Season III, Episode VI:

"X-Treme Measures"

Writers: Jules Dennis and Greg Johnson

Director: Frank Paur

Original Air Date: November 2, 2002

Introducing: Callisto, Lucid, and.... a whole lotta other Morlocks

Synopsis/Review: This episode starts out outside a manufacturing plant. Four shadowed figures come up out of the sewer and go over to one of the buildings. One of the figures indicates that this is the building that they are looking for, and another takes off her gloves and melts away the wall merely by touching it. Once inside, they each start to wreck various machinery and boxes- obvious vandalism. (And there's some REALLY good background music going on while they're doing this... Neeeeed mp3...) Finally, a guard catches them in the act, but as he shines his flashlight on them, he finds something... wrong... with each of them. One has a VERY weird, chameleon-like face, one has an eyepatch scars running all across her face, and another has a large, neanderthal-like forehead. The guard's stumbled for a few seconds, at a loss for words, than finally manages to call security for backup- however, he's interrupted in the middle of his sentence at the fourth Mutant- a short girl with huge forearms- touches him, completely paralyzing him on the spot while the four escape.
    The next morning, the president of the company is surveying the damage the Mutant miscreants have caused to their factory. It's so bad that the place had to be shut down for the day. The president's aide asks if he should call the police, but the president declines- he can't risk the bad press the day before the company's new product, Powr8 (a new sports drink) hits the market. He just tells his aide to upgrade security so that the vandals are caught next time.
    At Bayville High, Evan gets a little prank pulled on him by a bunch of idiots- when he opens a locker, this big spiked picture of a skateboarder pops out, scaring the daylights out of him for a sec. The kids laugh at him and run off, but one passer-by stops and helps Evan up. The kid tells Evan that he just learns to ignore them, everybody's clowns at this school- oh, and hey, aren't you that Mutant kid? (As if he wouldn't know.) The kid starts talking to Evan about how cool it would be to have all those powers, walking away with Evan, who's really confused why this kid is being so nice to him...
    Meanwhile, elsewhere in the school, Scott and Jean are walking down a hallway when they see Kitty, and immediately take off in the opposite direction for an as-yet-unknown reason. They get in Scott's car outside (it's after school is out), duck their heads when Kitty walks out of the entrance so she doesn't see them, then Jean tells Scott to hit the gas and get them out of here. They're interrupted as Kurt suddenly pops in on the hood, scaring them both for a second. Oblivious, Kurt tells them that Kitty actually managed to get her driver's permit, and that she needs a person 18 or older to take her driving- which means that Scott and Jean are high on the list. Scott and Jean both angrily respond that they know, they know, they KNOW! They drive away after Kurt gets off of the car, leaving behind a dissapointed Kitty (who merely thinks they didn't see her as they took off).
    Meanwhile, Evan's skateboarding down the road from school, the kid still following him and talking to him. Evan interrupts him and asks him why the heck he's being so talkative- none of the other kids even want to come near them. The kid responds that he's just being friendly- right before he sees three big football guys up ahead and yells to them that hey, remember him? They threw his books in the dumpster yesterday! But now, HE'S gotta friend that's a Mutant. Evan immediately sees what is going on- this kid just wants him as a bodyguard of sorts. He angrily tells the kid that he has enough problems, he doesn't need anymore, and starts to walk away- only to be held back by the football guys. They start messing around with him, thinking that he won't actually use his powers- but, of course, he eventually gets fed up with them and does, and then kicks all of their butts (without actually cutting them or anything). By now, a big crowd has gathered around them, among them Nightcrawler. He hurriedly runs up to Evan and announces to everyone that the show's over, they can go home now, before quickly teleporting them both away before any school officials notice.
    Meanwhile, back at the Mansion, Xavier pulls aside Jean and Scott, wanting to talk with them. They know what this about, but before Xavier can go beyond "it may be dangerous", Logan comes in, saying that he could use the adrenaline rush, so he'll do it. Xavier hands Logan the keys to the X-Van, and sure enough, he's going to be Kitty's driving partner.
    So, off we go to the Kitty punching it in the X-Van, and off they screech. Kitty's one heck of a reckless driver, but she don't care- she just phases the van through anything that gets in her way!
    A little later, Evan hurriedly brushes by Ororo in the hallway to his room, and Ororo noticed that Evan's bone spikes are sticking out of his shirt- and they're actually a bit thicker and more gnarly than before. Ororo asks Evan what's wrong, but Evan just pushes her off with a "Not NOW!" before going into his room and slamming the door.
    Once in, Evan looks at himself in the mirror and starts to suck in his spikes, obviously having a lot of trouble. Finally, he manages to retract them, but he still feels that something is wrong. He takes off his shirt and turns around- his spine still has bones sticking out everywhere from it! Spyke's freaked out- he doesn't know what's happening to him, why can't he retract his spikes easily anymore!?
