Mutant X Episode Nitpicks (Season 2, 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 TWO, CONT'D.
by firstmutant
Beta aid by belle-marie
Body and Soul
After the “Kilohertz” debacle at WXDV, there’s a new television station in town, WXTY.
Dr. Mark Kearney worked under Adam for six months before he was transferred to The Walker Project.
Beverly Parrish, a.k.a. Christina, has allergies.
According to Adam, any physician who witnesses a death in the Mutant Xverse is required to show up at the coroner’s office to make a statement. If that's really the case, Adam must spend a lot of time at the coroner’s office.
In “Time Squared,” Adam told Emma that he was the bright young star when he started at Genomex. But in this episode he switches gears, claiming that he wasn’t Genomex’s golden boy after all, but the unfavored competitor of the real star, Dr. Dennis Malone. He says that Dr. Malone’s more profitable research attracted more attention and all the best scientists.
Adam also shifts the blame for creating new mutants, informing Mutant X that it was actually Dr. Malone who came up with the process for altering their DNA. If that’s so, then what exactly was Adam responsible for inventing at Genomex? The pods, the subdermal governors...and a method for shortening the lifespan of new mutants by triggering further mutation, as with Gabriel Ashlocke?
What’s up with the odd hesitation in Adam’s sentence when he explains to Mark Kearney that he and Shalimar just “...uh...work together”? That man is so creepy at times.
If Cyrus kills by replacing the other person’s soul, then how did he manage to kill Dennis Malone, Web Fusi@n's manager, and Leo McAllister without leaving the body he was in?
How did Kelly manage to get the limo driver’s Cheetos in the morgue? He wasn’t carrying them when he came from fighting Mutant X.
When Emma informs the team that Nolan seemed to be two people in one body, Jesse suggests that he might have been schizophrenic. Though that may have been true, schizophrenia is actually a disorder which causes delusions and hallucinations. He probably meant to say multiple personality disorder (MPD), a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder (DID). C'mon, Jess! I'd expect better from someone who spends his nights online chatting about panic disorders (see "Shadows of Darkness.")
With a photo search, Carla is able to match her videotaped image of Adam with the photo in the article from “Time Squared,” despite the fact that Adam’s decades younger in the latter picture.
Apparently assuming that everyone around them is deaf, both Shalimar and later Brennan start questioning Mark about astral projection right in front of his patients at the free clinic.
After the fight at Kelly's motel, Emma tells Adam that Brennan "hit her with a solid blast, but she just shook it off." As a matter of fact, Brennan never zapped Kelly at all.
Understudy
Nikki can’t have been with her evil foster family for very long. Adam found Shalimar and Nikki when both were 15. They bunked together for about a year before Adam, fearing feral territorial instincts, sent Nikki to a foster home. After 6 months, they sent her to a second foster family who beat her every day until she killed them. She was 17.
Brennan’s first line is, “Where the hell is Jesse with our backup?” That’s a mighty good question. In fact, we see neither hide nor hair of Jesse in the rest of the teaser....or the first scene....or the second....or the third....or the fourth. By the time he finally appears in the fifth scene, I was beginning to wonder whether he’d gone vacationing in Mexico with a little senorita.
Jesse’s description of the particle decelerator eerily resembles Patricia’s electron-slowing abilities from “The Future Revealed.” And does anyone else find it disturbing that Emma’s first question about the particle decelerator is, “What would happen if you used it against a person?” It’s probably more disturbing that I’m immediately thinking, “What would happen if you used it on Brennan?” *evil snicker*
Shalimar tells Nikki that they no longer have a curfew, yet she later tells Brennan that all the times he snuck into Sanctuary late, he was busted. Wonder why he would have to sneak in...
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego and where is Lucinda Alvarez? Dylan tells Nikki she’s in an abandoned warehouse on the east side. Nikki tells the team that she’s in an abandoned factory on the east side. Then Adam discovers that she’s actually in an abandoned warehouse on the west side.
From the photo Shalimar finds, it seems Nikki hasn’t aged a day since she was 17.
Despite Shalimar’s reassurances to the contrary, Adam could easily have found out what had happened to Nikki if he had wanted to, just the way he watched over Lexa in the years after she left him.
Adam’s says no one could have undergone that kind of abuse and survived--but we'll find out in "Lest He Become" that Shalimar did. Neither of them makes a reference to what happened to Shalimar at the psych ward when she was 10.
The Grift
Brennan’s high school sweetheart, Becky Dolan, shared an apartment with him until she dumped him and ran off with his money. She doesn’t seem surprised to see Brennan’s abilities, so she must have been another person Brennan told before joining Mutant X... Gee, he really snowed Emma in “Shock of the New,” didn’t he?
Con woman Becky’s son’s name is Con-nor. Get it?
Shalimar knows Brennan’s computer password.
Has Adam lost some of his famous computational skills in this episode? Why’s he asking Jesse if there’s a way to determine the force of the blast by checking out the cop car? Next episode, he’s calculating drill ratios, wall thickness, and room volumes in his head.
Shalimar’s got a point. For a former con man, Brennan certainly doesn’t lie well. It’s so obvious that he’s fibbing when he talks about his friend’s wedding...and he’s trying to do so to Emma, who can read minds.
When Brennan watches Becky’s message, she says, “I’m sure I’m the last person you ever wanted to hear from again. I mean, you probably hate me. But I really-I really need to see you, Brennan. And to finally say I’m sorry.” But when Emma and Shalimar replay the message, her words have changed to “I’m sure I’m the last person you ever wanted to see again. I mean, you probably hate me. But I really need to see you. I mean, to finally say I’m sorry.”
Adam says he doesn’t know anyone else capable of throwing off a charge like Brennan, but last episode, he said there were lots of experiments Genomex did that he knew nothing about. And we know that there are other electrical elementals; Gabriel Ashlocke had at least one in “Past as Prologue."
The QJ-14's eyes glow blue; blue never bodes well in Mutant X.
A couple alarms should sound in Brennan’s head during Becky’s waterworks act. Since the QJ-14s read minds, they should’ve known about the disk in the ceiling lamp. Even if Brennan’s unaware of their telepathic abilities, he should be wondering why Becky didn’t just hand them the disk to save Connor. With Connor as a hostage, she wouldn’t get paid anyway.
Ten bucks says Becky stole Brennan’s wallet as she was hugging him and assuring him that he was never a mark to her. Even odds?
At Destiny's End
Shalimar says Emma’s capable of giving “love hits.”
In case you're keeping score, Emma’s the first Mutant X team member to say, “I love you.” The only other member who will say it is Brennan to Jesse in "No Exit," and that's because he was prompted and thought they were both dying.
Shal’s wearing her favorite shirt again, only this time it’s completely black. After the laundry mishap in "Crossroads of the Soul," she must have decided to just cut her losses and dye the thing.
From Jesse’s horny behavior in this episode, it would seem that Lexa’s “No Exit” quip, “You guys don’t get out much, do you?” isn’t far off. This time it’s Jesse freely passing out his phone number to unknown women at the harbor. At this point, the question is not how do so many people know Sanctuary’s number, but why doesn’t everyone know Sanctuary’s number?
