REVIEW -- Marvel's Runaways (Season 3) - Episodes 1-10

Marvel's Runaways, or simply Runaways, is an American web television series created for Hulu by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Signature Studios, Marvel Television and Fake Empire Productions, with Schwartz and Savage serving as showrunners.

Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, and Allegra Acosta star as the Runaways, six teenagers from different backgrounds who unite against their parents, the Pride, portrayed by Angel Parker, Ryan Sands, Annie Wersching, Kip Pardue, Ever Carradine, James Marsters, Brigid Brannagh, Kevin Weisman, Brittany Ishibashi, and James Yaegashi. Julian McMahon also stars in the second season as Jonah, after recurring in the first, while Clarissa Thibeaux stars in the third season as Xavin, after recurring in the second.

The first season was released from November 21, 2017, to January 9, 2018. The show was renewed for a 13-episode second season, which was released in its entirety on December 21, 2018. The third and final season of ten episodes was released on December 13, 2019.

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Cast:

Main

Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder
Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru
Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean
Ariela Barer as Gertrude Yorkes
Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein
Connor Falk portrays a young Chase.
Allegra Acosta as Molly Hayes Hernandez
Evelyn Angelos portrays a young Molly.
Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder
Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder
Annie Wersching as Leslie Ellerh Dean
Mia Topalian portrays a young Leslie Ellerh, while Charlie Townsend portrays her as a toddler.
Kip Pardue as Frank Dean
Ever Carradine as Janet Stein
Sorel Carradine portrays a young Janet.
James Marsters as Victor Stein
Tim Pocock portrays a young Victor.
Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes
Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes
Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru
The character previously appeared in the film Doctor Strange, in a minor role as a Master of the Mystic Arts, portrayed by Linda Louise Duan. The producers felt free to recast the role and create a different version of Tina Minoru since Duan was not named as the character in the film.
James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru
Julian McMahon as Jonah He also revealed that he did not appear in the earlier episodes as the character in his near-death state, as he had been cast after the first four episodes had been completed. Ric Sarabia portrayed the character in this state, which McMahon stated took five hours of make up application to achieve.
Clarissa Thibeaux as Xavin

Recurring

Introduced in season 1

Danielle Campbell as Eiffel: A girl who attends Atlas Academy and looks down on Karolina and has a crush on Chase.
Pat Lentz as Aura: A member of the Church of Gibborim who works for the Deans. Sarah Ann Vail portrays a young Aura.
Heather Olt as Frances: A member of the Church of Gibborim who works for the Deans. Alexa Marie Anderson portrays a young Frances.
DeVaughn Nixon as Darius Davis: An old associate of Geoffrey's who holds a grudge against him.
Cody Mayo as Vaughn Kaye: Leslie Dean's assistant at the Church of Gibborim.
Alex Fernandez as Flores: An LAPD lieutenant who works under the Pride.
Ozioma Akagha as Tamar Davis: Darius' wife who is pregnant with, and eventually gave birth to, his son, Xerxes.

Old Lace, a genetically engineered Deinonychus telepathically linked with Gert Yorkes, appears in the series. The character is portrayed by a puppet that was operated by six people, including one person pumping air through the puppet to show the dinosaur breathing. Barer called the puppet "incredible ... You see her emotions. We don't not make use of that."

Introduced in season 2

Ajiona Alexus as Livvie: Darius' sister-in-law and Alex's love interest.
Helen Madelyn Kim as Megan: A millennial employee at Pride who is unknowingly abused by her bosses.
Myles Bullock as Anthony "AWOL" Wall: Flores' corrupt partner who goes after the Runaways.

Introduced in season 3

Elizabeth Hurley as Morgan le Fay: A powerful sorceress of the Dark Dimension.
Scarlett Byrne as Bronwyn: A member of Morgan le Fey's coven of witches.

Guest

Introduced in season 1

Zayne Emory as Brandon: A member of Chase's lacrosse team.
Timothy Granaderos as Lucas: A member of Chase's lacrosse team.
Nicole Wolf as Destiny Gonzalez: A young woman who joins the Church of Gibborim and is sacrificed soon after by the Pride.
Nathan Davis Jr. as Andre: An associate of Darius' who is used as a sacrifice for the Pride.
Lee Fraley as David Ellerh: The founder of the Church of Gibborim and Leslie's father. Nathan Sutton portrays a young David.
Ryan Doom as Alphona: Chase's lacrosse coach.
Devan Chandler Long as Kincaid: A man hired by Tina Minoru for devious purposes.
Kimmy Shields as a supporter of Gert's club.
Anjelika Washington as a supporter of Gert's club.
Cooper Mothersbaugh as a supporter of Gert's club.
Amanda Suk as Amy Minoru: Nico's sister, Alex's best friend and Tina and Robert's daughter who died prior to the beginning of the series. Chandler Shen portrays a young Amy.
Vladimir Caamaño as Gene Hernandez: A geologist who is Molly's father and a former member of Pride who died in a fire.
Carmen Serano as Alice Hernandez: A geologist who is Molly's mother and a former member of Pride who died in a fire.
Jorge Diaz as Earl: A friendly social activist that Gert befriends.
Marlene Forte as Graciela Aguirre: A distant relative of Molly's.

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a limo driver.

Introduced in season 2

Ryan Dorsey as Mike: A homeless biker who causes trouble for the Runaways.
Jan Luis Castellanos as Topher: A mysterious street kid with super strength who briefly joins the Runaways.
Efrain Figueroa as Joseph: Topher's father who was injured by his son.
Rose Portillo as Eileen: Topher's mother who kicked him out of the house.
Veronica Diaz as Sofia: Topher's sister who is a nurse.
Damien Diaz as Oscar Gonzalez: Destiny's brother who Frank kills in self defense.
Elayn J. Taylor as Nana B: Darius' mother and Tamar's mother-in-law.
Brie Carter as Mary: A millennial employee at Pride who is unknowingly abused by her bosses.
Steve O'Young as Mitch: A member of AWOL's strike team.
Kathleen Quinlan as Susan Ellerh: A member of the Church of Gibborim and Leslie's mother.
Kara Royster as Wendy: A millennial employee at Pride who takes an interest in Chase.

Introduced this season is Darius and Tamar's infant son Xerxes.

Introduced in season 3

Anjali Bhimani as Mita Nansari: An employee at WIZARD.
Emily Alabi as Cassandra: A member of Morgan le Fey's coven of witches.
John Ales as Quinton the Great: A once great magician and the original owner of the Hostel.
Marilyn Tokuda as Akari Minoru: Tina's mother and Nico's grandmother.
Minae Noji as Tokiko Minoru: Tina's sister and Nico's aunt.
Brianna Ishibashi as Judith Minoru: Tina's sister and Nico's aunt.
Granville Anes as Curtis Stein: Victor's father and Chase's grandfather.
Elliot Fletcher as Max: An unfortunate WIZARD intern who befriends Gert.
Martin Martinez as Bodhi: A member of the renovated Church of Gibborim who befriends Molly.
Claudia Sulewski as Julie: Karolina's girlfriend from an alternate future.
Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen / Dagger: A fatherless teenager with the ability to emit light daggers to inflict bodily pain, dazzle and purge addictions from her targets from a distance. additionally, she can see the greatest hopes of those she touches and even steal them for herself. Holt starred as the character on the show Cloak & Dagger.
Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson / Cloak: A teenager with the ability to generate and engulf others in shadow and transport them to the Darkforce Dimension. In addition, he can see the greatest fears of those he touches as well as teleport over long distances. Joseph starred as the character on Cloak & Dagger.

Introduced this season is Jonah and Leslie's infant daughter Elle.

