| Power Surge | |
| Season Two, Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air date | October 13, 2001 |
| Written by | Doug Molitor |
| Directed by | Gary Graham |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Growing Pains |
next Bada-Bing Bada-Boom |
- "Stop it! I can't hear myself think!"
- —Jean Grey
Premise
Jean Grey's telepathic and telekinetic abilities start growing in sudden bursts. At first she tries to ignore it, but with each burst she has increasing trouble regaining control. Meanwhile, the school gets a new science/phys. ed. teacher.
Summary
At a school assembly, Jean wins the MVP Soccer Award. Everyone is cheering madly, except Rogue. Jean starts her acceptance speech but begins hearing everyone's thoughts. They become overwhelming and she freaks out, knocking over the awards table and yelling. The voices stop suddenly and she makes a joke about losing her head and finishes her speech.
Chemistry together
Outside Lance catches up to Kitty and walks her to chemistry. Scott tries to talk to Jean about what happened, but she blows it off and invites him to come to Duncan's party later. Scott doesn't want to, but she tells him it'll be fun and asks him to do it for her. Of course, he agrees.
In class Lance and Kitty talk. Lance says he's really into chemistry and Kitty asks if he's ever made a "stink bomb". The two seem to be getting along pretty well and are now very friendly. The new chemistry teacher comes in and introduces himself as Mr. McCoy, and tells them that he's also their new gym coach. Then he tells them that they're going to make stink bombs and everyone cheers. Kitty and Lance smile at each another.
Bobby just made Jubilee an Ice Ballerina.
Later at the Institute, Scott is in a huge hurry to make it to the party on time. He nearly crashes into Kitty as she phases through the hall. She asks if he knows of a remedy for "stink bomb aroma". He tells her isolation. As he runs down the foyer steps, Sam and Rahne knock him down. He yells at Sam not to run in the house before he crashes into something. Outside Bobby is making a tiny Ice Ballerina for Jubilee. Scott yells at him to clean up his ice as he slides into his car and lands on his back. He jumps into his car and takes off, leaving Bobby & Jubilee to flirt more.
At the party Rogue and Risty are sitting together. Risty asks Rogue why she's so moody and Rogue says that where she's from people like her don't party with people like them (Duncan and Jean). Scott arrives and walks right past Rogue without even a look. Rogue gets up to leave and Risty says that she thinks Rogue has a thing for Scott. Rogue throws her water bottle at her and leaves.
Scott and Duncan play ping pong, which is obviously a macho duel for Jean while Taryn Fujioka questions what their issues are. The game becomes very aggressive, and Jason Nasier get hit in the head with the ball. Jean gets angry and stops the ping pong in midair (which by the way no one even notices?) and drags Duncan away to talk to him. She tells him not to make him choose between him and her friends. As they're arguing she starts to hear everyone's thoughts again. She shoves Dunc out of the way and takes off running outside.
Scott is standing out on the balcony when Jean rushes out. He starts towards her, but she slams him with her TK and knocks him off of the balcony. We get to hear the classic **Jeeeeaaaaannnnn!!** for the first time I think, (correct me if I'm wrong) as he plummets towards the ground. Jean is able to get a grip and catch him right before he hits. He's left hovering a couple feet above the pool. Duncan comes out to check on Jean and asks what's going on. Jean drops Scott and he ends up in the pool.
Back home, Scott is peeved. Xavier and Kurt ask what's happened and Jean tells them it's not worth talking about. Rogue and Risty walk in, and Kurt is barely able to get his Image Inducer activated in time. Rogue makes a comment about everyone staring at them rudely and Kit phases in behind them. Risty is surprised and asks where she came from. Wolverine shows up and pops his claws to grab an apple, then leaves. Xavier raises an eyebrow. Outside Risty tells Rogue not to worry about it and leaves.
Almost got caught
Inside Xavier tells Rogue that there are obvious reasons that they have to schedule visits. As Rogue is walking past Jean she thinks to herself that Xavier wouldn't treat Jean this way. Jean jumps to the defense saying that he doesn't treat her any different. Rogue gets mad and says that no one gave her permission to go into her head and Jean apologizes, saying she didn't mean to. Rogue marches off mad. Xavier tries again to help Jean, but she makes excuses and says she's just tired and needs a good night's sleep.
