Mutant X Episode Nitpicks (Season 1, cont'd)
THE NITPICKER'S GUIDE TO MUTANT X
Nitpicking Sections: General ~ Season One ~ Season One cont'd. ~ Season Two ~ Season Two, cont'd. ~ Season Three ~ Season Three, cont'd.
SEASON ONE CONTINUED
by tptigger and firstmutant
Beta aid by belle-marie
Interface
Trivia: Jenny Stackpole is the name of an underground operative. Either Mutant X is bigger than we think or there's simply a larger New Mutant underground than we've seen. Likely the bigger underground, as Jesse is worried about their credibility with the underground since the Mutant X safehouses keep getting broken into.
Adam started college at the age of 12. Jesse loves action flicks, but horror movies creep him out, and he doesn’t like video games (doesn’t seem like it in “No Exit,” does it?).
Emma gets migraines as a side-effect of her abilities.
Emma went to Sloman High School, where she stole the dean’s furniture and helped Michelle cheat on English finals. Not the angel we thought she was, our little Emma.
Badass!Emma's little trick with the bartender in “Double Vision” shows up again as Emma basically butts in line waiting on their drinks. And they don't pay.
The GSA has a government mandate.
Telecybers are prone to radical emotional shifts.
Nitpicks: The opening in the mall. Given what went on last week, I'm kinda surprised Shalimar let Emma out of her sight.
Why isn't mall security busting Emma or the GS agents for running? Or something. It's sort of weird that everyone else just watches. And isn't Shal not supposed to use her powers in public?
What do Shalimar and Emma have in those bags, ten pound weights? Also, why don't they put the bags down while they're fighting? This is Mutant X, not Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
The music playing while Jesse and Brennan are fighting their holographic simulation is the same music that was playing while Emma and Shalimar escape from Nexxogen in "Blood Ties."
Since they’re trying to keep Sanctuary’s location a secret, does emailing a telecyber at Genomex seem like a bad idea to anyone else?
Why doesn't Jesse know what a telecyber is? Doesn't he remember Kilohertz? And we certainly see a lot in the series (3) for something Adam did limited experiments in.
Michelle's timing logging into IM is fortuitous. It's smart of Emma to log in from a cybercafe to do that, but wouldn't an email for a later meeting date be less frustrating? Though that would've given Michelle even *more* time to set her up. For that matter, since she doesn't go anywhere, why did Michelle need 15 minutes to log onto a webcam link? (Hello, Emma, smell that? That's a rat. You should've brought Brennan with you, apparently he can smell one a mile away.)
Michelle and Emma agree to meet at Jasper’s in 15 minutes. Since that’s their old hangout in high school, does that mean that they went to high school somewhere in the vicinity of where Genomex and Sanctuary are now?
And why are they talking about new mutants, Mutant X, and Genomex in Jasper's? Hello, public?
The guys are a little arrogant during the simulation. And when they both get knocked on their butts, just where does Brennan swat Jesse? I think they like playing with the slashers sometimes.
Why are people on this show always tapping opponents on the shoulder before punching their lights out? Why not just attack from behind?
Also, is it just me or does Jesse have a bit of a New York/New Jersey accent in his "a's" sometimes?
How does Emma know what to look for in Mason's computer?
When Michelle asks how they’re going to escape from Genomex, Emma says, “Trust me, I’ve done this before.” Is she referring to “Double Vision”? I thought she didn’t remember anything that Badass!Emma did during that time.
Also, why on Earth did she take her ring off? And what took her so long to put it back on?
I can't tell if Brennan's joking with her or serious when he says just wait 'til they get her home.
Here’s a confusing line... Adam: Well, you know Eckhart. You know, he’s got a long standing history of tinkering with the DNA strands of new mutants. Huh? Is Adam confusing Mason with himself? Mason’s only been tinkering since “Dark Star Rising.” Adam’s been doing it since 1978.
Funny how Emma's the only one who doesn't get blasted when Michelle goes on her rampage. I thought her emotions were supposed to be completely suppressed.
Why is Adam so worried about Michelle's modesty after she passes out? I mean, really, just get her to the lab. Jesse's been engaged and it ain't like it's anything Brennan ain't seen before.
How does Mr. Delay avoid getting podded after his failure? Maybe he's related to a certain senator.
And finally, when they're eating dinner at the end, is the food there for Emma or not? I can't tell!
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 1 Food intake: 3 drinks (Emma, Jesse, Adam) and Japanese takeout for the team
Presumed Guilty
Trivia: Jesse is not a morning person. Brennan is oddly awake enough to deal with sparring with Shalimar. Someone must've finally convinced him to buy that coffee maker. (c.f. "Whiter Shade of Pale") Either that or Brennan was taking the heat off Jesse for some reason...
Shalimar can smell what blood is Adam's and what isn't (c.f. "The Hand of God"). Also, this is the first use of yellow feral vision.
Adam gets an EDD scan and he doesn't have to wear spandex! This is probably a good thing, but what's the purpose of the spandex if it's not strictly necessary? (Besides ratings, I mean.)
Marc Griffin can't process all of Adam's memories because he's not smart enough. I find this amusing.
Emma goes for the jugular by making Marc think she's Megan.
This episode earned John Shea a Gemini award nomination for best actor.
Nitpicks: What's Adam doing out of Sanctuary alone? It was a bad idea in "Altered Ego," and it's a worse idea now.
That's really a dumb way for Megan to fall. I mean, how often do you lose your balance like that? And if there's a hole ahead of you, wouldn't you be more careful? Honestly, the teaser is one big Plot Device.
Marc and Megan are arguing on the upper level, but Adam walks in through a door in the lower level. How did he know to come down there in the first place?
Where did the gun that Marc has come from?
Emma has a checkup appointment that Adam misses, which is how the team knows something is wrong. I wonder how often Adam administers these check ups, and I suspect no one on that team needs to worry about their season 3 expiration dates.
The team slowly realizes that Marc Griffin must have their security codes and finally decides to change them. Took them long enough. You'd think that would a no-brainer thing to do, especially after vengeful two telecybers in a row hacked into the system. Why doesn't L*E*X*A get changed at this point (c.f. "Into the Moonless Night")? Also, this doesn't keep Marc from getting Mason in. Adam must've left a back door for himself. Perhaps this is the door that Lexa uses in season 3.
How does amnesiac Adam know to ditch his comlink? And if he doesn't know that, why does he ditch it?
And while we're on the why's, I still don't get why Adam kidnaps Marc. All things considered, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Why doesn't Adam start grilling Brennan and Emma for answers the second he realizes that they know him? Generally someone looking for you is going to be more helpful than someone who's trying to set you up for murder.
