Meet the Xaviers.
A family history.
Tropes:
- The '50s: This episode is set in the 1950s, which is corroborated by the fashion, hairstyles, décor and level of technology. As is the social norm for young married couples who want to start a family in that decade, Charles and Gabrielle reside in Suburbia. She is seen holding the 1955 children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon, which suggests that their infant son David was born in the same year.
- Adaptational Location Change:
- In the comics, the psychiatric hospital where Charles first meets Gabrielle is in Israel, but in the show, it's located in England.
- The Battle in the Center of the Mind between Charles and Farouk originally took place in Cairo, Egypt, whereas in the series, the psychic duel happened in Morocco.
- Adaptational Nationality: Charles Xavier is an American in the comics, but his TV counterpart is an Englishman who speaks with a refined English accent, and his Flashback Nightmare shows that he was a British army officer during World War II. When discussing tomatoes with Gabrielle and hearing her pronounce it as "to-may-to," his response is, "Well, we say 'to-mah-to'." (The "we" refers to the British.)
- Bilingual Bonus: When Charles is connected to Cerebro, what Farouk says in Farsi is: "Can anyone hear me? My holy message? My message in a bottle, floating across space? If you hear me, if you are like me, I am here."
- Bookends: The episode starts with Gabrielle whispering "My beautiful boy" to her infant son David. At the end, Farouk says the same thing after he possesses baby David's mind.
- Broken Tears: Gabrielle bursts into tears after she receives a long-awaited phone call from her husband (and Living Emotional Crutch) Charles, but the long-distance connection is poor, so they can't hear each other very well. Her weeping worsens after he hangs up because she didn't catch his message at the end that he's coming home soon, so she assumes that she'll remain alone in their "haunted house" (or at least lost within her own haunted mind) for a while longer. Her crying signifies that she's psychologically unstable and losing her grip on reality.
- Cardiovascular Love: Charles sketches a heart-shaped tomato as a small gift for Gabrielle to illustrate his romantic feelings for her.
- Commonality Connection: When Charles and Gabrielle socialize for the first time, they bond over their love for cherry pie and their struggles with their mental health issues.Gabrielle: I'm not well, you know.
Charles: Neither am I. - Creepy Doll: When Charles opens Gabrielle's box, he finds a scary-looking doll
◊ which is the miniature version of the Shadow King's guise as the World's Angriest Boy in the World◊ from Season 1. Charles is a bit creeped out by the toy's appearance (the eerie, discordant soundtrack reflects his discomfort), and he quickly closes the lid. - A Day in the Limelight: This episode is devoted to Charles and Gabrielle, the biological parents of David.
- DIY Dentistry: Switch is bothered by a loose tooth, so she simply yanks it out of her mouth with her fingers.
- Double Meaning: The first thing Gabrielle says to Charles is that it's a nice day, and he replies, "Beautiful." What he's also conveying is that he thinks she's beautiful.
- Dumb Struck: Gabrielle is so traumatized from her experience during World War II that she becomes catatonic and has to be institutionalized at a psychiatric hospital.
- Extreme Close-Up: The final shot of Charles using Cerebro is a close-up of his eyes, which are shut tightly at first before opening wide due to his sheer terror of experiencing Farouk's mind.
- Faint in Shock: Gabrielle is so terrified by a "phantom" that abruptly materializes next to her son's crib that she faints.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: A sequence of clips set to "True Love Will Find You in the End" by Daniel Johnston is used to summarize how the romance between Charles and Gabrielle gradually blossoms. They walk around the mental hospital while Holding Hands, he sends her his cute drawings that he knows will make her laugh, they play chess, eat cherry pie together (and they playfully fight over the last piece), he teaches her how to slow dance, and they stargaze at night, which then culminates into their First Kiss.
- First Kiss: While stargazing on the balcony of the psychiatric hospital, Charles and Gabrielle then gaze at each other for a moment before sharing their first kiss. It's the last clip of their Falling-in-Love Montage, so the kiss signals that they've moved past the courtship stage and are now a couple.
- Flashback Nightmare: When Charles is asleep, his subconscious replays his harrowing memory from World War II where he had a scuffle with a Nazi soldier that nearly cost him his life.
- Fog of Doom: A bodiless Shadow King appears as a thick fog of black smoke, and his consciousness travels halfway across world in order to invade and contaminate the mind of David, the infant son of his adversary Charles.
