When Dr Anton Sevarius, creator of the mutates, is kidnapped, everyone suspects the mutate leader Talon. And for good reason: Sevarius turned him into a winged panther against his will. Kidnapping the doctor might bring about a cure. But things aren’t what they seem. Circumstances can tempt even heroes into acting like villains. Will this tear the Maza family and the clan apart?
Lost? Read The Cage episode review part 1.
Rocked and Rolled
The Trio returns – to an ambush. However, they defeat the mutates.
Brooklyn again tries to convince Maggie that Xanatos is bad news. She’s still snowed.
In an interesting tactical decision, Brooklyn lets the mutates go. He reasons that they’ll find out Xanatos’s true character sooner or later. Um…a lot of people never figure out other people’s less-than-stellar characters. And the mutates want to believe what Xanatos says. What choice to they have but to side with him?
Vinny and Elisa are watching the security vid. It shows… Well, what?!
According to Greg: In Greg’s ramble on The Cage at Station 8, he admits there are a lot of identities given away too soon. To quote him: “The concept of seeing a character ‘in shadows’ or in partial “silhouette” just seemed tough to get across the ocean and back with our production team on this ep.”
In one of the rooms of the underground facility, Sevarius is cobbling together Mt Dew. Wait, no it’s the “cure.” Finally we see his kidnapper: Goliath?! Wow. He’s actually taken the direct route, like an antagonist would do. Props!
Collision Course
In Xanatos’s office, Xanatos is grilling Talon. If the Mutate didn’t take Sevarius, how’d he know the doc was alive? Because Talon was casing Gen U Tech and he heard the guard say Elisa “just missed” Anton. Hard to do if the scientist was dead.
Then David, Owen, and Talon watch the security footage that has since been enhanced. It shows…Goliath taking Sevarius.
Well. That’s a bit unexpected.
Xanatos asks Owen with more than a little enthusiasm if they can track Goliath .
Ever calm and composed, Owen says there’s no need for tracking. The only lab Goliath knows about and can access is Cyberbiotics’s underground research facility.
At this, Talon blasts out.
Owen’s hot to go after him, but as usual, Xanatos reins in his wild tiger of a security chief. “We’ll let him lead the charge.”
Sevarius is grousing about Goliath hovering over his shoulder. It’s the same complaint he had when Xanatos was breathing down his neck during Metamorphosis.
Elisa walks in.
“Oh, woooonderful! Now there’s two of you!” You can’t not like Sevarius! Tim Curry giving it his all, as always. <3
Elisa lays into Goliath over kidnapping Sevarius. Poor Goliath, he just wanted to “spare” Elisa pain. Besides, he couldn’t just leave Sevarius out there; Talon was going to grab him. Well, what a humanitarian hero you are, Goliath! You kidnapped Sevarius for his own good. Pretty sure that’s how human smugglers and traffickers justify their crimes.
Elisa tries to talk G into freeing the doc. The ends don’t justify the means! “That’s the way Xanatos behaves.” But more importantly, they can’t trust anything Sevarius makes. Goliath is of the opinion that threats will work wonders.
Talon and Co kick the door in. They see what they want: Goliath and Sevarius working together, just like Xanatos said they were! Ah, mad respect for Xanatos’s ability to come up with a story! Wow. Really. To make matters worse, Elisa is in on it with the dastardly pair!
Goliath and Talon fight.
Sevarius makes a run for it, but the mutates grab him. Now he’s in trouble.
Then Goliath ends up under a pile of rubble.
Tensions escalate. Talon is about to execute Sevarius. Then the doc thinks on is feet. He tells them the vial in his hand is the antidote. There’s only one serving, but he can make more! Maggie wants to believe he does have the cure, but the other mutates don’t care anymore. Being a powerful flying, electrified beast is kinda cool.
The twist in this episode is that the Mutates, other than Maggie, have come to terms with their condition, but Elisa and Goliath have not. Well, maybe Goliath has, but he’s acting in Elisa’s best interest, he thinks. This is like many terminally ill people. They often aren’t at all surprised by the cancer or other likely fatal condition diagnosis. They somehow already know. The people who take it hardest are frequently the family and friends. By the same token, the person with the diagnosis has accepted their mortality, while their family and friends are pushing them to receive treatment that often shortens the person’s life and decreases the quality of their remaining days. #PersonalExperience
Mags protests: “Is your vengeance more important than our humanity?” Ooh, another anti-vengeance episode! I like it.
Sevarius tips his hand though when he says Talon should take it first. Elisa points out that it shouldn’t matter who takes it. It’s not the cure; it’s poison! But Mags is still buying the antidote line.
Truth Will Out
Things look bad for Sevarius – until Xanatos appears, wearing exo battle armor and flanked by the steel clan. He shoots Fang on a low-power setting that kicks the cat across the room.