That's a very good artist's rendering of the murder suspect. Almost photorealistic. Is it just me, or did they just use John Shea's head shot?
Mason scamming Adam. Wild. At least he’s better at it than Marc, who had over 14 hours to come up with a plausible story, but still failed miserably.
Adam doesn’t remember Mutant X, Genomex, or Mason. But he remembers Megan’s mother right off the bat. Does that strike anyone else as suspicious? Just what kind of relationship did Adam have with Megan’s mother, anyway?
Mason storms Sanctuary with all of six people for backup: Lena, Marc, and four GS agents. Why on earth doesn’t he bring more manpower?
Confused Eckhart is fun!
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 0 Food intake: 0
Ex Marks the Spot
Trivia: The safehouses have numbers; Jesse and Brennan take Zack to safehouse 6.
Jesse phased through walls in high school.
Jesse doesn't know Zack, so clearly he joined Mutant X sometime after Shal and the thief (the guest star one) broke up. We're told that Shalimar hasn't seen him in six years, so clearly Jesse's been a team member for six years or less.
Zack says that when he knew Shalimar, she "didn't exactly wear a halo."
Proxy Blue has a search function. A very flirty one.
Mason's favorite composer is Henry Purcell. The fact that Adam knows this is candy for the slashers.
The Dombey and Sons security firm guarding the egg is using the GSA uniforms from "In the Presence of Mine Enemies."
When Jesse phases, he can go through security lasers. Also, when he’s phased, his dot disappears from the Double Helix’s monitoring screen.
Emma's non-telempathic power #11: Emma actually puts the guards at Dombey and Sons to sleep and assures Jesse that they won't remember anything when the wake up. This is pre-psionic blast, mind you.
Nitpicks: Zack calls it "pop," not "soda." (or the Southern generic "coke"). I wonder where he's from.
Artie Hill reads aloud Segal's description of the Fabergé egg over Mason's shoulder: "The most elaborate and expensive of the Faberge collection, encrusted with gold, platinum and laced with rose diamonds." But when we see the description ourselves on the screen at the end of the scene, it actually says, "One of the most elaborate and expensive of the Faberge collection. This object is made of guilloche 18-Kt yellow gold coated with an ornamental bordure, set with sveral sapphires and diamonds."
During the entire episode, Brennan's being protective of Shalimar. And so it begins... Not that she's really in need of protection, since she walks right in and starts kicking ass.
Jesse: There’s a DNA strand that controls free will? Took the words right out of my mouth, man. Something tells me that Jesse would have made a good nitpicker, if given the chance.
The following quote should be considered while watching the argument between Shalimar and Lexa in "Divided Loyalties" about Brennan's ability to change: Emma: Maybe [Zack]'s changed. People do ya know. Look at Brennan. Or me. Shalimar: Okay, I'll give you that.
Jesse is big on cutting things close. Dude, if Brennan tells you to get out of there, you listen.
Artie really is lacking in foresight. The only reason he managed to stop Zack the first time was because he had tasers and Mutant X showed up. So why does he only bring 2 guys again to Zack’s motorcycle shop?
Shalimar says that she doesn’t trust Zack, so how come he gets to ride his own motorcycle to the secret Sanctuary and enter without a visual cloak?
Why are Brennan and Emma still waiting in the Double Helix, hovering over Dombey and Sons while Artie’s breaking in? Did they drop Jesse off at Sanctuary and come back? It looks as though Emma hasn’t changed her position in hours.
Since Adam’s at Sanctuary, why does he ask Brennan to send him the surveillance scans from The Double Helix? Jesse was just looking at them five minutes ago on Sanctuary’s computer. Besides, we know that Adam can patch into the Double Helix computer himself -- he did so in “Kilohertz.”
Mason is evil! Surely the GSA could spring for a lawyer, and you know with brains like his, Artie's not gonna last long in prison.
I think the security card that Brennan tosses Jesse through the laser web is really a credit card. Hope whoever it belonged to got a new number.
The security card gets tossed before Jesse phases, yet he reaches the ground before it does. Doesn’t gravity still work when Jesse’s phased?
What precisely did they need Zack for? Couldn't Brennan have just zapped the safe open in the first place? The GSA seem to have gotten in just fine.
How did Zack open the egg to grab the chip during his butterfingers routine? It seemed slightly more complex than picking a pocket. And why is Jesse giving him the egg anyway?
Why does Emma have to wait to meet them at the safehouse? Huh?
Mason could've sold the now not-so-scientifically-valuable egg. There was no reason to smash it. (Well, drama, I guess.)
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 1 Food intake: 2 sausage and pepper sandwiches (Brennan and Jesse) and Japanese takeout
Nothing to Fear
Trivia: The pods are in section 9 of Genomex.
FedRail = Train company. I guess there's no Amtrak in the Mutant X 'verse.
Deepest fears revealed: Shalimar's is fire (we already knew that), Jesse's is being buried alive, Brennan's is having his powers used against him, Mason's is becoming infected, and Emma's is being blind. Too bad we never actually see Adam's dreamscape.
GS agents do have lives outside the office! Brianna was married, and studying to be a concert violinist.
Emma's non-telempathic power #12: Emma gets a hit off of an inanimate object, Brianna's photograph.
"Nothing to Fear" is part of a slightly altered quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address in 1933: "...let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Roosevelt is often misquoted as saying "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Nitpicks: Shalimar is taken aback when Henry calls Brennan by his name, even though they never told it to him. But since she was yelling "Brennan!" as they were running just two minutes before, unless Henry's deaf or has short-term amnesia, he could easily have picked up Brennan's name.
Fashion victim: Brennan and that hat! Is it cold? Even in Sanctuary? Why is Brennan all bundled up?
Shalimar is back in spandex for the EDD scan. I thought Adam fixed that thing. Or is there something about New Mutants that the EDD is thrown off by normal cotton clothes?
Emma: You said Henry pressed his hand on your head? Shalimar: Yeah. He's a psionic. He was reading me...the way you used to. The delivery of that line is rather suggestive. So if they like messing with the slashers (see "Interface"), at least they mess with the femme slashers equally.
I still find it odd that Henry thinks the train car is homey.
Also, is it just me or does T.J. Scott seem to direct all the episodes where they make Victoria do the emotionally taxing stuff? (It's like, oh, we're being hard on you... we'll have your husband direct!)
Why does Shalimar crash in the main part of Sanctuary? We know from "Double Vision" that they have rooms. Well, you know, other than the really cute Brennan/Shalimar moment. This is probably about the time they start leaning towards something a little more romantic towards the two of them. (Ever notice that no matter how tough a girl is on these shows their male friends always start getting protective whenever they show a romantic interest in someone else?)
