"On Angel's Wings"
Writer: Boyd Kirkland
Director: Frank Paur
Original Air Date: December 15, 2001
Introducing: Angel
Synopsis/Review: This episode starts
with a snowy day in New York City. The holidays are coming, and everyone's
in the holiday spirit. No, not THAT "holiday spirit" in which idiotic mothers
try to rip rare toys out of each other's hands, but the GOOD holiday spirit.
Yeah. We zoom in on a large apartment at the top of a high skyscraper,
and a cloaked man who is sitting in a chair in the living room. The lights
are off, and he's obviously pretty depressed. The answering machine turns
on (apparently, he didn't answer the phone), and his parents are on the
other end. They're in London, and they hope that he's doing okay in New
York. They're worried about him, call back soon, etc. The man just ignores
it, his attention fixated on the television in front of him. A horrible
fire is engulfing a house somewhere else in NYC. A girl made it out safely,
but her handicapped mother is trapped inside, and the firemen can't get
to her.
Rising out of his seat,
the man walks out to the balcony and takes off his cloak- revealing large,
feathery wings coming out of his back! Taking to air, the "angel" makes
his way towards the trail of smoke on the horizon.
Coming to the house
on fire, the man flies his way into the back of the house secretly, finding
the woman and beating the flames back with his wings long enough to fly
her out. Circling around so as to avoid attention, the man sets the now-conscious
woman on a nearby bench and quickly takes off. The woman yells to her crying
daughter that she's over on the bench, and her daughter runs over to her
in surprise. The girl asks her mom how she got out, and she responds that
an angel rescued her- a real, live angel...
Now we go over to the
X-Mansion, where all the members of the team are gathered in the large
living room/library, exchanging gifts and such. Kurt goofs off by holding
a mistletoe over Kitty and trying to kiss her. Kitty runs away, and Kurt
chases after her. He eventually manages to corner her next to Iceman...
but she phases through him as he "puckers up"- and he ends up kissing Iceman.
Awwwwwww....
Rogue and Scott are
talking next to the fire place. Jean scowls at Rogue as she gives Scott
his gift, though- yeah, I suppose giving Scott a present IS a definite
in-your-face insult to your now non-existent relationship with Scott, Jean.
My heart weeps for you. Anyway, Rogue shrugs off the fact that Scott doesn't
yet have gift for her- he'll owe her, heh. And, amidst their conversation,
we find out that all of the other X-Men, minus themselves, Beast, and Xavier,
are going home for the holidays tomorrow. So it'll be lonely and boring.
Wheee.
Fast forward to the
next day, and all the kids are leaving via limo, Storm and Logan driving
them all out. The four X-Men left behind wave by while Jean looks "sad"
over Scott having his hand on Rogue's shoulder. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As soon
as the vehicles drive away, Beast rubs his hands together and asks them
all to come and help make repairs on Cerebro! I'm jealous...
Back in New York, the man (okay, I'm getting
tired of saying "the man". We all know it's Warren Worthington III, aka
"Angel".) is walking through the park when he hears a nearby scuffle. Some
guy is doing a steal-and-run job with another guy's handbag. As the robber
takes off, the guy calls for help, and Warren quickly takes off his cloak
and takes wing into the air. He picks up the bewildered robber and hangs
him on the top of some nearby stone structure. Happy hanging, slimeball!
Meanwhile, the guy that was robbed has managed to flag down a passing policeman.
He explains to the law enforcement official that he swears that an angel
picked up the robber and flew him away. The officer is, understandably,
skeptical- until the guy's handbag suddenly thunks down in between the
both of them. They both look up, and, sure enough, an "angel" is seen flying
out of eyesight.
Warren lands once he's
sure he's out of their sight and dons his cloak again, walking off nonchalantly.
A familiar face (Magneto) watches Warren do this, however...
We then go through a
short local news report in which the anchorwoman is talking about the numerous
angel sightings now popping up all over New York, with an interview with
the two people Angel had saved from the fire earlier. There's even one
nutty guy on the street yelling at everyone to "repent", 'cause angels
are among us, d00d!