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Episode Summaries:

*** SPOILERS!! ***

1 "Smoke and Mirrors"

Chase, Karolina and Janet are placed in stasis by Jonah's family where they live out their greatest desire. Janet eventually realizes that she is in the algorithm and tries to escape. Gert, finally fed up with Dale trying to protect her, convinces him to let her go. In turn, he teaches her how to control Old Lace better. Nico has a vision of Morgan le Fay and Xavin informs her, Molly, Alex, and Leslie that Jonah and his family have possessed Victor, Stacey and Tina with the fourth member having possessed someone else. Catherine takes the blame for Darius' death so that Geoffrey can be free. Xavin poses as Gert to distract Jonah and his family while Alex and Nico sneak into their home and find the captured. They communicate with them about how to free them. Molly manages to get to Stacey long enough for her to flee. Victor and Tina return just in time for Alex and Nico to hide, but notice that something is off. Leslie begins to have labor pains. She heads to the hospital to have an ultrasound and discovers that her baby is part alien.

2 "The Great Escape"

Janet and Chase discover that they can manipulate the algorithm based on their desires. Karolina is forced to watch an ailing Nico as Jonah gives her an ultimatum. As Gert prepares to leave with Old Lace, Stacey arrives to warn her and Dale about Jonah, but converts back forcing Gert to knock her out as she and Dale flee separately. Alex and Nico must retrieve the Abstract from Jonah which they do so successfully, but Jonah finds Nico's staff and later breaks it. Tina convinces the scientists at WIZARD to develop a new vehicle for space travel while Molly and Xavin steal some inhibitors from her. Janet and Chase manage to seep into each other's algorithm and manage to get with Karolina. They find the door, but need to wait for Alex. Alex tries unlocking the algorithm while Nico fights Jonah. Molly arrives and knocks him out as Xavin, Gert and Old Lace reunite with the group. Chase and Karolina escape, but Janet chooses to stay; becoming part of the algorithm. As the Runaways reunite at the hostel, Nico believes that she is one of the aliens.

3 "Lord of Lies"

Xavin wants to kill Nico, but the others prevent her (they also believe she is jealous of her relationship to Karolina). Nico decides to finally destroy her staff, but gets another vision from Morgan. Catherine tells Geoffrey to contact Alex which he must do by getting his number from Tamar who is still mad at him. He calls him to tell him to go see his mother while the rest of the Runaways go to Nico's house to get inhibitors that can detect which of them is Jonah's son and later learn they are all clear. Nico sees a photo of Tina with Morgan and sees Robert who does not know who Morgan is. This turns out to be an illusion as the real Robert is in the hospital. Leslie meets with her mother for protection, but only gets advice. Jonah and his family continue to build their new ship which needs all four of them to power it. Catherine is killed by fellow inmates hired by Tamar. Just as Alex learns of his mother's death, he is revealed to be the son and takes Leslie to bargain with Jonah to stay on earth which the Runaways learn from watching their hidden cameras.

4 "Rite of Thunder"

Leslie begins to go into labor. Instead of going to the hospital, Alex takes her to Tamar's house. Leslie secretly tells her that she is aware that something is wrong with Alex and she tries contacting Karolina. Chase uses the inhibitor technology to place a coating over some weapons to use against Jonah and his family. He and Gert stay at the hostel while the rest of the Runaways head to Tamar's. Alex flees from Karolina and Nico while Molly and Xavin help Leslie give birth to a daughter she names Elle. They find the Abstract and head back while Xavin stays with Leslie. She learns that her prophecy meant that she was to raise Elle as her own, but Alex returns and kidnaps Elle. The Runaways face off against Jonah and his family and manage to retrieve Elle with Xavin taking her into space using the transport device. Jonah and his family attack the Runaways, but Nico summons the Staff of One and forces them all to disappear, though she assures the others they are not dead. Morgan arrives at the hospital to awaken Robert so he can serve her.

5 "Enter the Dreamland"

The Runaways wake up in a refurbished Hostel and meet Quinton the Great who reveals that they are in "the thin place", which preys on their fears and the group end up in different scenarios. Karolina meets Destiny and the other sacrificed teens who use her as bait to quell a monstrous version of Nico. She manages to escape when she realizes that Jonah's death should have been her burden. Nico is guided by Amy to save Tina from reliving Amy's death who identifies their surrounding as the Dark Dimension. Molly witnesses her parents happily poisoning Church of Gibborim members and escapes. Chase rescues Victor from his abusive father and Gert has Stacey trust her by having her allow her to feed Old Lace. Amy reveals that she is a pawn of Morgan and Tina and Nico open a portal back to the real world, but are forced to leave a still missing Alex behind. As they leave, Amy is revealed to be Quinton in disguise. The group soon learn that they have been gone for six months. Alex remains in the dark dimension in AWOL's custody.

6 "Merry Meet Again"

WIZARD releases a new free phone called Corvus that seems to have a violent effect on people when it breaks. Gert befriends a WIZARD intern named Max whom Chase quickly becomes jealous of. Karolina learns that Leslie has reformed the Church of Gibborim and Molly starts to volunteer there and learns that Dale is there too, but wants to distance himself from everyone. Victor and Stacey try to recollect themselves and learn of Janet's fate. Nico meets with Tina who tells her to stay away from Morgan. She later finds out that Robert has recovered and is dating Morgan. Geoffrey has repaired his relationship with Tamar and the two are working on a project with WIZARD. Chase, Gert, Nico and Karolina attend a WIZARD party where Robert announces that Morgan is the new CEO, much to Tina's anger. Gert and Chase decide to take a break while Nico decides to take up Morgan's offer of training to save Alex; breaking up with Karolina. Gert, Chase and Karolina head back to the Hostel where they find Molly stuck in a trance by the Corvus phone.

7 "Left-Hand Path"

Karolina destroys the phone and saves Molly, but is horrified to learn that she almost hurt her friends. They decide to make a video warning people about the phones at the church, but the video is immediately removed by Morgan. Molly is still upset with Leslie and confides in Bodhi, a volunteer, by revealing her powers to him, but he works for Morgan. Nico learns that Tina is in a psychiatric hospital and breaks her out. They return to Morgan's hotel so that they can retrieve the Darkhold from her. Tina frees Robert from Morgan's spell and he finds the Darkhold to read from it. Morgan catches him and kills him, but not before he gives his glasses to Nico which have recorded the necessary pages. Victor and Stacey learn about the phones and run into Geoffrey, but he captures them. Karolina, Chase and Gert run into Dale and try to look for Molly, but Morgan's coven arrives and captures them as well. Nico returns to the Hostel to open the Dark Dimension, but is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen.

8 "Devil's Torture Chamber"

Tyrone and Tandy take Nico to rescue her friends, but drop the parents off at the Hollywood sign. The kids head back to the Dark Dimension to finally look for Alex and end up in a destroyed version of Los Angeles. Alex is trapped in a prison to be tortured by Darius into committing murder, but he refuses at the behest of Catherine. The kids run into Quinton who guides them to the prison, but he is killed immediately afterwards by the local gangs. As they navigate their way through the prison, Tyrone learns that Gert still cares for Chase and fears losing him along with Molly and Old Lace while Tandy learns of Nico's continued devotion for Karolina. They soon face a possessed Quinton and several gunmen. Once Alex sees them in trouble, he gives in and kills Catherine; freeing himself and his friends. As they escape the Dark Dimension, Tandy sees that Alex wants his friends' powers, but he says that it was the dimension's doing. As Tandy and Tyrone leave, Molly is revealed to be in the company of Morgan's coven who induct her in their group.

9 "The Broken Circle"

Geoffrey spots Molly being used by Morgan and overcomes her control. He contacts the remaining members of Pride to come and aid him in rescuing her. They successfully manage to do so and Tina sees that Morgan plans to combine the Dark Dimension with Earth. Pride takes Molly back to the Hostel where everyone learns that Morgan plans on using her new phone service to control everyone in her new army for global takeover. Chase and Gert make up with one another while Dale uses Karolina's blood to make everyone immune to Morgan's phone, Geoffrey, who was injured during the rescue, is tended to my Stacey and Leslie and has a tense conversation with Alex. Morgan finally arrives to force Nico to join her and tries to have the Runaways submit. However, Janet manages to knock out the Los Angeles phone service, ruining Morgan's plans. A fight breaks out with Gert drawing a salt circle around her and Tina using her magic to finally banish Morgan back to the Dark Dimension. However, Gert is critically wounded and dies in Chase's arms.