And if that isn’t bad enough, Emma mind-blasts the man making climbing gear, but forgets to make him forget about their encounter. Then Shalimar comes around and shows off her powers too. Adam's right. They might as well wear Mutant X tee-shirts.
Despite the fact that their minds are supposedly connected, Tyler manages to sneak up on Emma twice, first on the beach and then at the party.
One can't help but notice that compared to his beach buddies, Tyler is pretty pale.
It must be an omen. Emma tells Tyler “This is going to sound like a cheesy line, but...” This is almost exactly what she said to Caleb Mathias in “Lazarus Syndrome.” That didn’t end well. Then Tyler says she’s coming on to him, and she says “I haven’t decided yet.” This is what Kyle Strong said to her in “Sign from Above.” That didn’t end well either. For the sake of her future love life, Emma really needs to come up with some new material.
Though Tyler’s abilities seem somewhat similar to the precog John Bishop’s in “The Prophecy” (without the whole black eyes thing), Emma tells the team he’s a telempath with the ability to see future possibilities. [Hey, writers? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.]
Why doesn’t Emma just use a psionic blast on Skye when he’s holding them at gunpoint? That's a possible future that Tyler doesn't even consider.
Within These Walls
Special guest star: Lyriq Bent, who plays Harris, will return with more independence and an improved vocabulary in “The Art of Attraction” as art thief Randall Blake.
We finally find out at least one of the sources of Adam’s wealth: Christina’s contacts. Adam and Christina had an affair while he was at Genomex. She received orders to use his connections to help her agency create covert mutant assassins like Nick Maddox. She hooked him up with powerful people who helped finance his escape from Genomex and creation of Sanctuary and Mutant X.
Adam reveals that the comlinks won’t work in a lead-lined room.
Shalimar confesses to Emma that she had no friends growing up after she made an ex-boyfriend eat his math textbook in school.
The vintage Cutlass Brennan stole has the same license plate as the black car he was driving in “The Grift.”
If Nick Maddox can only produce as much energy as sunlight he absorbs, a more logical plan might have been for Christina to transport him at night...or, since we now know that it sometimes rains in the Mxverse, during a storm. Not that that would necessarily work, since Nick demonstrates that he can somehow still kill security guards even when inside a room bereft of windows, like Chadway Insurance.
When Nick and Asia step out of the prison truck, Shalimar and Brennan just stare at him, rather than taking him out immediately, giving him time to charge up. That’s uncharacteristic of Brennan at least, who usually shoots first and asks questions later.
Jesse announces that he has access to Sanctuary’s and Genomex’s databases of new mutants and another section of Genomex’s treating people with no signs of mutation at all. That’s new. When did they obtain these?
When the team is trying to find Adam, why doesn’t Emma try to reach him telempathically, the way she found Brennan in “I Scream the Body Electric”? Lead may affect comlinks, but it shouldn’t have any effect on her abilities. This same question will come up again in “Final Judgement.”
Christina’s company is called Chadway Insurance, but the company Jesse pulls up on the screen is called Montclair Insurance. As it turns out, Montclair Security is actually the name of Simon Fletcher's office in "One Step Closer." Silly computer.
As Mutant X enters Chadway Insurance, Shalimar uses her yellow!feral vision to determine that people died in the room, despite the fact that her eyes aren't glowing. That's a first.
Though a frustrated Christina tells Adam that Nick has taken out her backup, three guards soon demonstrate that they are alive enough to confront Mutant X as they look around Chadway Insurance.
Jesse says that they can track Christina’s cellphone even though it’s not on, because it leaves a digital trace from node to node. Really? You'd think such a top-secret operative would’ve have found a way to make her signal untraceable.
Shalimar tells Emma that before Mutant X, she was a lone wolf all the way. Yet it's revealed in "Dream Lover" that she hung out with Gia Duchamps while she was on the streets. And what about Zack Lockhart?
When Brennan and Jesse are in the Helix, Brennan asks Emma to patch them into Sanctuary’s system so that Jesse can trace Christina’s phone. Aren’t the two computer systems already connected?
It’s ironic that Adam congratulates Brennan for keeping the team together while he was gone. In fact, Brennan was too busy blowing his top to do much of that. Despite Brennan’s impatience, it was Shalimar who decided when it was time to find Adam. While Brennan’s arrogance bruised egos, Emma kept Jesse focused on the task at hand, and Shalimar kept Brennan in check. Jesse persevered until he found Christina’s company in spite of Brennan’s belittling his judgement. It was Emma who obtained Christina’s cell number when Brennan’s intimidation tactics failed, and Jesse who traced it to Adam. Shalimar and Emma may not have leadership aspirations, but had it not been for them, the team would have fallen apart.
Hard Time
This was a frightening episode, because let’s face it. The last thing Brennan needs is more testosterone.
Brennan took the credit for moving his crew up from petty theft to armed robbery in “Shock of the New,” but apparently, that bank job wasn’t the first one he’d been offered.
Brennan says Jesse is weaker after using his powers.
New ability: Jesse phases his fingers into the lock of McMullen’s cell, and then turns them to open it. Not sure that it makes sense that phased fingers could turn a solid lock, but it’s still a neat trick.
Emma dons her “Crime of the New Century” glasses again to pretend to be a graduate student.
Brennan says that the non-violent Denny "wouldn’t hurt a fly," yet he’s been placed in Hillview State Penitentiary, which Adam says is reserved for the state’s “most dangerous criminals.” How well does Brennan know Denny, anyway?
Emma reports that Denny’s autopsy bloodwork was negative for street drugs. Later, Adam finds that his dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine levels are increased...that finding alone would have raised flags for possible drug use.
Brennan pulls up a list of 14 men killed while in Hillview Penitentiary. Among the names are First Assistant art director Sean McLoughlin, First Assistant Art Director Jae Pak, Production Designer John Blackie, Construction Manager Ron Lightfoot, Property Master Jim Murrin, Property Master Geoff Murrin, and of course, Dennis Logan.
Despite the fact that Hillview is a maximum security prison in which Warden Wallington “knows everything that goes on in his prison,” Emma is able to search Dr. Rigas’s office and Jesse phases into Dr. Rigas’s office and Terry McMullen’s solitary confinement cell without security cameras picking it up. And even where there is definite camera surveillance, as in Brennan’s cell, it’s clear that no one is watching the tapes, since no one comes running when Jesse phases in.
Brennan tells Jesse that he’s been to jail. Since he will claim in “Divided Loyalties” that he never got caught for his criminal actions, is he talking about juvenile detention? Or maybe the incident he mentions in “Once Around,” where he missed doing real time when he was falsely accused?
Brennan and Jesse go into Hillview under armed robbery charges--Adam makes long rap sheets for each of them. So why are the boys surprised to find that Brennan’s is already in the computer in “Divided Loyalties”?
Perhaps feeling that he has something to prove to Brennan, Jesse uncharacteristically acts like an idiot in this episode, acting first and thinking about the consequences later. He hasn’t done that since “Blood Ties.”
Emma tells Kearns that she’s been waiting for him to escort Jesse back for two hours. That’s a lie that should never work in a high security prison, since the prison records should easily show that no one scheduled her to talk to Jesse in the first place.
