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:: X-men Evolution season 2 ::
by William the Bloody
When we last left X-men: Evolution...
Magneto was reveals to be secretly Mystique's boss and behind he actions of recruiting young mutants. Scott (Cyclops) discovered that his brother Alex survived the plane crash that killed their parents, only for both of them to wind up in Magneto's clutches on Asteroid M. Magneto set up several contests between Brotherhood and Xavier members and the victor was whisked away against their will in a metal sphere, also to Asteroid M. It came out that Magneto's ultimate plan was to amplify their mutant powers, but the process would also erase their hindering emotions, thus turning them into a formidable force against mankind. Alex and Scott destroy the asteroid and the kids escape safely, and we see two metal spheres fleeing in the opposite direction, occupants unknown.
Which brings us to season 2. After the destruction of Asteroid M, Mystique has not turned up, leaving the Brotherhood Boys to fend for themselves in their boardinghouse. Xavier found some new, younger recruits so the X-Mansion is bursting with kids and understaffed. New recruit Boom Boom is reckless and bored with rules, so she leaves Xavier's to room with the Brotherhood. Avalanche still has a crush on Kitty Pryde and tries his luck at Xavier's for a while. The Brotherhood and Xavier's still compete and are at odds with each other, but not nearly to the extent during Mystique's tutelage. Mystique's absence also means a new principal for Bayville High, Mr. Kelly, who seems alright, but could possibly house a mystery. The loner Rogue makes a friend in new student, Risty Wilde who is from England. Wolverine is frequently absent from the X-mansion in an effort to finally track down and capture Sabretooth. The question of the mutants continuing to operate and exist in secret is constantly raised as many like Cyclops feel they could do greater good out in the open, Xavier still doesn't believe the world is ready to accept the mutant race with open arms.
The Good: The second season managed to keep the animation decent, not really falling below even the "lowest" standard of the first season, which is good because too often later episodes suffer animation-wise when a series does well so they can produce them faster, but not here. The voice cast all return and do their usual bang-up job. The writing greatly improved over season 1, which was expected since first season often have to deal with main character introduction and exposition. But I want to take a minute here and thank the writers for the slew of awesome new characters added to the line up! When I mentioned the new recruits at Xavier's I was so pleased that the majority of them were from the New Mutants comic!! New Mutants was a guilty pleasure of mine back in the day and loved those characters so, but they weren't strictly X-men so didn't usually get their due in any of the X-movies or X-cartoons, until now. The new recruits included Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Magma, Boom Boom, Jubilee, Multiple, Berzerker, and Iceman. We also get introduced to many other new and interesting characters with the X-men: Evolution twist like the high-flying Angel, Beast (who becomes a new regular), The Scarlet Witch (who can kick some major ass), as well as a few Acolytes (who's identities I won't spoil). We also get some keen comic book parallels such as Nightcrawler dating a girl named Amanda, Jean's powers go out of control for a bit, and Rogue's new English friend has purple hair. The last three episodes of the season stand out as far as plot and events go and the finale really makes you want to run out and get season three as soon as possible.
The Bad: The animation in a small few episodes was as good as I'd hoped, mainly during key moments in the last three episodes. I really like it when they step up the animation for the important stuff, but they didn't do that here. The animation wasn't BAD, just not AS GOOD as it should have been. There was an episode that hinted at the coming of Apocalypse, which is too bad. I don't like him as an X-villain in general. I suppose it won't be so bad if they can avoid Mr. Sinister. Also, they once again gave Spyke way too much screen time. The series really focuses on him quite a lot and I have no idea why as he is quite possibly the worst character on the show. Also, Rogue's friend who is English and has purple hair is for some reason not named Betsy, which would have only been awesome and a good red herring for the in-the-know X-fans watching.
In the end, I felt that season 2 really stepped up and delivered for the most part. This series is really shaping up and coming into its own which can only lead to greatness in the seasons to come. A must for any hardcore X-fan, and just plain fun for everyone else.
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