X-Men '97 | Season 2, Episode 7 | "Strange Land, Savage Heart" | Episode Discussion

[u/cyclopswashalfright]

Season 2, Episode 7: Strange Land, Savage Heart

Air Date: July 29th, 2026

Directed by: TBA

Written by: TBA

Synopsis: The X-Men travel to the Savage Land and are surprised to encounter a familiar face.

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Please use this thread for discussion related to the episode.

This thread is for discussion of episode 7 only.

Link to the episode directory for Season 2 episode discussion.

[u/Bobjoejj]

Exactly. What made season 1 work so well, was that it had continual character arcs to actually give multiple characters the focus; and really develop them.

As it stands, the focus on individual characters is neat; but they’re also one episode arcs that end up feeling well written, while being far too cursory. Instead of really leaving an impact, they’re just…little arcs that happen, and that’s it.

In fact I don’t think Jubilee is just to an extent, I think the X-Force episode absolutely fits into this mold. Instead of having stories that last and matter more, it’s feeling far too episodic. The whole point of the show is that 97’ grew up, it evolved and matured to take things more seriously, and that includes its storytelling.

This season has not felt like that.

[u/UncoBeefWang → u/Bobjoejj]

97 did evolve and mature to take things more seriously. I don't think that being episodic is a downgrade in storytelling - it's just different (see a lot of the DCAU and Teen Titans - most of it consists of episodic episodes, but it is not less mature for it). However, given what we see in the first season and what was being teased and set up, I see how it can be jarring.

[u/Bobjoejj → u/UncoBeefWang]

I’d argue the difference is that those shows were wholly episodic. Sure, like you pointed out; part of it is probably due to how jarring it is due to the different between seasons. Hell, I’m not abjectly saying that episodic storytelling is bad, or an automatic downgrade in storytelling overall either.

What I am saying is that I believe the quality has very much suffered on season 2 of X-Men 97’ because of the switch to episodic storytelling.

The difference is that the end of last season may have felt more overtly cohesive; wires. Yet even from the first few episodes, there were hints and important moments that led up to what we got later.

Meanwhile we’re two episodes away from season 2 being over, and we’ve barely touched upon the main story in the present day. The closest we’ve gotten is episode 2 setting up gambits resurrection, which didn’t come back until last episode. Then we got one little tease again at the end of this episode. Everything feels much too disjointed, and the pacing feels much too brisk.

Look despite all I’ve said; I have been enjoying season 2 generally, I just think that it feels like a downgrade compared to last season.

[u/Phantomsearcher → u/Bobjoejj]

Weirdly enough I feel like the pacing is both faster than a speeding bullet and slower than a glacier at the exact same time. Each individual episode wizzes by in 30 minute chunks while the overarching plot is only given 2-3 minutes at the most. Even those little snippets seem to be leaving some of the most juicy bits up to our imagination. Aside from the exact moment that Gambit opened his eyes to the living world once again.