It’s a double dose of X-Goodness tonight with a two hour season finale that looks to wrap up some questions, promise a big reveal about someone’s parentage, and start setting the stage for Season 2.
First up, let’s dive into “eXtraction.” As always, there are spoilers within.
1. Not Always Black or White
Now that’s an interesting revelation: While questioning Esme and her sisters on their plans to get Dr. Campbell (something about kidnapping him at a conference with a name that sounds like it came from one of those late night evangelist TV shows), the dirt on Blink comes out: she ran with a criminal group that fought anti-mutant humans in her earlier days and has a bit of a police record. It was a minor infraction – – when things got heavier than she was willing to handle, she bailed – – but what was her motivation for hiding it from the others?
2. Tempted by a Pretty Face
Andy may be a mutant, but he’s still a teenage boy deep down, and he’s taken in hook, line, and sinker with the Frost sisters. Sure, they may treat him like an adult, but no doubt he’s taken in by this trio of pretty faces. With everyone (including the viewer) still very much unclear on the Cuckoos’ motivations, we can only hope Andy doesn’t get hurt too much.
Conversely, one of the Frost sisters attempts to make nice with Polaris, appealing to her strength (“everyone thinks pregnant women are weak, but you’re stronger when you have something to fight for…”) and teasing her with further information on her father. Her reaction – – slamming a pretty nice four poster bed into a wall — shows her guard’s still up.
3. Those Are Some Clever Knife Skills
Not one of the great revelations of this episode by any stretch of the imagination, but I continue to be impressed by Polaris’s powers most of all. Quick and clever knife work gets the job done.
4. You Think You Know a Person…
I don’t buy it one bit that Grandmama Strucker knew absolutely nothing about her late husband’s research. I don’t imagine it was something that was discussed over dinner on a daily basis, but it’s unrealistic to think that in two decades of marriage, she never overheard a phone call or intercepted a letter. The contents may not have made sense, but she was still exposed to the information, information that could be revealed inadvertently. Reed and Caitlin made the smart move to get her to safety.
5. Mutant Puberty
When I write my recaps, I often write them as the show is airing — which can provide the opportunity for one idea I had early on to be contradicted later. While I had thought Andy was just being taken in by a pretty face that would leave him emotionally damaged in the end, it seems that his moments with the Frost sisters will have more of a lasting effect, and it won’t be pretty. He’s showing signs of turning on his family, and the Mutant Underground, and having more malevolent capabilities than those of his ancestors.
Now, let’s talk about the final episode, “X Roads”
1. Polaris’s Past
The opening flashback reveals something else about Polaris unknown until now: that she spent time in a mental institution after an arrest. It’s possible that her time there was a mistaken interpretation of her mutant powers, but this adds a new wrinkle to the multifaceted mutant: are her mood swings, like her pregnancy, affecting her powers? (Though Blink does debunk this later on, she knew bipolar people, and the desire to commit manslaughter is not one of the standard symptoms.)
2. This is Not a Drill
Just when I thought Cory Booker’s Evil Twin was moving his needle of morality toward the side of good . . . he swings back to 100 percent government man, ordering a raid on the new mutant compound with the Struckers, even battling through some of the mutant safeguards in place. Caitlin shows her skills of cool-headedness under pressure, orchestrating an evacuation of most of the compound, but she and the family don’t have time to get out themselves. Looks like Andy is going to get that chance to fight that he wants.
Continued below3. Divide and Conquer
When the Frost sisters win Lorna over to their Plan B for getting Dr. Campbell and ending the Hound program – – implied to be his assassination at the airport, a bit of their true motives are revealed: sowing the seeds of chaos. As much as they want Marcos, Blink, and Johnny to come over to their side, Polaris knows better: it’s not going to happen. The Mutant Underground is the main threat to the Hellfire Club, and all the money in the world won’t take down the Underground. The Cuckoos know the only way to do that is from within.
4. The Crossroads
“This is just something I have to do. Please stand back.” After sending the Frost sisters away to prove she’s not under their influence, Polaris harnesses the largest display of her powers possible to bring down the plane carrying Dr. Campbell and Senator Rodriguez (who had been working with Dr. Campbell to get more support for anti-mutant efforts via legislation). Back at the headquarters, Lauren and Andy unleash their combined forces to obliterate the building and defeat the Hounds. Tough decisions with irreversible consequences, and all three of these mutants know there is no going back from them.
5. The Aftermath
Those tough decisions continue long after the death and destruction. While most of the Underground is safe and grateful to the Strucker parents for their quick thinking, many still look at them as trouble (hey, two headquarters have been destroyed since the Strucker family showed up, I’d be giving Reed and Caitlin the side-eye too) – – and when presented the opportunity to join the reborn Hellfire Club led by Polaris and the Frost girls, many of the mutants take the opportunity, including (as I predicted) Andy leaving his family behind for the Hellfire. And Jace’s government devotion was tenuous, for when called out on the botched operation on the compound, he opts to quit rather than face bureaucratic censure. (I admit I kind of called this early on too, though I was having my own doubts for a bit.) Could this set up a switching of sides for Cory Booker’s Perhaps Not As Evil As We Thought Twin? Guess we’ll find out in Season 2.
