X-Men ’97 Episode 7 Review: The Sinister Meaning of OZT

Each week, X-Men ’97 returns with a new episode that simply outdoes itself. Never before has the mutant metaphor been stronger. As all X-fans know, mutantkind represents those who are marginalized by society, for whatever reason. That’s why audiences connect with the X-Men so deeply.

With “Bright Eyes,” episode 7 of Marvel’s X-Men ’97, the mutants face their biggest threats yet. What is OZT in Marvel lore? Well, sometimes the call is coming from inside the house…

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Grief’s A Lonely War

As a gloomy rain falls, the X-Men gather for Gambit’s funeral. Alongside the mutants, the Thieves Guild attends with their leader Bella Donna, who is also Remy LeBeau’s former flame. Nightcrawler leads the moving service. Afterward, Jubilee tearfully questions why Rogue isn’t there, to which Wolverine replies, “Grief’s a lonely war.”

At the same time, Rogue takes her war to the military itself. With brute force, she breaks into a top-secret facility in the desert where Thaddeus Ross works and the Hulk has been held. She’s looking for Bolivar Trask and Henry Gyrich. When Ross calls her motivation into question, Rogue warns she’s no longer a “good guy.”

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Unfortunate Optics

Cyclops speaks with the president, who says the UN needs to pull out their aid in recovering Genoshan survivors. Even when Scott reminds the president that Val Cooper still hasn’t been located, the leader is unmoved. A public display of mutant support isn’t the right look but he urges Cyclops to be patient. Cyclops says he’s through being patient and hangs up.

As Scott and Jean Grey plan their continued rescue efforts, Jean says she was strangely comforted at the thought of a “sister” in Madelyne Pryor, especially with Storm’s departure. She understands Scott’s connection to the mother of his child. Both resolve to double down on Genoshan rescue efforts to build hope for fellow mutants.

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The Death of the Dream

The X-Men arrive in Genosha. Beast comforts Amelia Voght, who laments that survivors might have it worst of all. Scott and Jean leave the group to assess the unstable citadel, while the rest of the team spreads out to help all over the island. Trish Tilby approaches Beast to conduct an interview, hopefully to shed sympathetic light on the mutant plight.

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Skip the Hogwash

Captain America interrupts Rogue’s cross-country rampage at a snowy outpost. Rogue doesn’t want to hear Cap’s idealism, so instead he shows her his plan to find Trask using Gyrich.

They venture inside the compound where everything is labeled OZT. Cap has gained intel and hacked the servers to learn that a secret division of the UN moved Gyrich to Mexico City. He maintains that they need to do things by the book but Rogue disagrees. She questions whether Steve Rogers actually stands with mutants. In her eyes, a refusal to give upfront solidarity is cowardly. After she throws his shield far off into the mountains, Rogue leaves Cap behind.

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Give the Call

As they help on Genosha, Jubilee and Roberto discuss the horrific event in mutant history. A passing remark from X-Factor’s Strong Guy leads the two teens to question whether war might really happen.

Even after months of silence, Jubilee reveals that her foster parents called to check in. She asks Roberto if he has called his mom yet. Turns out Roberto’s mom thinks he’s on a ski trip in the Alps. Though he’s visibly uncomfortable with the topic, Jubilee pushes that he should tell the truth. Roberto still doesn’t want to come out to his parents, saying that they only need to look at what happened when mutants shoved their existence in everybody’s face.

Jubilee sees his pain and tries a different approach. She says she wouldn’t want her family to find out about her death on the 5 o’clock news and she wouldn’t want them to bury a stranger. Roberto considers his friend’s words then asks Jubilee to go with him when he talks to his mom.

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Wasted Tolerance

Elsewhere on Genosha, Trish the reporter questions Beast and the X-Men’s crusade. Don’t their actions hurt their chances at human tolerance? Beast quotes Martin Luther King Jr. when he says, “Riots are the language of the unheard.” Finally, Hank McCoy sees humanity’s true opinion and he says he’s done begging for their tolerance.

