Made a Deal with the Devil
The tagline for Runaways is starting to feel more like “every kid thinks their parents are evil, but in actuality, they’re also complex individuals and things aren’t black and white.”
When watching the Pride’s very first sacrifice in a flashback it feels weird to see the parents lose their innocence after seeing the Runaways lose it in episode one of the series. One minute they’re joking about the tacky red robes, the next they’re freaking out over the murder. It appears Jonah tricked them into this situation in exchange for his “gifts.”
In the present day, Jonah is pushing Leslie to let him appear in public for the fundraiser and to meet his daughter after his extended absence. Jonah’s character is interesting because he’s a) mysterious and b) not in the comic book, which is also why he’s so scary to watch.
In another departure from the book, the Staff of One gets a technical origin with Tina explaining how she created it in the lab (instead of it being a magical artifact). Staff training leads Tina and Nico to have a more serious discussion about Amy and her death, but Tina doesn’t have any more answers for Nico than before.
Karolina explores her own family secrets as well, looking into the drawings her grandfather did of people who look an awful lot like her when she takes her bracelet off. Now that we know Jonah was the dying man in the incubator, not her grandfather, I’m curious for more of her family’s backstory.
I’m still undecided whether focusing so much on the parents helps or hinders the show. A lot of great teen dramas (The O.C. included) have interesting parents with their own plotlines and it works really well. But two extramarital affairs seems excessive and the implosion of the Stein and Minoru marriages appear imminent with the Dean marriage not far behind.
Back to the teen drama, the gang hatches a plot to get the missing sacrifice video footage from the Wiz servers during a fundraiser being held that night. Chase still pursues Karolina much to Gert’s chagrin. But Karolina doesn’t seem interested, she only lights up for Nico (figuratively, not literally, of course). The idea of two girls fighting over the same guy is a VERY tired trope, but the writers get to play around with it in fun ways since Karolina is not actually interested in Chase.
Which leads to my favorite scene of the episode, when Karolina finally loses it over Gert’s obsession with Chase and calls her out for not admitting her feelings. In a mic-drop/ power move, she then has Chase fetch her a drink just to make a point. Karolina can’t help if Chase follows her around, but Gert can help if she’s hiding her feelings and taking it out on Karolina. Instead of just telling Chase she likes him, Gert goes as far to snoop around Karolina’s feelings for Nico. While it would have been a nice thing for Gert to support Karolina’s sexuality, it’s obvious she really just wants to know if she has a chance with Chase which is NOT COOL. I like Gert and I like Karolina, but they need to work things out. Maybe actual teenagers relate better to this plot, but I just find it distracting from all the spooky mysteries.
Gert does later use her feminine wiles (and knowledge of Kafka) to help distract the desk guy while Nico and Alex sneak into the server room to find the video of the sacrifice. If it seems a little too easy, it is. Alex can’t just plug into the server to steal the video they have to break into Tina’s office to steal the footage.
Bottom Shelf, Top Floor
Meanwhile, #RebelKarolina is on a roll and gets drunk off of vodka on the rooftop. Fortunately, her powers save her from falling to her death, but they can’t save her from Chase’s unwanted advances (Chase may be a genius like his dad, but he needs to learn to read people better…like his dad).
In addition to losing his wife, Victor almost loses his life after collapsing on stage during a tirade revealing his wife’s affair. Jonah offers to save his life, but Chase is super suspicious. On one hand, I’m thrilled we’re not losing James Marsters who has done incredible work in this show. On the other hand, HAVEN’T Y’ALL LEARNED NOT TO TRUST JONAH AND OWE HIM MORE DEBTS???
Because of all the revelations going on, having murderous parents doesn’t seem like the most complicated part of their lives for the time being. With all this family drama, it’s a wonder if they’ll ever get around to solving the mystery of the Pride.
Before the party ends, Molly approaches Catherine again asking her about her parents. When Catherine pushes back, Molly freaks out and reiterates she didn’t see anything, reigniting Catherine’s suspicions about the night of the botched sacrifice. Oops…
Additional Thoughts:
- They had a nice run, but the Pride is back on their trail after Molly’s slip up. Will they finally… RUN AWAY?!
- The relationship drama in the Runaways seems to be sidelining Molly, which is a bummer. I want to throw them all an intervention.
- Between Julian McMahon (Charmed) and James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), I’m already fan-casting what former evil supernatural love interest of the late 90s/early 00s should be on season 2 of this show. Comment with your suggestions.
A new episode of Runaways streams each Tuesday on Hulu. Stay tuned to The Marvel Report for coverage all season long.