Why Shalimar should know it's just a dreamscape: Emma is concerned because Shalimar is silencing the alarms "on an open channel that anyone can pick up." This doesn't seem to make sense, even with Shalimar's "I'm running a test" excuse. And the GSA shows up very fast. Do they have a Double Helix too? They drag Jesse and Brennan from their beds--which are located in a very different place from where they're located in season 2. [The rooms are darkened and the camera shoots over their shoulders, towards the door. Conveniently preventing them from having to dress the set. So how come Brennan gets the mysterious room full of natural light at the end of "Deadly Desire" (the very next episode!)]
On checking out the station: Jesse: His wife was killed in action, right? Brennan: Yeah, apparently. Jesse: I wonder who she was fighting. Brennan: Well, it wasn't us, I'd remember. This is interesting, as I don't remember Mutant X ever killing GSA agents. This could be Brennan's point. Or it could be that they kill so few, he remembers everyone's face. It's hard to tell. It would also have been better if these lines were reversed -- Mutant X was around a good long while before Brennan joined up.
Why doesn't Jesse just phase through the pod in the dreamscape? Adam can do it. Doesn't Jesse know about directed dreaming? Isn't he supposed to be a geek? Shouldn't he have seen Star Trek: Voyager?
Emma says that she doesn't know how she could get a hit from Brianna's photo though she's supposed to be dead. In "Inferno," we'll learn that she has indeed communed with the dead on at least one occasion in the past.
Normally there's only the EDD chair in Sanctuary. Then there are four beds around it. Why four? Adam's quite the pessimist, isn't he? I mean, Emma wasn't infected until Henry possessed Brennan. (Hmm. Force? Weak minded?)
Adam: You don't believe me? Let's go find Eckhart. Why does Adam automatically assume that Mason is in the dreamscape too?
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 1 Adam Kisses: 1 Freak mentions: 0 Food intake: 0
Deadly Desire
Trivia: New toy in Sanctuary’s main computer: Adam’s decrypting program to decode GSA communiques. Gone are those early “Fool for Love” days when they could just tap right into the GSA scanners.
Shal and Brennan play pool and Brennan cheats--then spies his friend Tony from "The Shock of the New." Good continuity.
The observation deck is referenced again in this episode, although we can't see it. Brennan clearly looks through the glass at Emma and Shalimar's progress while Adam praises him for getting Shalimar in for treatment.
This episode nearly has the first appearance of Brennan's infamous butt-on-the-counter move that he'll later use with Lexa in "Divided Loyalties" and Shalimar in "The Assault." Except that there wasn't a convenient counter. And being Brennan, he couldn't resist adding a small electrical jolt to his handshake to impress Lorna, much as he did with Emma in "Shock of the New."
Could this be considered the first "Isn't Brennan hot?" episode?
Nitpicks: Shalimar blithely proclaims that there are “no signs of trauma” on the fallen GS agent, though he’s rather inconveniently covered with clothing at the time. Perhaps she has developed x-ray vision.
Apparently some part of the scorpion DNA afforded Lorna the ability to run in high heels. Also do the pheromone effects remind anyone else of Cocoon for some reason?
Adam: We never found out her name. Now she's more grist for Eckhart's genetic mill. What? Eckhart has a genetic mill? Of course, two episodes later, it's a moot point. But still. Either this sets something up that was dropped like a hot potato or they're just crazy.
Oh no, Brennan's a fashion victim two weeks in a row! The ugly hat's back...oh. It's a different ugly hat. Why does Brennan like ugly hats?
Emma asks when GS agents started shooting to kill. Is she kidding? They’ve been firing guns at Mutant X since she first encountered them in “Shock of the New.”
Brennan zaps the anomite case to get it away from Dr. Tork and the GSA. (Too bad that didn't destroy it.) When he tries to keep Emma from getting it, he zaps *Emma*. I get that the pheromones make him want to protect Lorna, but why not zap the case instead of Emma? Worst case, Lorna drops it too and has to scramble. If Emma gets it first, he can always make her drop it again.
Brennan wants nothing to do with Lorna's flirting until she hits him with pheromones. (And even then, he says, "there's something inside of me that's screaming how wrong this is on so many levels.") This isn't really in character behavior for Brennan, who we know flirts with everything with a pulse. As Emma pointed out in "Lit Fuse," the beautiful, vulnerable and dangerous Lorna is just his type. Later on, Jesse tells Adam, "We both know Brennan's not the one night stand type of guy." LOL, we do? Has he forgotten the bartender in "Fool for Love" and the nightclub girl in "Blood Ties"? Shalimar should know better too. Though she protests here that Brennan would never go for 'someone like that', she's convinced that Brennan is shacked up with some small town waitress when he's late in "Crossroads of the Soul". This is either a big, honking discontinuity, or Adam's anti-venom isn't perfect and left Brennan permanently changed. I like plan A, personally.
Why does Mason have so much trouble finding Carl Ames? Didn't Pamela Fries and Michelle Bigelow have a tracer chips? I mean, this isn't just a GSA being protective of women thing, is it? (Adam seems to remember, as they bring Ames to a safe house, and not Sanctuary.)
Just before smooching him (on the cheek, shush, 'shippers) to administer the anti-venom, Shalimar tells Brennan, "I know what you're going through. I've been there myself." This must be a reference to "Fool for Love." Someone on this show clearly knew what they were doing. Why weren't they in charge? Oh, right. Icky plot continuity.
Technobabble alert: Adam asserts that Brennan didn't die instantly like everyone else because of his new mutant antibodies. Uh-huh.
Knowing Lorna was so dangerous, why did Halloran wait so long to place the subdermal governor?
By the way, in real life, anomite is not a computer virus. It's actually a rare subtype of the mineral mica.
Dancing on the Razor
Trivia: Special guest star: Victor Webster's beloved dog Buddah is being carried in the elevator at Jay Minhaus's apartment.
Emma's non-telempathic power #13: Emma boomerangs Harvey Lanchester's microwave blast back to hit him...and this is before she's actually developed psionic blasts of her own!
Nitpicks: Adam set up a website for new mutants looking for protection. Which explains how they know how to contact Mutant X, but not how everyone knows their phone number. This will come up again in season three.
Fashion victim: Brennan has Harry Potter hair.
Aside from the fact that Jesse and Brennan are talking about new mutants at the beginning, the 'evidence' that Jay Minhaus managed to get on tape isn't really that revealing. Neither side is wearing tee-shirts advertising who they are, and neither Jesse nor Brennan actually use their abilities during the confrontation. All in all, Mason could probably have discredited the story easily with his usual methods, by saying some government narcs were after a couple of drug addicts or something.
