We open with some first-person shots of someone flying around. We then see the MRD arresting a mutant, when Angel passes over. Colonel Moss, who's apparently slumming it since he's on an op to capture just one random guy, sees this and tells some snipers to get ready. They climb into their van and run for it. When Angel lands on the van, the MRD agent in the back starts shooting wildly, almost killing Moss and causing them to crash. Yeah, he's so fired when they get back.
The captured mutant promptly frees himself by melting his handcuffs. Angel tells him to run for it, then flies off. Then, Mr. Sinister appears to let us know he'll be the villain for this episode.
Cue the title sequence.
Cut to Warren flying back to his mansion. His father greets him, telling him to stop this vigilantism. Warren doesn't want to hear any of his concern, but his father is afraid he'll be killed. Which Warren reminds him will solve his problems.
Cut to... Storm? They have Storm in this show? As something other than just what she can do? She's flying around; Angel joins her, and she points out that he's late. They hold hands for a bit. She's a bit worried about his vigilantism, but Angel just tells her to shush and they go flying off. After flying around for a bit, they meet up with Logan and Beast. Storm leaves, because... well, then she might actually have some character in this series. And we can't have that.
Anyway, Logan called this meeting of the menfolk because they need to deal with Worthington Industries. They've discovered intel that they're close to a "cure" for mutants. Logan wonders how his father can have a mutant child and hate mutants; it takes Angel to point out that that's why he hates mutants. So he flies off to go deal with his father. In another moment of Logan's hypocrisy, he says that he doesn't like the sound of what Angel intends.
Cut to Senator Kelly meeting with Warren the Elder. Warren II is upset at Kelly for leaking news of the cure, since, you know, it's not finished yet. Kelly did it to get the public to want it and therefore force the FDA to approve it. Warren II isn't happy due to the possibility of mutants trying to stop the research. Kelly just says that they'll all be disarmed by then.
Um, disarmed? Unless Kelly is actually talking about cutting off their arms (and hey, it is Kelly), taking away their guns isn't going to stop most of them. And let's not forget that you have two mutant splinter groups out there. Not to mention Magneto, who has an entire island of mutants and has demonstrated the ability to launch a coordinated attack using teleportation to strike anywhere. Also, none of them are disarmed yet, so the threat still exists.
Cut to Warren II meeting up with his son. Angel is pissed off about using their resources to drive mutants to extinction, but his father only sees it as a pathway to making them all normal. Angel doesn't want to be what his father thinks of as normal, which confuses the man, since he did this for his son. Angel doesn't want to be cured, saying that his wings aren't a disease. Then, after bearing his wings and vowing to stop his father, Angel walks out, scaring everyone with his wings and publicly outing himself. So Warren II calls the MRD.
Cut to Angel flying around. An MRD helicopter appears and attacks. He dodges stuff, but gets caught by a triangular gas bolo. This nearly causes him to die, since the helicopter couldn't catch him and he barely slipped the bolo off in time to slow his fall. The impact against the ground knocks him out.
Cut to a hospital, where Angel is being seen to. Warren II chews Moss out for hurting his son. A doctor arrives to go over the damage. He broke a lot of bones, and the doctor wants to bring in an avian specialist to help with the extensive wing repairs. Warren II decides that this is a good enough excuse to just have them amputate the wings. And the doctor is apparently 100% fine with that.
We then hear Angel wake up after the surgery. The camera's outside the room, so we only hear his anguished cries of panic and rage as he demands his father's presence. As Warren II approaches the room, the doctor comes out and tells him not to go in. He had to sedate Angel. He says that Angel is physically fine, then suggests counciling for the both of them. Oh, well if you were so damn concerned about his mental health, maybe you shouldn't have hacked off some of his fucking limbs without even asking him first!
Cut to Angel, who's been restrained to the bed. Oh that's even better for his mental health; after he's been physically violated, he wakes up to find himself chained to the bed. Sinister whispers to him, then makes an offer: to give him his wings back. Angel asks who he is, and Sinister gives his real name. But Angel knows him by Sinister, so Sinister points out that Angel knows he can do exactly what he said. Then, like a good Satan, he leaves Angel to think it over. Then Angel breaks out of his restraints.
Angel somehow gets to the mansion, where a shocked Storm greets him at the door. Cut to inside, where Angel asks Beast if they'll grow back. Beast is initially comforting, saying that they might, given time. But then he says that it's like losing a limb, which basically means no.
Angel then talks about Sinister's offer. Logan points out the obvious, but Angel says that Sinister's knowledge of mutant DNA makes it possible. Um, I don't know how that works, but whatever. Beast reminds him that this knowledge comes from harvesting DNA from mutants. Angel just says that he can't live without his wings. Naturally, nobody thinks of calling a mental health specialist due to the obvious suicidal thoughts. Or just Emma, who could at least survey the mental damage.
Cut to morning, where Storm is watering some plants. She spots Angel sitting on a bench, watching some birds fly. She looks away for a second, but he's gone when she looks back. We get a moment's panic that he's committed suicide, but no; cut to Sinister's lab, with Angel strapped to a table. Angel asks if the new wings will be the same. Isn't that a question you ask before you're strapped to the machine? Sinister simply says that, "they'll be glorious." That's kinda vague, don't you think?
Well, it doesn't matter, because the machine activates and tubes pump fluid into his body. His skin starts turning blue, and after a few cuts, Sinister introduces us to Archangel, who has metal wings and a red jewel over his third eye like Sinister.
Cut to Cerebro, where they apparently couldn't pay Emma's voice actress enough to have a line here. So it falls to Logan to tell Storm that Angel's headed to Worthington, and that he's likely been altered by Sinister.