When Jesse sneaks in to watch the first McMullen fight, the audience is exclusively male. Isn't it lucky for Mutant X that the invitation list for the Brennan-Jesse bout includes some women? Otherwise, Shalimar and Emma would have stuck out like sore thumbs.
When Rigas goes to get a vial of ST1277 to inject Brennan, wouldn't he notice that one of the vials is missing?
As Jesse’s preparing to get Brennan out of solitary, one of the etchings on the cell's wall behind him reads “No Exit,” the title of an episode of Season 3.
The mirror tactic Jesse uses to determine whether there are guards coming will be replicated by Shalimar in “The Taking of Crows.”
When Kearns finds Jesse outside of McMullen’s cell just after he’d locked him back in his own, it should spread a general alarm about the security of the prison. After all, Warden Wallington’s already edgy about inmate security after Denny escaped.
Since Jesse wasn’t around when Brenann was dosed with the steroid, how does he know that he’s supposed to pretend to convulse after being injected?
The Warden assumes that Brennan’s electricity must be a side effect of the drug. An increase in steroids causing electricity to shoot from your hands? Hm...no.
Brennan, who remembered his every action when he was under the influence of Lorna Templeton’s pheromone, asserts that he doesn’t recall what he said when he was amped up. Yet during the fight, he was aware enough to not reveal Shalimar and Adam when he recognized them at the match. Yeah, we don’t believe him either.
Even after poor Jesse was beaten to a pulp, Shalimar doesn’t stop to help him haul Brennan out of the cage after she tears the wall of the cage down. How rude.
Under the Cloak of War
Brennan has his own motorcycle now, a black one.
Shalimar’s wearing the wig that lengthens her hair to “Dream Lover” proportions.
The episode's title, "Under the Cloak of War," is part of an anti-war quote from Albert Einstein: "It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
As Adam flirts with Serena, a little of John Shea’s Lex Luthor emerges.
After Serena kicks him in the face, Adam’s holding his neck as though he’d been strangled. He wasn't.
How is Mutant X able to just walk away from Serena’s death without anyone trying to stop them? Surely with the number of affluent people who are in attendance, there would be some kind of security presence at the party.
Since blue is bad in Mutant X, the name of the assassination ring is Blue Bolt.
If Serena’s part of such an elite organization, why wouldn’t she have done some surveillence and known that Adam was not at the party alone?
Jesse makes Shalimar a rap sheet this time, registered with all the local police databases: multiple assaults, suspected homicide, attempted homicide (all charges which, by the way, do actually apply to Shalimar). With all the rap sheets created for them throughout this year, it’s a wonder any of them can walk around in the light of day without immediately being arrested.
Shalimar walks into Mother's Milk, and her comlink is instantly disabled--Jesse says it’s because they have an anti-surveillance system in place in the bar. Nevertheless, after Noel has delivered the knockout injection, he doesn’t bother to scan her for bugs (as did Sonya in “Russian Roulette”) or remove her comlink ring (as Ivanov does in “Reality Check”).
If Jesse’s phased the knife, how does it puncture the 'blood' bag he has under his shirt?
Adam was best friends with Benjamin McTeague for ten years until he had an affair with his wife Lucy over twenty years ago. Ben Jr says that his parents split “a few years later,” that his mother died when he was 15, and that his father committed suicide “five years ago,” shortly after the divorce. This would seem to imply that Adam and Lucy’s affair went on for over ten years, and that Ben is just over 20 years old, though he appears to be in in his thirties.
The banners for the genetic conference are the same ones used at Dr. Dennis Malone’s convention in “Body and Soul.”
While Noel is casing the conference before the assassination hit, wouldn’t he recognize Jesse as the ‘victim’ from the night before?
As Shalimar’s fighting Noel in the final scene, the wind blows dramatically though her hair, even though they’re indoors.
Adam makes several questionable judgments during this episode. He doggedly asserts that his Congressional speech is so vital that it’s worth risking the lives and future safety of Mutant X. He’s the only one who thinks so. He is advocating for tighter regulation of advanced genetic research, yet his actual position is that no one else be allowed to perform genetic research but himself. It’s clear in “The Taking of Crows” that he’s funding at least one other genetics lab in addition his own, Dr. Marcus’s, and with tighter controls in place, he might have trouble finding a cure for any of his team members. Adam automatically assumes that his speech is the reason Serena was sent to murder him, despite Jesse’s common-sense counter that the person behind it could really any number of people they’ve taken down in the past. Because of this narrow minded focus, his arrogance sends him off to confront McTeague in person, a meeting which only serves to strengthen Ben’s resolve to murder him and indirectly blow Shalimar’s cover. It is this breach of security that makes Noel nervous enough to place that missile bracelet on Shalimar in the first place.
When Adam decides that Shalimar’s the one to infiltrate Blue Bolt, no one points out the obvious potential flaw in this plan: Shalimar was the one who killed Serena. If any other members of Blue Bolt were present at the assassination attempt or were monitoring her progress remotely, they would already know exactly who Shalimar is.
Lastly, Adam is uncharacteristically unconcerned that Shalimar’s in trouble. He cites the fact that she’s careful (her reckless style got her shot in “Understudy") and that she’s the most powerful feral on record (Emma’s pretty powerful too, but two episodes ago he was running Brennan and Jesse after Emma like big brothers, despite her cautiousness post-the-Kyle-incident in “Sign from Above.”) And even after Shalimar informs the team of the kind of weapon she’ll have to use, Adam decides that he would rather give his speech than back down, thereby necessitating Jesse and Brennan's using their abilities in an environment that couldn’t be more public.
Once Around
The episode's title comes up in Sam Raymond's order to his flunky Martin: "Give it the once around for me."
Adam‘s discussing his security plans with Silverman as they stand across the room from Sam Raymond; even had Sam turned out to have been nothing more than a run-of-the-mill feral, he could have heard that. Then after he discovers that this information was leaked, Adam shouts Vic’s location to Silverman as he and Emma are standing in the street. Seriously, any of Sam’s accomplices could have been listening in at that point.
When Jesse looks up FBI agent's credit card to find out how Vic has been spending his money, he types David Hirschfield into the computer. But when we cut to Vic at the apartment, the last name on the credit card he's holding (his thumb is conveniently over some of the digits) is Brewster. Also, the date the card expires is 2000, though season two takes place after that year.
Since Mutant X has been doing nothing but fly around in circles since the hydraulics line blew, it’s amazing that Sam’s men managed to lose them at all.
The EDD is finally up and running again, in a way. Adam uses it to create a double of Vic.
Brennan crash-lands the Helix in the middle of a schoolyard, and then, apparently sticking to his “they’d never suspect this kind of car” theory from “Within These Walls,” grabs a slow moving schoolbus as a getaway car. Interesting choice...
Final Judgment
Emma’s wearing her skates again.
Honestly, Shalimar is justified in tailing Adam as he leaves Sanctuary, because that man has never left on his own without some kind of disaster occurring. The team should just hide a GPS on him to save time.
Shalimar begins her call to Sanctuary by saying, “Guys, it’s Shalimar.” Who else would it be? Only two girls on the team, and she sure doesn’t sound like Emma.
Knowing that his team was able to track him down by retracing his computer search in “Within These Walls,” Adam carefully encrypts his call on a secure server this time around.