- Foreshadowing: Most of the clips that are shown when Charles detects Farouk with Cerebro are from "Chapter 26", so somehow Charles is able to see glimpses of his future meeting with Farouk.
- Freaky Is Cool: Charles asks Gabrielle if she thinks his telepathy is weird.Gabrielle: Are there others like you?
Charles: Maybe. I don't know. Do you think it's odd?
Gabrielle: A little. But I like odd. - Held Gaze: Charles and Gabrielle were initially admiring the beauty of the night sky before being distracted by the beauty that's standing right in front of them. They stare deeply into each other's eyes before leaning in for their First Kiss.
- High-Class Gloves: After Gabrielle becomes Charles' fiancée, she wears pretty green gloves◊ as she's leaving the hospital and when she's slow-dancing in their new home to add flair to her splendid attire. As the future wife of an affluent Englishman, the gloves reflect her new social status.
- Holding Hands: Charles and Gabrielle stroll around the psychiatric hospital hand-in-hand during one of their dates (as patients, their dating options are limited).
- How Dad Met Mom: This episode focuses on how David's biological parents met, fell in love, got married and brought him into the world. Thanks to Switch's Time Travel ability, she and David are able to observe Charles and his girlfriend/wife Gabrielle over three decades ago in the past, before David was born and also when he was a baby.
- I Can't Hear You: Because it's the 1950s, the long-distance phone call from Morocco has a weak connection, so Gabrielle and Charles have a lot of trouble understanding what the other is saying through all the loud static and distortion. She's unable to hear her husband's warning about Farouk (the latter is literally haunting her house as a Fog of Doom, so she's unaware that her infant son David is in danger), and she also misses Charles' reassurance that he's on on his way home. Because Gabrielle's psyche is falling apart at the seams, it's essential for her to know that Charles (who's her Living Emotional Crutch) will return soon, so without that info, her despair grows ever closer to the breaking point.Gabrielle: Hello?
Charles: Love? It's me. Are you there?
Gabrielle: I'm here.
Charles: I-I found him. His name is Amahl Farouk. He's a telepath. He's-he's nothing like me. I should never have come.
Gabrielle: Where are you?
Charles: He has no morals. He's a monster.
Gabrielle: Who?
Charles: Some sort of devil. He's a—
Gabrielle: I can't hear you.
Charles: Hello? Gabrielle?
Gabrielle: Can you hear me?
Charles: Can you...? I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm-I'm coming home now.
Gabrielle: Charles, come home. You hear me? Come home.
(Gabrielle erupts into Broken Tears after Charles hangs up the receiver) - Idle Rich: Charles is sufficiently wealthy that he doesn't need a job, so he has the luxury to pursue his own personal interests. He spends his time building Cerebro in the hope that he can telepathically locate other mutants around the world. When he discovers one living in Morocco, he travels there at a moment's notice and stays there for an extended period of time because there are no constraints on his schedule, plus money isn't an issue.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Charles is so desperate to befriend other mutants that when he finds one in Morocco with Cerebro (which he designed and assembled with his own hands in order to search for mutants globally), he travels halfway across the world just to meet a fellow telepath. He even ignores how afraid he was when he first sensed Farouk's mind, which should've been a warning to Charles that Farouk is extremely dangerous. Harry Lloyd clarifies on the loneliness that his character feels:Lloyd: He always imagined himself as a freak. This guy has this telepathic ability. And it's raw and I use it for good as much as possible, but I keep a lid on it and it's local. To then find someone else who has exactly the same thing to feel that you're part of a breed. There is some horror or something dark connected to it. But he goes out looking for a friend or a brother. He actually, only then, is honest about quite how alone he's been his whole life. Even now married and with a child. And as soon as he finds a connection on that level, which I think he resigned himself to never having, he has to explore it.
- Internal Homage: Charles and Gabrielle's romance parallels David and Sydney's from "Chapter 1." They're both patients at a mental institution, one sketches the portrait of the other, the first meal they share includes pie, they stroll around the hospital together, they both kiss note , plus the girlfriend stealthily enters the bedroom of the boyfriend at night and they discuss leaving the asylum in his bed.