10 "Cheat the Gallows"

Three years after defeating Morgan, Molly is on her way to graduating Atlas, Karolina has entered a relationship with a girl named Julie, Nico has traveled abroad and mastered her magic, Alex and his family have founded Wilder Innovators and Chase has holed himself up in trying to perfect time travel. An evil Alex from 2028 arrives with the intent to kill his friends, but Chase from the future arrives to stop him. Future Chase gathers everyone, minus himself, and they go looking for Future Alex. He goes to the day before they all discovered their parents' basement and the gang infiltrate their school to find him. They manage to capture him and present Alex decides to travel to his time period and to be placed in a prison by Nico. Everyone else decides to travel back to the fight with Morgan to rescue Gert. They successfully do so, though Future Chase is killed. All the future Runaways disappear; hopeful for a better future. As the gang get ready for breakfast, Alex finds a note mentioning Mancha and killing Nico and pockets it before joining his friends.

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The Verdict:

Even though I didn't formally review Season Two in 2018 when I binge-watched it all in a single weekend that holiday season like I did this season, I thought that Season was really well-done, especially to say how much I raved about this series' debut season. The thing that frustrates me the most about the Runaways is that this is a show that was given its own corner of the MCU in terms of their television properties to exist over on Hulu and delivered with exceptional storytelling unlike just about anything else that Marvel was doing with their television projects at the time. They wanted something that would hook young adolescent viewers and this was it, much like Cloak & Dagger that came after it over on Freeform. Unfortunately, both of these shows were handed their cancellation orders halfway into 2019 as a result of Marvel Television being completely disbanded and Marvel Studios' television projects being completely handled in-house and specifically for the Disney+ streaming platform. Don't think that ABC's beloved Marvel's Agents of SHIELD is exempt from being on the chopping block either, as that will formally end after the last two upcoming seasons in its set order.

Before I go into detail about my thoughts into this season, I think I should comment briefly on Cloak & Dagger Season Two since they appear in this series. While Season One of that show had a bit of growing pains but eventually found it's voice that ultimately made it shine in its own manner, I thought Season Two had a lot of ups and downs in terms of the narrative shifts, but ultimately, I felt that season shined more as an origin story about Mayhem/Brigid O'Reilly and for that season's primary antagonist, D'Spayre, too than one about Cloak & Dagger. It felt like they tore down the pair's bond and friendship at times just to rebuild it in the same capacity when that felt like they were rehashing familiar territory that got them where they ended at in the first season. Tandy and Tyrone's relationship is what makes that show shine, so that's not a knock against it. It just felt like they were recycling what got them to another season in the first place. That season would end with them getting on a bus together, looking to take up a new adventure elsewhere. When that season ended, I was positive they were headed to come to town with the Runaways. How they end up in this third season is something I'm going to have to come back to later in this review.

Characters

Morgan Le Fay

Elizabeth Hurley portrays the character in the last half of this season that serves as the main antagonist for this final season. I jokingly pointed out on social media that I thought that this was crazy that both Marvel and DC managed to pull the two stars from Bedazzled out of obscurity with both Hurley and her co-star Brendan Frazier (who plays Robotman in Doom Patrol on DC Universe) finding success in the superhero genre.

I thought Hurley put on a "devilish" performance as this character with her previous performance as the Devil herself in Bedazzled shining through at times in terms of her sultry charm and demeanor. 'Age ain't nuthin' but a number' - I would love to see her come back to reprise the role down the road for this character again in another Marvel Cinematic Universe-related film or television show.

The Runaways

Nico Minoru

It goes without saying that Nico is impromptu leader after the events of the last season which saw her destroy Johan's body with the Staff of One to save the rest of the Runaways. I wouldn't argue with that fact since she's clearly the most powerful member of the group of Runaways. I can't think of anyone else who could have brought this character to life more vividly than Lyrica Okano. Her mannerisms, facial expressions, and subtle little things here and there make me just adore how she plays this character, even though where were times that I thought she took the whole Wiccan look to the extreme, hence why I got so much joy out of Tandy Bowen's "Hot Topic" nickname for her. Look, I have Wiccan friends too and even they don't take their sense of fashion that far at times. It just seems like Hollywood likes to "glamorize" it to suit their own purposes at times and Marvel Studios aren't any different in that regard.

Whether you love it or hate it, Nico is the de facto main character for this season - much more so than the other Runaways. It's almost to this season's detriment at times. The last arc of this season is so heavily focused around Nico dealing with her powers and juggling her relationship with Karolina while struggling with figuring out a way to rescue Alex and deal with Morgan le Fay that the rest of the cast is almost regulated to the backseat. It's not her fault though; that's just the way that the writers steered this season following everything that happened in the wake of Season Two with her being established as the most powerful member of their team.

Karolina Dean

I kind of felt bad for Karolina's character in this season. She was regulated to merely "Nico's girlfriend" and didn't do much else, especially after the conflict with the Magistrate's family was over with. Even Xavin moved on from her rather quickly, just to keep the Nico/Karolina dynamic going unobstructed - at least for another episode before the situation with Morgan le Fay grew to a boiling point.

Alex Wilder / The Magistrate's Son

For the first half of season three, Alex Wilder finds his body inhabited by the Magistrate's Son after being overcome with grief after realizing the scheming and plans that he laid out to imprison his parents got his mother killed in jail. I thought this was a clever way to give viewers a sense of how Rhenzy Feliz could expand his acting ability by playing a villain for a brief portion of this season. Alex Wilder's character has always shown some villainous tendencies here and there over the course of the past two seasons, but this season is where we get to see it in full bloom, especially during the series finale.

For the latter half of season three, Alex Wilder is trapped within the Dark Dimension as an unwilling prisoner to AWOL. I thought this portion of the season pretty much hammered home his (inevitable) transformation into a villain - or at least planted the seeds for as much in the series finale. The Dark Dimension fueled his own jealousy and envy of his friends' powers while fueling his own self-loathing for sentencing his own mother to death. Even Cloak and Dagger had seen glimpses of the growing darkness within him after his rescue, but it was brushed underneath the rug so fast that the Runaways weren't able to even acknowledge it.

I thought Alex truly shined as the primary antagonist for the final episode as that was a role that he ultimately assumes at one point in the Runaways comics. I was spoiled to this fact when I was reading up on these characters following Season One, so it helped me keep any eye out for any signs of Alex leaning more to the dark side. Besides, you can't blame the guy for his envy and jealousy of his friends when he's constantly surrounded by super-powered individuals among the rest of the Runaways and he's the only member of the team without any powers, but it's his plans that save their asses more often than not. I think everyone should have called his descent down to the darkness path when Nico left him for Karolina after he confessed his feelings for her and she just left him high and dry. More super-villains have been made from spurned emotions than not. Just sayin'.

Chase Stein

Where Nico and Alex felt like proper leaders for this team, Chase comes off more cringe-worthy at times in more cases than not when he's trying to rally his friends into action. It's as goofy as listening to Freddy on A Pup Named Scooby Doo ramble on about Red Herring.

I'll give Chase his props through. By the end of the season, I could see him as the team's de facto leader with Nico crumbling with her own anxiety and insecurities to conquer her own inner darkness while juggling her relationship drama with Karolina and Alex Wilder definitely wasn't up for the job after he came back from his imprisonment in the Dark Dimension. Future Chase definitely had his shit together when he came back to the past to remedy the mistake(s) that led to Gert's demise.

Gertrude Yorkes & Old Lace

Maybe I missed something but it seemed like Gert's character reverted back to where she was at the start of the series instead of where she was at the end of Season Two. Chase was more open about his affections towards her, only her to push him away at almost every opportunity. It wasn't until he was getting "jealous" of her affections towards another fellow nerd/geek that she came out of her shell again. It was like the writers wanted to rehash how they came together back in Season One to lead us into a false sense of security that once her and Chase's relationship was stabilized that everything would be happily ever, but oh wait... Then they killed Gert during the final battle against Morgan.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself but it's crazy that they squeezed in Gert's death at the tail end of this season. By that point, the creators had to know that they weren't getting another season, so they wanted to get this pivotal event into the show. It's something that savvy Runaways readers of the comics will say that it was an event that defined the comics from that point forward to even present day.

