After the season finale, The Cauldron in which they met, Alex and Scott didn’t get the screen time needed to bond as brothers, so this episode picks up the threads to concentrate on their relationship – and thankfully, without a superhero battle in sight!
Not that this is a bad thing! It’s refreshing to see the soap opera-type drama shine through. The high school settings and shenanigans place these characters in new settings, settings long-time fans haven’t seen them in before. It’s X-Men-meets-Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and the show is better for it.
While’s it not a quiet as a day at the beach, Adrift is refreshing in it’s differences. A favourite episode.
Scott is in Hawaii visiting brother Alex, who is surfing while Scott monitors him from the beach with a laptop. They have a camera on the surfboard for recording and communication. Scott warns Alex about an approaching storm, but Alex ignores it and gets caught in the undertow.
Scott wants to call for help, but Alex advises against it to avoid embarrassment. Instead, Scott steals a boat to rescue Alex. Alex uses his powers to fire flares, but gets too tired to continue. Scott tries to call the Harbour Patrol, but the transmission fails.
At the Institute, Kitty gets a call from Lance inviting her to the mall. She teases him before Kurt enters with exaggerated muscles, which disappear when Kitty scolds him for tampering with his Image Inducer.
Kurt finds Jean watching news about the storm in Hawaii. Concerned, he asks if Scott is there, and Jean confirms, mentioning Alex.
Scott continues searching for Alex and briefly contacts rescue services before losing the connection. Alex tries one last blast with his powers but falls off his board. Scott eventually finds and rescues him.
At the Institute, the New Mutants’ snowball fight escalates into a powers fight until Beast intervenes with massive snowballs. The X-Men learn about Scott and Alex’s situation and head out in the Blackbird.
Scott and Alex’s boat runs out of gas, and Scott uses his power to signal a search helicopter. A wave capsizes their boat, but they cling to debris until rescued. The helicopter is struck by lightning, and Alex is dragged down, but Scott rescues him again. The Blackbird arrives, and Jean helps them onboard as Storm battles a funnel cloud.
Back home, Beast reflects on the challenges of teaching the New Mutants. Kurt visits Scott, and apologises to Charles for breaking his Image Inducer, and uses it to see Scott. In Scott’s room, Jean is feeding him when Kurt enters, now looking like a female version of himself due to the Inducer. Xavier admits to the prank – he couldn’t resist teaching Kurt a lesson…
A long-running sub-plot begins in this episode; Lance asks Kitty to the mall, which is the first step to their relationship.
An image inducer is a device that produces a hologram to disguise the appearance of the user. The inducer looks like a watch, providing a cover for anyone who asks about it. Nightcrawler has used one on occasion since Uncanny X-Men #97.
The X-Men of the comics have also engaged in snowball fights over the years, including X-Men #109.
X-Cess Minutiae 
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