    Later on, Kitty and Logan finally get back from their little outing. The X-Van has a bunch of road signs and other stuff stuck halfway in it from a result of Kitty's phasing, but Kitty's oblivious and just remarks how fun it was (and how rude other drivers were being) as Logan exits with a headache. He walks into the Mansion's library, where Xavier is waiting for the news of how it went. Logan angrily drops the keys in Xavier laps and tells them Xavier semi-menacingly that he OWES Scott and Jean- and "Chuck", too...
    The next morning, Scott and Jean are about to enter a room when they hear Kitty on the other side of the door, asking anyone if they've seen Scott or Jean. Much to Scott's protest, Jean telekinetically pushes him through the doorway, apologizing quickly that it's either him or her, and it's NOT going to be her. Kitty greets the entering Scott- heeere we go again...
    Meanwhile, Spyke is having breakfast. Berzerker, on the other side of the table, asks for Evan to pass some milk, and Evan does- but he sees that his hand has a bunch of bone plates on it and quickly hides it. Berzerker thanks Evan, and mentions that isn't Evan supposed to be at that Powr-8 sponsored skateboarding contest today? Evan looks at the time and quickly heads out to the competition.
    At said competition, things quickly get underway. Evan manages to beat a bunch of the other kids, and in fact, pulls out ahead of the rest. Storm, Kurt, and a bunch of other New Mutants are there to cheer Evan on. During a short break, a bunch of the kids head on over to refresh themselves with some Powr-8. Evan's about to try some, when a strange scarred woman hurriedly brushes into him, knocking the drink away and muttering "poison!" before leaving again. Evan just stares at her with confusion before the competition gets back underway. However, it's not long before one of the kids that Evan beat accuses him of cheating, and points out to the ref that Evan's a Mutant. The ref seems surprised by this- apparently, he didn't recognize Evan or something- and tells them both that he'll have to talk to the judges about this, despite Evan's protests that his powers have nothing to do with his skating ability. Evan sees where this is going, and angrily leaves the competition, grabbing a Powr-8 drink and sipping it while he leaves. The scarred woman (obviously from the earlier raid on the factory) mutters "no!" as Evan suddenly falls to the ground in pain, sputtering out the drink. His spikes shoot out of his body seemingly without his control, and start damaging stuff all over the place. The masses, of course, panick and run while Storm, Kurt and Iceman save lives and stuff like that. The scarred woman runs after Evan, who's hurrying away from the scene as quickly as possible to avoid being arrested or something. Storm looks around for Evan, but can't see him- she does see the Powr-8 bottle that he dropped, though, and holds it up, examining it cautiously...
    Evan manages to make it as far as the park amphitheater before finally collapsing. Callisto corners a panicked and weak Evan, who desperately asks what she wants before a guy materializes out of thin air behind him and keep him restrained from going any further. The girl with the large forearms is there as well, and reaches up and touches Evan, paralyzing him...
    Later, Kitty zooms up to the Mansion in Scott's car (Scott is with her as well). As soon as she stops, she runs up to a waiting Nightcrawler, asking him if there's any news where Evan might be. Kurt responds with a negative, telling teleporting both him and Kitty to wherever the search is going on. Scott, meanwhile, is left behind, breathing hard as he vows never to ride in another vehicle again...
    Meanwhile, Beast and Xavier are experimenting with the small amount of Powr-8 that Storm had brought back into the Mansion. From their experiments, it appears that although Powr-8 doesn't do anything to normal humans, it affects Mutant cells adversely- even through skin contact! Storm determinedly tells Xavier that they have GOT to find Evan.
    Meanwhile, Evan's unconscious in a large underground sewer/cavern. A bunch of other dejected and physically deformed Mutants also stay here, and the funny-faced Mutant we saw earlier (who I'm just going to call Lucid to save time, since that's his name) pours some stuff into Evan's mouth. It causes him to sputter and wake up a little, wondering where he is. The scarred woman he met earlier (who is named Callisto) is there, keeping an eye on him, as well as Lucid, Caliban, the Oriental man who can camoflauge himself, and the girl with the big forearms. Callisto tells Evan comfortingly that he doesn't need to worry anymore- he's with the Morlocks now, who understand him. He needs rest, however, if he's going to recover. Having heard this, Evan promptly falls back asleep again.