Molly Hernandez

From the start, Molly has been the heart and soul of this young team and it carries on in this season. I just felt bad that she ends up regulated to staying out most of the action during the last half of the season, despite becoming one of Morgan's pawns on the chess board to use against Nico. It's a darn shame too as I personally felt that Molly has "grown up" the most out of the Runaways. She shows a maturity and wisdom that a vast majority of the team lacks more often than not, despite her bouts with her own impulsiveness. I can excuse that as she's the youngest member of this group of young teenage heroes.

Xavin

Essentially her character was a Skrull without technically confirming that she was one in the MCU. In Season Two, she is explained to be a Xartan - different from her comics counterpart as a Super-Skrull in-training. While I thought her inclusion that felt like something out of left field at the end of Season Two was eye-roll inducing, I thought her part that she played in the first half of Season Three worked. She was the "foil" to Nico and Karolina's relationship needed to test that it could survive anything, especially with what happened next during Nico's trials against Morgan Le Fay.

Xavin's scenes shine best with Molly though as she came across rigid and emotionless with Karolina, despite going on and on about her being her betrothed. Once again, I felt like the whole first half of Season Three (dealing with the Magistrate and his family) shafted a lot of characters' developmental in this season, especially with Xavin. Once the plot rushed towards the conflict with Morgan Le Fay, there was no reason to keep her around. It's a darn shame too as I was starting to warm up to the character.

Pride

Victor Stein / The Magistrate (Johan)

If I'm perfectly honest, I didn't see a difference in normal Victor and Victor being possessed by Johan. I got them confused enough as is during the last two seasons, even though I recognized Johan as Dr. Doom from the original Fantastic Four films and Victor as Spike from Angel and Brainiac from Smallville. I felt that the writers did this for the sake of simplicity as I know I couldn't have been the only person who was getting them confused at this point. I was just glad to see the origins of his father's abusive behavior as it seemed like they were beating a dead horse at this point without digging deeper into his childhood. We got that in this season when Chase was looking for his father within the Dreamland following the split of the Magistrate from inhabiting his body.

James Marsters is no stranger to play villainous roles, so he was a natural fit to take over as Jonah for this season. I didn't have any complaints about that.

Janet Stein

After the events of the first arc of this final season, Janet sacrifices her physical body to exist as disembodied AI that continues to assist and aid Victor Stein along with the Runaways during their final conflict with Morgan le Fey. She played a pivotal role in hacking Morgan's takeover of Wizard Technology's network, proving to do what Victor's expertise could not when she was a living AI now without human limitations. I thought it was pretty fucked up that Janet could only repair her damaged family relationship by becoming a disembodied AI companion to her abusive husband.

Stacy Yorkes / The Magistrate's Wife

Brigid Brannagh didn't pull any punches this season in terms of her performance. She juggled two roles this season - first as the Magistrate's wife during the first act of this season and then reverted back to Stacey Yorkes for the remainder of the season. I totally didn't recognize her as Virginia Bryce from Angel (Wesley's girlfriend for about four episodes) and Pamela Moran from Army Wives (main character for 85 episodes), but her talents definitely shined through even more this season. I raved about how much I loved her and Dale Yorkes (Kevin Weisman) in those roles in my review of Season One and it continues to shine in this season. Brannagh's performance as the Magistrate's wife was bone-chillingly awesome though. She would have carried this season as the main antagonist if the show wasn't dead set on squeezing in the story about Morgan Le Fay for this final season. Brannagh has such a great presence about her on camera in this show that just demands all of the attention and makes you want to see what she is going to do next.

It's just a crime shame that Stacey Yorkes doesn't get much showtime by the end of the season rolls around. I was at a point where I didn't want the Magistrate's wife to leave her body as she was a much more "terrifying" or rather dominating character as a result of the possession.

Dale Yorkes

Out of these three seasons, I think this was Dale least spectacular performance as he was saddled with a minor role as comic relief following his hiding from Stacy while her body was inhabited by the Magistrate's Wife for the first arc of this season. Dale and Stacy would remain separated in the next arc following Morgan Le Fay's rise to power, resulting in Dale living on the Church of Gibborim's property like a homeless hobo.

Tina Minoru / The Magistrate's Daughter

Much like her co-star, Brigid Brannagh (Stacy Yorkes), Brittany Ishibashi shows off a wealth of flexibility in her acting ability playing not one but two sides of two different characters this season. First as the Magistrate's daughter after Johan's allies inhabits the bodies of Victor, Stacey, Alex, and Tina. She plays this role as a hyperactive, sexpot in contrast to Tina's stern seriousness that we have come accustomed to over the last few seasons. It was a bit jarring at first to see her go this far left from what we've come to see her in terms of her portrayal of Tina, then go back to Tina for the remainder of the season as a caring and compassionate mother during the ordeal with Morgan le Fay.

In the previous seasons, I ranked her as ruthless as the Wilders when it came to the members of Pride, but she definitely lost her edge by the time this season wrapped up. By the end of the season, viewers come to realize that her hardened demeanor was a result of all of the skeletons she kept in her closet concerning the Staff of One and her ties to Morgan Le Fey. Deep down, she is actually a caring and compassionate wife and mother, but she hardened herself to protect them at any cost.

Robert Minoru

I honestly felt that if there was a weak link to Pride, it was Robert. My feelings don't change here by the end of Season Three either. For the latter half of Season Three, he's Morgan Le Fey's unwilling pawn after she manipulated him to take her as his new love interest and placing her in charge of WIZARD. He does get a sense of redemption after Tina frees him from Morgan's control and provides the counter spell from the Darkhold that would defeat her.

Other than that? He's as forgettable as he was in the last two seasons.

The Wilders (Catherine and Geoffrey)

Catherine Wilder with her permanent resting bitch face and her husband Geoffrey were portrayed as the most "ruthless" members of Pride to maintain face of their criminal past within gang-related violence. Well, for Geoffrey, but not so much with his wife, Catherine, who was just a shady lawyer who just pulled all of the right strings to get what she wanted and levy things into her family's favor. To be honest, I was glad to see her get what was coming for her after two seasons of little to no repercussions. The show tries to humanize and redeem her in her last moments, but by that point, it was too little too late in my eyes.

Geoffrey ends up being one of Morgan's MANY pawns during the second arc of the season. He seems to be a tad oblivious to Alex and his newfound love, Tamar's, plotting to have Catherine killed in prison too. He just moves on during the "time skip" at the start of the second story arc without any question to the how and why him and Tamar hooked up following his ex-wife's demise and his son's disappearance. Can't say that I was too crazy about his character for the previous two seasons anyway, especially when he comes across as the stereotypical shady black ex-con archetype. He does things just to hang onto his remnants of the "street cred" that left behind for a new life, only to resort to those same tendencies time and time again. I will give him credit though. At the end of the day, he is a strong black man who genuinely cares about his family and would do anything to protect them, even if it means at the cost of his own life, as proved by the end of the season.

Leslie Dean

Carolina's mother has been left in the wind since her involvement with Pride in the past two seasons came to a screeching halt when she distanced herself from Jonah following his "demise" in Season Two. That didn't last for long until it was revealed that she was pregnant with his child and she was forced to become a Runaway herself to hide that fact from Jonah while he was in possession of Victor Stein's body.

After Xavin leaves for her home world with Leslie's newborn child, there's not much else to write home about Leslie in the last story arc either. I hate to say it but she was another "causality" after the show decided to do a time skip following the conclusion of the conflict dealing with the Magistrate and his family.