When they get back to Sanctuary, Jesse says the new mutant who sent them the e-mail "suddenly doesn't exist." How'd that hoser Minhaus hack into Sanctuary's New Mutant database?
Mason says he has stringent internal security, and that none of his people can even think an impure thought without his knowing it. The poor man is about to find out just how mistaken he is in “A Breed Apart.”
Harvey Lanchester says someone's been calling Proxy Blue on the company dime. Either Proxy Blue has a long distance phone number, or he's just really against personal phone calls at work.
Lanchester may have Emma!blasts, but I still don't see how a psionic would be able to start fires. You know, outside of the Stephen King universe. And why would one of Lanchester's stray heat balls cause sparks?
Jay is brought to a safehouse. Why is it that they seem to have suddenly wised up against bringing guest stars to Sanctuary? There was certainly no reason to bring Josh and his family there in "The Crime of the New Century." And if Brennan really doesn't trust Jay, then why doesn't he get a visual cloak? And why don't they just go get Emma, rather than interrogating the man for hours on end? She could have solved the case in ten seconds flat.
And while we're on the subject of safehouses, why are they apparently equipped with dishwashers? (I thought that's what Jesse was for.)
So, given the psycho babble, would Minhaus be having the same reaction to Brennan if Shalimar had gone to stake out his apartment? And is it just me, or does Minhaus bring Shal to his own building when looking for his "sister's apartment"? And if so, why can't his door be opened from the inside? I mean surely there's another way to get out if you're not a really pissed off feral.
*blinks* Now Adam's being overprotective of Brennan? That's new.
Would Brennan be so protective if it were Emma trying to leave the safe house? Wait, given his attitude when she can't find "Rebecca Minhaus," he'd be worse. Um, Emma, he needs another lesson in "Emma isn't helpless." Also, why is Adam so insistent that they run and hide from Lanchester? Surely Mutant X can take him! And then Adam doesn't want the girls going after Minhaus. This is getting ridiculous. Especially as they *both* prove they can kick GSA ass, let alone handle one intrepid reporter who's no Clark Kent.
I wonder whether the tag at Sanctuary at the end was put in because they had three minutes to burn. The conversation between the guys is at least character development--it does help to set up the sudden attraction between Brennan and Shalimar a bit. (There is some jealousy there in "Ex Marks the Spot", "Deadly Desire" and this episode. Excuse me. Protectiveness.) Also, the guys are talking about Shal and Minhaus; Shal and Emma are talking about clothes. Just how Junior High is this ending?
A Breed Apart
Trivia: One generally confusing point is that the season one finale, "A Breed Apart," (ep. 121) actually aired before the second-to-last episode, "Dancing on the Razor" (ep. 122). Thus fans watching the episodes in numerical order will see Mason, who was podded 'for all eternity' in episode 121, pop back up unharmed in 122, only to mysteriously become podded again in the first episode of the second season.
The episode's title, "A Breed Apart," came up in "Dark Star Rising," when Shalimar was telling Lt. Beau Longstreet what makes ferals special: "Among new mutants, we're a breed apart."
Mutant X has a secure website for mutants in the underground to check in on periodically.
'The Usual' safehouse instructions: Stay off the main arteries. Obey the posted speed limits. And check in with the secured website when you get to your destinations. Good luck.
Jesse was in charge of restocking the safehouses. Or at least the safehouse where Brennan and Shalimar were practicing. And just what did young Jesse put in that water bottle, an aphrodisiac?
Nitpicks: Ferals are supposed to fear fire, but Kelly's flames don't seem to bother Morgan's feral GS agent much at all.
Why does The Strand take so much time and energy to get Kelly back? What's the motivation? It's not like fire walls are that huge of a skill set.
What good is caging Kelly with the pipes when you can see doors behind her? Why isn't she running instead of screaming?
It's funny how when Shalimar's hurt she wants to chase after the bad guys. When Brennan's hurt, all she wants to do is get him back to Sanctuary.
If springing Ashlocke is that easy, what took the Strand so long?
Towards the beginning of the episode, Gabriel says he was in a Genomex-induced coma his entire adult life. He later tells Kelly he was aware the whole time. Which is it?
Why is Shalimar jogging through Sanctuary barefoot? You'd think that would be hard on her feet. Also, does sneaking up on a feral mutant, eyes in the back of her head or not, seem like a bad idea to anyone else?
Do New Mutants exude some kind of pheromone that causes them to all have growth spurts at the same time? Much like women who live together cycle together.
During his little heart to heart with Adam, Brennan seems pretty upset with himself about zapping Emma. He should be, it's the second time in three weeks! Adam reassures him that he did the right thing, but instead of immediately electrocuting the poor girl, a cooler headed person might have simply asked her to stand still and look away from her teammates.
Continuity (the good kind): Adam says Ashlocke was born without a conscience and thinks he's a god. Emma then says he told her something about this when they first met in "The Shock of the New."
We learn that Adam designed the subdermal governors and the pods. The rest of Mutant X seem awfully calm about this revelation.
Did Shalimar have to straddle Brennan after knocking him on his back in the dojo? Way to mess with the 'shippers. (This whole episode does that.)
Kelly calls The Strand an alternative to Mutant X. This ties Mutant X more tightly with the underground than previous episodes. So a big season one mystery: is Mutant X affiliated with the underground or the sole organizer?
Emma's room changes dramatically between seasons one and two? Also, I think it's dimensionally transcendental--it shouldn't fit in the space that's provided on the more familiar parts of the set.
Why does Shalimar grab her coat when Gabriel shows up? Wouldn't it be easier to fight, you know, without it?
When Shalimar leaps at Gabriel, the wires holding her up are clearly visible.
That scene, incidentally, reeks of a cliffhanger. Bad guy shows up, kidnaps Shal and the database. However, it goes on for fifteen minutes for a gentler cliffhanger. Trying to be nice to the fans in case they don't come back?
How did Kelly find, let alone copy the database if it was, in fact, encrypted? And what happened to the self-destruct mechanism the safehouse databases had in "Interface"?
Dr. Ken Harrison finally turns on Mason after all those threats and the attempted podding. No wonder he was Teflon coated; Morgan was protecting him so she'd have her man in place when the grand master plan went into effect.
So Shalimar gets a hug after a near-death experience? Why doesn't Emma after she dies for a whole five minutes? Perhaps that's the real reason she interrupts Brennan and Shalimar! Also, in the last scene, it looks like they're coming from Emma calling them, what did she want them to look at? And finally, what on Earth is Brennan apologizing for?