    When Evan wakes up later, apparently his Mutation has gotten worse. Spikes are not starting to emerge from his face, and he apparently can't retract then anymore. He hears Callisto and Caliban talking in an adjacent room, and shambles up to the conversation. Apparently, Caliban is against Callisto's abduction of Evan into their little group, for fear that he might tell the above-ground dwellers about their hideout. Callisto insists that she couldn't have just left him- with those bone spikes, he'll never be accepted topside, she says. Evan enters the conversation at about this time, and asks why all these Mutants are here. Callisto responds bitterly that for Mutants who have physical differences from normal humans, it's not that easy to blend in. So she created a haven down here, where they could be free from persecution. But, she says, they may not live much longer... When Evan asks why, she responds that Powr-8 is the cause. When the companies empty their vats, the runoff comes down here. Considering that it's contaminating their water supply, Callisto responds that they're slowly going to die here, unless someone stops them. Evan responds sadly and determinedly that he wants to help. Before Callisto can accept, Caliban interrupts that there is an intruder present... Berzerker. (He knows this because of his Mutant-finding abilities, remember?) Callisto calls out that Berzerker can't hide from them, she can see in the dark, so he'd better show himself. Ray comes out from hiding and tells Callisto that if Evan is here, than she's gotta know that the X-Men won't be far behind. Callisto responds that that'll only happen if Ray tells them- and he won't do that, now, will he? Before Ray can respond, the girl with the large forearms has snuck up behind him and paralyzed him...
    Later that night, at the Powr-8 plant, the Morlocks have broken in again, and they aren't having any trouble at all getting past the guards, what with that girl's paralyzing abilities and whatnot. Evan angrily destroys the security cameras via his spikes, and the Morlocks get to work.
    Back with Berzerker, he finally manages to snap out of his paralyzation, only to be encountered by a Morlock who morphs into a huge lizard-like creature, whom Berzerker calls "Scaleface". Scaleface chases a pleading Berzerker through the sewers, and Ray barely manages to escape Scaleface's huge claws. Running away from the sewer cover he just came out of, Berzerker hurriedly dials up the Prof on his cell phone and tells him that he knows where Evan is...
    Meanwhile, the president of the company enters the plant's security room, obviously checking to see that everything's going okay. Something's odd, though... The president taps the security guard looking at the monitors on the shoulder, and he collapses to the floor, paralyzed!
    Back with the Morlocks, they're dumping a bunch of bags of powder into the vats of Powr-8, which, Callisto explains, will taint the entire supply and gum up the plumbing. Before anything else can happen, though, the president bursts in with some guards, who fire their electro-shocker hook thingy guns (I'm not sure what they're called) at the Mutants. Although two strike home and partially electrocute the girl with the big forearms, one misses and punches into the power supply. This causes the power to short out, which causes some wires to come loose and shock some volatiles stacked near the bottom of one of the vats. This pack of volatiles goes off, and the vat crashes down on the vat next to it, which crashes down on the vat next to it, etc. The Morlocks quickly see what is happening and hurriedly run back into the drains, the enourmous amounts of Powr-8 rushing in after them.
    They run along in the sewer for a little while before coming to a dead end. Evan hurriedly spikes up a stepladder, and the Morlocks climb up it right before the Powr-8 slams into the wall. Just then, a laser blast punches through the asphalt above- it's Cyclops, along with the rest of the X-Men! Jean levitates all of the Morlocks up and out of the sewers while holding the advancing waves of Powr-8 back. Finally, Storm conjures a... storm... and dilutes the Powr-8 so that it is no longer harmful to them. While the X-Men are distracted by this, however, the Morlocks make their exit, and, as Storm notices, Evan has left with them! Almost in tears, she tells Cyclops to help her find Evan, and Scott assures her that they won't give up.
    The next day, Xavier is at the Powr-8 plant, explaining to the company president what had happened the previous night. The president wholeheartedly insists that he didn't know that Powr-8 was harmful to Mutants, and he would have stopped production immediately if the Morlocks would have just told him! Xavier reponds that the Morlocks have grown bitter after seeing the bad side of humanity one too many times, and have become dependant on no one but themselves...
    Meanwhile, in the sewers, the X-Men are searching frantically through the sewers, calling out Evan's name. Finally, Storm manages to find Evan, but he tells her to stay back- we know see that he's more spiked out than ever, and definitely not someone you'd want to hug. Storm implores Evan to come back to the X-Men, that they can work through this. But Evan refuses, saying that things have been too crazy lately- he just needs some time to get away from it all. He promises his aunt that he'll be fine, though, as he's among friends, so she doesn't need to worry. Despite Storm's protests, Evan sadly walks away with his Morlock friends, leaving behind a very depressed Storm.
    Back at the plant, Xavier bids ado to the president of the company, who has vowed to stop the sale of his product. Xavier gets in his waiting limo, and tells Logan to take him home- only it's not Logan driving, it's Kitty! The limo screeches away from the plant, a frantic Xavier trapped inside. The company president, however, tells his aide to start producing Powr-8 again ASAP- it suddenly became a lot more valuable...

