X-Men '97 Season 2 Finale Left Us Wrecked: Our Verdict on Survival of the Fittest

We just finished watching the X-Men '97 season 2 finale, Survival of the Fittest, and our honest verdict is that it wrecked us. We went in joking that this one probably would not be as intense as some of the other finales we had watched that day, and we were completely wrong. Put simply: "It was not in my bingo card to like get freaking annihilated by X-Men."

The biggest thing we noticed watching this episode is how much more money seems to have gone into the animation compared to the rest of the season. The fight sequences looked phenomenal to us, with specific shots that felt like you could pause them and use them as a poster. We especially loved the visual treatment of the celestial plane when Rogue went to see the celestial, how the brightness and softness of the scene changed to give a real sense of sparkle, and then how she came out in her new outfit literally glowing.

The Cable versus his parents fight was another highlight for us. It was short, and we wished it had run longer given the half hour runtime, but visually it translated everything you needed to know about the power levels and the stakes. We felt like a lot of the fight choreography and the transformations borrowed from anime, which we were not mad about at all, especially the moment Gambit turns into Apocalypse and gets that freeze frame badass reveal.

Our one complaint: the Apocalypse and Gambit merge never got its own fight

Our biggest gripe is that after building up this awe inspiring, badass merged version of Apocalypse and Gambit, the show pivots straight to an emotional beat rather than a real fight between him and Rogue. Charles gets the great line about how the people we love are the one reason we survive, and then Rogue's newly powered up abilities resolve the threat almost instantly. The reaction was divided: there was a wish for more of that fight animation to really showcase how much Rogue's powers had grown, but also satisfaction with the more emotional route, with Rogue removing her gloves, finally holding Remy, and giving him a kiss before the show pulls the rug out from under us.

Nightcrawler's sacrifice for Rogue caught us completely off guard

That rug pull is Nightcrawler stepping in to make the sacrifice instead of Rogue. We did not see it coming, even though, as we discussed, "he was he was exactly who he has been the whole season." We talked at length about how the show has handled his faith thoughtfully all season, comparing him to the father character in the newest Knives Out movie as one of our favorite recent portrayals of faithful characters who are self sacrificing and see the good in people rather than the sensationalized religious zealot trope. As for his choice: "It sucks that it has to be him. But, you know, I can't fault his logic."

The ending teases Mystique's return for X-Men '97 season 3

The episode closes on a news update revealing President Kelly has won reelection for the anti mutant coalition, followed by a shot of Mystique reading and reportedly determined to attack the United States, setting up what looks like a major part of the season 3 conflict. We are curious how the show will portray her going forward, especially since most of our own experience with Mystique comes from the live action movies where she is often a more sympathetic figure, compared to the more straightforwardly villainous version we have gotten in this show so far.

Do you think Rogue will carry some piece of Nightcrawler's spirit into season 3, or will his sacrifice simply set up a harder reckoning with Mystique?