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X-Men ’97: Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1 review S1 E8

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Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1 effectively ended any doubt if X-Men ‘97’s first season isn’t one of the all-time best comic book seasons.
Now the question is does the live-action take on the X-Men have any chance to be nearly as good.

Bastion was taking in the spoils of his Genosha decimation and capture of Magneto. Now with the news that Professor Xavier is very much alive and with another race some TV pundits are crafting the narrative that the mutants are collaborating with aliens to wipe out humanity. Convenient.

Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men are getting briefed on Bastion’s latest plan from Cable. Cable repeatedly tried to stop Genosha from occurring so he could save Madeline but was always teleported back to his time period. Also, Bishop and Cable got separated in the time stream when they returned to the future, so Cable was all alone. But what happened to Bishop?

Beast speculated that Genosha was a fixed-point event meaning it is etched in history and can’t be changed. So much for the easy “Cable can go back in time and rescue Madeline and Gambit” solution for the season finale.

Not as shocking was the reveal that Val Cooper is part of Bastion’s inner circle. It sure seemed like she was Mystique in disguise, but this episode essentially ended that speculation. Val was repentant for her actions perhaps realizing that throwing in with Bastion was a dangerous endgame.

Showrunner Beau DeMayo saved some major surprises with this episode. There were some very unexpected cameos both on Bastion’s secret cabal and others impacted in the fray. These were some pretty shocking appearances even for a show that’s specialized in subverting expectations.

Additionally, there was a fun subtle nod to Iron Man. If there was any doubt, X-Men ‘97 is fully immersed in the animated MCU, Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1 erased them. It’ll be fun to see how far and extensive this reach will play out in not just this season, but subsequent years.

Throughout the episode, there was this sense that the other shoe was about to drop. The X-Men’s ranks have been winnowed significantly with the capture of Magneto, Bishop returning to his time period, Storm losing her powers, Rogue comatose and of course Gambit’s death.

Cyclops, Jean and Cable followed up a lead on Bastion’s headquarters. Beast continued his autopsy of Trask’s converted Sentinel body. Wolverine, Morph and Nightcrawler also stayed at the mansion to watch over Rogue. How refreshing has this season been in terms of keeping Wolverine decidedly out of the spotlight? He’s not been center stage and is being perfectly used as the slight team malcontent who has fun ruffling feathers. And slashing up bad guys.

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That ominous feeling reached the boiling point when Cyclops and company went to Bastion’s HQ — his childhood home — where his mother was sitting in the dark. Bastion finally had everyone where he wanted them and flipped the switch to trigger all of his sleeper Prime Sentinel agents. His mother was an obvious candidate though still surprising. That’s his mother!

Roberto’s butler was a twist, but the big gut punch was Trish Trilby. She led the attack on the mansion X-Men. That whole bit about Wolverine not getting the spotlight? He got a big, bright shining one in Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1. Watching Wolverine cutting loose into a bunch of Prime Sentinels was an awesome sight. And it was nearly as cool watching Nightcrawler in action. Maybe more than most episodes this season, this felt like the X-Men got to truly go for it and put their powers on full display.

Cyclops, Jean and Cable battled through the swarm of Sentinels after them. Cyclops and Jean working in tandem always makes for a fun visual.

The only downside to Tolerance Is Extinction — Part 1 was the continued absence of Storm. It seemed like she would be back at the mansion the moment she learned of the events at Genosha. Sure, maybe her delay was to set up some big dramatic last second arrival. Anyone else think that when Cyclops was evading the Prime Sentinels in the storm?

There was some relief with Mr. Sinister frantically calling Bastion to let him know Val freed Magneto. Having patiently waited to recharge his powers, Magneto was ready to act. He tapped into them to unleash a worldwide EMP. It fried all the Prime Sentinels while also creating some unintended consequences. Likely some nuisances the team is going to have to face later.

Wolverine isn’t in a celebratory mood. He realizes that act was tantamount to starting a war — no matter if Val says, “Magneto was right.” With things getting increasingly desperate, Wolverine says it sure would be a good time for Xavier to return. And right on cue his ship crashes into the wreckage of the mansion.

Hoping he’s not too late, Xavier has one simple request “To me, my X-Men.” What an ending. And there’s still two more parts to go.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

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