Jesse laments that Adam has encoded the hardcore genetic data, and that Adam’s holographic AI encryption system is beyond military grade (actually, we'll discover in "Into the Moonless Night," that this so-called sophisticated encoding is simply a four letter password, L*E*X*A. Hee.) I’ll bet Jesse’s regretting his break up with the hacker genius Toni Quintana now, huh? Even so, you’d think that someone would suggest calling the telecyber Michelle Bigelow. She owes them one.
Jesse says that the official bodies only started registering DNA samples back in the late '80s, so if Marsden’s been underground later than that, he can’t find him. Doesn’t he mean that Marsden's untraceable if he went underground any earlier than the '80s?
When Jesse can’t find Marsden’s identity from his genetic fingerprint, Brennan suggests that Jesse check the new mutant database to see if he might be a mutant. Eh? They have a sample of his DNA. Shouldn’t that be enough to determine whether he’s a mutant or not? It was with Leo Pierce in “Brother’s Keeper.”
Jesse states that the satellite images leading from the harbor where Adam was taken were doctored, but later in the Helix, Emma notices that there’s been recent activity near the missile silo where The Tribunal has taken him. The Tribunal, it seems, doesn't pay much attention to detail.
Marsden appears to be one hour away from everything.
How does Brennan suddenly know Marsden’s name as they're entering the warehouse? He didn't tell it to them.
Jesse says that while they’re in stealth mode, they are invisible to all scanning spectrums. So how was the Kovakistan army able to detect and shoot them down in “No Man Left Behind?”
Mason has definitely moved up in the world. He might have had to work to convince the FBI to take a back seat for the investigation in “Crime of the New Century,” but since his days in the pod, he’s acquired enough pull that he’s convincing the power behind the power to go after his enemies.
Adam claims that he invented neuroimaging technology. It must be an incredibly intelligent machine indeed, for it reconstructs events from outside the individual’s perspective, and is intuitive enough to pinpoint the desired events even when the programmed dates and times are completely incorrect. According to Warren:
April 14 last year = “Lit Fuse”
September 7 last year = “Blood Ties”
October 15 last year = “Shock of the New”
June 29 this year = “Whose Woods These Are”
July 12 this year = “No Man Left Behind"
For example, Warren asserts that Brennan’s bank robbery in “Shock of the New” occurred after Ashley Elliot’s “Lit Fuse” rampage and Shalimar and Emma’s Nexxogen (though Warren asserts they broke into the GSA) break-in in “Blood Ties.” Actually, "Shock of the New" came first. This contradiction becomes apparent when Warren goes on to say that Emma did not became a member of Adam’s team until after Mutant X rescued her in “Shock of the New,” but the images clearly show that Emma was already a part of Adam’s team during the Nexxogen break-in in "Blood Ties."
Believe it or not, it gets even worse. Warren shows Gabriel taunting Shalimar at the oil refinery in “The Future Revealed.” Not only was Adam not present when that occurred, but Gabriel wasn’t there either...it was merely a psionic illusion placed in Shalimar’s mind by Gabriel. Warren says that Mutant X, with the aid of another terrorist organization (Gaumont’s strike force) stole fissionable material to sell to international terrorists in “Power Play.” But Gaumont died before he got a chance to sell his xeraxium, and Adam wasn’t there to see Jesse recover it anyway--at that point, he wasn’t even in radio contact with the team. Nor was he in the same country as his teammates while they were fighting Kovakistan government jets on their way home with the PVG. Seriously, was anyone paying attention to the timeline during this episode?
Janet rides home with the entire team in the Double Helix. How many seats are there in the Helix now?
Inferno
This is the first episode of Mutant X where there is snow on the ground.
Emma’s room now has the same rainbow lighting as Shalimar’s.
Emma’s mother, besides being into organic food and the black arts, was also into the occult. Emma’s apparently had her own history with ghosts.
Disguises this episode: Brennan dons Emma’s glasses from “Hard Time” to act as a reporter, and Shalimar digs out her hard hat from “Lit Fuse” to act as the insurance investigator Sandra James.
Ray Larkin’s memorial page dates are 1965-2002, lending credence to the “Season 2 takes place in 2002" constituent.
Emma says that when she saw the ghost of the little girl, her mother “didn’t know about my abilities yet,” which seems to imply that her mother was aware of her psionic powers at some point.
Ray is supposed to be the lead fire investigator and a third generation fire fighter, so it seems strange that he’s using a fire extinguisher on a large blaze without calling for backup.
Similarly, why is Mutant X walking into a fire in a chemical factory without any means for putting it out?
Lisa states that Ray hated wearing watches. It seems that he might need one, being the chief of the fire department.
When Emma looks into the mirror at Ray’s house, why does it break? Is she now a telekinetic?
Why does Adam know about Mulligan’s Tavern?
When Billy’s starting his fourth fire, why isn’t he curious about why the two reporters from his brother’s house are in the building?
One Step Closer
Special guest writer: Actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
This episode's title, "One Step Closer," might come from the kidnapper Christian's warning to Mutant X: "Take one more step. Go on, take one step closer and the senator’s daughter loses everything from the neck up."
Adam admits to Brennan that he doesn’t have a handle on the direction their mutations are going to take. Though he will have figured this out by the end of the next season, he won’t tell the team, despite his revelation in “Within These Walls.”
As Brennan’s abilities begin to go haywire in the parking garage, the lights overhead begin to flicker. When this occurs in Sanctuary, however, the lights stay on.
Shalimar calls Sanctuary to let Jesse know Megan was kidnapped, but this time, she doesn’t feel the need to preface her message with, “Guys, it’s Shalimar,” as she did in "Final Judgement." Heh-heh.
By bizarre coincidence, the kidnapper’s using the same candles as Emma has in her room, except that he lights his with a blowtorch.
Adam with a stethoscope! 'Nuf said.
Adam tells the team that Gabriel’s genes were at the point of ripping themselves apart, while Brennan’s powers are merely experiencing a re-amping, which he can learn to consciously control-with help from Emma. But why would losing his temper affect Brennan’s control over his abilities? With the exception of Michelle Bigelow, we've never seen that in any of the mutants before.
As Jesse, Shalimar, and Emma enter the empty warehouse prior to the explosion, it shouldn’t be too hard for either of them to notice that there’s nobody inside.
Adam (to Brennan): Your body is mutating faster than your mind can keep up with the change. [LOL. Nah, I won’t go there. Too easy...]
Since they don’t trust Simon Fletcher, they decide to bring him to their secret headquarters to wire him? At least in “Deadly Desire” they were smart enough to take Carl Ames to a safehouse instead, and even that was risky.
Jesse, after a second of looking, announces that he can’t find a back door to the C4 necklace on Megan. Even if that were the case, why don’t they just look for the controller that Christian had in his hand?
If Brennan fills the air around Megan with electrostatic impulses like the ones in Megan’s body, should Jesse be able to phase her head? After all, it was Brennan’s safe zone that was meant to keep Jesse from phasing into non-existence in “Power Play.”
If Brennan needs some alone time, why doesn’t he go to his room instead of commandeering Emma’s?
When Emma pulls up Simon Fletcher's record on her computer, his name appears as "Simon G. Blake." Oops.
