1x03 Fire Made Flesh

[7.6/10] I love a good horror interlude. So watching our heroes have to fend off literal demons in a hellscape, have deformed monsters crawl out of televisions and collapse, or gargantuan phantoms belching strange liquid through the elevator doors scratches a certain itch for me. The way that Clone Jean’s breakdown results in a dose of pure terror is tops.

But I also like the prospect of our heroes being haunted by their worst fears. Jubilee and Sunspot are confronted by the mangled faces of disapproving parents. Gambit sees a body horror-infused image of Rogue and Magneto together. An already shaken Cyclops hears the recriminations of a deformed Professor X, while Bishop hears the lament of abandonment from his sister, Shard. Most interestingly, Morph sees a shower-dripped Logan who taunts him with the prospect that he knows, and that everyone knows.

(I doubt X-Men ‘97 will actually follow up on it, but it’s interesting that the show is willing to acknowledge the tension between Morph and Wolverine that was present in the 1990s series.)

The tack is always interesting, because by burrowing into what bothers each of your characters, you reveal them , if only a little bit. Pushing past the masks we wear (so to speak) and exposing what bothers the X-Men deep down shines a light on their true selves in a way that makes them more interesting.

Granted, this is a bonkers episode in which to delve into that sort of thing, but I kind of appreciate that? The simple premise of this one is out there. The reveal that the Jean who gave birth to Nate Summers is, in fact, a crazy clone manufactured by Mister Sinister, and nobody knows when she was switched with the real thing, is a wild reveal. The real Jean showing up on the doorstep of the X-Mansion and feeling overwhelmed by her powers is no less intense.

But I don’t know, the joy of science fiction is being able to delve into the off-the-wall and experimental in a way that loops back around to an essential humanity. None of us have woken up one day and discovered that we were clones. But Cone Jean’s identity crisis, the sense of the life she thought she was living being turned upside down, is one that resonates for people who’ve faced other, less fanciful, but no less dramatic reveals in their lives. Likewise, the real Jean’s recovery is outsized, but fits with people who’ve been through traumas finding their way back to the people they love and readjusting. Taking that to artistic extremes is a feature, not a bug.

Granted, the show loses some realism there. I don’t mean in terms of the plausibility of the science, but more that Clone Jena goes from “regular ally to her friends’ to “Goblin Queen in a bondage outfit ready to murder them” in thirty seconds flat. It loses some of the truth in the moment, but we can chalk it up to Mister Sinister’s preestablished ability to bring out a malevolent side of his subjects’ personality, augmented by the legitimate emotional distress Clone Jean goes through from the devastating reveal and sense of alienation from her friends.

To the point, it’s a small part of the episode, but I appreciate that when all of the exposition about Sinister’s scheme comes to light, it’s Morph who’s most affected by it as a bystander. His comments about the personal knowledge of the pain Sinister inflicts adds depth to the crisis, and his acknowledgment that Clone Jena is a victim too adds a sympathetic dimension to these events.

That comes in handy when Real Jean breaks through to Clone Jean to convince her to turn away from Sinister and regain herself. I’ll confess, I’m a sucker for those sorts of impressionistic, imaginative sequences that turn the most challenging emotions and psychological difficulties of the human experience into something more abstract and visceral, The 1990s show would do this sort of thing too, and while it was hit or miss there, it’s a big hit here. From the excesses of Clone Jean’s breakdown, to the light versus dark stand-off of the mind between the two Jeans, to the natal spin of the resolution, the symbolism and imagery really lets the animators show off.

There is something deep and beautiful about the idea that whatever else is going on in Clone Jean’s world, she’s brought back to the side of the angels by the idea of caring for her son. There’s a strong root of humanity there too, and I love the idea that whatever else in her world might be constructed, that remains real, and enough to bring her back to earth. The turn there is more important than fending off Sinister himself.

The whole “techno virus that can only be solved in the future” feels like a last-minute throw-in, but I appreciate the impact it has on Cyclops and Clone Jean. Cyclops' own hang-ups on his abandonment from his own father make him unable to participate in sending him away, even if it’s for Nate’s own good, and there’s power in that. Likewise, Clone Jean explaining to an infant who can't understand that they’re not sending him away because he’s flawed, but because they think he’s perfect is riddled with pathos.

Granted, the X-Men have gone back and forth from the future half a dozen times, so it’s not clear to me why Bishop can't just pop back with Baby Nate five seconds later in the present. Plus, if I remember the original show correctly, Jean knows who Nate becomes in the future, so that might be something worth mentioning to Scott at some point given the difficulty he’s having with all of this. But if you can set that aside and just grant the premise, the emotional power of those scenes is immense.

Everything gets wrapped up a little too neatly. Clone Jean just picking the name Madelyne Pryor out of a hat and being cool with rolling out on her own happens very suddenly. Still, I like the idea that she was already kind of ready to roll, and wants a life that's her own from here on out. She and Real Jean acknowledging the strangeness and uncertainty of their situation is a nice beat, and the tease of Forge helping Storm regain her powers is intriguing.

Overall, this is one of the wilder episodes of either X-Men show, which is saying something, but one that uses that wildness for some cool imagery, bracing horror, and poignant character moments.