"Self Possessed"
Writer: Greg Johnson
Director: Curt Geda
Original Air Date: November 16, 2002
Synopsis/Review: This episode starts
out at the Mansion. Scott and Rogue are playing a game of racquetball.
Rogue soon beats Scott, and after the typical "good game" lines back and
forth, Rogue asks Scott if he wants a rematch tomorrow night. Scott says
he'd like to, but he and Jean are going to that concert tomorrow night.
He asks if she's coming, but Rogue responds with a negative- she isn't
much a fan of the band playing. So Scott bids her ado, leaving a disappointed
Rogue behind. She suddenly gets a flash of Scott and Jean together (that
she no doubt picked up when she touched one of them sometime in the past)
and clutches her head, sliding slowly to the floor.
Meanwhile, a limo carrying
Destiny(!) stops at a supposedly-abandoned little house in the downtown
area, and a cat jumps off the front steps and into the car, morphing into
(of course) Mystique. Mystique asks Destiny that she's busy, so what's
so important? Destiny responds that she's gotten disturbing visions about
Rogue recently- it's clear that Rogue will play an important part in both
of their futures, but (as we go back to Rogue playing a game of racquetball
with herself via a voiceover) it she may not live to fulfill it! No sooner
are these words said than Rogue suffers from another intense flashback,
this time to when she touched Blob in "Growing Pains". Inadvertently, Rogue
throws her racquet at the wall- only it actually imbeds itself about half
a foot in the wall! Rogue stares at the ruined racquet and the crack in
the wall whilst sweating and clutching her head...
The next morning, Rogue
finishes getting herself ready for school and exits her room, only to find
Wolverine standing in her way. Logan asks her if something's wrong, holding
up the ruined racquet. Before Rogue can respond, Shadowcat hurries by and
grabs her arm, pulling her away from Logan while eagerly telling Rogue
to hurry up, Jean's going to give them both a ride in her new SUV! Rogue
quickly waves goodbye to a confused Logan as she's dragged by Kitty around
the hallway corner.
So Kitty and Rogue get
into Jean's SUV, and they start to drive to school. As Kurt pops in the
front seat (egads, that must be annoying to the other X-Kids by now), Jean
lets loose that she and Scott are going to the concert tonight, but they
don't want Kitty or anyone else riding in the SUV with them. Kitty realizes
that Jean's taking Scott out on a date, and she and Kurt tease Jean good-naturedly
about it before Rogue suddenly gets tired of it and tells them to drop
it already, in a manner that suggests it's something other than that...
Later, at school, Rogue
is about to enter the girls' restroom when she gets another quick flashback
(this time of when she touched Kitty in "Spykecam")
and phases through the door before she can figure out what happened. However,
someone else is in the bathroom, who notices Rogue after she comes in-
Risty! Rogue is glad Risty's back, but where WAS she? She just disappeared
a while back! Risty talks about how she had gotten stuck in England- she
had gone back to visit her parents, but after the events that took place
in the "Day of Reckoning" saga, her
parents had made her stay there. Only recently did Risty finally convince
them to let her come back here. As they both walk out of the bathroom,
Risty apologizes to Rogue for her abrupt absence- she's sorry she wasn't
there for Rogue when the latter obviously needed her the most. Rogue says
that SHE should be the one apologizing- she didn't even let Risty know
her biggest secret, even after they had become good friends! As they reach
a water fountain, Rogue leans down to take a sip, but she has another brief
flashback (this one is when she touched Storm way back in "Rogue
Recruit"). Before she can figure out what's going on, electricity suddenly
pours out of her and into the water fountain, sending sparks everywhere!
Rogue backs away suddenly in surprise/terror, and runs away before any
other students can ask any questions.
So, Rogue's out sulking
in the outside lunch area when Risty catches up with her, cautiously asking
Rogue if those were her "powers". Rogue says that it's hard to explain-
but then manages to explain it to Risty anyway. Risty admits that it's
a bit freaky... then suddenly changes the subject and asks her ol' buddy
Rogue if they can both go to the big band concert tonight to "make fun
of the geeks" there. Rogue just smiles and tells Risty how much she missed
having her friend around.
So, later on that night
at said concert, a lot of the X-Kids are there, having fun- among them
Kurt (and Amanda), Boom Boom, Scott, Jean, and Kitty and Multiple. Kitty
insists that she and Multiple are NOT on a date- especially since he's
only 12 years old- but Multiple says he recieved the suit from Roberto,
and Sunspot "wants a full report" when they get back. Kitty just groans
and drags Multiple with her closer to the center stage, telling him angrily
not to bump anyone.
Oh, and Scott and Jean are in self-denial
that they're on a date, as well, insisting that they're just hanging out.
