It was a big X weekend, beginning with X-Men: Evolution and wrapping up with the season premiere of "X Files." Actually, seeing as how not much else happened in between, I suppose it was just an X weekend, as opposed to a "big" X weekend, but whatever.

The new X-Men cartoon was a pleasant surprise. I expected to hate it, but I actually found very little about which to complain. Just a couple of pick-worthy nits, actually. I didn't understand why Scott and Jean would be attending a public high school if they live at the School for Gifted Youngsters ... I mean, sure, the school mainly serves as a facade for a mutant training camp, but still, it is a school. You'd think sending them to public school would be too great a risk, especially with Cyclops' pension for losing his shades and accidentally blowing things up. The only other nit I found to pick was that they changed Toad's identity from Mortimer Toynbee to a hygiene-impaired young hoodlum named Todd Tolansky (or something like that), but it was a change I could live with.

I was relieved to see that they didn't make Wolverine a teenager. He was actually very cool, as he should be. The Wolverine in the old Fox Kids cartoon really grated my nerves. Storm appeared to be quite a bit older than the students, also, and this version could kick Halle Berry's ass six ways to next Sunday without even breaking a sweat. We like her. Shooting lightning right out of her hands instead of having to call it down from the sky ... now THAT'S what I'm talking about.

Anyway. NIGHTCRAWLER! 'nuff said.

Yet to appear on the scene are Rogue, Kitty Pryde, and a new character called Spyke, who appears to be an upbeat male version of Marrow.

The bad guys: Mystique, who is masquerading as the high school principal, and who wears her signature skulls and white dress in this version, at least when she's not being the principal, and does not run around in the nude bitch slapping people with her feet. Sorry, guys. She's got her hooks into the aforementioned Toad, guiding him on the path towards evil. At the end we learn that she's working for Magneto, who makes an appearance at the end as a shadowy figure with a really great voice. We also catch a glimpse of Sabertooth, who looks just exactly like his movie counterpart, which is a little disappointing because I didn't think he was scary-looking enough in the movie.

I'll definitely be getting up Saturday mornings for this one.

As for X-Files (mild spoilers ahead): I'm not sure yet what to make of the Terminator guy. All I could think was how he beat out Bruce Campbell for the role and how that's just plain wrong. As for Scully's baby, I'm not going to bother to speculate on the father. I know what I think, but I also think that that's what Carter wants us to think, and that it's probably wrong. Well, I'm just not going to play Carter's little guessing game this time around.

I was happy to see Gibson. I'd been worried about the kiddo ever since Spender and that Fowley bitch left him locked up inside that power plant with one of the scary aliens from the movie. Poor little guy.

The rest of my weekend consisted of reading, writing, sleeping, and doing laundry. Not terribly exciting, but not bad, either.