X-Men ’97 Survival of the Fittest review S2 E9
Survival of the Fittest was a beautifully done season finale culminating with a genuinely emotional payoff.
As a season finale, Survival of the Fittest accomplished exactly what it needed to — end the threat of Apocalypse (at least for this round) without diminishing the omega level threat established in the first half of the season. A happy ending wouldn’t have been justified if it came as a result of some cheap “beat the final boss” card with no buildup.
The opening credits were changed up again for Survival of the Fittest with Val Cooper standing in for Magneto and X-Factor — with new member Siryn —running into the X-Men.
At the heart of this episode was the X-Men desperately trying to find enough time for Gambit to break free of Apocalypse’s corruption. That wasn’t going to be easy since Cable, Psylocke and Archangel and Havok, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Multiple Man and Siryn have teamed up to battle the X-Men to take down Gambit-pocalypse.
Mobb Deep would approve of these Survival of the Fittest matchups, which saw Wolverine & Morph (as Doctor Octopus) battle Archangel and Psylocke; Jubilee and Havok battled in the skies in their team jets; Cable faced off with Cyclops and Jean Grey while Bishop and Polaris (my new favorite X-Men ’97 pairing) tried to keep Madrox, Syren, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane from getting to Gambit.
Easily the best aspect of these fights was it felt like those 90s team vs. team battles where emotions are running high, but no one is really trying to do serious harm to the other. That was best exemplified with Havok having a proud smile after his aerial dogfight with Jubilee. It was a little disappointing that Colossus didn’t get in on the action as his battle with Strong Guy or being used as a metal battering ram by Polaris could have been very fun to see.
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While these diversionary battles played out, the real battle in Survival of the Fittest was for Remy’s soul. Beast, Nightcrawler and Rogue went to Apocalypse’s Ship in hopes of finding something that could save Remy from being fully inhabited by Apocalypse. Ship reveals the Celestial Shrine, which could provide exactly what the X-Men need to take Apocalypse down…provided they’re willing to make a sacrifice.
Survival of the Fittest felt like there was inevitably going to have a price to pay and that someone on the main cast wasn’t going to survive anyway so this made it easier.
Rogue sacrificing herself for Remy makes sense and plays into the long history of the X-Men where one hero will die to save their loved one/ones. Rogue made a bargain with the Celestial, Eson the Searcher, for a Celestial Power-Up with the caveat that when the fight with Apocalypse she would look like someone on the wrong side of a Thanos snap.
In a fantastic fake out, Rogue took Apocalypse down — maybe as some long overdue payback for that meme? — and braced to fade into dust. When that didn’t immediately happen, she was stunned until Beast arrived carrying Nightcrawler’s Bible. It was the season’s heart and soul who made the ultimate sacrifice in Survival of the Fittest. That fully checks with his mindset and attitude over these two seasons.
Nightcrawler’s monologue was heart wrenching as he talked about hope and faith and the belief that something better was in store as we see the X-Men moving and emotionally healing from another taxing battle. This is a cartoon based on a comic so never say never about Kurt returning, but if this was his final appearance it was beautifully done.
The post credit for this season was fairly significant as Mystique disguises herself as Val Cooper to track down intel on Graydon Creed. When the actual Val strolls in, Mystique guns her down signaling a focus on one of the most overexposed characters in the X-Universe for Season 3. That’s not exactly comforting but the X-Men ’97 team has had an excellent track record so far so they get the benefit of the doubt here.
Survival of the Fittest wraps up X-Men ’97’s second season with dazzling action sequences, terrific character beats and a heartbreaking sacrifice.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney
After watching Survival of the Fittest, check out the Fatal Attractions Omnibus on Amazon.
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