Meanwhile, Rogue and
Risty enter and make their way down nearer to the center stage. They bypass
Jean and Scott, who Rogue risks a jealous glance at. Finally, as they get
closer to the center, it becomes clear that things are really packed (it's
a stand-only concert). They're getting jostled around a bit, and Rogue
tells Risty that maybe this was a bad idea. But Risty insists that Rogue's
plenty covered up, everything will be fine. Rogue starts to have a bunch
of flashbacks, now, even more powerful than before- and the slag finally
hits the fan when a girl sitting on her boyfriend's shoulders in front
of them falls off and, in desperation, clutches onto Rogue's arm- tearing
off the sleeve... A guy walks by just then and touches Rogue, and a transfer
takes place, and he collapses to the ground. Rogue, still struggling under
her flashbacks, backs into another person and touches them, then another.
Finally, she stumbles into a frightened and surprised Risty- and then the
transfer takes place between them as well, and Risty turns into Mystique...
...As the transfer takes
place, Rogue sees the truth behind Risty, and assumes her friend's shape
as Mystique tumbles to the ground, unconscious. By this time, the surrounding
people in the crowd are pretty freaked out, and back away as Rogue stumbles
around, finally crouching after having another severe flashback (this time
when she touched Sabretooth in "Spykecam"), and actually morphs into Sabretooth!
Mystique manages to wake up by now and cries out Rogue's name, but it's
too late. Sabretooth/Rogue starts on a rampage and starts breaking things
left and right, climbing up on the stage and effectively ending the concert.
The X-Kids recognize "Sabretooth" and manage to both keep nearby people
from getting hurt and fending off Sabretooth, eventually burying him under
a pile of rubble. (Although it is important to note that Sabretooth/Rogue
touches and wrestles Multiple and his copies during this fight scene, knocking
them out.)
However, just as it
seems Sabretooth is down, the Mutant in disguise has another flashback-
and this time, it's when she touched Juggernaut in "The
Stuff of Heroes". Under the rubble, Sabretooth morphs into Juggernaut,
and Cain/Rogue busts out of the rubble, roaring in anger, and hurriedly
runs out of the concert building (without bothering to use the door). Mystique
runs after "him". Jean and Scott are confused by now- Sabretooth, Juggernaut,
AND Mystique?! Kitty, supporting a barely-conscious Multiple, walks up
to them, mentioning the obvious- that this is huge. Scott orders them all
to regroup at the Mansion, and they'll figure out what to do there.
Meanwhile, Rogue/Juggernaut is being tracked
down by the police. To elude them, she has flashbacks and morphs into Magneto,
then Quicksilver, then Arcade (although certainly not one right after the
other- it's at least 7 seconds or so between morphs). Finally, "Arcade"
collapses at the end of an obscure alleyway, morphing back into Rogue and
weeping while clutching her head.
Rogue is interrupted
by Mystique entering the alleyway, catching Rogue's attention. Rogue angrily
yells at Mystique to stay away from her. Mystique responds- quite honestly-
that she's hurt Rogue in the past, she knows, but she didn't pose at Risty
just to steal information from the X-Men, even though Rogue accused her
of it. Mystique tells Rogue to search the memories... Mystique adopted
her when she was four- Rogue IS, essentially, her daughter. Mystique just
wanted to be near Rogue, that's all! Rogue just yells "NO!" and pushes
past Mystique, running out into the street amidst sobs and finally teleporting
away (remember, she's touched Kurt, too).
Rogue teleports to a
rooftop and sits down again, sobbing her heart out. Soon, however, she
hears a familiar motorcycle rumble on the streets below, and morphs into
Sabretooth who growls "Wolverine..." eagerly/angrily.
Wolverine, meanwhile,
is riding down the street on his motorcycle, when- BAM!- he gets knocked
off by Sabretooth. Wolverine unsheathes his claws while Sabretooth uproots
a light pole, and we get ready for the normal Logan/Sabretooth battle-
until Logan takes a sniff and realizes that it's not Sabretooth!
Suddenly, the X-Van
pulls up in between them, and Scott and most of the other teenage X-Men
(including some of the New Mutants) get out, and before Wolverine can protest,
Scott blasts Sabretooth through the wall of a nearby building, radioing
to the other X-Men they they've found him, and now they're going to finish
this. Logan stops him, though, and tells Scott that that's not Sabretooth,
it's Rogue! Kurt asks that that can't be right- but Logan insists that
it is, and for some reason, she's not thinking straight. Both him and Scott
go into the building (a warehouse, natch) while the others stay behind.
Scott and Logan call out for Rogue, insisting that they're not going to
hurt her. Rogue has, by now, morphed back into her own form, but upon hearing
Scott's cries, she gets another flashback, and morphs into Scott.
Suddenly, the real Scott
is confronted by the fake Scott, who blasts the real Scott with his eyebeams.
