jean with all that their
school has been through- fires, earthquakes, explosions, vicious beast-
and that Mutants are the cause of it. Jean insists that he's got it wrong-
not ALL of them are bad. Kelly says that that's right- some of them are
cheats! So, he'll be needing Jean's soccer MVP trophy back. Jean's understandably
angry about all this, which gives Kelly the leverage he needs to tell her
that her "fiery temper is a dangerous combination with your kind of powers".
He stalks off, telling her angrily that he'll see her tonight...
Later that night, at
the school board meeting in the school auditorium, we find out that Xavier
wants Jean to speak- Xavier tells Jean that the school board needs to hear
all sides of the story. Jean reluctantly accepts, although she tells Xavier
that she wishes the others would get here soon. Kurt's up in the corner
of the room, though, looking very unsure of himself as he waits for the
others to arrive...
Out in the parking lot,
Scott, Kitty, Rogue, and Evan are walking up to the school entryway, when
Duncan intercepts them. He tells Scott that they've got some "unfinished
business" and tells the rest of the Mutants to go inside, this is between
him and Scott. Of course, they refuse to leave, and Duncan just smiles,
tells them that he'd thought they'd say that, and whistles- and out steps
the male Brotherhood members from behind a truck! The Brotherhood members
snidely tell the X-Men that now, the numbers are even- except that they
aren't afraid to use their powers...
Kitty angrily walks
up to Lance, realizing now, she says, that THIS is the real Lance. Lance
actually seems hurt for a second, before regaining his angry composure
and taking Kitty's hands off of him- he'll NEVER be good enough for her,
he says. With that, he starts the earth a-shaking, and the fight begins...
What follows is an incredibly
well put-together scene which alternates between Jean's honestly heart-moving
speech to the school board and the fight outside in the parking lot. Jean
tells her audience (albeit in better words than what I'm about to say here)
that it's possible that one of THEIR kids could grow up as a Mutant, and
would they really want their kids to grow up being persecuted? Outside,
though, the fight starts heating up- Scott finally manages to take Duncan
out, and cars and power lines get trashed. Finally, Avalanche ups the ante,
and goes full-out, creating a rather large earthquake, and the auditorium
starts to shake a little, alerting the people inside. The members inside
start to run out of the school, in terror, with Principal Kelly, Xavier,
Jean, and Kurt not far behind them. During the ensuing battle between the
Mutants, a car nearly takes out Principal Kelly, who yells to the panicked
gathered school board members that THIS is what will contiue to happen
if Mutants are allowed in schools! Xavier tells him to look again- his
students are not using their powers, despite the overwhelming urge to do
so. And he's right- Shadowcat jumps aside as a car flies at her rather
than just phasing through it, and Cyclops doesn't fire his eye beams.
Lance's powers start
to really get strong now, and he starts making an earthquake quite a bit
larger than any he's ever made before, probably because of all the anger
building up inside of him over both the loss of Kitty's friendship and
the situation with Mutants. Eventually things get so bad that the Mutants
are forced to use their powers- albeit only for defensive powers, to save
other people. Kurt also reluctantly joins in, the desire to help his friends
winning out over the desire to stay "normal". They eventually regroup and
drive off the Brotherhood, but Jean tells the other X-Men that this wasn't
the impression she was hoping to make, as they look at the completely ruined
parking lot and all of the destroyed cars in it...
The next morning, the
X-Men are pretty down in the dumps. They're pretty much sure that they
know what's coming as they have their morning meeting with Xavier. Xavier,
first off, congratulates them on what a wonderful job they did last night,
although the X-Men shrug it off- they certainly weren't happy with how
last night went. Xavier responds, surprisingly enough, that because of
the X-Men saving some of the school board member's lives, and because of
Jean's speech, the board has voted to allow the Mutants to stay at Bayville
High. The Mutants are sorta like, "Eh..", understandably. As Jean says,
it's "a good news-bad news kinda thing". Xavier ends the episode with a
rather inspiring speech about how these may not be the best times, but
for some reason, the X-Men were chosen to pave the way for generations
of Mutants to come- this is not only a privilege, but an honor- and the
X-Men will endure...
Last Words: Yet another awesome ep by the X-M:E writers! Season 3 can do no wrong... Anyway, yes, there were a couple of things that bugged me in this episode' albeit just a few. For one, the fight scene between Wolverine and Colossus seemed a bit... forced. Why didn't Colossus just tell Wolverine the message after he got his attention? No need to trash a barn... And some of the Duncan dialog was a little corny. But then again, HE'S a little corny, so... The thing that really bugged me, though, was the rather abrupt removal of Jubilee and Wolfsbane from the series- especially since they hardly got any air time at all! I was rather disappointed by that, as they were just brought into the show for nothing, really... they were just in the background practically the whole time. I mean, it was understandable why they left, but not even a minute was dedicated to the whole shebang, especially with Wolfsbane- it was more of a "oh yeah, she left too" kinda thing. And none of the other X-Men really showed any remorse, either. Goodbye, Jubilee and Wolfsbane... I'll miss you... Normally, this kinda stuff would be enough to knock the episode down to a 8/10 or maybe a 7/10, but the speeches and overall tone of this episode were just so dang good. The speeches, normally corny in a cartoon, were excellent and emotionally moving, and they really made you think about what you would have done if you were in a situation like the kids at Bayville High were. Really good stuff, there.
Overall Rating: 9/10 Excellent