X-Men '97 Episode 9 Review: The Dead Man's Hand Sets Up an Epic Season Finale

The penultimate episode of X-Men '97, "The Dead Man's Hand," finally starts putting all the pieces together for what looks like it's going to be an insane season finale.

The episode opens with Rogue having a nightmare about Gambit. It starts off as a beautiful dance between the two of them before turning into a nightmare as she's suddenly staring the Horseman of Death right in the face. It's a really strong opening that reminds us just how much she's still hurting over everything that's happened.

From there, we cut to the X-Men enjoying a friendly card game before it's interrupted by an unidentified aircraft. It's Cable and his team, and they don't come empty-handed. They bring the corpse of Apocalypse, and Jubilee even hands Rogue Gambit's playing card.

Rogue immediately assumes they're planning to kill Gambit, but that's not the case. They actually want her to use her powers to try and undo what's been done to him. Charles insists they're going to handle this the X-Men way, but Cable makes it clear he can't promise anything.

Using Cerebro's new upgrades, Charles locates Gambit almost immediately. He's returned home and wipes out the Assassin's Guild without breaking a sweat. I have to say, Gambit looks absolutely incredible as the Horseman of Death. They took one of the best designs from the comics and updated it perfectly for this series.

We also get a really nice moment with the Summers family as they decide to focus on the here and now instead of worrying about the past, present, or future. It was a small scene, but it gave everyone a chance to breathe before everything went completely off the rails. That doesn't last long because Gambit and his new Acolytes attack the team's jet. Rogue tracks him down and tries to absorb him, only to discover she can actually touch him now. Before she can process what that means, Gambit puts her to sleep. Nightcrawler jumps in to help, but he ends up getting captured too.

One of my favorite moments of the episode comes when the jet starts falling from the sky. Jean Grey, Psylocke, and Cable combine their telepathic powers to slow the crash. Seeing Jean's pink energy, Psylocke's purple energy, and Cable's yellow energy surrounding the plane looked incredible.

Back at the mansion, Wolverine, Storm, Morph, and Forge head out to help while Colossus stays behind to protect the school. The team is finally assembling, but you can't help wondering if it'll be enough.

Things get even crazier when Remy reveals they're searching for the External, the woman who tricked Apocalypse into believing she loved him before betraying him after receiving some of his power. When she's finally summoned, she barely gets a chance to speak before Gambit cuts her off...literally...with his scythe. The X-Men arrive ready for battle, but Gambit has Nightcrawler under his control, and he absolutely destroys everyone. Literally everybody. That was one of the craziest moments of the episode.

Then comes the biggest shock. Gambit places the gem into Rogue, turning her into the new External. At the same time, Charles enters Gambit's mind, leading to an incredible psychic battle. That's when we discover Apocalypse has been controlling Gambit's body this entire time. Remy has been trapped inside, unable to fight back, until Rogue finally reaches him and pulls the real Gambit back out. Apocalypse may be trapped inside Gambit's mind for now, but you just know that isn't going to last.

Cable then reveals his real plan was to kill Gambit while he was unconscious, but the X-Men stop him before he can go through with it. With no other options left, Cable's team forms an unexpected alliance with X-Factor. They may have different methods, but they're clearly working toward the same goal.

Overall, I thought "The Dead Man's Hand" was a really strong penultimate episode. The action was fantastic, Gambit's Horseman design was perfect, and the reveals completely changed the direction of the story. My only complaint is that I wish the season had started ramping things up a little earlier instead of saving so much for the last couple of episodes.

Either way, if this episode is any indication, the X-Men '97 season finale is going to be absolutely awesome, and I honestly can't wait to see how they wrap everything up.

What did you think?

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