Nitpicking Sections: General ~ Season One ~ Season One cont'd. ~ Season Two ~ Season Two, cont'd. ~ Season Three ~ Season Three, cont'd.
SEASON ONE CONTINUED
by tptigger and firstmutant
Beta aid by belle-marie
Interface
Trivia: Jenny Stackpole is the name of an underground operative. Either Mutant X is bigger than we think or there's simply a larger New Mutant underground than we've seen. Likely the bigger underground, as Jesse is worried about their credibility with the underground since the Mutant X safehouses keep getting broken into.
Adam started college at the age of 12. Jesse loves action flicks, but horror movies creep him out, and he doesn’t like video games (doesn’t seem like it in “No Exit,” does it?).
Emma gets migraines as a side-effect of her abilities.
Emma went to Sloman High School, where she stole the dean’s furniture and helped Michelle cheat on English finals. Not the angel we thought she was, our little Emma.
Badass!Emma's little trick with the bartender in “Double Vision” shows up again as Emma basically butts in line waiting on their drinks. And they don't pay.
The GSA has a government mandate.
Telecybers are prone to radical emotional shifts.
Nitpicks: The opening in the mall. Given what went on last week, I'm kinda surprised Shalimar let Emma out of her sight.
Why isn't mall security busting Emma or the GS agents for running? Or something. It's sort of weird that everyone else just watches. And isn't Shal not supposed to use her powers in public?
What do Shalimar and Emma have in those bags, ten pound weights? Also, why don't they put the bags down while they're fighting? This is Mutant X, not Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
The music playing while Jesse and Brennan are fighting their holographic simulation is the same music that was playing while Emma and Shalimar escape from Nexxogen in "Blood Ties."
Since they’re trying to keep Sanctuary’s location a secret, does emailing a telecyber at Genomex seem like a bad idea to anyone else?
Why doesn't Jesse know what a telecyber is? Doesn't he remember Kilohertz? And we certainly see a lot in the series (3) for something Adam did limited experiments in.
Michelle's timing logging into IM is fortuitous. It's smart of Emma to log in from a cybercafe to do that, but wouldn't an email for a later meeting date be less frustrating? Though that would've given Michelle even *more* time to set her up. For that matter, since she doesn't go anywhere, why did Michelle need 15 minutes to log onto a webcam link? (Hello, Emma, smell that? That's a rat. You should've brought Brennan with you, apparently he can smell one a mile away.)
Michelle and Emma agree to meet at Jasper’s in 15 minutes. Since that’s their old hangout in high school, does that mean that they went to high school somewhere in the vicinity of where Genomex and Sanctuary are now?
And why are they talking about new mutants, Mutant X, and Genomex in Jasper's? Hello, public?
The guys are a little arrogant during the simulation. And when they both get knocked on their butts, just where does Brennan swat Jesse? I think they like playing with the slashers sometimes.
Why are people on this show always tapping opponents on the shoulder before punching their lights out? Why not just attack from behind?
Also, is it just me or does Jesse have a bit of a New York/New Jersey accent in his "a's" sometimes?
How does Emma know what to look for in Mason's computer?
When Michelle asks how they’re going to escape from Genomex, Emma says, “Trust me, I’ve done this before.” Is she referring to “Double Vision”? I thought she didn’t remember anything that Badass!Emma did during that time.
Also, why on Earth did she take her ring off? And what took her so long to put it back on?
I can't tell if Brennan's joking with her or serious when he says just wait 'til they get her home.
Here’s a confusing line... Adam: Well, you know Eckhart. You know, he’s got a long standing history of tinkering with the DNA strands of new mutants. Huh? Is Adam confusing Mason with himself? Mason’s only been tinkering since “Dark Star Rising.” Adam’s been doing it since 1978.
Funny how Emma's the only one who doesn't get blasted when Michelle goes on her rampage. I thought her emotions were supposed to be completely suppressed.
Why is Adam so worried about Michelle's modesty after she passes out? I mean, really, just get her to the lab. Jesse's been engaged and it ain't like it's anything Brennan ain't seen before.
How does Mr. Delay avoid getting podded after his failure? Maybe he's related to a certain senator.
And finally, when they're eating dinner at the end, is the food there for Emma or not? I can't tell!
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 1 Food intake: 3 drinks (Emma, Jesse, Adam) and Japanese takeout for the team
Presumed Guilty
Trivia: Jesse is not a morning person. Brennan is oddly awake enough to deal with sparring with Shalimar. Someone must've finally convinced him to buy that coffee maker. (c.f. "Whiter Shade of Pale") Either that or Brennan was taking the heat off Jesse for some reason...
Shalimar can smell what blood is Adam's and what isn't (c.f. "The Hand of God"). Also, this is the first use of yellow feral vision.
Adam gets an EDD scan and he doesn't have to wear spandex! This is probably a good thing, but what's the purpose of the spandex if it's not strictly necessary? (Besides ratings, I mean.)
Marc Griffin can't process all of Adam's memories because he's not smart enough. I find this amusing.
Emma goes for the jugular by making Marc think she's Megan.
This episode earned John Shea a Gemini award nomination for best actor.
Nitpicks: What's Adam doing out of Sanctuary alone? It was a bad idea in "Altered Ego," and it's a worse idea now.
That's really a dumb way for Megan to fall. I mean, how often do you lose your balance like that? And if there's a hole ahead of you, wouldn't you be more careful? Honestly, the teaser is one big Plot Device.
Marc and Megan are arguing on the upper level, but Adam walks in through a door in the lower level. How did he know to come down there in the first place?
Where did the gun that Marc has come from?
Emma has a checkup appointment that Adam misses, which is how the team knows something is wrong. I wonder how often Adam administers these check ups, and I suspect no one on that team needs to worry about their season 3 expiration dates.
The team slowly realizes that Marc Griffin must have their security codes and finally decides to change them. Took them long enough. You'd think that would a no-brainer thing to do, especially after vengeful two telecybers in a row hacked into the system. Why doesn't L*E*X*A get changed at this point (c.f. "Into the Moonless Night")? Also, this doesn't keep Marc from getting Mason in. Adam must've left a back door for himself. Perhaps this is the door that Lexa uses in season 3.
How does amnesiac Adam know to ditch his comlink? And if he doesn't know that, why does he ditch it?
And while we're on the why's, I still don't get why Adam kidnaps Marc. All things considered, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Why doesn't Adam start grilling Brennan and Emma for answers the second he realizes that they know him? Generally someone looking for you is going to be more helpful than someone who's trying to set you up for murder.
That's a very good artist's rendering of the murder suspect. Almost photorealistic. Is it just me, or did they just use John Shea's head shot?