Nitpicking Sections: General ~ Season One ~ Season One cont'd. ~ Season Two ~ Season Two, cont'd. ~ Season Three ~ Season Three, cont'd.
SEASON TWO, CONT'D.
by firstmutant
Beta aid by belle-marie
Body and Soul
After the “Kilohertz” debacle at WXDV, there’s a new television station in town, WXTY.
Dr. Mark Kearney worked under Adam for six months before he was transferred to The Walker Project.
Beverly Parrish, a.k.a. Christina, has allergies.
According to Adam, any physician who witnesses a death in the Mutant Xverse is required to show up at the coroner’s office to make a statement. If that's really the case, Adam must spend a lot of time at the coroner’s office.
In “Time Squared,” Adam told Emma that he was the bright young star when he started at Genomex. But in this episode he switches gears, claiming that he wasn’t Genomex’s golden boy after all, but the unfavored competitor of the real star, Dr. Dennis Malone. He says that Dr. Malone’s more profitable research attracted more attention and all the best scientists.
Adam also shifts the blame for creating new mutants, informing Mutant X that it was actually Dr. Malone who came up with the process for altering their DNA. If that’s so, then what exactly was Adam responsible for inventing at Genomex? The pods, the subdermal governors...and a method for shortening the lifespan of new mutants by triggering further mutation, as with Gabriel Ashlocke?
What’s up with the odd hesitation in Adam’s sentence when he explains to Mark Kearney that he and Shalimar just “...uh...work together”? That man is so creepy at times.
If Cyrus kills by replacing the other person’s soul, then how did he manage to kill Dennis Malone, Web Fusi@n's manager, and Leo McAllister without leaving the body he was in?
How did Kelly manage to get the limo driver’s Cheetos in the morgue? He wasn’t carrying them when he came from fighting Mutant X.
When Emma informs the team that Nolan seemed to be two people in one body, Jesse suggests that he might have been schizophrenic. Though that may have been true, schizophrenia is actually a disorder which causes delusions and hallucinations. He probably meant to say multiple personality disorder (MPD), a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder (DID). C'mon, Jess! I'd expect better from someone who spends his nights online chatting about panic disorders (see "Shadows of Darkness.")
With a photo search, Carla is able to match her videotaped image of Adam with the photo in the article from “Time Squared,” despite the fact that Adam’s decades younger in the latter picture.
Apparently assuming that everyone around them is deaf, both Shalimar and later Brennan start questioning Mark about astral projection right in front of his patients at the free clinic.
After the fight at Kelly's motel, Emma tells Adam that Brennan "hit her with a solid blast, but she just shook it off." As a matter of fact, Brennan never zapped Kelly at all.
Understudy
Nikki can’t have been with her evil foster family for very long. Adam found Shalimar and Nikki when both were 15. They bunked together for about a year before Adam, fearing feral territorial instincts, sent Nikki to a foster home. After 6 months, they sent her to a second foster family who beat her every day until she killed them. She was 17.
Brennan’s first line is, “Where the hell is Jesse with our backup?” That’s a mighty good question. In fact, we see neither hide nor hair of Jesse in the rest of the teaser....or the first scene....or the second....or the third....or the fourth. By the time he finally appears in the fifth scene, I was beginning to wonder whether he’d gone vacationing in Mexico with a little senorita.
Jesse’s description of the particle decelerator eerily resembles Patricia’s electron-slowing abilities from “The Future Revealed.” And does anyone else find it disturbing that Emma’s first question about the particle decelerator is, “What would happen if you used it against a person?” It’s probably more disturbing that I’m immediately thinking, “What would happen if you used it on Brennan?” *evil snicker*
Shalimar tells Nikki that they no longer have a curfew, yet she later tells Brennan that all the times he snuck into Sanctuary late, he was busted. Wonder why he would have to sneak in...
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego and where is Lucinda Alvarez? Dylan tells Nikki she’s in an abandoned warehouse on the east side. Nikki tells the team that she’s in an abandoned factory on the east side. Then Adam discovers that she’s actually in an abandoned warehouse on the west side.
From the photo Shalimar finds, it seems Nikki hasn’t aged a day since she was 17.
Despite Shalimar’s reassurances to the contrary, Adam could easily have found out what had happened to Nikki if he had wanted to, just the way he watched over Lexa in the years after she left him.
Adam’s says no one could have undergone that kind of abuse and survived--but we'll find out in "Lest He Become" that Shalimar did. Neither of them makes a reference to what happened to Shalimar at the psych ward when she was 10.
The Grift
Brennan’s high school sweetheart, Becky Dolan, shared an apartment with him until she dumped him and ran off with his money. She doesn’t seem surprised to see Brennan’s abilities, so she must have been another person Brennan told before joining Mutant X... Gee, he really snowed Emma in “Shock of the New,” didn’t he?
Con woman Becky’s son’s name is Con-nor. Get it?
Shalimar knows Brennan’s computer password.
Has Adam lost some of his famous computational skills in this episode? Why’s he asking Jesse if there’s a way to determine the force of the blast by checking out the cop car? Next episode, he’s calculating drill ratios, wall thickness, and room volumes in his head.
Shalimar’s got a point. For a former con man, Brennan certainly doesn’t lie well. It’s so obvious that he’s fibbing when he talks about his friend’s wedding...and he’s trying to do so to Emma, who can read minds.
When Brennan watches Becky’s message, she says, “I’m sure I’m the last person you ever wanted to hear from again. I mean, you probably hate me. But I really-I really need to see you, Brennan. And to finally say I’m sorry.” But when Emma and Shalimar replay the message, her words have changed to “I’m sure I’m the last person you ever wanted to see again. I mean, you probably hate me. But I really need to see you. I mean, to finally say I’m sorry.”
Adam says he doesn’t know anyone else capable of throwing off a charge like Brennan, but last episode, he said there were lots of experiments Genomex did that he knew nothing about. And we know that there are other electrical elementals; Gabriel Ashlocke had at least one in “Past as Prologue."
The QJ-14's eyes glow blue; blue never bodes well in Mutant X.
A couple alarms should sound in Brennan’s head during Becky’s waterworks act. Since the QJ-14s read minds, they should’ve known about the disk in the ceiling lamp. Even if Brennan’s unaware of their telepathic abilities, he should be wondering why Becky didn’t just hand them the disk to save Connor. With Connor as a hostage, she wouldn’t get paid anyway.
Ten bucks says Becky stole Brennan’s wallet as she was hugging him and assuring him that he was never a mark to her. Even odds?
At Destiny's End
Shalimar says Emma’s capable of giving “love hits.”
In case you're keeping score, Emma’s the first Mutant X team member to say, “I love you.” The only other member who will say it is Brennan to Jesse in "No Exit," and that's because he was prompted and thought they were both dying.
Shal’s wearing her favorite shirt again, only this time it’s completely black. After the laundry mishap in "Crossroads of the Soul," she must have decided to just cut her losses and dye the thing.
From Jesse’s horny behavior in this episode, it would seem that Lexa’s “No Exit” quip, “You guys don’t get out much, do you?” isn’t far off. This time it’s Jesse freely passing out his phone number to unknown women at the harbor. At this point, the question is not how do so many people know Sanctuary’s number, but why doesn’t everyone know Sanctuary’s number?