Sevarius immediately takes shelter on Xanatos’s side. Well, now the cat’s out of the bag. Or is it? Xanatos could have possibly salvaged his story. It would have taken work, but it could have been done. Maybe. I think Xanatos was just done with this failed experiment; it’s become too labor intensive.
Xanatos apologizes to Talon that “things turned out this way. We’d all be happier if you’d remained in the dark, but I couldn’t let you damage Anton. He’s a bit of a bother, but his mind represents infinite possibilities.” Damage, hah! Sevarius is a tool, in all meanings of the word! Xanatos sees him only as a means to an end. Anton is fine with this, though, judging by his smile. I guess it’s good to be wanted. Job security!
A Note on Sevarius: Sevarius doesn’t really change from episode to episode. What does change is your knowledge of what he’s capable of and what kind of person he is. I don’t think he’s wantonly cruel; he just likes to push the scientific envelope. He’s like the scientists who worked and work on bio warfare programs. They didn’t think about the suffering their creations would case. They didn’t consider that they made enough contagions to wipe out the population of the earth many times over. If they considered or consider the ramifications of their discoveries, they justify them as being for the defense of their country, or…a way to earn a buck. If you want a first-hand account from a man who helped build and run the Soviet Union’s classified Biopreparat germ warfare division, read Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World–Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It by Ken Alibek.
Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War by Judith Miller, William J Broad, and Stephen Engelberg is also a gripping read.
Sevarius is the epitome of science without ethics. He’s like Frankenstein, playing God but not wanting to take the responsibility of a god for his creations. The thrill is in the act of creation, not the aftermath. Even situations like this he simply writes off as adventures that he survived. After all, being locked in an oil tank and almost turned into a BBQ dish didn’t deter him from working on Gen U Tech’s projects. He’s incorrigible. And we love him for it. Well, and because Tim Curry is his VA!
Talon is shocked.
Xanatos is dismissive. “He’s the scientist. You’re just the experiment.” Ooh, harsh but true.
After a snarky hello to Goliath, who’s waking up in the rubble heap, Xanatos, Sevarius, and the Steel Clan depart.
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt for Maggie; she’s still convinced the Mt Dew is the cure. No, it’s poison, just like real Mt Dew.
Talon then appeals to her emotions. He needs her, he says. Way to guilt her, dude. “We’re not strong alone. We’re strong together.”
She decides against trying the new flavor.
It ends with Elisa introducing Maggie and Talon to the rest of the Maza clan. Aw, Derek will be home for Christmas!
So now everyone is free of their cages, self-imposed and otherwise.
Life Application
This episode is a good chance to look at your life and its cage(s). What is limiting you? If you’re not sure, start look at your rationalizations, aka excuses for why you do and/or don’t do certain things. Weak people quit when the going gets tough. They’ll always have a rationalization, though. Are there relationships issues you need to hash out? Are there secrets you shouldn’t keep? Is there a dream you’ve been too afraid to pursue? When you recognize your cage, you can start to pick the lock. Or blow the door off its hinges. It’s up to you.
Final Thoughts
And so ends the Xanatos-Mutates alliance. It was nice while it lasted. I guess. I still don’t know why exactly he wanted them hanging around, eating him out of house and home. The best guess I have is that it was for the same reason people have pets. I’m not sure why that is either, though, so… Perhaps he had a plan in the works. Maybe he liked the novelty? Like having a fish tank? Or was it the pleasure of having Elisa’s brother under his control?
I don’t think he’s too broken up about losing them. I’m sure he’s not happy about it, but given his usual Xanatos Tag Endings, he’ll probably just shrug it all off as an experiment that didn’t work out as hoped. That’s the nature of experiments. We already know the experiments produced serum that can mutate humans in a controlled way. Look at Wolf. He’s not an eel cat bat, he’s a wolfman. What else can you do with that formula?
Now what will become of the mutates? They decided not to stay with the clan. No surprise. It would have made it hard on the writers if they had.
And what of the Maza family? They seem cool with it all now, but what will happen when they have a fridge moment? They’re in shock now, but that won’t last. Will Peter loop out and hunt down Xanatos and Sevarius? Or…did Elisa and Derek decide to lie by omission and avoid telling them how exactly their son ended up as a flying cat? Only time will tell.
It’s amusing that Goliath tricked Xanatos for once! Xanatos was miles down the “Talon kidnapped Sevarius” trail. Then again, who would suspect Goliath of kidnapping?
Next Tuesday we look at The Price. It’s one of my favorite episodes. It tackles heavy issues, with Xanatos and Hudson on opposite sides of the questions. Choices will be made. Prices will be paid. The price will be high for one unlikely person.
Thoughts? Comment!
Maybe give humans the powers of the Third Race?
there never really was any follow-up on Elisa’s vow to take down Xanatos, especially as she has cooperating witnesses.
My guess is that the Illuminati is protecting Xanatos- and Sevarius. The prospect of magically-augmented humans is too tempting for the Illuminati to decline.