Mason scamming Adam. Wild. At least he’s better at it than Marc, who had over 14 hours to come up with a plausible story, but still failed miserably.
Adam doesn’t remember Mutant X, Genomex, or Mason. But he remembers Megan’s mother right off the bat. Does that strike anyone else as suspicious? Just what kind of relationship did Adam have with Megan’s mother, anyway?
Mason storms Sanctuary with all of six people for backup: Lena, Marc, and four GS agents. Why on earth doesn’t he bring more manpower?
Confused Eckhart is fun!
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 0 Food intake: 0
Ex Marks the Spot
Trivia: The safehouses have numbers; Jesse and Brennan take Zack to safehouse 6.
Jesse phased through walls in high school.
Jesse doesn't know Zack, so clearly he joined Mutant X sometime after Shal and the thief (the guest star one) broke up. We're told that Shalimar hasn't seen him in six years, so clearly Jesse's been a team member for six years or less.
Zack says that when he knew Shalimar, she "didn't exactly wear a halo."
Proxy Blue has a search function. A very flirty one.
Mason's favorite composer is Henry Purcell. The fact that Adam knows this is candy for the slashers.
The Dombey and Sons security firm guarding the egg is using the GSA uniforms from "In the Presence of Mine Enemies."
When Jesse phases, he can go through security lasers. Also, when he’s phased, his dot disappears from the Double Helix’s monitoring screen.
Emma's non-telempathic power #11: Emma actually puts the guards at Dombey and Sons to sleep and assures Jesse that they won't remember anything when the wake up. This is pre-psionic blast, mind you.
Nitpicks: Zack calls it "pop," not "soda." (or the Southern generic "coke"). I wonder where he's from.
Artie Hill reads aloud Segal's description of the Fabergé egg over Mason's shoulder: "The most elaborate and expensive of the Faberge collection, encrusted with gold, platinum and laced with rose diamonds." But when we see the description ourselves on the screen at the end of the scene, it actually says, "One of the most elaborate and expensive of the Faberge collection. This object is made of guilloche 18-Kt yellow gold coated with an ornamental bordure, set with sveral sapphires and diamonds."
During the entire episode, Brennan's being protective of Shalimar. And so it begins... Not that she's really in need of protection, since she walks right in and starts kicking ass.
Jesse: There’s a DNA strand that controls free will? Took the words right out of my mouth, man. Something tells me that Jesse would have made a good nitpicker, if given the chance.
The following quote should be considered while watching the argument between Shalimar and Lexa in "Divided Loyalties" about Brennan's ability to change: Emma: Maybe [Zack]'s changed. People do ya know. Look at Brennan. Or me. Shalimar: Okay, I'll give you that.
Jesse is big on cutting things close. Dude, if Brennan tells you to get out of there, you listen.
Artie really is lacking in foresight. The only reason he managed to stop Zack the first time was because he had tasers and Mutant X showed up. So why does he only bring 2 guys again to Zack’s motorcycle shop?
Shalimar says that she doesn’t trust Zack, so how come he gets to ride his own motorcycle to the secret Sanctuary and enter without a visual cloak?
Why are Brennan and Emma still waiting in the Double Helix, hovering over Dombey and Sons while Artie’s breaking in? Did they drop Jesse off at Sanctuary and come back? It looks as though Emma hasn’t changed her position in hours.
Since Adam’s at Sanctuary, why does he ask Brennan to send him the surveillance scans from The Double Helix? Jesse was just looking at them five minutes ago on Sanctuary’s computer. Besides, we know that Adam can patch into the Double Helix computer himself -- he did so in “Kilohertz.”
Mason is evil! Surely the GSA could spring for a lawyer, and you know with brains like his, Artie's not gonna last long in prison.
I think the security card that Brennan tosses Jesse through the laser web is really a credit card. Hope whoever it belonged to got a new number.
The security card gets tossed before Jesse phases, yet he reaches the ground before it does. Doesn’t gravity still work when Jesse’s phased?
What precisely did they need Zack for? Couldn't Brennan have just zapped the safe open in the first place? The GSA seem to have gotten in just fine.
How did Zack open the egg to grab the chip during his butterfingers routine? It seemed slightly more complex than picking a pocket. And why is Jesse giving him the egg anyway?
Why does Emma have to wait to meet them at the safehouse? Huh?
Mason could've sold the now not-so-scientifically-valuable egg. There was no reason to smash it. (Well, drama, I guess.)
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 0 Adam Kisses: 0 Freak mentions: 1 Food intake: 2 sausage and pepper sandwiches (Brennan and Jesse) and Japanese takeout
Nothing to Fear
Trivia: The pods are in section 9 of Genomex.
FedRail = Train company. I guess there's no Amtrak in the Mutant X 'verse.
Deepest fears revealed: Shalimar's is fire (we already knew that), Jesse's is being buried alive, Brennan's is having his powers used against him, Mason's is becoming infected, and Emma's is being blind. Too bad we never actually see Adam's dreamscape.
GS agents do have lives outside the office! Brianna was married, and studying to be a concert violinist.
Emma's non-telempathic power #12: Emma gets a hit off of an inanimate object, Brianna's photograph.
"Nothing to Fear" is part of a slightly altered quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address in 1933: "...let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Roosevelt is often misquoted as saying "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Nitpicks: Shalimar is taken aback when Henry calls Brennan by his name, even though they never told it to him. But since she was yelling "Brennan!" as they were running just two minutes before, unless Henry's deaf or has short-term amnesia, he could easily have picked up Brennan's name.
Fashion victim: Brennan and that hat! Is it cold? Even in Sanctuary? Why is Brennan all bundled up?
Shalimar is back in spandex for the EDD scan. I thought Adam fixed that thing. Or is there something about New Mutants that the EDD is thrown off by normal cotton clothes?
Emma: You said Henry pressed his hand on your head? Shalimar: Yeah. He's a psionic. He was reading me...the way you used to. The delivery of that line is rather suggestive. So if they like messing with the slashers (see "Interface"), at least they mess with the femme slashers equally.
I still find it odd that Henry thinks the train car is homey.
Also, is it just me or does T.J. Scott seem to direct all the episodes where they make Victoria do the emotionally taxing stuff? (It's like, oh, we're being hard on you... we'll have your husband direct!)
Why does Shalimar crash in the main part of Sanctuary? We know from "Double Vision" that they have rooms. Well, you know, other than the really cute Brennan/Shalimar moment. This is probably about the time they start leaning towards something a little more romantic towards the two of them. (Ever notice that no matter how tough a girl is on these shows their male friends always start getting protective whenever they show a romantic interest in someone else?)