Narrative

I thought the biggest misstep this season was rushing the conflict with Jonah (AKA the Magistrate) after two seasons to a lackluster result, only to prioritize the new conflict with Morgan Le Fay for the bulk of the final season. Morgan was a formidable foe, but it made that whole affair more centered around Nico and her magical powers than any of the other Runaways, which is a bit of a disservice to the ground work to establishing this team from the past two seasons. On the other hand, everything came full circle with the series finale though, so I could forgive them for that much in retrospect. It still doesn't digest well that the show gets this "hard reboot" feel to it at the halfway point. It's the same issue that Titans on DC Universe dealt with in it's second season. This is a MUCH better show than that was, but I can't help of think of the same comparison in terms of how I felt at the sudden shift in tone and narrative approach.

I can't speak for anyone else but I was really disappointed that Cloak and Dagger only appear in ONE episode in this season after being summoned accidentally by Nico's magic, despite being heavily advertised for this season. That was a pretty lame send off if they were just going to bring their actors back to portray them for just one appearance. I thought it would have been a little more beneficial if they were able to assist the Runaways with their final confrontation with Morgan Le Fay, especially with Morgan's group of hawt supermodel witches helping her with her plans. Call me selfish, but I thought Olivia Holt (Dagger) and Aubrey Joseph (Cloak) resonated well with the Runaways and would have fit in just fine. Tandy's exchange/banter with Nico was worth seeing that episode alone - at least for me anyway.

To my surprise, the Darkhold appears in this season. It was the book used by Morgan Le Fay in  Episode 6. So does that mean Morgan got it somehow from Ghost Rider leaving it down in Hell where he left it in Agents of SHIELD? Following who has had it all of these years since slipping out of Morgan's grip initially (like she claimed) would make for one hell of a backstory worth chronicling if anyone at Marvel Studios is willing to take a crack at it. That would be worth exploring in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness if they were clever about it. I mean, c'mon, they practically spelled it out that Nico has been training with him in the future timeline in Episode 10 before the Runaways rewrote the past.

There was a tad bit of a plothole with the Darkhold as the book is supposed to have a different interpretation for its spells for every separate reader. Plus it was never specified if you could record what was on it's pages. I would love to know how Nico's dad was able to record that spell on his glasses and anyone else was able to read that but him. Then again, if Aida (the LMD antagonist in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD) was able to read from the Darkhold and interpret from it, then technological feats like that shouldn't be too far-fetched I suppose. 

I personally felt that Gert being killed off was essentially fan service for the long-time fans of the comics, but the writers reversed it to bring her back in a clever callback to the first two seasons. Even though it felt rushed since they brought her back literally on the next episode (stripping away the pain of loss and tragedy for viewers), I felt it had to be done if the creators wanted to properly send this show off being it's final season.

The time travel plot in Episode 10 was fun BUT kinda muddles the waters with what Avengers: Endgame did in terms of time travel. The Runaways changed events in the past and destroyed a timeline with the viewers watching it cease to exist, something that didn't happen in Endgame at all. All of the references and subtle nods to other things in the MCU (present and future) provided enough content that I'm sure fans will be combing through for years to come. For example, Nico's "training" was obviously with Dr. Strange, as evident with her mastery of the basics of magic that he commonly practices in his own film and appearances in the MCU to date.

As for explaining the show's cliffhanger ending, you can read the full interview with the showrunners themselves here.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Much like with the last two seasons, watch this. Even though I felt that this wasn't the strongest of the three seasons, this is still an excellent showing to go out on as the story of the Runaways seems to end here... at least for now with the series being cancelled from the Marvel Television umbrella. Much like with their Netflix properties, I hope Marvel Studios realizes the wealth of amazing talent that they had working on this show, both on camera and behind the scenes. I would hate to see these talented individuals be unable to reprise these characters again down the road.

REVIEW -- Marvel's Runaways (Hulu Plus Exclusive; Season One - Episodes 1-10)

Marvel's Runaways, or simply Runaways, is an American web television series created for Hulu by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Signature Studios, Marvel Television and Fake Empire Productions, with Schwartz and Savage serving as showrunners.

Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, and Allegra Acosta star as the Runaways, six teenagers from different backgrounds who unite against their parents, the Pride, portrayed by Angel Parker, Ryan Sands, Annie Wersching, Kip Pardue, Ever Carradine, James Marsters, Brigid Brannagh, Kevin Weisman, Brittany Ishibashi, and James Yaegashi. A film from Marvel Studios based on the Runaways began development in May 2008, before being shelved in 2013 due to the success of The Avengers. In August 2016, Marvel Television announced that Runaways had received a pilot order from Hulu, after being developed and written by Schwartz and Savage. Casting for the Runaways and the Pride were revealed in February 2017. Filming on the pilot began in Los Angeles in February 2017. The series was officially ordered by Hulu in May 2017.

The first season was released from November 21, 2017, to January 9, 2018. In January 2018, Runaways was renewed for a 13-episode second season.

Premise

Six teenagers from different backgrounds unite against a common enemy — their criminal parents, collectively known as the Pride.

Cast

Main

Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder: A nerd who longs to reunite with his childhood friends and a member of the Runaways.
Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru:
A Wiccan who isolates herself with her gothic appearance and a member of the Runaways. Unlike the comics, Nico does not summon the Staff of One through self-harm. Okano said this was tweaked, "for good reason" as there would be "a lot of young teenagers watching the show and we don't want to promote anything like self-harm because that's serious." She added that an element of drawing blood would still be involved.
Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean:
An alien passing as a human model, who is burdened by her religious upbringing and wants to pursue her own desires and a member of the Runaways instead of following in her mother's footsteps. She can fly and glow with rainbow-colored light.
Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes: A riot grrrl, social activist, and a Runaway.
Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein:
A high school lacrosse player who is often dismissed as a dumb jock but displays brilliance in engineering and a member of the Runaways. Sulkin and the writers wanted the character to be "more layered" than the comics, and Sulkin felt that Chase was the most changed of the Runaways from the source material. The character is depicted as having the potential to be as much of a genius as his father is, and builds gadgets such as the weaponized gauntlets called "fistigons". Connor Falk portrays a young Chase
Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez: The youngest member of the Runaways who is characterized by her positive attitude. Early on she discovers she is a mutant capable of incredible strength when endangered.  Evelyn Angelos portrays a young Molly.
Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder: Alex's mother, a successful lawyer, and a member of the Pride.
Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder: Alex's father and a self-made business man who had a grueling path to his success who is a member of the Pride.
Annie Wersching as Leslie Dean: Karolina's mother and one of the leaders of the cult-like religious group the Church of Gibborim who is a member of the Pride.
Kip Pardue as Frank Dean: Karolina's father, a former teen star who is struggling in his professional acting career, who is one of the leaders of the Church of Gibborim.
Ever Carradine as Janet Stein: Chase's mother who has a brilliant mind, is "a perfect PTA mom", and a member of the Pride. Sorel Carradine portrays a young Janet.
James Marsters as Victor Stein:
Chase's father, an engineering genius, and a member of Pride. Marsters was inspired by Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, saying it was "exactly opposite of what I was expecting", and also looked for common ground with Victor, saying, "I'm not an abusive parent but I’m not a perfect parent. I don’t think anyone is." He added that Victor just wants Chase to live up to his potential. Tim Pocock portrays a young Victor.
Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes: Gert's mother, a bioengineer, and a member of Pride.
Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes: Gert's father, a bioengineer, and a member of Pride.
Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru:
Nico's mother who is a brilliant innovator, ruthless CEO, and perfectionist "tiger mom" who is a member of Pride. The character previously appeared in the film Doctor Strange, in a minor role as a Master of the Mystic Arts, portrayed by Linda Louise Duan. The producers felt free to recast the role and create a different version of Tina Minoru since Duan was not named as the character in the film.
James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru: Nico's father and a member of Pride.

