| Cruise Control | |
| Season Three, Episode 10 | |
 | |
| Air date | August 23, 2003 |
| Written by | Cydne Clark Steve Granat |
| Directed by | Gary Graham |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Under Lock and Key |
next X23 |
Premise[]
Taking a break from their duties, the X-Men take a pleasure cruise. However, Magma becomes violently ill, literally suffering from earth withdrawal. When Boom Boom and Iceman take her to an island, she accidentally triggers a volcano. When the volcano threatens to explode again, Magma dives into its heart to silence it once and for all.
Summary[]
Our heroes are enjoying themselves on board of a cruise ship, somewhere in the Caribbean. As it's evening, most of the passengers are enjoying themselves at the party held at the swimming pool. Most of our friends too, except for Amara. She's feeling seasick, and Ororo notices it. She proposes to go to the doctor, but Amara declines. Tabitha turns up and takes Amara with her.
Three decks lower, Scott and Jean are talking to each other. They're talking about being away from Bayville, but as things start to get interesting, giggling interrupts what might have been a kiss. Unbeknownst to them, Jean and Scott were being watched by Kurt and Kitty. As Scott and Jean try to find a calm spot, they notice some ice sculptures floating by. Icebergs in the Caribbean, this can only be Bobby!.
And indeed, Bobby's at the bow and trying to impress Tabitha and Amara. It's working for Tabitha, but Amara's absent-minded, because she is feeling miserable. Tabitha encourages Bobby to do something huge, and Bobby "does" a "Titanic" (forms an iceberg right in front of the ship, jumps onto the railing and yells; "i'm the king of the world!". But as he's doing this, Scott arrives. Bobby's startled, loses his balance and falls overboard, just managing to hang on. And the ship's on a collision course with the iceberg.
In the compass bridge, the first mate panics, and Bobby lets loose, but is rescued by Jean via her telekinesis. Tabitha yells at Amara to use her powers, but Amara fails to "fire up". Scott blasts the iceberg to pieces, as the first mate (still in the compass bridge) looks on. Having blown the iceberg apart, Scott gets very angry with Bobby. As Scott walks away, Jean cautions Bobby to be more careful. Amara leaves for her room. Tabitha's troubled by Amara's state. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew laughs at the first mate.
Next morning, as Tabitha's brushing her hair, she notices Amara's still very sick. She asks what's the matter with her, and Amara reacts she thinks it's got something to do with her "gift", as she tends to feel not too well if she's not in contact with the ground. Tabitha leaves the room for breakfast, but on her way to the dining room, she runs into Ororo. Tabitha tells her Amara's not feeling well. Ororo decides to go and see Amara, but first, she warns Tabitha not to be reckless. Tabitha says she won't.
In the dining room, Jamie's looking at a giant fish tank, filled with lobsters. The others are having a quiet breakfast. At least, that's what they would have had, if one of the other guests, a lady, wasn't constantly complaining about just about every aspect of breakfast and service. Tabitha's really annoyed with her. Jamie's getting some food at the self-service, and accidentally 'multiplies' himself. Luckily, nobody notices except for Bobby, whom he bumped into. Scott and Jean are sharing a table. Kurt and Kitty are having fits over this, and do a take on the 'romantic table-scene'.
Meanwhile, the lady's still complaining, and Tabitha's reached boiling point. She decides to "cherry-bomb" her, but this results in an unlucky chain of events, which results in a fire. As most of the passengers begin to panic, Jean uses her telekinesis to lift the aquarium and pour water over the fire, but this reveals her as a mutant to the passengers. Jean (accidentally) gets knocked over, and this makes her lose control over the aquarium. As the water and lobsters flood the dining room, some of the kids try to catch the lobsters. But when Jamie falls and "multiplies"' and Kurt's Image Inducer shorts out, it's outright pandemonium. So much for trying not to be discovered.
Sometime later, and after Ororo's been angry over the incident, the kids try to relax themselves at the pool. But their "fellow" passengers turn nasty, and anti-mutant remarks are rife. Tabitha can't stand the atmosphere and decides to join Amara. Bobby takes some revenge by "chilling" the pool, forcing the swimmers (who made some of the remarks) out of the pool. Meanwhile, Scott and Jean are getting some "cold" reactions too. They talk about the changed atmosphere and begin to look forward to reaching the Bahamas, as they can escape the other passengers there. But just about then, the captain announces that, due to bad weather, they're forced to moor of the island of San Sebastian.
As the announcement is made, Tabitha enters the cabin and finds a really weakened Amara. She tells Tabitha she has to go to shore or she won't survive. Tabitha realizes Amara's not kidding. Meanwhile, after having received another cold reaction, Jean decides on leaving the boat and taking Scott with her on a trip to the island. As they fly away, Kurt and Kitty decide to follow them and 'port to the island. Back in the cabin, Amara's condition's really deteriorating, and Tabitha decides to take Amara to the island. The only problem is solved when Bobby turns up. Moments later, Amara, Tabitha, and Bobby are rowing toward the island in an ice canoe.
