Episode Twenty Three - A Walk on the Wild Side

Aired: March 2, 2002

Stars: Bayville Sirens (Magma, BoomBoom, Jean, Rogue, Shadowcat)

Appears: Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Avalanche, Toad, Blob, Mystique

Cameos: None

Guests: None

First Appearance(s) of: Bayville Sirens

Written by: Greg Johnson, Cydne Clark, and Steve Granat

Summary

Jean "lifts" them out of the sim and is understandably mad at Scott. He tells them it was a good thing he was there to "rescue the damsels in distress". Now both girls are down right mad. He follows them down the hallway, where Jean finally blows up and tells him that she was teaching Amara how to handle things when they go wrong, "which doesn't include looking for a big strong man to save you". Jean and Amara both stalk off, leaving Scott standing in the hallway.

At the Brotherhood house, Tab blasts down the bathroom door. Toad peaks out from behind the shower curtains, complaining about not getting any privacy during his one shower a month. She uses his mouthwash and then throws a bomb in the shower with him, blasting out water and all. On the stairs she tells Blob that his mohawk is outdated, then she proceeds to steel Lance's jeep and head off to school.

At school, Kit is showing Amara to her first class, which she happens to have with Tabitha. Tab asks her about life with the "geek squad" and Amara tells her how Jean is always pushing her too hard. Tab tells her she doesn't have to take it and asks if she wants to go to the mall with her after school. Amara agrees. After school, Jean sees the two of them driving off in Lance's jeep. She asks Scott to borrow his car to stop them. Scott jumps in and says he'll do it. When Jean becomes angry, he tries to apologize. She tells him that she's tired of always being treated like the "weaker sex". Duncan shows up saying he's got them tickets to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Jean blows up, snatches Scott's keys and stalks off. Duncan says that he's glad she took Scott's keys.

On the way to the mall, Tab and Amara witness a car-jacking. They chase after the criminals. Jean finds them along the way and manages to stop the car-jackers from running over two innocent bystanders. The chase then continues and Amara melts the tires of the jacker's car. Tab throws a bomb in the rear window and the criminals bail right before the car explodes. They take off running, but Jean traps them with cinder blocks. The girls celebrate and then take off when they hear the police coming.

The whole incident is on the news later that night, and Jean and Amara decide to keep it a secret. A strange rock video like montage follows with the girls shopping, then dancing, then doing some vigilante crime fighting, more dancing, Kit and Rogue join the group, the girls all change into new costumes, then even more dancing, some more crime fighting, and finally Risty watching them covertly and looking none to happy about the whole thing. A news cast tells about the new "Bayville Sirens", and how they've cut the crime rate in half. Scott watches suspiciously. The music resumes with the girls walking slo-motion down the school hallway ala "Jawbreakers" and quite a few other teenaged movies. Scott sees the girls walking together and has a very comical Homer Simpson like "D'Oh" moment where he slaps himself in the head and realizes what's been going on.

Back at the Brotherhood house, Tab busts in on Toad in the bathroom again. He tells her he's going to buy her some mouthwash. The Blob catches her on the stairs and yells at her for shaving his head during the night. She heads downstairs and steals Lance's jeep again (even though he took the time to chain it down this time).

At the institute, Kurt and Scott wait outside in Scott's car. They spy on the girls as they sneak out of the mansion, but they really aren't very good at it and Jean spots them right away. Tab picks them up in the jeep and the boys try to follow them. Kit phases the jeep through a train and they lose the boys. Later they see another car being stolen and give chase. The owner of the car calls up the cops on his cell and tells them that his car's been stolen and the Sirens are already on the job.

The girls track the car to a warehouse, where they get caught spying on a ring of car thieves. Seems the whole thing was a setup by the ring to try and catch the Sirens (they've been cutting into their business). The girls beat up the crooks in a Charlie's Angel like fight scene. Tab gets a little too excited with her blasts and starts multiple fires. Kurt and Scott hear the explosions and find the girls, but they wait it out on a catwalk above the fight. Scott wants to "let the girls handle it". Kit and Amara trap the ring leader in the trunk of a car. Scott saves him at the last minute as the car is about to be engulfed in flames. He tells Kurt that he "never saw that".

The girls round up all of the crooks and put out the fires. A policewoman surprises them and tells them they're all under arrest. Tab wants to fight, but Jean stops her. The police woman agrees to let them go if they stop the vigilante routine. They agree and take off right before the rest of the police arrive. The police woman wonders off through the smoke and morphs into none other than Mystique.

Later that night in the Institute kitchen, Jean and Scott talk about the girls being the Sirens. Jean tells him it was nice to be able to help other people and she hopes that someday they can do it out in the open.

Summary written by Denaill for her site -

Quotes

Toad: (As Tab breaks down the bathroom door) Hey Hey Hey! I'm taking a shower here.
Tabitha: Yeah. The whole town's thrilled. I'm out of mouthwash.
Toad: Man, I take one shower a month, and still I get no privacy!

Amara: Jean's been pushing me too fast. Even though I tell her I'm not ready, she says…
Tabitha: You mean Miss Jean "Yes that's my real color"? Forget her Amara, you don't have to take any of that. I didn't.

Jean: It bugs me to always be treated like the weaker sex!
Duncan: Hey Jean! Good news. I got us tickets for the Sadie Hawkins Dance next month!
Jean: Excuse me Duncan, but aren't girls supposed to asks the guys to that dance?
Duncan: Uh, well, yeah… but I figured…
Jean: You know, I just don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you guys around to make decisions for me! (snatches Scott's keys and stalks off)
Duncan: (whistles) Whoa, I'm glad she took your keys.

Tabitha: (sees Lance's jeep chained) Good thinkin' Lance! Wouldn't want anyone to steal your ride! (blasts off chain and steals jeep)
Lance: Come back here, you Klepto!!

Kurt: Blue boy to tracker 1..can you read me? The pigeons are leaving the roost.
Scott: Kurt I'm right here. Why are you talking like that?

Quick Review

Pretty good episode with just a few annoying moments.

Dislikes: A few very big ones. I know that the whole music/dancing thing was popular with a lot of people, but I just thought it was overly clichéd and cheesy. "Girl Power" isn't something that I'm really into and before anyone writes me about this, 1. I am a female 2. by merely naming it "girl" power it diminishes the effect in my opinion. Don't have a silly catch phrase to try and accomplish something as important as letting younger girls and woman know that being female does not automatically mean that you are inferior in any way. 3. If it's a show about female empowerment, why does Scott have to come along at the end and save the girls from making a mistake and killing someone. That one scene completely and totally emphasized the exact opposite of what the rest of the show was supposedly telling us. In the end a man did have to come along and save the day, now didn't he. It's just so sad. And finally 4. What the hell does shopping, dancing, and even more suggestive dancing have to do with "girl power" anyway?? If you're going to write a show about something like "girl power", you should really know what the phrase is supposed to mean.

Likes: Some. Okay for those of you that actually made it through my rant above, I did like parts of this episode and I'll make it short. I liked that the girls teamed up crossing group lines. Also, that Mystique is still looking out for them, regardless that most of them don't mean a thing to her anyway. At least one of the adults on Evolution has a clue as to what's going on. And last, I liked the Brotherhood exchanges between Tab/Toad and Tab/Lance, they were some of the best scenes of the whole episode.

Beyond Evolution Copyright © 2004 Denaill.