Recurring

Danielle Campbell as Eiffel: A girl who attends Atlas Academy and looks down on Karolina.
Pat Lentz as Aura: A member of the Church of Gibborim who works for the Deans.
Heather Olt as Frances: A member of the Church of Gibborim who works for the Deans.
DeVaughn Nixon as Darius Davis: An old associate of Geoffrey's who holds a grudge against him.
Cody Mayo as Vaughn: Leslie Dean's assistant at the Church of Gibborim.
Julian McMahon as Jonah:
Leader of Pride and Karolina's biological father. McMahon described Jonah as "the wealthy guy who's pretty ego-driven and mission-driven... who's trying to accomplish certain things and if something were to get in his way he'd plow through it", which he felt was similar to Victor von Doom, who he portrayed in Fantastic Four and its sequel. He also revealed that he did not appear in the earlier episodes as the character in his near-death state, as he had been cast after the first four episodes had been completed. Ric Sarabia portrayed the character in this state, which McMahon stated took five hours of make up application to achieve.



Old Lace, a genetically engineered Deinonychus telepathically linked with Gert Yorkes, appears in the series. The character is portrayed by a puppet that was operated by six people, including one person pumping air through the puppet to show the dinosaur breathing. Barer called the puppet "incredible ... You see her emotions. We don’t not make use of that."

Guest

Zayne Emory as Brandon: A member of Chase's lacrosse team.
Timothy Granaderos as Lucas: A member of Chase's lacrosse team.
Nicole Wolf as Destiny Gonzalez: A young woman who joins the Church of Gibborim and is sacrificed soon after by the Pride.
Nathan Davis Jr. as Andre: An associate of Darius' who is used as a sacrifice for the Pride.
Alex Fernandez as Flores: An LAPD lieutenant who works under the Pride.
Ryan Doom as Alphona: Chase's lacrosse coach.
Devan Chandler Long as Kincaid: A man hired by Tina Minoru for devious purposes.
Kimmy Shields as a supporter of Gert's club.
Anjelika Washington as a supporter of Gert's club.
Cooper Mothersbaugh as a supporter of Gert's club.
Amanda Suk as Amy Minoru: Nico's sister and Tina and Robert's daughter who died prior to the beginning of the series. Chandler Shen portrays a young Amy.
Vladimir Caamaño as Gene Hernandez: Molly's father and a former member of the Pride who died in a fire.
Carmen Serano as Alice Hernandez: Molly's mother and a former member of the Pride who died in a fire.
Marlene Forte as Graciela Aguirre: A distant relative of Molly's.


Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a limo driver.

Episode Summaries

Episode 1 "Reunion"

A girl named Destiny is "rescued" by the Church of Gibborim from two muggers, who were actually trying to save her. Six months later, friends Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Gert Yorkes, Karolina Dean, and Molly Hernandez have grown apart since the death of Nico's sister, Amy, two years earlier. Alex uses a meeting for their parents' group the Pride to reach out to the others, but they turn him down. They later change their minds: Karolina removes her Church of Gibborim bracelet at a party, sees her hands glowing, and loses consciousness—Chase rescues her from being raped; because of this, Chase stands Gert up for a study session, and she picks up her adopted sister Molly who has discovered that she has super strength and that their parents have a creature in the basement; and Nico arrives after failing to contact Amy's spirit in a ritual. The gathering is awkward, but they soon discover a secret passage in the house that leads to their parents sacrificing Destiny in a ritual. Molly's camera flash is seen by the parents.

Episode 2 "Rewind"

Before the ritual, Geoffrey Wilder had confronted an old associate from his time as a criminal, threatening him against interfering with the Pride's construction project; Victor Stein was having issues testing the container used in the ritual; Leslie Dean convinced Destiny not to leave the Church of Gibborim until she reaches the stage of "Ultra", which involves the then upcoming secret ritual; her husband Frank, an actor who is not a member of the Pride, lost his agent due to his role as the co-founder of the Church. The group are all reluctant to sacrifice someone the same age as their children, but go ahead anyway. When they see the flash, they race to investigate, but are convinced by the children that there was an electrical problem in the house. Geoffrey later finds Molly's hairpin outside the entrance to the secret passage, while Victor realizes that his container malfunctioned and Destiny is still alive inside it. Meanwhile, Frank unsuccessfully attempts to enter Leslie's private study, where a decrepit figure lies on another of Victor's containers.

Episode 3 "Destiny"

Karolina is told that Destiny is officially in London for a Church trip. Nico investigates the Staff of One, but is unable to control its power and calls Alex for help. Chase and Gert use some of Victor's inventions to search for Destiny in the Steins' house, and then discover that the creature in the Yorkes' house is a dinosaur genetically engineered by Gert's parents. Tina and Robert Minoru attempt to deal with their deteriorating marriage, due to Amy's death, but it ends with Robert continuing a secret affair with Janet Stein, and Tina returning home to find Nico and Alex (pretending to be romantically involved to avoid suspicion). Catherine Wilder confronts Molly, but the latter lies that she had been sneaking around to steal alcohol for the other children. Catherine promises to tell Molly about her parents, who died in a fire when Molly was young (members of the Pride blamed each other for doing this). The Yorkes plan to move with Gert, Molly, and their dinosaur to a remote ranch in Yucatan now that the Pride is over, but then Destiny's body is found.

Episode 4 "Fifteen"

The Pride holds an emergency meeting, though the Yorkes are out searching for their missing dinosaur. Victor accepts responsibility for the failed sacrifice; he and Robert go to find a new one. They attempt to kidnap a homeless man, but they bungle the act and are arrested. Karolina is shunned at school as a slut, and Chase is told to apologize to his lacrosse teammates who he injured when he stopped them from raping her. He instead quits the team. Karolina reveals to Chase how her body glows without her bracelet. She and Gert also look for proof of their parents' innocence, but with Alex's help they realise that Leslie has been selecting people from her church to sacrifice for years. This does not include Amy, who appeared to commit suicide but Nico believes was murdered by the Pride. She goes to the police, but leaves when she sees Victor and Robert talking with a policeman apparently on their payroll. The Yorkes find the dinosaur, doing what Gert tells her to do, and are then threatened by Tina who knows about Yucatan. Alex is kidnapped.

Episode 5 "Kingdom"

In flashback, Geoffrey makes a deal with the mysterious Jonah to buy up land and has to convince his cellmate Darius to take the blame for shooting someone to get out of prison. In the present, Darius has kidnapped Alex as ransom for Geoffrey to pay one million dollars. Nico gets Karolina, Gert, Molly and Chase to come to the rescue, using the staff to find Alex. Geoffrey shows up with LAPD to take out Darius and his men, Alex shoots Andre, one of Darius' goons, but he gets taken again. Alex's friends show up and using their newfound abilities cause Darius to run. Alex makes it back to Geoffrey who tells him to go home while he preps Andre for a sacrifice. The kids all barge into the secret room only to realize that the Pride has moved the sacrifice somewhere else. Tina reveals that she knows Nico used the staff, but allows her to use it and Victor's time machine shows Los Angeles crumbling in the future. Frank fails going Ultra and the sacrifice works revealing that the man the Pride was reviving is Jonah who demands to see Karolina.

Episode 6 "Metamorphosis"

Jonah has all the parents recorded during their first sacrifice so as to keep them in check and to prevent them from leaving the Pride. The Pride hosts their annual gala and the kids use the time to download footage of the previous sacrifices from the Minoru's servers. Gert deduces that Karolina is lesbian, but she gets mad at her for not being honest with Chase. While drunk on the roof, Karolina discovers she can fly and Chase kisses her which she is placid to. Alex and Nico break into Tina's office to get the footage causing Nico to become suspicious of him as he knew the password rather easily. During the Pride members speech, Victor reveals his knowledge of Robert and Janet's tryst and collapses from his brain tumor. Jonah uses his experimental medicine to revive him, making him happily euphoric with his family. Frank appears to know about Leslie and Jonah's secret relationship, but keeps this information to himself. Molly, in an effort to know more about her parents, accidentally lets slip to Catherine about her knowledge of the Pride.