Scott and Jean are sightseeing in the picturesque town of Sol Sales. As Scott remarks, holding a postal card, that there's an active volcano on the island, Jean is looking at some straw hats. They're enjoying the calm - that is until some shouts disturb the peace. Jean and Scott are surprised - and somewhat disappointed - to see Amara, Bobby, and Tabitha (Tabitha being the one who shouted, about the hats being overpriced). They explain they're there to help Amara, as she was really sick, and that they've planned to go to a hot water spring. Scott turns down the offer to join them, but then he notices Kurt and Kitty are there, too. They agree to join the others, while Scott and Jean remain in the town. Jean cautions them not to do anything stupid. Tabitha says they won't.
Somewhat later, the gang's at the spring. As Kitty, Kurt, Tabitha, and Amara get in the water, Bobby decides to remain on dry land, as the water's too hot for him. They're really enjoying it, Kurt even turning off his Image Inducer. Amara dives into the deeper part of the spring. There she notices a fissure in the bottom. As she warms herself at this fissure, she fires herself up. Moments later, the fissure begins to rumble. Back at the surface, the water's beginning to get too hot. The kids flee the spring, and then they notice Amara's still in the water. As the water begins to boil, Amara re-appears at the surface. She tells the others they'll have to leave the spring. Bobby forms a slide, and the kids slide down the slope.
Meanwhile, the town is hit by tremors, which cause a lot of damage. Structures collapse, causing some accidents and some people to be trapped. A rockslide begins, but Scott and Jean stop it with their powers. Behind them a falling balcony almost crushes a girl, but Bobby ices up the falling debris. Kitty phases through a collapsed stall to help a woman, while Kurt (not having turned on his inducer) saves two people who are falling out of a building. Amara and Tabitha free two people out of an overturned van by blasting off its doors. As the tremors die down, troubles seem to be only beginning. The kids are surrounded by amazed people. As Scott wants to explain they didn't want to cause trouble, the crowd begins to cheer them. For the first time, the kids are treated as real heroes. So the kids are enjoying themselves at the island, or entertaining the islanders with their gifts, or giving autographs, or posing for photographs. Meanwhile, on board of the cruise liner, Ororo (and Jamie) are looking for the kids. As they can't find them, Ororo begins to get mad.
At the end of the day, the kids are invited to a party. Most of the kids are enjoying the attention and the food (except for Amara.) Suddenly, the volcano begins to rumble, but moments later, it dies down again. Scott notices Amara's kind of downbeat, and she explains she feels it's her fault the volcano's become active. As she tells the kids what really happened in the spring, Kurt distracts them all: he's seeing a storm front erupting directly above the cruise ship. But before they've got time to think about it, the volcano explodes.
Fires begin to break out in the town, as rocks and ash are thrown upon the town. People run away and seek shelter. The kids try to stop the lava flows. While the other kids have little or no success, Amara discovers she is the only one who can stop the eruption. Promptly, she begins to walk to the crater. Tabitha sees this, but can't stop Amara. While the other kids try to concentrate their efforts on saving the islanders, Storm arrives. She asks Jean and Scott if they know where the others are, but they can't answer. But then, Tabitha comes, yelling Amara's gone to the crater. Storm decides to get to her.
As Amara reaches the crater, she fires up and begins to control the lava. Just about that moment, Storm arrives at the crater, and yells at Amara it's too dangerous there. Amara hesitates, but only moments later, disaster strikes: another explosion causes the edge to collapse, and Amara falls into the boiling lava. Storm can do nothing and fears Amara's been killed. But Amara's not dead: she swims through the lav, and starts shutting down the volcano. Immediately, the volcano dies down, and the lava begins to harden. The other kids arrive at the crater and are confused to find Storm alone. She explains Amara's fallen into the crater. The kids react in disbelief.
Suddenly, a flare erupts in the volcano, and on top of the flare is Amara. She rides the flare up to the other kids and then joins them. The other kids react amazed. Storm asks how she did it. Amara can't quite explain it. Back at the town, the cheering islanders greet the kids. Storm's amazed by the reception. However, she's still not too happy about the kids having left the boat, though she understands why they did it. As she leaves, the kids realize they'll have to return to the boat. It isn't exactly something they're looking forward to, but it'll have to happen.
Quotes[]
(Scott and Jean show affection for each other)
Kitty: Oh, man. Are they for real?
Kurt: (imitating) "Jean, darling, please accept this croissant as a symbol of my love."
Kitty: "Oh, Scott... you have such a way with pastry..."
Notes[]
- Amara discovers a new depth to her powers.
- Sam and Roberto are both shown, but have no lines.
- Ray is unaccounted for, and Jubilee and Rahne were sent home by their parents.[1]
- Rogue is mentioned, but does not appear due to her recovering from her power surge.[2]
Goof
- Scott broke up the iceberg with his optic blast, and they sailed through. But icebergs begin from well below the surface, and would still cause the ship to crash.
Trivia[]
- Amara's country of origin, Brazil, is mentioned in this episode.
- This is the second episode where Amara is the focus. The first is "Walk on the Wild Side" though she shared the latter episode with the other Bayville Sirens.
- When Bobby creates an iceberg and then yells "I'm king of the-", it is a nod to James Cameron's 1997 film "Titanic".
- Cruise Control aired out of order. It was presented as episode 13 and the season finale; but it is actually episode 10.
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