Why Shalimar should know it's just a dreamscape: Emma is concerned because Shalimar is silencing the alarms "on an open channel that anyone can pick up." This doesn't seem to make sense, even with Shalimar's "I'm running a test" excuse. And the GSA shows up very fast. Do they have a Double Helix too? They drag Jesse and Brennan from their beds--which are located in a very different place from where they're located in season 2. [The rooms are darkened and the camera shoots over their shoulders, towards the door. Conveniently preventing them from having to dress the set. So how come Brennan gets the mysterious room full of natural light at the end of "Deadly Desire" (the very next episode!)]
On checking out the station: Jesse: His wife was killed in action, right? Brennan: Yeah, apparently. Jesse: I wonder who she was fighting. Brennan: Well, it wasn't us, I'd remember. This is interesting, as I don't remember Mutant X ever killing GSA agents. This could be Brennan's point. Or it could be that they kill so few, he remembers everyone's face. It's hard to tell. It would also have been better if these lines were reversed -- Mutant X was around a good long while before Brennan joined up.
Why doesn't Jesse just phase through the pod in the dreamscape? Adam can do it. Doesn't Jesse know about directed dreaming? Isn't he supposed to be a geek? Shouldn't he have seen Star Trek: Voyager?
Emma says that she doesn't know how she could get a hit from Brianna's photo though she's supposed to be dead. In "Inferno," we'll learn that she has indeed communed with the dead on at least one occasion in the past.
Normally there's only the EDD chair in Sanctuary. Then there are four beds around it. Why four? Adam's quite the pessimist, isn't he? I mean, Emma wasn't infected until Henry possessed Brennan. (Hmm. Force? Weak minded?)
Adam: You don't believe me? Let's go find Eckhart. Why does Adam automatically assume that Mason is in the dreamscape too?
Ep Tally. Topless Brennan: 1 Adam Kisses: 1 Freak mentions: 0 Food intake: 0
Deadly Desire
Trivia: New toy in Sanctuary’s main computer: Adam’s decrypting program to decode GSA communiques. Gone are those early “Fool for Love” days when they could just tap right into the GSA scanners.
Shal and Brennan play pool and Brennan cheats--then spies his friend Tony from "The Shock of the New." Good continuity.
The observation deck is referenced again in this episode, although we can't see it. Brennan clearly looks through the glass at Emma and Shalimar's progress while Adam praises him for getting Shalimar in for treatment.
This episode nearly has the first appearance of Brennan's infamous butt-on-the-counter move that he'll later use with Lexa in "Divided Loyalties" and Shalimar in "The Assault." Except that there wasn't a convenient counter. And being Brennan, he couldn't resist adding a small electrical jolt to his handshake to impress Lorna, much as he did with Emma in "Shock of the New."
Could this be considered the first "Isn't Brennan hot?" episode?
Nitpicks: Shalimar blithely proclaims that there are “no signs of trauma” on the fallen GS agent, though he’s rather inconveniently covered with clothing at the time. Perhaps she has developed x-ray vision.
Apparently some part of the scorpion DNA afforded Lorna the ability to run in high heels. Also do the pheromone effects remind anyone else of Cocoon for some reason?
Adam: We never found out her name. Now she's more grist for Eckhart's genetic mill. What? Eckhart has a genetic mill? Of course, two episodes later, it's a moot point. But still. Either this sets something up that was dropped like a hot potato or they're just crazy.
Oh no, Brennan's a fashion victim two weeks in a row! The ugly hat's back...oh. It's a different ugly hat. Why does Brennan like ugly hats?
Emma asks when GS agents started shooting to kill. Is she kidding? They’ve been firing guns at Mutant X since she first encountered them in “Shock of the New.”
Brennan zaps the anomite case to get it away from Dr. Tork and the GSA. (Too bad that didn't destroy it.) When he tries to keep Emma from getting it, he zaps *Emma*. I get that the pheromones make him want to protect Lorna, but why not zap the case instead of Emma? Worst case, Lorna drops it too and has to scramble. If Emma gets it first, he can always make her drop it again.
Brennan wants nothing to do with Lorna's flirting until she hits him with pheromones. (And even then, he says, "there's something inside of me that's screaming how wrong this is on so many levels.") This isn't really in character behavior for Brennan, who we know flirts with everything with a pulse. As Emma pointed out in "Lit Fuse," the beautiful, vulnerable and dangerous Lorna is just his type. Later on, Jesse tells Adam, "We both know Brennan's not the one night stand type of guy." LOL, we do? Has he forgotten the bartender in "Fool for Love" and the nightclub girl in "Blood Ties"? Shalimar should know better too. Though she protests here that Brennan would never go for 'someone like that', she's convinced that Brennan is shacked up with some small town waitress when he's late in "Crossroads of the Soul". This is either a big, honking discontinuity, or Adam's anti-venom isn't perfect and left Brennan permanently changed. I like plan A, personally.
Why does Mason have so much trouble finding Carl Ames? Didn't Pamela Fries and Michelle Bigelow have a tracer chips? I mean, this isn't just a GSA being protective of women thing, is it? (Adam seems to remember, as they bring Ames to a safe house, and not Sanctuary.)
Just before smooching him (on the cheek, shush, 'shippers) to administer the anti-venom, Shalimar tells Brennan, "I know what you're going through. I've been there myself." This must be a reference to "Fool for Love." Someone on this show clearly knew what they were doing. Why weren't they in charge? Oh, right. Icky plot continuity.
Technobabble alert: Adam asserts that Brennan didn't die instantly like everyone else because of his new mutant antibodies. Uh-huh.
Knowing Lorna was so dangerous, why did Halloran wait so long to place the subdermal governor?
By the way, in real life, anomite is not a computer virus. It's actually a rare subtype of the mineral mica.
Dancing on the Razor
Trivia: Special guest star: Victor Webster's beloved dog Buddah is being carried in the elevator at Jay Minhaus's apartment.
Emma's non-telempathic power #13: Emma boomerangs Harvey Lanchester's microwave blast back to hit him...and this is before she's actually developed psionic blasts of her own!
Nitpicks: Adam set up a website for new mutants looking for protection. Which explains how they know how to contact Mutant X, but not how everyone knows their phone number. This will come up again in season three.
Fashion victim: Brennan has Harry Potter hair.
Aside from the fact that Jesse and Brennan are talking about new mutants at the beginning, the 'evidence' that Jay Minhaus managed to get on tape isn't really that revealing. Neither side is wearing tee-shirts advertising who they are, and neither Jesse nor Brennan actually use their abilities during the confrontation. All in all, Mason could probably have discredited the story easily with his usual methods, by saying some government narcs were after a couple of drug addicts or something.
