Mutant X: Season 02 (2002)

There's a bit of good news for Adam Kane (John Shea) and his genetically enhanced mutant comrades-in-arms as Mutant X launches its second season. Mason Eckhart (Tom McCamus), the megalomaniacal madman who, as supervisor of the top-secret Genomex company, created a race of mutant superhumans, has been captured and imprisoned. However, there is little time for celebration: Eckhardt has been replaced as leader of the Genetic Security Agency, the organization set up to track down and destroy all mutants lest the secret agenda of Genomex be revealed to the world. The new head of the GSA is Gabriel Ashlocke (Michael Easton), a deranged super-mutant who possesses more deadly powers than all four members of Adam's Mutant X team combined. What does this sinister plot development hold in store for the catlike Shadowfox (Victoria Pratt), the electrically charged Fuse (Victor Webster), the psychic Rapport (Lauren Lee Smith), and the molecule-rearranging Synergy (Forbes March)? Well, without giving too much away, it can be noted that at least one member of the team will not be coming back for season three. As in past episodes, Mutant X leavens its tension-filled plotlines with moments of self-reflective humor, especially whenever the scriptwriters are moved to insert a few "in-jokes" for comic book and sci-fi fans, such as a passing reference to a psychiatric hospital presumably named after science fiction author Harlan Ellison, and naming one of the secondary villains after a character in the old cartoon series Space Ghost. Also, an aura of mystery and expectation is cunningly sustained with scattered suggestions that the Mutant X team possesses powers they are not even aware of...powers even more awesome than their established talents. Finally, season two of Mutant X marks the auspicious scriptwriting debut of actor Freddie Prinze Jr., who penned the episode titled "One Step Closer." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi