X-Men Season 1

Yes, I am reviewing a television show who's first season was 20 years ago. Would you like me to review Dynasty season 1, which was 30 years ago? What about M*A*S*H season 1, which was 40 years ago? I didn't think so...we'll go with X-Men.

Okay, so, thanks to Netflix and its contracts with Whatever-it-is-that-owns-the-rights (presumably Marvel). Now, when I was a kid, I never really watched X-men. Yeah, I was interested in watching it, just didn't for whatever reason. Thought it was dumb to be honest. (So instead, I watched the Power Rangers....yeah...my opinion on what is dumb and what isn't has actually flipped on this subject.)

But I did go to theaters and watch X-Men when it came out. Definitely thought it was an awesome movie. I thought the story was compelling and unique...until....yeah, I until I watched the first couple of episodes of X-Men's animated series from the early 90s. I was amazed at how similar Rogue's story in the movie was to Jubilee's story in the show. Wolverine in the movie seems to have blended Wolverine and his wayward ways with Gambit and his don't care attitude.

Thankfully, the movie wasn't a complete ripoff of the cartoon. So that made the story in the cartoon that much more worth watching since there were things that I didn't know anything about.

Like the Sentinels.

They were definitely something I didn't recall seeing in the 5 episodes of the show I'd probably seen prior to starting at the beginning. The Sentinels play a huge piece in the first season of X-Men. Yeah, as much as Magneto is a villain and Mystique does what she can to do what she wants, the Sentinels played a large role as villains against our friendly (and not-so-friendly) mutants.

Another character that I enjoyed was the villain of Apocalypse. The character is just as villainous as Magneto but a completely different agenda makes for a different problem to deal with.

So when it comes to the normal X-Men team, you have Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, and Beast. These are the characters that the opening credits show. After those credits? You see Beast like 5 times in the 13-episode arc. He was a character that bummed me out a lot since he's this awesome animal-like man who was stuck in a prison cell from episode 3 until the end of the first season.

But when it comes to the normal team, I gotta say Rogue is my favorite character. You see part of this first season in the 3rd X-Men movie as Rogue in both places debates for accepting a cure. But the Rogue in this show is very different, thank goodness. Rogue here with her southern style and strong powers (seriously people, who did she absorb those from?) makes for an awesome combination. Rogue is the most well-rounded in the series, in my opinion. She's got a heart and cares about others, she's got internal strength to keep her going, and if you tick her off, she'll fling you across a room like a plate full of spaghetti.

The first season of X-men does well to build the characters without revealing everything about them. They don't over-saturate the viewer with "we're bored of this character, let's create another one" like Heroes and Lost did. They give you enough of the X-Men in this series so you can get a feel for who they are, but each character has a lot more depth than what was given.

The story of mutant freedom being placed in political jeopardy throughout the first season is something that I think keeps the story compelling. As I thought about it, if this were real and there were "mutants" out there with strange powers, which side would I be on. Unfortunately, I'm not a "mutant" so I gotta say, it makes it more difficult to say that I'd feel safe around someone who can manipulate my mind or can throw metal chunks at me or eat me in one bite or claw me to death like a rabid wolf. But, the thing I like about the first season is that the mutants are humans too. No matter what, that can't be taken away. So yeah, I'd hope I'd side on their freedom.

Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.