Still trying to get all my thoughts from 1x05 in order. Wow, what powerful television writing.
Val/Mystique’s “…I’ve made a huge mistake” expression when she saw Rogue dancing with Magneto said it all lmao. Ready for my girl to finally reveal herself so my favorite messy mutant family can get some screentime together.
Looking back at the first five episodes, it’s kind of fascinating to see the show blend so many aspects of Rogue and Magneto’s relationships from other mediums into what we get here.
616: Savage Land aesthetic and emphasis on the power imbalance of their first meeting; Magneto and Remy making passive-aggressive digs, a la the Joseph triangle days; Legacy era Magneto steamrolling Rogue into a relationship after constantly negging her (his little smirk when she first reacts with fury to his proposal recalls so many panels from that run); Remy stepping away and letting Rogue realize for herself that she’s making the wrong decision.
AOA: Mystique leaving young Rogue with Magneto in hopes of his helping her with her powers; he’s able to touch her because something something magnetism powers deus ex machina— and grooms her into becoming his child bride.
Fox movies: Magneto telling Rogue it’s her duty to sacrifice her autonomy for the betterment of “mutantkind”, claiming her powers make her the one most uniquely suited for the role (kidnapping her and trying to use her mutation to turn world leaders into mutants in X-Men 2000, versus telling her that she must accept his marriage proposal or the UN won’t accept Genosha in 97).
It’s… honestly kind of brilliant?
It highlights how unbalanced that relationship always was, while also making clear why their history, Magneto’s subtle manipulation, and Rogue’s lack of relationship experience would all tempt her to still give in at first. And it still gives Magneto his shades of grey with those “final” (I doubt he’s dead) heroic acts. They’re such complicated characters and I appreciate the show exploring things beyond the surface level.
I think the show could have handled that dance scene better. It was just...cringe-inducing, over the top and completely unnecessary (I know, I'm a Romy fan saying this, but I've heard indifferent viewers state the same thing). That scene could have been Rogue and Mags slow dancing in the middle of the crowd and it would have had the same effect of Rogue realizing this was not what she wanted. It just seemed unnecessarily cruel to have that scene unfold with Remy in the room (I suppose the point was to have his heart thoroughly smashed, but still).
Otherwise, yep, the show is very well written...and I dare say, addictive? LOL.
Gambit. Rogue. Repeat.
Honestly… that dance still doesn’t fully gel for me, either. But I’m trying to understand what the writers were going for. So here’s my take.
As with the majority of Rogue’s scenes so far, it was high drama compressed into minimum screentime… which only left me asking more questions. Mostly because it didn’t match what (little) we’d seen from her this season.
We had her acting completely platonic with Magneto while worrying over Remy in 1x03. She refers to and treats Magneto like an actual boss in 1x04 - she doesn’t make doe eyes or some wheedling expression when waiting to hear his arcade verdict; she looks as nervous as anybody else. (And after smiling at Remy offering her coffee, she deflates after Magneto pulls his power move with the sugar.) Finally, in 1x05, she reacts with surprise and anger when Magneto makes his proposal— realizing that securing political clout was his whole purpose for taking over the team. He wears her down by leaning hard into the “your true purpose is to help other mutants; of course men will love you, that’s inevitable, but it will never be as important as what you would accomplish here” jazz (it’s striking that he never directly tells her he loves her, only that Remy does). She’s so unhappy that she’s already in tears when she goes to find Remy.
(Also note that Magneto never brings up their ability to touch during his pitch to her. Which almost makes it seem like an afterthought Rogue clings to, pretending that makes this decision worth it in the end, instead of acknowledging she‘s giving up the one connection she really wanted— and Remy knows she’s lying to herself before she does. It comes so out of left field that it almost felt like she was being deliberately cruel to prevent him from talking her out of it.)
Since 1x05 made clear Rogue and Magneto did not become romantic again until after said proposal (and killed the most logical misdirect theory; ie he was helping her with her powers), I’m guessing now his true purpose for all their time spent together - persuading her to accept a role at Genosha.
“You think making me your queen means we’re getting back together?” is such a clunky line without context - it insinuates they’ve discussed the “queen” part before, but solely as a political position.
(And that whole thing have been nice to get more clarification on, since I doubt we’re getting any now lol.)
I will also say: one explanation I saw for the OTT “float dancing” that made more sense is that Rogue’s wearing a bare-armed version of her infamous lace dress. She can’t be in the middle of the dance floor, just due to the nature of her mutation— and especially not wearing that. (Contrast to 1x01, when she’s enviously watching everyone dance in the club from high in the rafters.) She’s been handed exactly what she wanted in 1x01, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s with the wrong person. It also feels notable that an item we associate with her and Remy’s relationship has been “destroyed” in order to fit a role she’s struggling with.
Posted this in the Colossus thread too.
And another scan.
Re X-Men 97: I wish I could join in on the cartoon discussion but I don't have Disney +. I'm waiting until I can purchase the seasons on YT. So that will be awhile.
Last edited by From The Shadows; 04-15-2024 at 02:17 AM.
Their dance is a mirror for the couple in the club that Rogue is watching in the first episode. She wants to be them and then gets to be them- then realises it isn't exactly what she wanted.
Really hope we get to see them duke it out. We've seen Rogue on a rampage in some previews, but curious where she's directing her anger at. They might save the Bastion reveal till later in the season.Originally Posted by seccruz
I also agree that it would be nice to see Rogue's other friendships acknowledged. I miss Rogue and Storm interacting, though I can't imagine Rogue being bright and sassy right now, she'll need her friends around her. Storm is going to be so overwhelmed coming back to all the mess that happened in her absence lol.
Yeah, all of your points make sense, but it still doesn't sit easy with me. They're asking a lot from viewers and I'm sure a lot of this reasoning is probably flying right over most casual viewers heads, LOL. I should probably do a rewatching of the series...or maybe I'll wait until it's over to get the full effect.
Has there been any hints that Rogue will be in the next episode? I'm wondering if it's worth losing a half hour of sleep to watch it if it's just going to be the Storm and Forge show.
Gambit. Rogue. Repeat.
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