Back at the X-Mansion,
Rogue's sitting around bored while Scott and Beast play chess and Xavier
reads the paper. The front headline on the paper deals with the angel sightings
throughout New York. Xavier mentions it to the other three X-Men. Xavier
has a hunch that it's not a real angel, though, and actually a Mutant.
He mentions that someone (hint, hint) should go to New York and see if
they can locate this Mutant. Rogue enthusiastically volunteers her and
Scott for the mission- they're bored out of their skulls. Xavier willingly
accepts.
We then see Rogue and
Scott go throughout New York, asking some of the people that have seen
the "angel" what he looks like, etc. Heck, they even get some help they
don't want, courtesy of the "Angels Among Us!" wacko, heheh...
Later on, Rogue and
Scott are in a little restaurant. They haven't really gotten any leads
yet, but hey, at least they got out of the Mansion, Rogue says. Scott then
manages to start a conversation with Rogue about- well, what if this angel
really IS for real, you know? Rogue at first thinks that Scott is joking,
but it soon becomes obvious that he isn't. Scott explains how he used to
believe that a guardian angel was always watching over his little brother
before they found each other again, and that was what helped him through
such a tough situation early on. Of course, "then he grew up". But after
he found Alex again, he has to wonder if some higher power really is watching
over them all...
We then go over to the
Brooklyn Bridge. Magneto (wearing normal clothes, for once) is on top of
one of those big arches, unnoticed by the traffic going to and fro far
below him. He nonchalantly uses his powers to spin a truck out of control.
The truck whirls sideways, and a car behind manages to swerve to avoid
hitting it- only to stop halfway off the bridge, teetering dangerously
above the cold water below. Angel, in a new costume, sees the accident
(but not Magneto) and swoops down. He manages to fly all three occupants
of the car (two parents and their little daughter) to safety before the
car drops off into the river. The nearby watchers and the parents immediately
come up and start thanking Angel or asking questions to him... until Magneto
slips in at the back of the crowd and uses his magnetic powers to control
a little broken bridge cord near Angel's feet. The cord grips Angel's feet
and almost trips him. He manages to get back on balance, but his wings
knock the little girl he just saved off the bridge. Angel immediately dives
off after the girl, barely saving her from splashing into the cold waters
from such a high distance. He himself hits the water, though, and sputters
for a while before he finally manages to take flight again and bring the
now-unconscious girl back to the bridge, where her anxious parents walk
off with her to the nearby ambulance. Magneto (in normal clothes) accuses
Angel of purposely knocking the little girl into the river. The crowd,
like drones, agree and start accusing Angel of the same thing or calling
him a fake or a freak. Angel just yells at everyone to get away from him
and takes off, flying away from all the chaos.
Meanwhile, Scott and
Rogue are in a CD shop (Scott's going to buy Rogue her gift here), when
they overhear two girls nearby talking about the recent incident with Angel
at the Brooklyn Bridge. Scott and Rogue immediately clue into the conversation
and listen for a little while before going out of the shop and heading
for the hospital.
In said hospital, Angel
quietly flies into the window of the empty hospital room in which the girl
he had earlier inadvertently hurt is lying unconscious. Angel quickly removes
the mask part of his costume and dons a hanging doctor's coat, Checking
to see how the girl is doing- she doesn't answer, still in a coma. He sadly
walks out of the room in his new attire.
In the lobby, Scott
and Rogue are asking the person at the desk if they know where the girl's
parents are, as they need to speak with them. As Angel in doctor attire
passes by, the doctor behind the desk tells them that they said something
about praying at their church. Angel absorbs this and walks quickly down
the hallway. Rogue and Scott turn and see him... as a feather falls out
from under his coat. It's him! Rogue and Scott run after Angel, insisting
that they just want to talk to him. Angel manages to avoid them, though,
and quickly opens a window down the hallway and takes off flying.
