X-Men Season 4 (1995)
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X-Men Season 4 Review
The fourth season of X-Men is the best one so far and quite on par with the first very strong season.
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“Let him go, roach, or your head is shish-kabob“
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One Man’s Worth Part 1 and Part 2 are both strong installments of one pretty good time travel storyline, though I do find the over-reliance on such stories on this show somewhat excessive. Courage is well plotted, but not particularly memorable. Proteus is actually a pretty great storyline which focuses on a problematic, but loving relationship of human father and mutant son. Part 1 is excellent, but the conclusion in Part 2 is the emotional highlight.
Sanctuary is a pretty good storyline which features a good use of Magneto, but a somewhat disappointing turn from Apocalypse. I found Part 1 better than Part 2 in this particular instance. I liked Magneto here, but I continue to find him underused on this show.
Beyond Good and Evil is one of the weakest stories here and much too extended. Part 1 started off strongly this story, but Part 2 started a downward trend as evidenced by both Part 3 and Part 4 which are the weakest episodes here. This story has too many characters, again an over-reliance on time travel and although I liked Cable, he needed a better story.
Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas is a refreshing departure for the show and it worked wonders for it. It focuses on Christmas tonally and in period which led to a lovely holiday episode, but the relationship between little Morlock and Logan is the standout aspect here.
The Lotus and the Steel is the opposite. It is another Logan focused episode, but unfortunately underdeveloped, forgettable and not important in the overall scheme of things. Love in Vain is a pretty moving Rogue story and another installment focusing on her which I really liked as she’s such a fascinating character.
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Secrets, Not Long Buried has Cyclops visit an anti-human city and that led to an interesting conflict and a particularly politically charged, sophisticated story that really worked. Xavier Remembers features Shadow King who’s a terrific villain and it takes place in Astral Plane leading to the most authentic, visually impressive episode so far. Family Ties reveals that Magneto is the father of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch which is odd, but that led to an emotional episode. But I still found these two siblings underdeveloped here.
In the end, this fourth season of X-Men has its weaker storylines, but it has many actually rather moving stories, well utilized character studies and some authentic, refreshing episodes as well leading to the best season so far.
Worst Episodes: Beyond Good and Evil Part 3, Beyond Good and Evil Part 4 and The Lotus and the Steel.
Best Episodes: Proteus Part 4, Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas and Xavier Remembers.