Next day at track tryouts, Duncan and Scott undergo another testosterone-athon. Duncan ends up tripping Scott and knocking off his glasses. McCoy throws Duncan off of the team and helps Scott. Nearby, Jean loses control again, using her TK to send her javelin flying through the air uncontrollably. The javelin hurls towards Kitty and some other girls getting ready to run a race. Lance is watching Kit from the stands nearby and sees the javelin coming. He uses his power to save Kitty. He causes a tremor that knocks the girls off of their feet and the javelin passes by just above their heads. Kit looks back and Lance smiles and waves at her then shrugs.
Meanwhile Jean is causing more mayhem. She hurls shot-puts out in random directions. McCoy is able to catch two with his bare hands, another barely misses Scott and flies straight for Duncan's head. Scott knocks it off course with a beam and it lands with a crash into Kelly's desk instead. Scott rushes to Jean and asks her what's wrong. She cries that she can't control it then passes out.
Scott and Kitty rush Jean back to the Institute. They take her to a lab. Xavier asks Scott to leave as items begin to fly about the room by themselves. Scott tries to stay, but Wolverine drags him out. Xavier tries to reach Jean telepathically. She suffers another power surge, which blasts the lab and knocks Xavier into a wall.
Downstairs everyone reconvenes, as crashes and explosions can be heard upstairs. They come up with a plan for Rogue to drain off some of the excess in Jean's mind as Scott tries to reach her consciousness. Back upstairs debris is flying everywhere. The X-Men try to take out some of the debris as Nightcrawler ports Rogue close to Jean where she's floating suspended in the middle of the maelstrom. Rogue is able to touch Jean, but then she's ripped loose and thrown around with everything else. Scott catches her and Kit holds her as he tries to talk to Jean.
Scott talking to Jean though Rogue
Jean's voice comes out of Rogue, and Scott turns back to Rogue. A sappy Jean and Scott moment ensues. He tells her to focus on him, she says she can't do it. He tells her he knows her better than anyone ever has or ever will and he knows she can do it. Rogue's personality begins to regain control as Jean is able to reign in her own power. Jean drops back down to the lab table. Scott leaves Rogue lying in the dirt to rush to Jean's side, Rogue drops her head looking as if she's about to cry.
Next day, Scott asks Rogue why she risked so much to save Jean. Rogue tells him that she realized that Jean would do the same for her. Scott tells her that they all would. Outside he brings a bouquet of roses to Jean. She thanks him, then he tells her they came from Duncan. She tells him that she doesn't remember much about what happened. He realizes that she doesn't want to talk about it and she says that it's what she likes about him. He knows her better than anyone ever has or ever will…. as she walks away.
Quotes
(While Duncan and Scott play Ping-Pong)
Taryn Fujioka: Are they really playing ping-pong?
Jean Grey: Nope, dueling.
(After Jean accidentally knocked Scott into the pool)
Duncan Mathers: Summers! What the heck are you doing?
Scott Summer: Checking your chlorine level.
Rogue: Me and Miss Popularity there we're worlds apart, galaxies, but then I realized something.
Scott Summers: What?
Rogue: She would do the same thing for me.
Notes
- Introduction of Hank McCoy.
- Foreshadowing of The Phoneix Force.
- Cannonball and Iceman appear, even called by name, but have no lines.
- Kitty Pryde's old school bully Sydney White makes an appearance on the race track.
- This episode makes Jean as the first character to lose control of their powers.
- Jean and Scott grow closer in this episode, foreshadowing their future relationship (which is constant in every reincarnation of X-Men). As an interesting parallel, Rogue still hasn't gotten over her crush on Scott.
- In the beginning of this episode, Jean's "power surge" causes her to lose her balance and knock the head off her soccer MVP trophy. This explains why in the next season Mainstream, Principal Kelly removes the same trophy from the school's display case having learned of Jean's powers.
Goof:
- Jean stopped the ping pong ball mid air with her powers. The kids watching the match should've noticed.
Trivial
- Bobby tries to impress Jubilee by creating a spinning ballerina out of ice. This scene is similar to a scene in the X-Men The Movie where Bobby creates an ice rose to welcome Rogue to the Institute.
- The episode along with "Growing Pains," "Bada-Bing Bada-Boom" and "Fun and Games" was released on the DVD X-Men Evolution: Mutants Rising.
Cast
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Main Cast |
Recurring Cast Guest Cast |