Episode 7 "Refraction"

Victor sees a message from Chase from the future telling him not to pick up the fistigons. Frank gets healing gloves from Jonah causing Leslie to become suspicious. Molly becomes distant from the others and tries joining the cheerleaders who disregard her and finds solace with Karolina. Dale and Stacy discover that Jonah's cure makes people hyperactive and euphoric, but gives them a drawn hangover. At the open house, Leslie gets Janet to break up with Robert who agrees due to Victor's changing behavior and has Tina take Robert back. Geoffrey and Catherine tell Dale and Stacy that they must do something about Molly as she knows about the Pride's activities. They tell Molly she is going to be sent away which angers her and Gert comforts her. Frank discovers that Jonah has been living for a long time and finally confronts Leslie about what she and Jonah have been doing. Nico forces Alex to reveal how he knew Tina's password. Victor suddenly becomes violent again and attacks his son with the fistigons only to get shot by Janet.

Episode 8 "Tsunami"

Victor bleeds out as the Pride members arrive to try and patch him up, though this proves to be inefficient. Leslie has Frank arrive to use his healing gloves, but it sends Victor into a coma. Tina contacts Jonah who instructs them to have Janet be sacrificed for Victor causing the Pride to argue. Robert decides to sacrifice himself instead, but Tina destroys the pod reaffirming her devotion to him. Victor is carried away to be revived later. Karolina decides to tell Frank everything she knows about Pride, getting him to her side. Alex reveals to an angry Nico that he was aware of Amy's snooping and was told to keep her information secret. Molly is living with her relative, Graciela, who gives Molly a letter containing a key. It leads her to a locker that holds a VHS tape. Nico finds Amy's things and Alex successfully gets the footage of their parents, but his laptop is destroyed by a sympathetic Chase. In flashback, Amy learns from Alex that her laptop was hacked and confides her findings to Kincaid. Upon "him" finding out, Amy tries to runaway from home, but is caught.

Episode 9 "Doomsday"

Ten years prior, Leslie murders Gene and Alice Hernandez with a bomb while Tina listens on the phone. Molly survives due to strange glowing rocks giving her powers. In the present, Janet covers for Victor's absence to the public as Jonah tasks the remaining Pride members with his current plan; to use Geoffrey's drilling company to dig a hole underneath Los Angeles. Darius monitors the area and voices his suspicions to his wife. Molly returns to the group with the VHS tape which contains a video from her parents warning her about the Pride's activities. The kids decide to use the school dance as a cover to infiltrate the drilling site. Before leaving, Gert and Chase have sex while Karolina kisses Nico, revealing her feelings to her. Frank reveals everything he knows to Jonah who relays the fact that the kids know everything to their parents. The kids arrive at the drilling site and manage to stop the drill. The Pride arrive to confront their kids who have all decided to finally take a stand. The kids reveal their powers and the Pride is shocked.

Episode 10 "Hostile"

Karolina is kidnapped by Jonah while the rest of the Runaways hide. They make it to the woods outside L.A. and Gert is forced to let her dinosaur, now named Old Lace, go. Finding new disguises, Chase and Molly sneak into the Church of Gibborim to rescue Karolina while Alex waits outside and overhears his parents announcing their intent to find him by themselves. Leslie and the Yorkes discover that Jonah is digging for something that is "alive". Leslie reveals that she was indirectly responsible for Amy's death and that she is unsure of Frank's loyalty. She manages to convince the Yorkes, the Minorus and Janet to join with her in killing Jonah. Alex makes a deal with Darius by telling him everything about the Pride. In return, Darius gives Alex hundreds of dollars for him and his friends and a gun. Jonah plans his next move with Frank over Victor's body and reveals that he needs another sacrifice. The Runaways make it to a bus stop and are reunited with Old Lace, but are forced to run upon seeing that they have been framed for Destiny's murder.

The Verdict (SPOILERS... You've been warned)

For the most part, I have kept quiet about this show on the most part, outside of comments I have made to friends here and there, citing it as my favorite new superhero TV drama to date, alongside FOX's The Gifted based in the X-Men universe. Going into this show, I have had no prior knowledge of the Runaways as I never bothered to read that comic book, despite hearing positive things about it over the years. The trailers for this series never really peaked my interest, but during the downtime of multiple television shows going on holiday break between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I had a lot of free time on my hands to invest into watching something new when I was bingewatching One Piece (FINALLY up to the time skip...). To my pleasant surprise, this was nothing like the typical teen angst drama that I was expecting on the lines of everything that The CW churns out for their DC Comics-based TV dramas.

Characters & Casting

From top to bottom, I have literally no issues with the casting for this series. Even going back to glance at photos from the comics, the kids look just like their comic book counterparts and even are well-written to shine from their source material. I had to go back to research these characters after watching the first few episodes and I was pleasantly surprised that this series honors the source material for the most part. The thing that I found amusing that all of the kids fit into common stereotypes for a lot of these teen angst TV dramas, but change them in subtle, yet slight ways. On the surface, Chase Stein is your typical dumb high school sports jock, but he reveals that he has a brilliant mind for robotics, much like his abusive father. Nico is the typical girl who starts wearing all black clothes and make-up with the gothic influence as her way of mourning her dead sister. Karolina is the squeaky clean "perfect" Catholic school girl archetype, but she discovers her sexual identity as lesbian over the course of the season. (Whistles) The Catholic church would have a field day scorning her if they knew about that... Unlike other shows (specifically the CW's DC Comics' based shows handles the treatment of this subject manner very poorly in my opinion...), this was done as a natural progression over the course of the season instead of making it feel forced. Karolina tried to satisfy her affections for settling for Chase out of spite to Gert, but it didn't feel right so she gave up that "chase" and found herself caving to her hidden affections for Nico.

That being said, you don't need any prior knowledge going into this. The kids that consist of the team that they "jokingly" refer to themselves as the Runaways before dismissing the moniker completely before regarding it in bad taste are interesting enough on their own, but this series does a stellar job of making the viewers care about the kids' parents as well. James Marsters (Angel and Buffy alumni - most are well aware of his acting chops) impresses as Victor Stein in roughly every scene he's in. It's easy to sell him onto viewers as being a vile villain from the first few episodes. I didn't even notice it until episode 9 or 10, but Jonah (Julian McMahon) is the same actor that played Doctor Doom in the first two Fantastic Four films by FOX. The dead giveaway is his mannerisms and demeanor that he gives to Jonah's character. In his regard, most people probably remember him from Nip/Tuck than those movies anyway. Out of the parents, I found myself liking the Yorkes (played by Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes and Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes) the most from their quirkiness antics. They seemed like the "ideal parents" with a maniacal edge to them Dexter had on that one episode of Dexter's Laboratory where he accidentally swapped parents with some other kid at the grocery store. Both are Angel and Buffy alumni as well, much like Marsters but played minor characters on their tenure of those shows. Brannagh is possibly more recognized from her lead role in Army Wives though. They are the easiest parents to identify with where they aren't necessarily bad people, they just caught up into a bad situation without the means to get out of it.

If I had any gripe about the characters on this show, it's how the Wilders - the three titular black characters are written. Don't get me wrong here, but I nitpicked about this when I watched Stranger Things and saw the token black family in that series as well. I can't be surprised given the source material, but there's moments here where I busted out laughing from how estranged from black culture or my own upbringing for that matter that this family falls well away from that tree. These three actors do a superb job with the material that they are given, but I wish they weren't given such stereotypical material to work with. Geoffrey (Ryan Sands) falls into the harden businessman with a shady criminal past cliché while his wife Catherine (Angela Parker) is a lawyer, who seems more like a side piece with a resting bitch face. At least their son turned out alright. He's just your typical black nerd.

On the surface, we're expected to see the parents all as heartless villains, but as the show goes on, it's a lot more than that as the kids and the viewers themselves are thrown head-first into the depth of their acts. Even by the end of this first season, we don't get all of the answers, but that's the beauty of this show. They spread enough bread crumbs from episode to episode that keeps you engaged and eager for the next episode's set of revelations and possible answers to this ongoing array of questions.