Last Words: This episode was definitely all for Evan- it was his turn to shine. And, surprisingly, shine he did. Although I wasn't exactly crazy about the previous episodes that heavily involved Evan- "Spykecam", "Beast of Bayville", and "African Storm"- this one passes him off very nicely. We learn his increasing frustration with his situation at school, and the fact that all of the X-Men seem to be pulling through except for him. So, when the Morlocks come along, it's actually a bit of a blessing. Finally, a place where he can be accepted for who he is, without having to worry about other people! And although I expected him to rejoin the X-Men at the end, he didn't. He flat out gave up. And I like that. I LIKE that things don't always end up being a happy ending- it gives a much more mature and realistic tint to the story. My only major complaint about this episode, however, was that it took a bit too long to get into the thick of things. Heck, Evan didn't even meet the Morlocks until right before the third commercial break. Which didn't leave as much time as I would have liked for the new characters in this episode- heck, none of the Morlocks except Callisto, Caliban, and Lucid even spoke! A more minor complaint is that Kitty seemed very oblivious in this episode to the displeasure of her "driving instructors". And Kitty's not exactly Miss Oblivious, so I thought that although that bit was good for a few laughs, it was rather out of character for her. Still, an excellent, excellent episode, and one that is definitely worth watching. THIS is how Evan should have been characterized from the start.

Overall Rating: 9/10 Excellent