And if that isn’t bad enough, Emma mind-blasts the man making climbing gear, but forgets to make him forget about their encounter. Then Shalimar comes around and shows off her powers too. Adam's right. They might as well wear Mutant X tee-shirts.
Despite the fact that their minds are supposedly connected, Tyler manages to sneak up on Emma twice, first on the beach and then at the party.
One can't help but notice that compared to his beach buddies, Tyler is pretty pale.
It must be an omen. Emma tells Tyler “This is going to sound like a cheesy line, but...” This is almost exactly what she said to Caleb Mathias in “Lazarus Syndrome.” That didn’t end well. Then Tyler says she’s coming on to him, and she says “I haven’t decided yet.” This is what Kyle Strong said to her in “Sign from Above.” That didn’t end well either. For the sake of her future love life, Emma really needs to come up with some new material.
Though Tyler’s abilities seem somewhat similar to the precog John Bishop’s in “The Prophecy” (without the whole black eyes thing), Emma tells the team he’s a telempath with the ability to see future possibilities. [Hey, writers? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.]
Why doesn’t Emma just use a psionic blast on Skye when he’s holding them at gunpoint? That's a possible future that Tyler doesn't even consider.
Within These Walls
Special guest star: Lyriq Bent, who plays Harris, will return with more independence and an improved vocabulary in “The Art of Attraction” as art thief Randall Blake.
We finally find out at least one of the sources of Adam’s wealth: Christina’s contacts. Adam and Christina had an affair while he was at Genomex. She received orders to use his connections to help her agency create covert mutant assassins like Nick Maddox. She hooked him up with powerful people who helped finance his escape from Genomex and creation of Sanctuary and Mutant X.
Adam reveals that the comlinks won’t work in a lead-lined room.
Shalimar confesses to Emma that she had no friends growing up after she made an ex-boyfriend eat his math textbook in school.
The vintage Cutlass Brennan stole has the same license plate as the black car he was driving in “The Grift.”
If Nick Maddox can only produce as much energy as sunlight he absorbs, a more logical plan might have been for Christina to transport him at night...or, since we now know that it sometimes rains in the Mxverse, during a storm. Not that that would necessarily work, since Nick demonstrates that he can somehow still kill security guards even when inside a room bereft of windows, like Chadway Insurance.
When Nick and Asia step out of the prison truck, Shalimar and Brennan just stare at him, rather than taking him out immediately, giving him time to charge up. That’s uncharacteristic of Brennan at least, who usually shoots first and asks questions later.
Jesse announces that he has access to Sanctuary’s and Genomex’s databases of new mutants and another section of Genomex’s treating people with no signs of mutation at all. That’s new. When did they obtain these?
When the team is trying to find Adam, why doesn’t Emma try to reach him telempathically, the way she found Brennan in “I Scream the Body Electric”? Lead may affect comlinks, but it shouldn’t have any effect on her abilities. This same question will come up again in “Final Judgement.”
Christina’s company is called Chadway Insurance, but the company Jesse pulls up on the screen is called Montclair Insurance. As it turns out, Montclair Security is actually the name of Simon Fletcher's office in "One Step Closer." Silly computer.
As Mutant X enters Chadway Insurance, Shalimar uses her yellow!feral vision to determine that people died in the room, despite the fact that her eyes aren't glowing. That's a first.
Though a frustrated Christina tells Adam that Nick has taken out her backup, three guards soon demonstrate that they are alive enough to confront Mutant X as they look around Chadway Insurance.
Jesse says that they can track Christina’s cellphone even though it’s not on, because it leaves a digital trace from node to node. Really? You'd think such a top-secret operative would’ve have found a way to make her signal untraceable.
Shalimar tells Emma that before Mutant X, she was a lone wolf all the way. Yet it's revealed in "Dream Lover" that she hung out with Gia Duchamps while she was on the streets. And what about Zack Lockhart?
When Brennan and Jesse are in the Helix, Brennan asks Emma to patch them into Sanctuary’s system so that Jesse can trace Christina’s phone. Aren’t the two computer systems already connected?
It’s ironic that Adam congratulates Brennan for keeping the team together while he was gone. In fact, Brennan was too busy blowing his top to do much of that. Despite Brennan’s impatience, it was Shalimar who decided when it was time to find Adam. While Brennan’s arrogance bruised egos, Emma kept Jesse focused on the task at hand, and Shalimar kept Brennan in check. Jesse persevered until he found Christina’s company in spite of Brennan’s belittling his judgement. It was Emma who obtained Christina’s cell number when Brennan’s intimidation tactics failed, and Jesse who traced it to Adam. Shalimar and Emma may not have leadership aspirations, but had it not been for them, the team would have fallen apart.
Hard Time
This was a frightening episode, because let’s face it. The last thing Brennan needs is more testosterone.
Brennan took the credit for moving his crew up from petty theft to armed robbery in “Shock of the New,” but apparently, that bank job wasn’t the first one he’d been offered.
Brennan says Jesse is weaker after using his powers.
New ability: Jesse phases his fingers into the lock of McMullen’s cell, and then turns them to open it. Not sure that it makes sense that phased fingers could turn a solid lock, but it’s still a neat trick.
Emma dons her “Crime of the New Century” glasses again to pretend to be a graduate student.
Brennan says that the non-violent Denny "wouldn’t hurt a fly," yet he’s been placed in Hillview State Penitentiary, which Adam says is reserved for the state’s “most dangerous criminals.” How well does Brennan know Denny, anyway?
Emma reports that Denny’s autopsy bloodwork was negative for street drugs. Later, Adam finds that his dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine levels are increased...that finding alone would have raised flags for possible drug use.
Brennan pulls up a list of 14 men killed while in Hillview Penitentiary. Among the names are First Assistant art director Sean McLoughlin, First Assistant Art Director Jae Pak, Production Designer John Blackie, Construction Manager Ron Lightfoot, Property Master Jim Murrin, Property Master Geoff Murrin, and of course, Dennis Logan.
Despite the fact that Hillview is a maximum security prison in which Warden Wallington “knows everything that goes on in his prison,” Emma is able to search Dr. Rigas’s office and Jesse phases into Dr. Rigas’s office and Terry McMullen’s solitary confinement cell without security cameras picking it up. And even where there is definite camera surveillance, as in Brennan’s cell, it’s clear that no one is watching the tapes, since no one comes running when Jesse phases in.
Brennan tells Jesse that he’s been to jail. Since he will claim in “Divided Loyalties” that he never got caught for his criminal actions, is he talking about juvenile detention? Or maybe the incident he mentions in “Once Around,” where he missed doing real time when he was falsely accused?
Brennan and Jesse go into Hillview under armed robbery charges--Adam makes long rap sheets for each of them. So why are the boys surprised to find that Brennan’s is already in the computer in “Divided Loyalties”?
Perhaps feeling that he has something to prove to Brennan, Jesse uncharacteristically acts like an idiot in this episode, acting first and thinking about the consequences later. He hasn’t done that since “Blood Ties.”
Emma tells Kearns that she’s been waiting for him to escort Jesse back for two hours. That’s a lie that should never work in a high security prison, since the prison records should easily show that no one scheduled her to talk to Jesse in the first place.