- In the Blood: We learn in this episode that David inherited a lot of traits from his biological father Charles: they're both incredibly powerful telepaths, they share a mutual fondness for cherry pie, they both enjoy stargazing, and they're both brown-haired Pretty Boys who are of the exact same height (their actors, Dan Stevens and Harry Lloyd, are 183 cm / 6'0"). Like David, Charles also fell in love with a troubled woman while they were institutionalized at a psychiatric facility. David lampshades this.David: Wow. This is how they met? My parents. In a mental hospital. I guess it just runs in the family.
- Killing in Self-Defense: While being strangled to death by a Nazi soldier, Charles can only save himself by telepathically ordering his assailant to commit suicide. Charles is able breathe again after the Nazi shoots himself in the head with the former's service revolver.
- Laugh of Love: Gabrielle giggles a few times when she and Charles spend time together during their Falling-in-Love Montage.
- Leitmotif: David is associated with the song "Wot!" by Captain Sensible.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Gabrielle is emotionally fragile, and she's only stable when her husband Charles is present. When he goes on a trip to Morocco on his own, she's left at home with their newborn son. Her mental health starts to deteriorate, and she eventually relapses into a catatonic state.
- Long Last Look: In lieu of a farewell, Charles quietly glances back at his wife and son with affection and sadness, knowing that he'll miss them during his lengthy trip to Morocco, before he heads towards the taxi that will take him to the airport.
- Love Theme:
- "True Love Will Find You in the End" by Daniel Johnston plays during Charles and Gabrielle's Falling-in-Love Montage.
- "She's a Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones is heard when they leave the asylum intending to start a new life together as a married couple, and the music continues when we first see them living in a gorgeous house in a suburb with their newborn son David.
- Manly Tears: Charles sobs when he's unable to awaken Gabrielle from her catatonic state with his Psychic Powers.
- Military Salute: Although they're no longer active servicemen, the patients at the mental institution who are ex-soldiers perform the British military salute when Charles (a former British army officer) departs from the sanatorium.
- Mind Control: Charles employs his Psychic Powers to "convince" everyone at the psychiatric hospital that he and Gabrielle are cured of their mental disorders, so naturally the couple's departure from the facility is hassle-free.
- Mind over Manners: Charles explains to Gabrielle that he doesn't dig too deeply when he reads other people's minds because he wishes to respect their privacy. However, he does skim their surface thoughts without permission.Charles: I can hear thoughts. Memories. But it occurred to me that there should be rules. People deserve their privacy. So I don't pry when I'm in there.
- Monochrome Past: When Charles experiences a PTSD episode where he relives his memory of nearly being killed by a Nazi soldier while he was in the British army during World War II, the whole scene is in black-and-white.
- Mythology Gag:
- Instead of going for a more comic book-accurate Charles Xavier (who's unsympathetic, bald, paraplegic, and American as apple pie — the latter would be the natural choice considering that his son David is an American on the show), the showrunners decided to repeat the convention established by the X-Men Film Series that the character is a Nice Guy who has British ancestry and talks with a British accent, plus his younger self is a brown-haired Pretty Boy who isn't wheelchair-bound.
- During their Falling-in-Love Montage, Charles and Gabrielle are briefly shown playing chess, which is a nod to the chess games that Professor X and Magneto shared in the X-Men Film Series.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Charles and Farouk's psychic battle would have occurred before Gabrielle receives a phone call from her husband (who by that point had already emerged as the victor), but because the show's visual effects budget is extremely limited, the audience doesn't get to see the epic telepathic duel onscreen.
- Past Experience Nightmare: Charles seems to be calm and collected on the surface (which befits his high-class English background), but as a World War II veteran, he's haunted in his sleep by a traumatic memory where he almost died at the hands of a Nazi soldier.
- Pietà Plagiarism: Charles cradles his wife Gabrielle across his lap after she falls unconscious.
- P.O.V. Cam: There are a few shots of baby David seeing his parents from his point-of-view while lying in his crib.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: When Charles is being choked to death by a Nazi soldier, he implants the telepathic command "Kill yourself" into his attacker's mind as a form of self-defense. The Nazi then lets go of Charles' neck, picks up the latter's service pistol and blows his brains out.
- Psychic Radar: Charles constructs Cerebro in his basement, which vastly enhances his telepathic range so that he can detect any mutant on the planet. After he turns on the device, the first mutant he psychically perceives is Farouk, who resides in Morocco.
