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Wolverine and the X-Men Season 1 Episode 12

eXcessive Force

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8.6

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 6/12/09

The brooding, heart-sick Scott Summers is so desperate to find the missing Jean Grey that when he spots Harpoon, an old enemy of the X-Men, he goes berserk. Harpoon was an agent of the vile mutant geneticist known as Sinister, someone that Scott believes could be responsible for Jean's abduction. Now, based on nothing but his own suspicions, the out-of-control Cyclops forces his way up Sinister's ladder of command, one rung at a time. But the closer Cyclops gets to Sinister himself, the more danger he's in. Wolverine and the X-Men race to find him, but Cyclops is walking into a carefully laid trap. And it could already be too late.moreless

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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

In an acceptable series this episode shows everything wrong with it.

2.5

By RR4RogueRaven, Jun 05, 2011

Wolverine and the X-men tries to many things, that for itself is a reason to see it, because it expands within it's own universe. But this episodes comes with some of the flaws of X3. Cyclops gets an episode but does it really matters? From this point onward Cyclops gets an awful treatment, it is not the AoA version of himself and not the leader of the X-Men. All the teaching of Xavier is lost, proving he was not trustable leader in the first place. Scott is now a jerk and nothing more, when Wolverine was the loner he was a regretful man, with broken honor and so many things, Gambit has a set of qualities as well but this Cyclops is as unidimensional as it can get...

Cyclops needs not to be used this bad to get a good Wolverine...the characterization between those two is what hurts the series the most as well as the weird idea of the writers to kill of characters as the only way to culminate tension and stress in the viewer-reader.moreless
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Cyclops at his badass best

9.5

By RobGrizz, Jun 20, 2009

Let's face it, Wolverine and Cyclops have switched roles. Logan is far less interesting now that he leads the X-Men, while Scott has become the hot-head, the rebellious one, the outsider, and honestly, he's much cooler in this series. I've always been a Cyclops fan and I'm glad this show is painting him as the badass I've always seen him as.

Summers has finally had enough waiting around, and goes on a one-man-hunt for Mr. Sinister, who he believes is holding Jean. Excellent action set piece after excellent action set piece insues, including a confrontation with Harpoon, a great motorcycle chase, and an amazing show of ability against the Multiple Man. If anyone wanted to see just how powerful Cyclops can be, this episode is a great way to start! The only thing that kept this episode from a perfect score was Logan scolding Scott at the end. Since when does Wolverine start reprimanding people for running off on their own. Scott is not a child, and I was extremely annoyed by Logan's hypocrisy. I don't care if he's leader or not, that was WAY out of character.moreless
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Cyclops gets an episode of Wolverine and the X-Men? Well that just can't be right. But it is.

9.0

By The_Dude14, Jun 16, 2009

Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, has proven to be an enigma to many writers. Oftentimes characterized as a boy scout, writers and fans, alike, often find themselves gravitating away from his character to the more rugged and rougish characters, like Wolverine and Gambit. In the wrong hands, Cyclops can be a boring and dull character or can be cast aside completely. Such was the case in the X-Men movies, where his character was completely cast aside in favor of focusing on Wolverine.

As a show, Wolverine and the X-Men's key conceit is that Wolverine becomes the leader of the X-Men, the role traditionally held by Cyclops. Going into the show, it seemed likely that Cyclops was going to suffer mistreatment similar to that of the movies.

It turns out, though, that the show's writers are not those wrong hands. Instead of an afterthought or a bore, they have managed to create a very interesting characterization of Cyclops. As part of the show's conceit, they remove Jean Grey and Professor Xavier from the picture in the very first episode, the two most influential people in Scott Summers's life, his love and his father figure. This loss leaves him a bitter, depressed mess of his former self. This bitter, brooding Cyclops has proven to be one of the more interesting aspects of the show. Wolverine finds himself in the leadership role Cyclops held, Cyclops becomes the rugged loner. This was a thread with potential that the X movies dangled, but were ultimately too busy blowing Scott away to explore. The role reversal is one of the pleasures of the show, even with the limited screen time Cyclops is typically given. In eXcessive Force, Cyclops takes center stage and the writer's take some time to walk around in their Cyclops's boots, which leads to a whole lot of property damage. When Cyclops runs across an old enemy, a lackey to Mr. Sinister (who in the comics has become inescapably linked with Cyclops history) he becomes convinced that Sinister is the one responsible for his love's disappearance. He captures the lackey and destroys a whole lotta stuff in the process. This Cyclops is not one for discretion, he just blows the **** out of stuff. When Wolverine refuses to help, what all the proof of his claims that Scott doesn't have, Cyclops sets out as a one man army against Mr. Sinister, who, never one to pass an opportunity to mess around with Scott (though this history has not presented itself), sets a trap for Scott. This is one of the more action packed episodes in the series and really shows a Cyclops that has cut loose from the restraints he normally has. So rarely is Summers allowed to be a bad ass, but he is here and the results are satisfying for Cyclops fans. The rest of the gang gets in on the action before its all said and done too, to save Scott from another one man army in a cameo appearance.

Having rescued Scott, the episode ends with Wolverine giving Scott a lecture that sounds nearly identical to ones given to Wolverine on several occasions, which provides some unintentional (sort of) humor.

One of my favorite episodes of a surprisingly strong series.moreless
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A random encounter with an old X-Men foe sets up the entrance of a top 5 "X-nemesis". eXcessive Force gives viewers a side of Cyclops normally reserved for the show's lead character Wolverine.moreless

9.5

By StromileSwiftee, Feb 25, 2009

Still dealing with the loss of Jean Grey, Scott sets off on a mission to find her when he believes a certain 'mastermind' is responsible. Feeling like he's not getting support he sets out alone. This type of behavior is typical Wolverine which Cyclops has become, but is interesting to see him cut loose. eXcessive Force also has a funny take on Cyclops's and Wolverine's respect for each other's personal property.

The 'mastermind' lives up to expectations as he pulls strings behind the scenes. Looking forward to see what other role he plays in this series.

eXcessive Force is eXcessively good!moreless
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Lots of characters. Great action.

9.0

By mgeurts22, Jan 23, 2009

eXcessiver Force was a very fine episode indeed. It had a lot of action. Watching Cyclops unleash was very exciting. The show definitely needs more of the "Mutants Gone Wild" approach. The episode did a superb job in showing how wracked Cyclops is mentally right now, and why it's better that he's not leading. Sinister has always been a personal favorite as far as villains go. Hopefully the writers manage to get him more involved in the series. He's a deep character that can offer a lot for the series as far as keeping Cyclops tormented enough so he's not pushing Wolvie for the leadership role.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Susan Dalian	Ororo Munroe/Storm
Jennifer Hale	Jean Grey
Steven Jay Blum	Logan/Wolverine
Yuri Lowenthal	Bobby Drake/Iceman
Kari Wahlgren	Emma Frost
Nolan North	Scott Summer/Cyclops

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Clancy Brown	Mister Sinister	Guest Star
Crispin Freeman	Multiple Man	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- First appearance of the Marauders (Harpoon, Blockbuster, Vertigo, Arclight), Mister Sinister and Multiple Man
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QUOTES (0)
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NOTES (1)
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- International Airdates:
  YTV- November 29th, 2008
  UK- February 22nd, 2009
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Iron Man: The Video Game:
  The television on which Bobby Drake is playing a video game, in the common room of the X-Mansion, displays images from the video game based on the hit 2008 movie Iron Man.
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