When Jesse sneaks in to watch the first McMullen fight, the audience is exclusively male. Isn't it lucky for Mutant X that the invitation list for the Brennan-Jesse bout includes some women? Otherwise, Shalimar and Emma would have stuck out like sore thumbs.
When Rigas goes to get a vial of ST1277 to inject Brennan, wouldn't he notice that one of the vials is missing?
As Jesse’s preparing to get Brennan out of solitary, one of the etchings on the cell's wall behind him reads “No Exit,” the title of an episode of Season 3.
The mirror tactic Jesse uses to determine whether there are guards coming will be replicated by Shalimar in “The Taking of Crows.”
When Kearns finds Jesse outside of McMullen’s cell just after he’d locked him back in his own, it should spread a general alarm about the security of the prison. After all, Warden Wallington’s already edgy about inmate security after Denny escaped.
Since Jesse wasn’t around when Brenann was dosed with the steroid, how does he know that he’s supposed to pretend to convulse after being injected?
The Warden assumes that Brennan’s electricity must be a side effect of the drug. An increase in steroids causing electricity to shoot from your hands? Hm...no.
Brennan, who remembered his every action when he was under the influence of Lorna Templeton’s pheromone, asserts that he doesn’t recall what he said when he was amped up. Yet during the fight, he was aware enough to not reveal Shalimar and Adam when he recognized them at the match. Yeah, we don’t believe him either.
Even after poor Jesse was beaten to a pulp, Shalimar doesn’t stop to help him haul Brennan out of the cage after she tears the wall of the cage down. How rude.
Under the Cloak of War
Brennan has his own motorcycle now, a black one.
Shalimar’s wearing the wig that lengthens her hair to “Dream Lover” proportions.
The episode's title, "Under the Cloak of War," is part of an anti-war quote from Albert Einstein: "It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
As Adam flirts with Serena, a little of John Shea’s Lex Luthor emerges.
After Serena kicks him in the face, Adam’s holding his neck as though he’d been strangled. He wasn't.
How is Mutant X able to just walk away from Serena’s death without anyone trying to stop them? Surely with the number of affluent people who are in attendance, there would be some kind of security presence at the party.
Since blue is bad in Mutant X, the name of the assassination ring is Blue Bolt.
If Serena’s part of such an elite organization, why wouldn’t she have done some surveillence and known that Adam was not at the party alone?
Jesse makes Shalimar a rap sheet this time, registered with all the local police databases: multiple assaults, suspected homicide, attempted homicide (all charges which, by the way, do actually apply to Shalimar). With all the rap sheets created for them throughout this year, it’s a wonder any of them can walk around in the light of day without immediately being arrested.
Shalimar walks into Mother's Milk, and her comlink is instantly disabled--Jesse says it’s because they have an anti-surveillance system in place in the bar. Nevertheless, after Noel has delivered the knockout injection, he doesn’t bother to scan her for bugs (as did Sonya in “Russian Roulette”) or remove her comlink ring (as Ivanov does in “Reality Check”).
If Jesse’s phased the knife, how does it puncture the 'blood' bag he has under his shirt?
Adam was best friends with Benjamin McTeague for ten years until he had an affair with his wife Lucy over twenty years ago. Ben Jr says that his parents split “a few years later,” that his mother died when he was 15, and that his father committed suicide “five years ago,” shortly after the divorce. This would seem to imply that Adam and Lucy’s affair went on for over ten years, and that Ben is just over 20 years old, though he appears to be in in his thirties.
The banners for the genetic conference are the same ones used at Dr. Dennis Malone’s convention in “Body and Soul.”
While Noel is casing the conference before the assassination hit, wouldn’t he recognize Jesse as the ‘victim’ from the night before?
As Shalimar’s fighting Noel in the final scene, the wind blows dramatically though her hair, even though they’re indoors.
Adam makes several questionable judgments during this episode. He doggedly asserts that his Congressional speech is so vital that it’s worth risking the lives and future safety of Mutant X. He’s the only one who thinks so. He is advocating for tighter regulation of advanced genetic research, yet his actual position is that no one else be allowed to perform genetic research but himself. It’s clear in “The Taking of Crows” that he’s funding at least one other genetics lab in addition his own, Dr. Marcus’s, and with tighter controls in place, he might have trouble finding a cure for any of his team members. Adam automatically assumes that his speech is the reason Serena was sent to murder him, despite Jesse’s common-sense counter that the person behind it could really any number of people they’ve taken down in the past. Because of this narrow minded focus, his arrogance sends him off to confront McTeague in person, a meeting which only serves to strengthen Ben’s resolve to murder him and indirectly blow Shalimar’s cover. It is this breach of security that makes Noel nervous enough to place that missile bracelet on Shalimar in the first place.
When Adam decides that Shalimar’s the one to infiltrate Blue Bolt, no one points out the obvious potential flaw in this plan: Shalimar was the one who killed Serena. If any other members of Blue Bolt were present at the assassination attempt or were monitoring her progress remotely, they would already know exactly who Shalimar is.
Lastly, Adam is uncharacteristically unconcerned that Shalimar’s in trouble. He cites the fact that she’s careful (her reckless style got her shot in “Understudy") and that she’s the most powerful feral on record (Emma’s pretty powerful too, but two episodes ago he was running Brennan and Jesse after Emma like big brothers, despite her cautiousness post-the-Kyle-incident in “Sign from Above.”) And even after Shalimar informs the team of the kind of weapon she’ll have to use, Adam decides that he would rather give his speech than back down, thereby necessitating Jesse and Brennan's using their abilities in an environment that couldn’t be more public.
Once Around
The episode's title comes up in Sam Raymond's order to his flunky Martin: "Give it the once around for me."
Adam‘s discussing his security plans with Silverman as they stand across the room from Sam Raymond; even had Sam turned out to have been nothing more than a run-of-the-mill feral, he could have heard that. Then after he discovers that this information was leaked, Adam shouts Vic’s location to Silverman as he and Emma are standing in the street. Seriously, any of Sam’s accomplices could have been listening in at that point.
When Jesse looks up FBI agent's credit card to find out how Vic has been spending his money, he types David Hirschfield into the computer. But when we cut to Vic at the apartment, the last name on the credit card he's holding (his thumb is conveniently over some of the digits) is Brewster. Also, the date the card expires is 2000, though season two takes place after that year.
Since Mutant X has been doing nothing but fly around in circles since the hydraulics line blew, it’s amazing that Sam’s men managed to lose them at all.
The EDD is finally up and running again, in a way. Adam uses it to create a double of Vic.
Brennan crash-lands the Helix in the middle of a schoolyard, and then, apparently sticking to his “they’d never suspect this kind of car” theory from “Within These Walls,” grabs a slow moving schoolbus as a getaway car. Interesting choice...
Final Judgment
Emma’s wearing her skates again.
Honestly, Shalimar is justified in tailing Adam as he leaves Sanctuary, because that man has never left on his own without some kind of disaster occurring. The team should just hide a GPS on him to save time.
Shalimar begins her call to Sanctuary by saying, “Guys, it’s Shalimar.” Who else would it be? Only two girls on the team, and she sure doesn’t sound like Emma.
Knowing that his team was able to track him down by retracing his computer search in “Within These Walls,” Adam carefully encrypts his call on a secure server this time around.
