‘X-Men ‘97’ Episode Four Recap: “Motendo/Lifedeath – Part 1”

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for episode four of X-Men ‘97.

Remember the days when you sat down in front of a television on a Saturday morning and saw two fifteen-minute-long episodes inside a thirty-minute package? X-Men ‘97 brings it back with this week’s double-header, Motendo/Lifedeath – Part 1. While Motendo is less concerned by the overall story the show has been setting up for the past three episodes, Lifedeath – Part 1 picks itself up after the third episode ends, with Forge (Gil Birmingham) promising to bring back Storm’s (Alison Sealy-Smith) powers. 

Of course, with “Part 1” in the title, the episode is bound to end in a cliffhanger, which it absolutely does. And it may be the show’s most thrilling cliffhanger ending yet, with Storm being held by the Adversary’s (also voiced by Alsion Sealy-Smith) arms. Storm and Forge attempt a procedure that will bring her powers back, but it backfires spectacularly, with Forge ultimately revealing to Storm that he used to work for the government on an invention that would remove the mutant’s powers. 

Storm calls Forge a liar until he reveals his feelings for her, stating that their connection is not a lie. However, Storm isn’t biting and slaps Forge on the face before the Adversary eventually attacks them. We’ll find out what happens to them in two weeks (next week’s episode is titled Remember It, while Lifedeath – Part 2 releases on April 17, perhaps a callback to the disorganized non-chronological order Disney+ has put X-Men: The Animated Series in, or an intentional callback to the way The Animated Series structured their episodes. Either way, it’s fun.). 

In the meantime, what occurs before this part is a rather intriguing trip into 1990s nostalgia, with Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Roberto Da Costa (Gui Agostini) transported inside the world of ‘Motendo,’ a sinister version of a Nintendo platformer, controlled by none other than Mojo (David Errigo Jr). The antagonist is one of the most divisive of the series, and certainly, its most cartoonish, and so your mileage will vary on whether or not you’re willing to suspend disbelief and adopt a much goofier story than the much darker first three episodes. In fact, the transition between the silly Motendo and Lifedeath – Part 1 isn’t as thrilling as one would think since both episodes couldn’t be more different. 

But I guess that’s the beauty of X-Men. One instance, you’re sucked into a videogame attempting to defeat Mojo with a future version of yourself (voiced by Allyson Court!) while you’re going on an introspective journey with the man who allegedly would sacrifice everything for your love. And while Lifedeath – Part 1 is more thematically intriguing than Motendo, the former part of the episode ultimately won me over, because of its striking animated malleability and pure celebration of 1990s culture. Yes, I’m a sucker for a style that consistently changes itself either from episode to episode or within the episode itself. 

In the case of Motendo, Jubilee and Roberto fight against pixellated version of Sentinels, while director Chase Conley and editor Asher Lewis cut away from the diegesis of the game and see each character fully pixellated as they side-scroll from one level (they stumble in a virtual Genosha, among others) to the next, all the while Mojo watches them from afar. I’ll admit to not being the biggest fan of Mojo, and it’s probably why I thought the fourth episode was the series’ weakest yet. Of course, the sudden tonal shift between the first story and the next didn’t help either. 

It isn’t until Absissca (the older version of Jubilee) intervenes that the episode truly shines, with an action scene best described as a total mind-melter. Beyond that, the disjointed nature of this episode offers some impassioned moments, but not enough to be as strong as the first three. Still, a full episode where Storm regains her powers through fighting the Adversary does offer some promise, and it’s by far and away the best cliffhanger of the series thus far. I at least expect next week’s filler episode to deliver more goods that will hopefully be less silly than Mojo, who continues to be a television (and videogaming) menace. 

The fourth episode of X-Men ’97 is now available to stream on Disney+.