Episode #48 - Uprising
Original Airdate September 6th, 2003

When Mutant Hate crimes start in Bayville, Spyke returns to stop those commiting them.

Credits
Story By: Greg Johnson, Boyd Kirkland and Craig Kyle
Written By: Bob Forward
Directed By: Doug Murphy
Music Composed By: William Anderson

Review: With this season wrapping up a lot of the loose ends from previous seasons, now we are to see the return of Spyke, who is back and better than ever. Whilst I’ve no doubt that some Evo fans would be glad if he dropped off the face of the Earth in X-Treme Measures, I thought the character at least deserved a conclusion to his story but I couldn’t have predicted that he’d get a better send off than this.

The biggest theme in X-Men is the prejudice that comes with being a mutant. This was oddly absent throughout Evo (thank you once again Kids WB) but it’s done here, and it’s done oh so well. It’s pretty amazing how they could make an irritating character like Spyke and turn him into someone you’re rooting for in a single mere episode is truly a sign of great writing.

Whilst I was glad to see the prejudice theme incorporated into the episode, one can argue that they went a little overboard with it with the scene in the store. I find it difficult to believe that a handful of grown men would attack a little boy simply because he is green. The rest of the prejudice theme was done extremely well, particularly with the Morlocks who were simply looking for food. It’s hard to argue against Spyke when all he’s doing is defending a group of people looking for something to eat.

What really made me think about this episode is how easily they made Spyke so likeable, whereas before I always thought they were trying too hard to make him cool and it backfired completely. The skater boy attitude, the haircut, constantly showing his boxers and his hideous ‘hip’ dialogue, they really went overboard with a lot of it. It seems getting him straight to the point made him all the more watchable. I apologise for the horrible pun, you’re right, that was below the belt.

I thought Duncan was used well here. Whilst he’s never been anything but a two-dimensional jerk, one does have to applaud the creative team here, he was exactly what the villain of the episode needed to be. Whilst I could’ve done without the proton packs (busting makes me feel good!) I thought that he made perfect sense in this episode. One must question why he was still wearing his Varsity jacket, but alas, pivotal things like this shouldn’t stop anyone a great episode like this.