# What's up with X-Men Evolution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583 "2003-05-21T16:13:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/201 "2003-06-30T19:28:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sock Munkey \* > **Yes, Evan is kind of wooden as a character right down to his typical skater dude shtick.** … and, for that matter, right down to the color and texture of those spikes he grows. (“Bone” spikes, my buttocks!) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/202 "2003-06-30T20:52:14Z")
I must admit that Evan is my least favorite character. Happily, Evan continues with the Marrow thing, and goes away to live with the Morlocks. We don’t have to put up with him after “Xtreme” (which, in addition to getting rid of Evan, has an amusing B-plot about Kitty learning to drive). ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/203 "2003-06-30T21:06:56Z")
What did Kurt do that got him on probation? Poor baby had to detail the jet and clean the floors. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/204 "2003-06-30T21:36:54Z")
Well, goofing around with Boom Boom got him grounded in “Bada Bing Bada Boom”, then he got in more trouble for taking her out to the carnival anyway (not to mention the pranks and his tangential involvement in the robbery attempt). Then he helped arrange the disastrous party in “Fun & Games”, which I would assume added some extra time to his punishment. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/205 "2003-07-01T12:51:46Z")
So … what was up with last night’s _Charlie’s Angels_ rip-off? How come the girls suddenly made every guy’s head turn while walking down the halls at their school, even thought they **weren’t** wearing those “siren” costumes? Was it because they were walking in slow motion? And why were the police so determined to shut down these “vigilantes” even though they’d never killed or even seriously injured any of the crooks they’d thwarted? Were the cops worried that the “sirens” might make them look bad and cause them to lose their jobs or something? ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/206 "2003-07-01T13:49:51Z")
I thought the shot set-up and style of last night’s episode was great, but now that you mention it, the plot was sort of shaky. Yes, the five of them are really hot, but nobody at the high school noticed until now? Where was Professor X in all of this? And was the moral of the story that “Women need men to save them, but you have to pretend that they don’t”? Still, the music-video style was fun, and I thought the animation on the dancing girls was quite fluid. I remain irritated by Boom-Boom. (Do you think we need to close this thread and start a new one, guys?) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/207 "2003-07-01T14:01:57Z")
I thought that episode was something of a visual joke. Y’know, the mimicing of everything Hollywood trashflicks do to look cool n’all, plus the ironic ending (ironic in two ways, actually). ---
**Author:** ![Siegfried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Siegfried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siegfried)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/208 "2003-07-01T14:07:31Z")
Well, it was a group of five gorgeous women would were suddenly walking together as a group down the hallway like they owned Bayville High School. That sort of thing would certainly get attention from me. Or, if you want to be really out there, everyone in the hallway at that time was a new transfer student. 😃 And I’ve seen other people state that same thing about the moral, **CadburyAngel** , but I honestly don’t understand where it comes from. The women did a fantastic job throughout the episode in their crime-fighting endeavours. Nightcrawler and Cyclops watched the showdown in the chop shop, but they ultimately didn’t do anything (other than Cyclops knocking that car out of the way, which I’m sure the women would have tended to soon enough). I mean, the guys didn’t save the day or the “damsels in distress.” I also have a sneaking suspicion that when it’s explained to me, I’m going to be really embarrassed for not catching on quicker. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/209 "2003-07-01T15:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > So … what was up with last night’s _Charlie’s Angels_ rip-off? How come the girls suddenly made every guy’s head turn while walking down the halls at their school, even thought they **weren’t** wearing those “siren” costumes? Was it because they were walking in slow motion? And why were the police so determined to shut down these “vigilantes” even though they’d never killed or even seriously injured any of the crooks they’d thwarted? Were the cops worried that the “sirens” might make them look bad and cause them to lose their jobs or something? a) New confidence works wonders. They were walking along with heads up and shoulders back, catching everyone’s eyes, and flirting a little. That’s new behavior for most of them, and it gets attention. If a cluster of cute girls does that in any given high school corridor occupied by heterosexual teenage males, they _will_ be the center of attention. b) No matter what you see in the comics, vigilantism is illegal. There are perfectly good reasons for this, involving due process and proper evidence procedures among other things, but I don’t want to get into a legalistic debate here. As for the moral…I don’t know, maybe I’m reading too much into the show, but I don’t think you can really pull a single, simple “moral” from the episode. Scott acted like a chauvinistic jerk and got called on it, then the girls made it abundantly clear that they could take care of themselves. When they got in too deep, he watched their backs like a teammate should–like Jean and Rogue, at least, have done for him in the past. So, morals you could draw from the episode: “Females are every bit as good as males, and can take care of themselves just as well.” “Everyone needs a little help now and then.” “People screw up, and their real friends will call them on it.” “Confidence is good. Overconfidence is dangerous.” “With great power comes great responsibility.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. :)) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/210 "2003-07-01T18:17:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > **b) No matter what you see in the comics, vigilantism is illegal. There are perfectly good reasons for this, involving due process and proper evidence procedures among other things, but I don’t want to get into a legalistic debate here.** _cough_ Citizen’s Arrest _cough_ > [@](#): > > \*\*So, morals you could draw from the episode: > “Females are every bit as good as males, and can take care of themselves just as well.” > > “Everyone needs a little help now and then.” > > “People screw up, and their real friends will call them on it.” > > “Confidence is good. Overconfidence is dangerous.” > > “With great power comes great responsibility.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. :)) \*\* You left out this one: “Even if you can turn yourself into molten lava and hurl firebolts at your enemies, you’ll still take them out faster with a flying karate kick.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/211 "2003-07-01T19:09:47Z")
