What's it like to be the only mutant in a small town in Kentucky? Pretty bad, as it turns out. X-Men: The Animated Series gives us another depressing but realistic analogy for queerness in "Hidden Agendas," plus a storyline about a renegade military off-shoot that convinces the residents of Cumberland, Kentucky to become even more bigoted than they already were. This episode is heavy.

Further reading: "Why are white supremacists protesting the deaths of black people?" (https://theconversation.com/why-are-white-supremacists-protesting-the-deaths-of-black-people-140046)

Next week's episode: "Graduation Day," X-Men: The Animated Series

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Mr. Sinister is a bad, bad man. X-Men: The Animated Series sure did remind us of that in "Descent," a truly disturbing origin story about our favorite villain. Apparently, he tortures homeless mutants (typical), works with Jack the Ripper (what, what??), and invents sunglasses. Okay, that third thing was more cool than scary, but still. Ryan and Maddy get pretty deep in to analyzing potential queer themes in this episode. We also try to remember our high school biology classes. Crack open your copy of The Origin of Species, because Mr. Sinister is here to teach us that evil is hereditary. Or, at least, it is in the Xavier family line. (No, seriously, this episode confirms that.)

Next week's episode: "Hidden Agendas," X-Men: The Animated Series

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Remember when Wolverine fought in World War II along with Captain America and punched out a bunch of Nazis? Well, Logan remembers, even though his Weapon X amnesia should not allow for that. Apparently, an affair with Steve Rogers in Paris is too romantic and too powerful for anybody to forget. This episode is very gay. We enjoyed it, even if it could've gone a bit deeper on its politics, but hey... sometimes you just want to watch a couple of super-powered queer dudes punching some Nazis.

Next week's episode: "Descent," X-Men: The Animated Series

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Remember Fabian Cortez? It's been a while. The last time Ryan and Maddy saw him on X-Men: The Animated Series, he had just failed an attempted coup against Magneto and gotten kidnapped by Apocalypse. Now Fabian Cortez is in South America, convincing native people to worship the mutant-god villain that Maddy and Ryan love to hate. Jubilee and Beast run afoul of Fabian and Apocalypse's plans in this racist one-shot episode that has all the subtlety of an Indiana Jones movie. We didn't like the episode. But we did enjoy making fun of it.

X-Men Spotlight (it's back!): Caliban

Next week's episode: "Old Soldiers," X-Men: The Animated Series

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Up top, Maddy and Ryan want to encourage their listeners to donate to bail funds and other methods of supporting the protests against racist police brutality (https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co) and also to remind any listeners participating in these protests of their rights (https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights).

Now it's time to talk about the much-maligned "Jubilee's Fairy Tale Theater" episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, which features a story within a story that takes place in a fantasy world of Jubilee's imagination. Logan is a troll, Jean Grey is a princess, and Magneto is a sorcerer. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier is a pompous dick in both the real world and the fantasy one.

Next week's episode: "The Fifth Horseman," X-Men: The Animated Series

E-mail us your feedback at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter at TheMutantAges, MIDImyers and RyanPagella. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting us via patreon.com/themutantages. Thanks!

Ryan and Maddy do a big listener mail episode to catch up on voicemails, emails, and comments from you lovely Mutant Ages listeners. The most important part of this episode is the listener question that sparks us to tell the story of teenaged Ryan meeting Hugh Jackman, and also teenaged Ryan coming out of the closet. That's all one story, by the way.

Next week's episode: "Jubilee's Fairytale Theater," X-Men: The Animated Series

E-mail us your feedback at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter at TheMutantAges, MIDImyers and RyanPagella. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting us via patreon.com/themutantages. Thanks!

In the second half of X-Men: The Animated Series "Storm Front" two-parter, Ryan and Maddy decide they like this storyline after all, because Storm finally gets to turn the tables on the abusive tyrant Arkon and fling some tornadoes around. Plus, Logan and Jubilee get some great moments in which both of them stand by their friend in their own ways as she works through her feelings. Ryan and Maddy reflect back on the time when Ryan was in an abusive relationship and the realistic parallels that they see here. It's heavy stuff, but also it's us, so there's still plenty of goofing off mixed in there too.

Next week: Listener mail episode!!

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No one should kidnap Storm, but for some reason, that's what happens in "Storm Front," the latest two-parter in X-Men: The Animated Series. Luckily, Jubilee and Logan are amazing in this episode, but it doesn't really make up for the fact that we have to watch some random alien guy treat Storm like crap. She better kick his ass in the second half of this two-parter. Or else!!

Next week's episode: "Storm Front, Part 2"

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This week, we watched one of Ryan's favorite X-Men: The Animated Series episodes, and we're delighted to discover how well it holds up. It's Halloween night and one of Wolverine's boyfriends shows up at the door: Nightcrawler! With the help of Rogue and Jubilee, Logan and Kurt have to go save Nightcrawler's mother from the Friends of Humanity. Also, it turns out Nightcrawler's mother is also Rogue's mother. Because it's Mystique. This show is a soap opera now, and only Jubilee has the guts to point it out.

Next week's episode: "Storm Front, Part 1"

E-mail us your feedback at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter at TheMutantAges, MIDImyers and RyanPagella. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting us via patreon.com/themutantages. Thanks!

If Mojo knew about The Mutant Ages, he would make sure we were canceled. Or he'd force us to pivot into a battle royale. Luckily, he has no idea! Unluckily, we had to watch "Longshot," a very uneven episode about the Mojoverse. Longshot crash-lands in Jubilee's car and has amnesia (of course), and then he falls in love with Wolverine all over again. Beast and Rogue have to put up with everyone's bullshit in the background, and Xavier just can't wait to get into Longshot's brain.

X-Men Spotlight: Mojo

Next week's episode: "Bloodlines"

E-mail us your feedback at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter at TheMutantAges, MIDImyers and RyanPagella. If you like what you hear, please consider supporting us via patreon.com/themutantages. Thanks!