Starburst 10/27/03, on Adventure-Inc.net
Taking of Crows
Written by Mark Amato
Directed by Bill Corcoran
The Story
The Mutant X team decides to let its hair down and venutre out to a sleazy nightclub, where things take a turn for the worse. Lexa's drink is spiked, and she collapses in a heap on the floor, shaking and twitching uncontrollably. After uncovering who was behind this datardly deed, and discovering that Lexa now only has 72 hours to live, our intrepid bunch of mutant misfits embark on an adventure to locate the antidote to this deadly drug before it's too late. But they'd better hurry, this drug could mean 'the end of all mutants!' and we wouldn't want that now would we?
The Verdict
Upon viewing the previous two episodes for the first time, I assumed that Mutant X was just having a couple of bad days in a row. Although it now appears that this is a running theme throughout the series. Jesse really said it all when he quips "We haven't exactly had a good track record recently." No you haven't which is a crying shame as I really want to like this made-for-TV carbon copy of the X-Men, but it just fails to deliver on too many counts.
This far-fetched, slow plodding story really doesn't do the series any favours whatsoever and features more of the trademark bad dialogue which seems to be its one redeeming feature. in the nightclub Jesse is asked what he does and replies "I tend to...phase from one thing to the other." Oh, it's all in the delivery.
The Best Bit
The catty fight between Shalimar and a fellow prison inmate on the vegetable patch.
Shadows of Darkness
Written by Mark Amato
Directed by Andrew Potter
The Story
Brennan receives a call from his old friend Dr Palance, the head of Psychiatry at St Pastor's a hospital that recently reopened 15 years after a fire ravaged teh building, killing everyone that stood in its path.
After reports of strange activity at the hospital, the good doctor then asks Brennan and his band of mutants for some assistance. But upon arrival, the team soon discovers that whatever evil, sinister force is at work there, it's beginning to play evil little games with the team's minds...like pawns in a cruel game of spiritual chess.
The Verdict
Mutant X embarks into creepy X-Files territory with this spooky, paranormal tale of things that go bump in the night. Unfortunately, the story and script were the only thing about this episode that really haunted me. Yes, it has its moments, but it just feels like the whole thing has been done to death too many times to really care anymore. It also seemed to lack atmosphere, or any kind of coherent plot, which would have been a a nice bonus.
The Best Bit
The cockroaches crawling across the floor was a nice touch. But I wasn't scared. Deep down I knew that I was safe.
David Hill
© Starburst
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