Narrative

While we're on the subject of how this show seems to keep viewers hooked in, let's move onto the narrative itself. The first episode follows the kids accidentally stumbling onto the scene of their parents, collectively part of an exclusive fraternity called Pride, who are in the middle of sacrificing an individual as part of some cannibalistic ritual. The kids were former childhood friends who found themselves growing apart in their teenage years after the murder/disappearance of Nico's older sister, Amy. Witnessing this possible murder forces them to reunite in a different set of circumstances as they attempt to uncover the truth to their parents' actions. The second episode acts as a recap as the narrative revisits the events of the previous episode, but sheds the light on the background of the kids' parents in flashbacks. That leads up to the reveal that their ritual wasn't successful and their "tribute" (a runaway named Destiny... there's far too much irony in both her name and her situation that I cannot make enough jokes about here...) was still alive. With the victim still alive, the kids are put into a false sense of security that "OK, maybe our parents aren't supervillains?" That belief proves to be false as their tribute winds up dead anyway. With that ritual gone awry, Pride are left with no choice but to find another unwilling host. On a side note, we are treated to Nico's parents on a date where Tina just flat out shows how nasty she is by putting her panties on the table while they were eating with her husband Robert not taking the hint in the slightest. That's such an obvious sign of foreshadowing Robert's infidelity that even Ray Charles saw it coming...

The kids have problems of their own as they continue to uncover the truth about what their parents are really up to, while at the same time they are discovering secrets about themselves. Molly somehow has superhuman strength that manifests during the first episode. Throughout the rest of these episodes she undergoes a quest of self-discovery as she merely wants to find out more about her birth parents, even going as far as potentially revealing to Alex's mother that she knew about what happened during their failed ritual. Her "sister" Gert is able to speak to and command a biologically reproduced dinosaur that she names "Old Lace". Karolina able to glow with some bizarre energy (making her glow like a disco ball in the process) when she removes her bracelet. When she does this during the first time at a party, she blacks out and nearly raped by her high school peers at a party. Fortunately, Chase "chases" them off and takes her home to safety. When he's not looking from his abrasive father, Chase develops a set of cybernetic gauntlets that he dubs the "Fistigons" and Nico discovers that she is able to perform witchcraft with her mother's scepter. Strange enough, Alex doesn't develop any special powers (he's already a naturally gifted hacker and technology wiz), but winds up in over his head as Darius, one of his father's old criminal associates want payback for taking the fall for his previous imprisonment. Darius ends up kidnapping Alex in an attempt to blackmail Geoffrey (Alex's father) into paying for his ransom. The plan is foiled as this episode turns into an exhibition of all of Alex's friends' newfound abilities on display. The build up to this moment was perfect as there was a genuine surprise by all of the Runaways as each of them displayed what they brought to the table. Alex found himself even more detached from his parents after learning about his dad's shady criminal background and motivated him even further into uniting his friends together towards exposing the truth about Pride's unsavory actions.

That was the plan at the Pride's upcoming publicity function, but Chase's father (Victor Stein) exposes the affair between his wife and Nico's father before collapsing from his brain tumor. Frank (Karolina's father) seems to get the idea of what is really going on between Jonah (the vegetable that Leslie has been seen caring for throughout the series to this point) and Leslie (Karolina's mother) as it's not rocket science to figure out that she's been "faking" her marriage to him but that's not revealed until later that Jonah is Karolina's "real" father, due to their similar powers. Jonah treats Victor's brain tumor with some kind of a miracle drug that allows him to instantly recover, but with a kinder demeanor before devolving back into a much more hostile personality that causes him to almost kill his own son with the Fistigons. In response, Janet shoots Victor to save her son from any further harm, leaving Victor bleeding out in their garage in the process. Nico and Alex sneak into her mother's office to download the past Pride meetings from the computer servers, with Alex already knowing her mother's password. This in turn creates a subplot where Nico wants answers on how Alex knew her mother's password.

The truth of the matter ends up being that Alex knew about Amy (Nico's sister) snooping into her mother's files and the fact that she got way in over her head, but didn't tell her. Among the members of Pride, they are forced to resort to Jonah to somehow revive Victor but needing another sacrifice with everyone arguing about who should be sacrificed among them to correct this mistake. Everyone points fingers at Janet, but Robert volunteers to sacrifice himself to add even more strikes in his case of infidelity to Tina. Tina destroys the pod before Robert is sacrifice to show that she loves him regardless of what he's done. Sheesh, the parents are pretty multi-layered huh? Glad that this show went this route instead of making them bland, generic Saturday morning cartoon-level supervillains.

Karolina and Chase found themselves confiding in their parents on their Pride dealings: Chase with his mother Janet for Pride can save his father and Karolina with her stepdad to have her back in what the Runaways are planning against the members of Pride. After Alex cracks the files on Tina's servers to acquire the evidence they need to send their parents to jail, Chase destroys the laptop out of desperation as he needs the Pride to save his father's life. In a flashback, it's revealed that Molly's parents were killed by Leslie that resulted in Molly acquiring her powers from exposure to the mysterious rocks that they were researching on. That was an obvious change from her origin in the comics, whereas Molly was simply a mutant like the X-Men. Marvel Studios didn't have the rights to mutants and the X-Men properties at this point, so it's a natural decision to change things here. Things come to a head and the kids plan to use the upcoming school dance as a cover to confront their parents and stop whatever they have planned to unearth at Geoffrey's dig site. The dance itself was interesting for a lot of levels as we got four out of the six teens hooking up - first Gert and Chase then Nico and Karolina, with the latter really catching me off-guard as I thought Nico was into Alex, but whatever. I joked about this with a friend after the fact, but it was something that reminds me that just about everything in Hollywood does with sexual scenes like this. You don't see anyone clean up or anything but they got on the same damn clothes on in the next scene(s) sitting in an overcrowded car. (Busts out laughing) C'mon, you got to know that car smelled like jock strap and hot nut/cum, yet not a single one of them cleaned up or changed clothes afterwards. The only thing we got afterwards was the awkward silence in the car for the duration of the ride to the dig site. Anywho... that's besides the point... When they get to the dig site, what we get here is an awesome visual of all of the kids' abilities on display to the chagrin to their parents. I honestly pictured that scene as a rehash of the intro to the opening of the X-Men cartoon. There were no if's, and's, or but's... the cat was out of the bag now about their kids knowing about their Pride activities. What they didn't expect was the arrival of Jonah, whose powers are completely identical to Karolina's. She sacrifices herself by holding him off while the other Runaways make their escape, much to the disapproval of Nico.

The last episode of this season follows the Runaways as they escape from the dig site, but find some disguises to use to aid Chase and Molly in rescuing Karolina, who managed to survive her battle with Jonah and was recovering at the Church of Gibborim. Leslie (after confessing that she was indirectly responsible for Amy's death), Janet, the Yorkes, and the Minoru's all agree to join forces in killing Jonah while Alex makes a deal with Darius to exchange all of his information on Pride for money (to help the Runaways get by on the road) and a gun. This is all well and good until they find out that they were framed for Destiny's murder as the season comes to an end.

At this point, it seems like the show is going to mirror the source material more closely. I even managed to spoil a thing or two to myself while researching some of that material online and on Wikipedia. I'll say this much, if they do that then it's a going to be one hell of a ride, that's for sure. The parents don't know if they can trust Frank (Karolina's stepdad and Leslie's current "husband") since he's been brown-nosing with Jonah, Karolina and Nico seem to be getting closer in their intimacy at the expense of Alex's emotions (I'm sure this is going to blow up in their faces down the road), and the Runaways (collectively have to answer to that name literally now after that hilarious moment in one of the earlier episodes of the season had them point out how stupid that name sounds...) have the added heat of the authorities on their backs as they are now being framed for the murder of Destiny.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Go out of your way to check this out. I wouldn't say that it's worth the price of paying for a Hulu Plus account, but it's definitely a welcome addition on their growing line of exclusive content on their streaming service. I just applaud Marvel taking a chance like this and doing something new and fresh. I definitely had a blast watching it over the holidays - filling in that gap that the rest of my regular TV programming normally took up during the week.