At the crummy dive the Brotherhood calls home (also called the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House), the furniture is falling apart at the seams. Toad consistently tries to break into Mystique’s room, but finds the door unable to break through with his super-leaping ability. Lance and Todd then head off to school.

At Bayville High, Principal Kelly reminds the students about the benefit carnival being held that evening to cover the damages to the gymnasium after last month’s “fire” (See Episode 14 for what really happened). He then requests that the secretary Dorothy place the money collected every hour to be put in the safe, hidden behind a picture. This exchange is seen by Mr. Smith, who claims he’s come to talk with his daughter Tabitha. Dorothy informs him that she has a restricted visitor list and that he’ll have to check at the Xavier Institute. Boom Boom has some fun blowing up a locker that turns out to be not even hers, and then is surprised by Nightcrawler’s arrival, who lectures her a little more. After an... interesting exchange in which Kurt obviously has become smitten, Evan pulls him into their Chemistry class. Tabitha, on the other hand, runs into her father on the way to her Social Studies class. He says it’s taken two months, but he’s finally found her. He says he wants to talk, but Tabitha says she’s heard it all before, and doesn’t want to try to start things over again.

At the cafeteria, Scott is bummed again when he spots Jean with Duncan. Kurt flags down Tabitha who tries to take a drink from his pop, but he directs her to the nearby pop machine. Kurt praises all her “admirable” qualities, while Boom Boom shows Avalanche how she gets a soda by blowing tons of cans and coins out of the machine. Professor Xavier informs Mr. Smith that Tabitha’s mother said he couldn’t see his daughter, but the father is unwilling to cooperate, and says he’ll have news crews at the Institute that night if he doesn’t get to talk with Tabitha. Wolverine threatens him, but then Tabitha finally agrees to talk with him. She finds out that all he really wants is money, and it’s apparent that he’s asked her to help him steal before. She eventually agrees, if only he’ll leave her alone for good, and they will meet at the carnival.

That night, Tabitha eventually convinces Kurt to pop over to the carnival using his teleportation. Falling for her pretty face, he eventually spends hours at the carnival, enjoying himself both on the rides, and in pulling some pranks through creatively using their combined powers on unsuspecting passerby. Avalanche spots her, and he and Blob begin to follow her. On the ferris wheel, Scott is surprised when Taryn joins him, claiming that when it comes to Jean and Duncan, “three’s a crowd.” Jean is even more surprised herself when she sees the two of them together. Meanwhile, Tabitha says she’ll be back in five minutes when they’ll leave, and then her father tells her that he wants the entire proceeds from the carnival. Fred amd Lance see it as their ticket out of their cash shortage, but Kurt, seeing Tabitha with her father, pulls Scott away from Taryn to help their fellow student. Despite the fact that the alarm is probably tripped, Tabitha blows the safe open, but as soon as they have the money, the Brotherhood, including Toad, attacks, closely followed by Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Spyke. Jean telekinetically grabs Toad while Scott gets the money, and when Blob attacks them, some teamwork allows Spyke to get the cash bag to Kurt, who unfortunately is downed by a tremor from Lance, giving Mr. Smith the opportunity to get his hands on the money once again. Tabitha follows him onto the crumbling roof of the gymnasium. She requests that he grab her hand, but he goes for the money instead, and only the appearance of Nightcrawler helps them land safely. However, Mr. Smith K.O.’s Kurt right before the police arrive.

Much later, Tabitha is released from the police station, having been freed of charges since her father had coerced her as well as having several outstanding warrants. She meets Kurt and Professor X outside, but tells them that the Institute doesn’t fit her well at the moment. She decides to crash at the Brotherhood house instead, blowing Mystique’s door open. The boys are dumbfounded unable to ask her to leave, and are even more amazed when they see Ms. Darkholme’s lavish room, which has now become Tabitha’s. At the Institute, Kurt informs Scott of his added chores, but is even more saddened by Tabitha’s departure, knowing that she knows all too well what its like out in the real world.

Review: Wow. This show keeps getting better and better. Tabitha Smith is a very complex and interesting new character, and she is probably one of the most realistically portrayed mutants on the show, covering her darkened, tumultuous past with a shiny, fun, explosive exterior. There were some pretty major issues introduced along with her and her father, but I think that the creators of this cartoon handled them well without making it too heavy. There was also a lot of great character development with Scott and Jean yet again, as Taryn comes into the picture as a possible new love entrance for Cyclops. I still hope that Scott and Jean hook up eventually, but I don’t mind if they have a sort of rough go of things beforehand. It was great seeing Spyke actually having some lines this time, but Kitty and Rogue were nowhere to be seen, and the other new students didn’t ever open their mouths. Hopefully each will be played more upon later. One interesting note: in the spread of the “New Mutants” during Professor X’s lecture, Magma had her arm resting on Sunspot’s shoulder -- think there might be something going on romantically between them? We’ll just have to wait and see.