Logan stoops to help Scott up- only Rogue's now gone missing again. A familiar
rumble is heard though, and a large stack of crates nearly tumbles on them-
she's now morphed into Avalanche! Before "Avalanche" can do anything more,
though, he morphs back into a desperate Rogue, who pleas (heart-renderingly
pitifully) for them to help her. Scott says that she doesn't need to be
afraid of them, they're her friends.
The word "friends" strikes
a chord, though, as Rogue has sudden flashbacks of Risty, who was also
her "friend". Rogue angrily morphs into Storm, insisting that she "has
no friends"! Scott and Logan quickly escape the warehouse as Storm/Rogue
uses her powers to bring down the whole warehouse, flying out above the
wrecked building. Storm morphs back into Rogue and starts letting loose
with Cyclops' ray beams- according to Logan, she's apparently gotten control
of all of those powers at once...
The X-Men manage to
evade Rogue's initial attacks, but barely- and they can't manage to restrain
her at all. Rogue also manages to down the approaching Blackbird, which
contains Storm, Beast, and Xavier. Finally, Logan gets tired of the wanton
destruction and orders the rest of them back, as he can take a beating
better than any of them. He orders Iceman to "ice" him up via a bridge
to where Rogue is hovering, clutching her head in pain. Logan tackles Rogue,
and the both of them tumble onto a car, ruining it and obviously hurting
Logan in the process. Rogue is jostled around as well, and- you guessed
it- she splits into multiple people- five, in fact. Logan desperately tries
to get Rogue to calm down, but all of her copies just advance on Logan,
lifting him up via Magneto's powers and spinning him around, growling.
Until Logan mentions something that catches Rogue's attention- that she's
letting the other people inside of her head push her around, and the "Rogue
he knows wouldn't take that from anybody"! Rogue finally manages to calm
down enough to set Logan on the ground and draw her copies back into herself,
but she's still having trouble. She keeps clutching her head and screaming,
telling Logan that there's too many people inside her head. Finally, Xavier
rolls up, entering Rogue's mind, and, despite initial resistence, tells
Rogue to fight the other personalities- if they work together, they can
eliminate these "other minds" one by one! We then go to a long, twirl-around-Rogue
scene where she morphs quickly from one person she's absorbed to another,
going through almost everyone she's ever touched amidst a ear-piercing
scream of pain. Finally, it's over, and she collapses in Logan's arms.
Logan asks Xavier if she's going to be alright, but Xavier says that...
he doesn't know yet. Logan sadly takes Rogue over to the X-Van, with the
other Mutants in tow.
The next day, Scott
is outside the med room, watching Logan holding an unconscious Rogue's
hands. Scott asks Xavier if Rogue's getting better, and Xavier says that
yes, she is- at least, physically. Emotionally- it's still going to take
quite a while for her to get over this. Xaiver also mentions that Logan's
never left her side...
Meanwhile, in the med
room, Logan is talking to Rogue (even though she's supposedly unconscious).
He tells her that he's not going to lie to her- this is going to stay with
her for some time yet, as something about betrayal always stings. But,
he says, you learn to live with it, and move on, and let your real friends
be there for you. As he finishes his short "speech", he feels a slight
squeeze on his hand, and Rogue's eyes open slightly, filled with tears
as she smiles sadly and looks at Logan weakly.
Outside the Mansion,
Destiny's limo pulls up to the gate, and Mystique's in it as well. After
glancing at the Mansion, where everything seems well, Mystique turns back
to Destiny, asking her if Rogue still plays a part in their future. Destiny
responds that yes, she still does- but now a "great darkness" looms over
the horizon. After Mystique asks the impending question of "What kind of
darkness?", Destiny says gravely and cryptically that "an ancient Mutant
will rise to once again walk the Earth... and that their fate- both Rogue's
and Mystique's- are in his hands...".
Last Words: Wow, what a great episode. In fact, it was a rather saddening episode as well- Rogue's voice actor was absolutely outstanding in this episode, as were the animators! The pure gut-wrenching emotion displayed during Rogue's ordeal was very, very saddening, and not corny in any way (unlike most "emotional" cartoon episodes nowadays). The fight scene was also wonderfully done, as was the dialogue, the overall plot- just, everything about this episode was great. What was also outstanding was that EVERY SINGLE PERSON Rogue has EVER touched she morphed into at least briefly in this episode. Not ONE was left out. And I loved the foreshadowing to Apocalypse at the end. In fact, only one (relatively minor) thing bothered me in this entire episode: The whole "Rogue is Mystique's adopted daughter" schtick. It was only really briefly touched upon, and I think such a big revelation should have been saved for another episode. And, if Rogue figured it out once she had Mystique's memories, why didn't she figure it out the first time she touched Mystique, in "Turn of the Rogue"? Still, though, an absolute must-see, and one of my favorite X-M:E episodes of all time.
Overall Rating: 10/10 ...Wow.