Later, at said church,
the girl's two parents are praying in the empty sanctuary, presumably for
their daughter to get better. Angel is standing at the back of the church
on a balcony, unnoticed. He's either praying or feeling sorry for what
he did, I don't know. Anyway, he hears a sound behind him (which we all
recognize as a familiar magnetic hum), and, sure enough, there's Magneto,
in costume and all. Angel asks Magneto what he wants, and Magneto responds
that he knows how Angel feels. That it's not easy to always be afraid whenever
you're around people, for fear that they'll discover your Mutant gift and
label you a freak and a monster. And that even when you save their lives,
they still ignore it in favor of berating you. Magneto cuts to the chase
and asks Angel to join his team, a team of Mutants in which he'll feel
safe among. Angel declines the deal, refusing to join a "home for freaks
and weirdos". Magneto says that he asked nicely... now he insists. Angel
tries to fly away, but Magneto uses his powers and wraps a chandelier chain
around Angel. During the scuffle, the girl victim's parents see the weirdness
going on and immediately run out of the church.
Magneto, satisfied that
he's chained up Angel, prepares to leave the church with him when he suddenly
gets blasted out a stained glass window by Cyclops, who's come in through
the front door with Rogue (both in costume). Scott zaps Angel's chain lose.
Rogue responds that now they now that Magneto's back in business, unfortunately.
Angel asks who both of them are, but before they can respond, Magneto hovers
back in through the broken window. He calls them fools, have you learned
nothing, blah, blah blah. He starts using his powers to throw a bunch of
stuff around the church at them. Angel escapes out a window, while Rogue
dodges the pieces and Scott blasts at them. Angel comes back in through
the broken window, catching Magneto by surprise and slamming him into a
pillar. Magneto slips down to the ground just long enough for Rogue to
go up and absorb some of his powers. Magneto kicks her off before too much
of the transfer can take place and hovers off, though. Rogue hovers after
him, not willing to let Magneto escape THIS time. She chases him among
the skyline of New York City, until Magneto finally manages to catch her
by surprise and flings her into a large neon sign on the side of a skyscraper.
Rogue manages to get her wits together in time, only for Magneto to fling
the corner of a building at her. She barely manages to dodge, but the explosion
from the stone slamming into the neon sign knocks her unconscious, and
she falls to the ground. Angel manages to rescue her at the last second,
though, and wings her away. Rogue manages to recover a couple seconds afterwards.
Later, in the hospital
waiting room, Scott is inviting Warren to join the X-Men. Warren's still
reluctant, though- what difference is there between their organization
and Magneto's? Scott insists that they're nothing like Magneto, who's insistent
on elevating Mutants above the rest of humankind. They're just there to
help people.
The conversation is
interrupted, though, as a doctor comes in behind them and tells the victim
girl's family that she's awake, and she's going to be alright. The family
joyously follows the doctor back to the girl's room, with Warren tagging
along far behind. Rogue asks Scott is he thinks Warren will join them,
but Scott thinks that Warren's against the idea. They join up with Warren,
who's watching through the hospital room's window the girl's family talking
with her. The girl insists that she saw a guardian angel in her dreams,
just like the one that saved her... (okay, maybe this part is a little
corny). Scott, Rogue, and Warren just smirk/smile warmly at the child's
words (how they heard them through the window, I dunno).
The last bunch of scenes
in this episode deal with the various "main" teenage X-Men going home for
Christmas. Kurt arrives in a Germany airport and finds his foster parents.
Spyke and his dad through some snowballs at Mrs. Daniels and Storm, who
just creates a mini-whirlwind to throw the snow back at them. Shadowcat
lights a menorah while her mom and dad watch. Wolverine plays pool in a
bar somewhere. Jean searches for the right Christmas tree with her family.
And Beast and Xavier share a warm cup of coffee next to the X-Mansion's
Christmas tree.
Last Words: This was a refreshingly spiritual "holiday episode", something that I was both surprised and delighted by. Unlike most holiday specials, this one didn't have anything to do with Santa Claus, or finding the right gift for someone, or anything like that. It focused on the spiritual side of the holidays (which, after all, are the real reason for them), something that made the episode much more mature and serious in tone. The insight into Scott's and Rogue's philosophies about God & stuff like that was also nice. The mentioning of *gasp* praying, the Bible, and the church was also a welcome touch, as it's rarely seen in kids' cartoons these days. The story was also top-notch, getting very emotional at times, with only one line behind corny (with the girl in bed talking about her guardian angel). Overall, an incredible episode.
Overall Rating: 10/10 ...Wow.
(NOTE: This episode was aired as the ninth episode of Season 2, even though, in actuality, it is the seventh.)