When they get back to Sanctuary, Jesse says the new mutant who sent them the e-mail "suddenly doesn't exist." How'd that hoser Minhaus hack into Sanctuary's New Mutant database?
Mason says he has stringent internal security, and that none of his people can even think an impure thought without his knowing it. The poor man is about to find out just how mistaken he is in “A Breed Apart.”
Harvey Lanchester says someone's been calling Proxy Blue on the company dime. Either Proxy Blue has a long distance phone number, or he's just really against personal phone calls at work.
Lanchester may have Emma!blasts, but I still don't see how a psionic would be able to start fires. You know, outside of the Stephen King universe. And why would one of Lanchester's stray heat balls cause sparks?
Jay is brought to a safehouse. Why is it that they seem to have suddenly wised up against bringing guest stars to Sanctuary? There was certainly no reason to bring Josh and his family there in "The Crime of the New Century." And if Brennan really doesn't trust Jay, then why doesn't he get a visual cloak? And why don't they just go get Emma, rather than interrogating the man for hours on end? She could have solved the case in ten seconds flat.
And while we're on the subject of safehouses, why are they apparently equipped with dishwashers? (I thought that's what Jesse was for.)
So, given the psycho babble, would Minhaus be having the same reaction to Brennan if Shalimar had gone to stake out his apartment? And is it just me, or does Minhaus bring Shal to his own building when looking for his "sister's apartment"? And if so, why can't his door be opened from the inside? I mean surely there's another way to get out if you're not a really pissed off feral.
*blinks* Now Adam's being overprotective of Brennan? That's new.
Would Brennan be so protective if it were Emma trying to leave the safe house? Wait, given his attitude when she can't find "Rebecca Minhaus," he'd be worse. Um, Emma, he needs another lesson in "Emma isn't helpless." Also, why is Adam so insistent that they run and hide from Lanchester? Surely Mutant X can take him! And then Adam doesn't want the girls going after Minhaus. This is getting ridiculous. Especially as they *both* prove they can kick GSA ass, let alone handle one intrepid reporter who's no Clark Kent.
I wonder whether the tag at Sanctuary at the end was put in because they had three minutes to burn. The conversation between the guys is at least character development--it does help to set up the sudden attraction between Brennan and Shalimar a bit. (There is some jealousy there in "Ex Marks the Spot", "Deadly Desire" and this episode. Excuse me. Protectiveness.) Also, the guys are talking about Shal and Minhaus; Shal and Emma are talking about clothes. Just how Junior High is this ending?
A Breed Apart
Trivia: One generally confusing point is that the season one finale, "A Breed Apart," (ep. 121) actually aired before the second-to-last episode, "Dancing on the Razor" (ep. 122). Thus fans watching the episodes in numerical order will see Mason, who was podded 'for all eternity' in episode 121, pop back up unharmed in 122, only to mysteriously become podded again in the first episode of the second season.
The episode's title, "A Breed Apart," came up in "Dark Star Rising," when Shalimar was telling Lt. Beau Longstreet what makes ferals special: "Among new mutants, we're a breed apart."
Mutant X has a secure website for mutants in the underground to check in on periodically.
'The Usual' safehouse instructions: Stay off the main arteries. Obey the posted speed limits. And check in with the secured website when you get to your destinations. Good luck.
Jesse was in charge of restocking the safehouses. Or at least the safehouse where Brennan and Shalimar were practicing. And just what did young Jesse put in that water bottle, an aphrodisiac?
Nitpicks: Ferals are supposed to fear fire, but Kelly's flames don't seem to bother Morgan's feral GS agent much at all.
Why does The Strand take so much time and energy to get Kelly back? What's the motivation? It's not like fire walls are that huge of a skill set.
What good is caging Kelly with the pipes when you can see doors behind her? Why isn't she running instead of screaming?
It's funny how when Shalimar's hurt she wants to chase after the bad guys. When Brennan's hurt, all she wants to do is get him back to Sanctuary.
If springing Ashlocke is that easy, what took the Strand so long?
Towards the beginning of the episode, Gabriel says he was in a Genomex-induced coma his entire adult life. He later tells Kelly he was aware the whole time. Which is it?
Why is Shalimar jogging through Sanctuary barefoot? You'd think that would be hard on her feet. Also, does sneaking up on a feral mutant, eyes in the back of her head or not, seem like a bad idea to anyone else?
Do New Mutants exude some kind of pheromone that causes them to all have growth spurts at the same time? Much like women who live together cycle together.
During his little heart to heart with Adam, Brennan seems pretty upset with himself about zapping Emma. He should be, it's the second time in three weeks! Adam reassures him that he did the right thing, but instead of immediately electrocuting the poor girl, a cooler headed person might have simply asked her to stand still and look away from her teammates.
Continuity (the good kind): Adam says Ashlocke was born without a conscience and thinks he's a god. Emma then says he told her something about this when they first met in "The Shock of the New."
We learn that Adam designed the subdermal governors and the pods. The rest of Mutant X seem awfully calm about this revelation.
Did Shalimar have to straddle Brennan after knocking him on his back in the dojo? Way to mess with the 'shippers. (This whole episode does that.)
Kelly calls The Strand an alternative to Mutant X. This ties Mutant X more tightly with the underground than previous episodes. So a big season one mystery: is Mutant X affiliated with the underground or the sole organizer?
Emma's room changes dramatically between seasons one and two? Also, I think it's dimensionally transcendental--it shouldn't fit in the space that's provided on the more familiar parts of the set.
Why does Shalimar grab her coat when Gabriel shows up? Wouldn't it be easier to fight, you know, without it?
When Shalimar leaps at Gabriel, the wires holding her up are clearly visible.
That scene, incidentally, reeks of a cliffhanger. Bad guy shows up, kidnaps Shal and the database. However, it goes on for fifteen minutes for a gentler cliffhanger. Trying to be nice to the fans in case they don't come back?
How did Kelly find, let alone copy the database if it was, in fact, encrypted? And what happened to the self-destruct mechanism the safehouse databases had in "Interface"?
Dr. Ken Harrison finally turns on Mason after all those threats and the attempted podding. No wonder he was Teflon coated; Morgan was protecting him so she'd have her man in place when the grand master plan went into effect.
So Shalimar gets a hug after a near-death experience? Why doesn't Emma after she dies for a whole five minutes? Perhaps that's the real reason she interrupts Brennan and Shalimar! Also, in the last scene, it looks like they're coming from Emma calling them, what did she want them to look at? And finally, what on Earth is Brennan apologizing for?