Cut to a... commercial for the cure. It shows a strand of DNA while a female voice guilt-trips any mutant viewers about how they've damaged their family and relationships simply by existing. It foists the blame on the "X gene," but it then promises that the "Legacy cure" can make them "normal." It's a great piece of propaganda, especially in the way that it attacks the viewer, blaming them for the problems with family and friends. It breaks them down, but then offers hope. Their hope. "Because we care."
Cut to a boardroom, where Warren II is videoconferencing with Kelly about the commercial. Warren II is distracted by his son's disappearance, while Kelly makes a joke about his clipped wings. Stay classy, Kelly. Then Archangel breaks in. He puts his metal wings to good use, destroying the video equipment and pinning his father to the wall with metal feathers. Archangel then promises to destroy what he cares about, his company. So he goes off to destroy the cure.
Warren II follows, to find that the lab (which conveniently has a sign that says "Lab") has been destroyed. Archangel appears and then says that he'll destroy the Sentinel factories while Warren II watches. So Warren II locks himself in a vault.
While Archangel cuts his way through the door, the X-Men arrive. Storm suggests that he might listen to her, but Logan overrules her, saying that Sinister's probably altered his brain too much. Of course, that's just an assumption; Logan has no way of knowing how far gone he is. So naturally Logan and Emma go in so that she can... no wait, Logan goes in alone, without the telepath who could resolve the plot in a couple of minutes.
Naturally, when Logan throws Archangel into a wall, the first thing he does is try to reason with him. So Storm and Emma aren't allowed to try to talk him down, but the bundle of empathy that is Logan can.
Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.
Logan tries to show how they're alike, saying that he wasn't born with claws, that he lost his past, his history, etc. Archangel points out the obvious: that he would go (and has gone) after the people responsible. Logan just says that Logan's a monster but Angel isn't. Um, have you looked at him lately? Archangel just attacks him. Apparently those wings can stand up to adamantium. Logan keeps trying to talk him down, but it doesn't work.
After knocking him down and trying to tell him that he'll regret killing his father, Storm appears. She actually talks him down (surprise, surprise), until the jewel in his forehead starts glowing. Then he goes right back into rage-mode. So Storm nails him with lightning.
Warren II asks if his son is OK, and Logan is rightfully indignant. Warren II says that he didn't do this to him, but Storm doesn't buy that. Of course, during this distraction, Archangel disappears. And he doesn't leave a scent, so Logan can't track him.
Cut to Storm looking longingly at birds. Logan appears to comfort her.
Cut to the Worthington building, where Warren II tells Kelly that he's finished with the project. He doesn't want a part in Kelly's war, saying that they'll destroy the world at the rate they're going. Kelly just says that they'll keep going, that powerful people are behind the project*, that it will continue.
Remarks
This is a pretty good episode, though it does have some problems. Storm's relationship with Angel comes out of left field and is given little actual focus in the episode itself. The nature of the relationship is never really explored; they fly together and therefore they've hooked up. They have rather little character interaction overall. The plot could have been wrapped up if they'd bothered to actually use the resources they had (like, you know, Emma). And so forth.
However, the positives push the episode into a good place. Angel's relationship with his father has been touched on in previous episodes, so it's nice to see it come to a head here. They've pushed it so far that a conflict was ultimately inevitable. And that conflict led his father to maim him. So he turned to a madman to get back what he'd lost. And in so doing, lost even more.
It's a good tragic tale, one of a father who is, in his own mind, trying to do right by his son. But his mind is poisoned by his own prejudices, so his actions push his son further and further away. He commits the ultimate betrayal that a parent can do to their child, all in the name of "helping" him. And thus, he is responsible for driving his son into the waiting arms of Sinister.
It's a strong piece. But there was something missing. The cure.
This isn't something you just gloss over. This is a concept that is absolutely begging to be discussed and explored. You can't just throw it out there as a MacGuffin and pretend that the possibility of it doesn't have a profound effect on how mutants relate to the world around them.
This was something that even X-Men 3 got right (and they didn't even get it that right). There was actually a debate about the cure, with various sides and a real understanding that it's not a simple issue. And who was part of that debate? Storm, who was basically the super-power lottery winner among the X-Men; Beast, who gets some pluses and minuses from his powers; and Rogue, who's powers damn her to never having physical contact with another human being again.
Here? There's no debate. No discussion. The cure is a priori evil. Everyone who is for the cure is obviously a mutant-hating bigot, and everyone who is against it is a saint. No reasonable arguments for it are ever posed, and nobody even tries to see the other side's position.
This despite the fact that the show has all of the people needed to have a real discussion about things. After all, Storm, Beast, and Rogue are all on the team. Does Rogue even appear in this episode that is basically tailor-made for her? Of course not. It wouldn't be about Rogue's only remaining character trait: her relationship with Logan. And we can't have Rogue doing something that isn't related to him.
I'm not saying that the episode's wrong or bad as is. But the problem is that it introduces the cure when it didn't really need to, for no real effect. The cure stuff exists solely to get Angel captured and injured, thus allowing Warren II (with the worst doctor currently living as an accomplice) the opportunity to cut off his wings. The cure never really factors into the episode again. It's just a wasted element, mostly interchangeable with any other "bad for mutants" idea.
This could have been better done as a two-parter, with part 1 focused on the cure. There, the X-Men would attack somewhere to disrupt production, but Angel would be injured and captured. It would also give them time to actually build on the relationship between Storm and Angel, while providing real time to have a serious discussion with differing opinions and such. Part 2 would begin after his wings are clipped, and it would focus on Sinister's offer, Angel's decision, and the fallout from there.