Over in Mexico City, Rogue rushes to infiltrate’s Gyrich’s cushy hideout, more resort than prison. In typical bigot fashion, he is unhelpful. He taunts Rogue to say that his mind won’t be so easily probed again via telepathy. Rogue takes off her gloves and assures him this ain’t that sorta probe.

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Under Pressure

Amid all the rubble of the citadel, psychic echoes haunt Jean. She and Scott discuss their own psychic echoes before Jean detects a survivor up ahead. Jean can feel that the survivor is a telepath. Using her telekinesis, she rescues Emma Frost — a previously unknown diamond skin mutation saved her from being crushed. While the crowd cheers at finding a new survivor, Scott is distraught that the telepathic survivor wasn’t Madelyne.

Suddenly, Trask contacts the X-Men through the Blackbird’s video intercom system. In his call, Trask says Mr. Sinister took his DNA but never revealed his plan of mutant massacre. Trask tells the X-Men to come to the UN Peace Legion in Madripoor for more information. Morph doubts his trustworthiness, yet the team departs immediately.

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Keep It Discreet

The episode’s most heartfelt segments come with Roberto and Rogue. First, we see Roberto telling his mother he’s a mutant. At first, all seems well. She accepts him and says a mother always knows, almost the perfect response that any person unloading a huge secret could hope for. That is, until she talks about shareholders and public image — Roberto’s mom wants him to hide his mutant side when out in the world.

Down in Mexico City, Rogue breaks down in the street. Finally, Gambit and Magneto’s deaths are catching up to her. Surrounded by ofrendas, Nightcrawler comforts his adoptive sister in her grief. Like the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, Nightcrawler encourages Rogue to remember that though her loved ones are dead, they also lived — and they lived for her, through her love. The X-Men show up for Rogue too, a beautiful picture of what it means to be a team that’s also a family.

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Purple People Eater

A mysterious figure visits Gyrich. It appears they were working together, but the new antagonist is unhappy with Gyrich’s actions. In one swift motion, Gyrich is smothered as his EKG flatlines.

Now that they’re reunited with Rogue, the X-Men continue traveling to Madripoor. Once inside the bustling city, glittering billboards that say Vistacorp, Roxxon, Stark Industries, and Yashida fill the background. At the UN building, Morph grabs a diet soda, heeding Trask’s advice from the Blackbird call. A secret door leads the team to a cybernetics lab, where they discover Trask about to jump from the building.

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No Pulling Punches

Rogue restrains Trask from taking the leap, and he reveals a new group has popped up from his old Sentinel program. Mr. Sinister is developing a new type of Sentinel. When Trask doesn’t have any more info to share, Rogue releases him, letting Trask fall to his death.

Besides Wolverine, the team is horrified. Without warning, a Sentinel voice sounds and the team is thrown apart in a blinding blast. The death drop activated Trask to turn into a Prime Sentinel, some sort of mutated human-Sentinel hybrid — the work of Sinister.

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Not for the Faint of Heart

One by one, Prime Bolivar takes down the X-Men. Each mutant gives it their best shot to stop him and Morph even changes into Quicksilver, but they’re all quickly neutralized. Jean puts up a formidable fight, lasting the longest out of anyone against this horrific monstrosity. Right before Scott’s skull is about to be crushed in, Prime Bolivar asks, “How does it feel to be abandoned by the future?”

As if on cue, a futuristic grenade subdues Prime Bolivar. Cable steps in to save the team, and Jean telepathically recognizes him. Just as Scott realizes Cable is his son, Nathan, Cable tells Jean to get out of his head. According to Cable, Sinister is only another pawn in a plan by someone far more powerful and evil. Yikes.

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Listen and Obey

Yet another jaw-dropping epilogue closes out this episode. The new super-villain, whose theme song is now “the Purple People Eater,” is known as Bastion. He meets with Sinister to boast that every other super-villain has been failing since 1992 because they don’t evolve. But not Bastion — he’s evolved and he’s in on the X-Men’s secrets, including Professor X’s location.

Then, Bastion walks into an abandoned barber shop. Inside, Magneto (or at least someone who looks like him?) is held captive. The man-machine hybrid shaves Magneto while reminding him he must obey since that’s what he’s made for. Looks like OZT stands for Operation Zero Tolerance.

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