> [@](#): > > _cough_ Citizen’s Arrest _cough_ Which is quite fine, but you do have to obey certain rules. You are not legally empowered to go around and beat the hell out of anyone and then vanish. 1. Presumably, you should be available for the prosecution if needed. 2. How many times have the “heroes” caused as much property destruction as a localized earthquake can make? 3. They very nearly killed several people in that episode. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/212 "2003-07-01T20:00:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > _cough_ Citizen’s Arrest _cough_ > You left out this one: > > “Even if you can turn yourself into molten lava and hurl firebolts at your enemies, you’ll still take them out faster with a flying karate kick.” :rolleyes: Yes, and as a bonus, you can leave them with fatal burns or at least terrible scars with the firebolts. Has it occurred to you that Amara might not want to kill anyone? Or that she’s a little smarter than Tabitha, and didn’t want to throw fire around in a building full of oil and gasoline? **bandit** has already addressed your Citizen’s Arrest comment, but I’ll say a bit about it anyway. There are rules that must be followed in a citizen’s arrest, generally the same ones that police must follow–minimal force, proper evidence procedures, arresting citizen must be available to the court for testimony…it’s quite involved, and not something you see cartoon/comic book vigilantes doing very often. Adherence to those rules is likely to be even more carefully scrutinized in a citizen’s arrest, as regular citizens aren’t trained to follow them. You may be sure the defense lawyer will pay close attention, at least. There may also be other restrictions, but those are the obvious ones. A side question: Do you actually like the show, **tracer**? Do you watch it because you find its good points to outweigh its bad, or just because it’s the only game in town? I don’t mean to needle you–I like nitpicking, too–I was just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/213 "2003-07-01T20:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > \*\*So, morals you could draw from the episode: > “Females are every bit as good as males, and can take care of themselves just as well.” > > “Everyone needs a little help now and then.” > > “People screw up, and their real friends will call them on it.” > > “Confidence is good. Overconfidence is dangerous.” > > “With great power comes great responsibility.” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. :)) \*\* How about “If you go nuts and start doing a bunch of irresponsible things just because of a single rude comment someone makes, is it any wonder you don’t get taken seriously?” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/214 "2003-07-01T20:32:57Z")
That works too, **Sock Munkey**. Really, my point wasn’t to squeeze every possible message out of the show. In fact, the general idea was to demonstrate that trying to boil the show down to a single “message” doesn’t work all that well. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/215 "2003-07-01T23:02:33Z")
I thought the episode was rather funny and nicely ironic considering what movie just recently came out. (I laughed when it occurred to me that both had girls who answered to a guy named “Charlie.” So I’m easily amused. Sue me.) I thought it was kinda touching in a way how Kitty and Rogue were added to the group, Rogue especially. Toad remained consistantly amusing, and Boom-Boom consistantly annoying, but the story was fun and the animation good. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/216 "2003-07-02T05:32:52Z")
And in **tonight’s** thrill-packed exciting episode, not content to twist around all the characters in the X-Men, the authors of the show decided to screw up Captain America as well. I’m surprised they didn’t make Captain America and Nick Fury into high school students, too. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/217 "2003-07-02T06:03:22Z")
My cousins were watching this earlier tonight and I _thought_ I saw Captain America on there. What the hell? ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/218 "2003-07-02T06:10:07Z")
I really wish Kurt would have just fried Magneto. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/219 "2003-07-02T08:01:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > **Yes, and as a bonus, you can leave them with fatal burns or at least terrible scars with the firebolts. Has it occurred to you that Amara might not want to kill anyone? Or that she’s a little smarter than Tabitha, and didn’t want to throw fire around in a building full of oil and gasoline?** Yeah, but Boom Boom’s slow-mo twirl and blowing of bombs was just so…cool in a “wow, that’s really kind of pretty for something that’s going to blow everything up” kind of way. And OOC, what exactly did they screw up about Captain America? Sure they renamed the Super Soldier program, and they have him cryogenically frozen (in a way more elegant than having him stuck in a block of ice in the antarctic), but were there any real changes of note? (I suppose he wasn’t hanging around with Logan, but other than that…) And if we’re going to be complaining about the ep, how’s about Magneto pulling together some lame girder monster instead of just chucking large pieces of metal around the way he normally does. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583/220 "2003-07-02T09:41:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balance \* > \*\*(not to mention the pranks and his tangential involvement in the robbery attempt). . \*\* Kurt has tan genitals? Which he uses to commit robberies? Geez, I wish I could afford cable! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-x-men-evolution/176583.md?page=12)