Episode #3 - Rogue Recruit
Original Airdate November 18th, 2000

Mystique tricks Rogue, a mutant who can absorb a persons energy from a single touch, into thinking The X-Men are attacking her.

Credits
Written By: Simon Furman
Directed By: Steven. E Gordon
Music Composed By: William Anderson
Guest Starring: Kirby Morrow as Cyclops/Scott Summers, Scott McNeil as Wolverine/Logan, Venus Terzo as Jean Grey, David Kaye as Professor Charles Xavier, Brad Swaile as Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Maggie Blue O'Hara as Kitty/Shadowcat, Ellen Kennedy as Destiny/Irene Adler and Colleen Wheeler as Mystique/Raven Darkholme.

Review: Rogue’s character in X-Men: Evolution’s first season seemed to be an experiment on the creators’ part. She wasn’t the Southern Belle of the comics, and nothing like the runaway from the movies. Remodelled as a loner Goth, her character perfectly fitted the her powers, someone who sees the other kids around her, but will never truly be able to fit in.

What interests me is that the show had her start off as an enemy of The X-Men. Furthermore, this actually gave Mystique something to do, other than be a useless school Principal, and the bullying leader of The Brotherhood. Whilst it’s true that Mystique became one of the shows biggest villains later in the show, in this first season, she wasn’t much more than an annoying, one note character. This season’s Mystique was also a little too masculine. The jaw was too square, her figure a little too bulky and the face was a little too manly, leaving the character looking odd, for lack of a better term. When she returned mid way through season two, the revamped model was a much-needed improvement.

This episode is slightly better than most of the first season episodes, if only because if breaks from the usual formula of season one, and begins one of the seasons arc, the turning of Rouge from adversary to accomplice. It’s not a perfect episode, or even a great one, but it’s one of the better episodes from a very mediocre season.