Jesse laments that Adam has encoded the hardcore genetic data, and that Adam’s holographic AI encryption system is beyond military grade (actually, we'll discover in "Into the Moonless Night," that this so-called sophisticated encoding is simply a four letter password, L*E*X*A. Hee.) I’ll bet Jesse’s regretting his break up with the hacker genius Toni Quintana now, huh? Even so, you’d think that someone would suggest calling the telecyber Michelle Bigelow. She owes them one.
Jesse says that the official bodies only started registering DNA samples back in the late '80s, so if Marsden’s been underground later than that, he can’t find him. Doesn’t he mean that Marsden's untraceable if he went underground any earlier than the '80s?
When Jesse can’t find Marsden’s identity from his genetic fingerprint, Brennan suggests that Jesse check the new mutant database to see if he might be a mutant. Eh? They have a sample of his DNA. Shouldn’t that be enough to determine whether he’s a mutant or not? It was with Leo Pierce in “Brother’s Keeper.”
Jesse states that the satellite images leading from the harbor where Adam was taken were doctored, but later in the Helix, Emma notices that there’s been recent activity near the missile silo where The Tribunal has taken him. The Tribunal, it seems, doesn't pay much attention to detail.
Marsden appears to be one hour away from everything.
How does Brennan suddenly know Marsden’s name as they're entering the warehouse? He didn't tell it to them.
Jesse says that while they’re in stealth mode, they are invisible to all scanning spectrums. So how was the Kovakistan army able to detect and shoot them down in “No Man Left Behind?”
Mason has definitely moved up in the world. He might have had to work to convince the FBI to take a back seat for the investigation in “Crime of the New Century,” but since his days in the pod, he’s acquired enough pull that he’s convincing the power behind the power to go after his enemies.
Adam claims that he invented neuroimaging technology. It must be an incredibly intelligent machine indeed, for it reconstructs events from outside the individual’s perspective, and is intuitive enough to pinpoint the desired events even when the programmed dates and times are completely incorrect. According to Warren:
April 14 last year = “Lit Fuse”
September 7 last year = “Blood Ties”
October 15 last year = “Shock of the New”
June 29 this year = “Whose Woods These Are”
July 12 this year = “No Man Left Behind"
For example, Warren asserts that Brennan’s bank robbery in “Shock of the New” occurred after Ashley Elliot’s “Lit Fuse” rampage and Shalimar and Emma’s Nexxogen (though Warren asserts they broke into the GSA) break-in in “Blood Ties.” Actually, "Shock of the New" came first. This contradiction becomes apparent when Warren goes on to say that Emma did not became a member of Adam’s team until after Mutant X rescued her in “Shock of the New,” but the images clearly show that Emma was already a part of Adam’s team during the Nexxogen break-in in "Blood Ties."
Believe it or not, it gets even worse. Warren shows Gabriel taunting Shalimar at the oil refinery in “The Future Revealed.” Not only was Adam not present when that occurred, but Gabriel wasn’t there either...it was merely a psionic illusion placed in Shalimar’s mind by Gabriel. Warren says that Mutant X, with the aid of another terrorist organization (Gaumont’s strike force) stole fissionable material to sell to international terrorists in “Power Play.” But Gaumont died before he got a chance to sell his xeraxium, and Adam wasn’t there to see Jesse recover it anyway--at that point, he wasn’t even in radio contact with the team. Nor was he in the same country as his teammates while they were fighting Kovakistan government jets on their way home with the PVG. Seriously, was anyone paying attention to the timeline during this episode?
Janet rides home with the entire team in the Double Helix. How many seats are there in the Helix now?
Inferno
This is the first episode of Mutant X where there is snow on the ground.
Emma’s room now has the same rainbow lighting as Shalimar’s.
Emma’s mother, besides being into organic food and the black arts, was also into the occult. Emma’s apparently had her own history with ghosts.
Disguises this episode: Brennan dons Emma’s glasses from “Hard Time” to act as a reporter, and Shalimar digs out her hard hat from “Lit Fuse” to act as the insurance investigator Sandra James.
Ray Larkin’s memorial page dates are 1965-2002, lending credence to the “Season 2 takes place in 2002" constituent.
Emma says that when she saw the ghost of the little girl, her mother “didn’t know about my abilities yet,” which seems to imply that her mother was aware of her psionic powers at some point.
Ray is supposed to be the lead fire investigator and a third generation fire fighter, so it seems strange that he’s using a fire extinguisher on a large blaze without calling for backup.
Similarly, why is Mutant X walking into a fire in a chemical factory without any means for putting it out?
Lisa states that Ray hated wearing watches. It seems that he might need one, being the chief of the fire department.
When Emma looks into the mirror at Ray’s house, why does it break? Is she now a telekinetic?
Why does Adam know about Mulligan’s Tavern?
When Billy’s starting his fourth fire, why isn’t he curious about why the two reporters from his brother’s house are in the building?
One Step Closer
Special guest writer: Actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
This episode's title, "One Step Closer," might come from the kidnapper Christian's warning to Mutant X: "Take one more step. Go on, take one step closer and the senator’s daughter loses everything from the neck up."
Adam admits to Brennan that he doesn’t have a handle on the direction their mutations are going to take. Though he will have figured this out by the end of the next season, he won’t tell the team, despite his revelation in “Within These Walls.”
As Brennan’s abilities begin to go haywire in the parking garage, the lights overhead begin to flicker. When this occurs in Sanctuary, however, the lights stay on.
Shalimar calls Sanctuary to let Jesse know Megan was kidnapped, but this time, she doesn’t feel the need to preface her message with, “Guys, it’s Shalimar,” as she did in "Final Judgement." Heh-heh.
By bizarre coincidence, the kidnapper’s using the same candles as Emma has in her room, except that he lights his with a blowtorch.
Adam with a stethoscope! 'Nuf said.
Adam tells the team that Gabriel’s genes were at the point of ripping themselves apart, while Brennan’s powers are merely experiencing a re-amping, which he can learn to consciously control-with help from Emma. But why would losing his temper affect Brennan’s control over his abilities? With the exception of Michelle Bigelow, we've never seen that in any of the mutants before.
As Jesse, Shalimar, and Emma enter the empty warehouse prior to the explosion, it shouldn’t be too hard for either of them to notice that there’s nobody inside.
Adam (to Brennan): Your body is mutating faster than your mind can keep up with the change. [LOL. Nah, I won’t go there. Too easy...]
Since they don’t trust Simon Fletcher, they decide to bring him to their secret headquarters to wire him? At least in “Deadly Desire” they were smart enough to take Carl Ames to a safehouse instead, and even that was risky.
Jesse, after a second of looking, announces that he can’t find a back door to the C4 necklace on Megan. Even if that were the case, why don’t they just look for the controller that Christian had in his hand?
If Brennan fills the air around Megan with electrostatic impulses like the ones in Megan’s body, should Jesse be able to phase her head? After all, it was Brennan’s safe zone that was meant to keep Jesse from phasing into non-existence in “Power Play.”
If Brennan needs some alone time, why doesn’t he go to his room instead of commandeering Emma’s?
When Emma pulls up Simon Fletcher's record on her computer, his name appears as "Simon G. Blake." Oops.