Episode #11 - Grim Reminder
Original Airdate April 14th, 2000

Wolverine returns to Canada in hopes of learning of the mysterios Weapon X program.

Credits
Story By: Greg Johnson
Written By: Len Uhley
Directed By: Frank Paur
Music Composed By: William Anderson
Guest Starring: Kirby Morrow as Cyclops/Scott Summers, Scott McNeil as Wolverine/Logan, David Kaye as Professor Charles Xavier, Brad Swaile as Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Maggie Blue O'Hara as Kitty/Shadowcat, Michael Donovan as Sabretooth and Campbell Lane as Dr. Cornelius

Review: To be blunt, this is the very best season one had to offer, by a great deal. It might just be the Wolverine fan in me, but the rest of the episodes this season, even the finale, simply don’t compare to how good this episode was.

Wolverine usually had a subplot in a lot of this seasons episodes, so it was cool to see him get a full spotlight to himself. Even better, we get to see this show’s version of the Weapon X program, which still manages to explain a great deal about Wolverine’s past, yet keeps a lot it hidden, which to me, is the best way to go. I don’t think that Weapon X would have the same effect if its mystery were lost. I’m greatly looking forward to seeing how the comic book version of Wolverine is going to react now that he knows “everything” about his past after the events in House Of M.

The episode featured an interesting take on Wolverine’s origin, I especially liked the new chip placed in his brain as a failsafe in case Wolverine went rogue. The inclusion of Sabertooth added greatly to the story, unlike his previous appearances that served as nothing more than giving Logan someone to fight. The opening sequence of post transformation Logan was expertly grafted with some great visual effects added to make his memory look hazy. The screen captures below don’t quite do the scene justice, this opening really should be seen to believed.

Kitty and Kurt’s inclusion didn’t hurt the episode, and the scene in which she finally reached him was especially well crafted with some great boarding and spectacular animation. The models look outstanding in the rain, which makes a great change from cartoons, which ignore the fact that rain makes characters wet!

It would’ve been nice to see a conclusion to the episode, possibly explaining just who the scientist (presumably Cornelius?) was actually working for. We didn’t really visit Wolverine’s past again too much, as were where allowed a mere single Wolverine episode a season, thanks to Kids WB’s demand for teen focused episodes.

Grim Reminder is easily the first season’s finest episode. A nice break from the norm, a great insight into Wolverine’s past and some great action sequences left me desiring very little when all was said and done.