- Quaking with Fear: While operating Cerebro, Charles trembles with fright after he makes contact with Farouk's mind.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": After Switch collapses from exhaustion and drifts into a deep slumber, David desperately utters "No" a total of 21 times (plus one "Wait") within five seconds as he tries (and fails) to wake her up.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- The character Harold in the children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon that Gabrielle reads to her infant son David is emblematic of the type of person that David becomes when he's older. At its core, the story is about a boy who loses touch with reality because he's preoccupied with the imaginary world that he creates with his purple crayon. Harold is totally lost within his own mind, just like the mentally ill David is.
- Harold symbolizes Charles as well, whose actor is Harry Lloyd (Harry is the diminutive of Harold). Gabrielle's narration "Harold was over his head" is heard when Charles puts on the Cerebro helmet for the first time, and it foreshadows that Charles is in over his head when he finds Farouk.
- Sole Survivor: When Charles inquires if Gabrielle has any family, the nurse replies, "No one."
- Stargazing Scene: The final clip of Charles and Gabrielle's Falling-in-Love Montage is of them looking up at the night sky, which is a very romantic setting for the couple's First Kiss.
- Talking in Bed: At the psychiatric hospital, Gabrielle sneaks into her boyfriend's bed at night, and while lying next to Charles under the covers, she recounts to him about a marvelous dream that she had where they were free from the asylum, living together as husband and wife. He tells her that if this is truly her wish, then he'll make her dream come true, to which she replies that she wants to begin the next chapter of their relationship right away.Gabrielle: I had the most wonderful dream.
Charles: Tell me.
Gabrielle: We lived far away from here. You and me, together. And the stars... they belonged to us.
Charles: Sounds nice.
Gabrielle: Just a dream.
Charles: Doesn't have to be.
Gabrielle: We're in the madhouse.
Charles: Until we're not. Say the word. There's something I can do.
Gabrielle: A trick? Well, in that case what are we waiting for? - Tears of Fear: Charles is so overwhelmed with fear when he's telepathically linked to Farouk through Cerebro that a tear spills from his right eye.
- Trying Not to Cry: Gabrielle is visibly struggling not to cry after she's unable to persuade her husband Charles to cancel his trip to Morocco. He's her Living Emotional Crutch, so she knows her sanity will crumble without him around, especially with the added stress of having to take care of their newborn son on her own.
- Unnaturally Blue Lighting: The scenes of Charles and Gabrielle at the psychiatric hospital are saturated in blue light to denote that it's an utterly drab and dreary environment for all the patients there.
- Voiceover Letter: While Gabrielle writes a letter to her husband Charles, we hear her narrate its contents.
- What If the Baby Is Like Me: Charles expresses his concern that his telepathic ability might be passed down to his infant son David, knowing full well how isolating and dangerous it can be. Gabrielle hopes that their child won't be like her because she has a history of severe mental illness.Charles: What if I pass it on to him? And he ends up like me?
Gabrielle: Would you rather he be like me?
Charles: Yes.
Gabrielle: (chuckles) I wouldn't. - Wide-Eyed Idealist: Charles is idealistic compared to the more cynical Gabrielle.Charles: We can change.
Gabrielle: People don't change.
Charles: I don't believe that.
Gabrielle: That's sweet. - You Already Changed the Past: David's plan when he travels back in time is to protect his baby self from being possessed by the disembodied Farouk, but David's presence ends up facilitating the infection. David's attempt at communicating with his mother Gabrielle causes her to faint, and then his father Charles arrives home from Morocco to find his wife unconscious on the floor. Charles assumes that the ghostly apparition (who is the adult David, but Charles doesn't know that) in his infant son's bedroom is the culprit, so Charles hurls the intruder away with his Psychic Powers. While Charles is distracted trying to revive Gabrielle, he doesn't notice that behind him, Farouk's consciousness is entering baby David's mind. The adult David's interference in the past sealed his own fate.
- You Monster!: Charles considers Farouk to be an immoral monster and a "some sort of devil."
- You Say Tomato: When Gabrielle pronounces tomato as "to-may-to," Charles (an Englishman) remarks that the correct pronunciation among Brits is "to-mah-to."Gabrielle: Have you heard of a to-may-to?
Charles: Well, we say to-mah-to, but, uh, yes.
