It’s Dion’s eighth birthday on “ISSUE #105” of his show, which also devotes time to flashbacks revealing what happened to his father Mark.
1. An Awkward Marriage
The opening flashback to Iceland, 2010, when Mark and the others gained their powers during the meteor shower/aurora, reveals Mark and Nicole only knew each other for two months before getting engaged. A subsequent flashback the following year shows she had to leave her promising dancing career after becoming pregnant, and you get the impression that even if he hadn’t become withdrawn and distant after his powers started manifesting, it would’ve still been a difficult relationship, with his job taking him to other countries and her giving up her career to raise their son – if they hadn’t rushed into their marriage, maybe they would’ve had time to see the world together.
2. Panic
Mark’s powers were invisibility and teleportation, and like Dion, they’d manifest unconsciously. He eventually meets Charlotte Tuck, who can also turn invisible, in New Orleans in 2017, but before he can learn anything from her, the Storm shows up and devours him. It fascinates me neither of them acted on instinct and turned invisible to flee from the monster, although Charlotte must’ve after the flashback’s abrupt end since she did get away – suppose it’s a testament to Mark’s heroism, despite his flaws as a husband, that he didn’t run away while Charlotte was panicking and slipping into the rising river.
3. Peer Pressure
Meanwhile in the present, Dion’s having his birthday party, but still struggling to come across as cool to the other kids, who mock him for still being into the Reptile Repo game – and his efforts at denying that are undermined when his mom arrives with a Reptile Repo cake, leaving him to storm off in a huff, the stress eventually causing an asthma attack. Despite being wheelchair bound, Esperanza goes to get his inhaler, which Dion pulls across the garden once she’s pulled it out of Nicole’s bag.
Turns out, Esperanza’s known Dion’s had powers this whole time – bit of a shame she just had to above and beyond for Dion to realize she’s a true friend, but he is a kid still learning being cool isn’t everything. On that note, I gotta say I found Dion being bullied for his interests very relatable – I wish I had an adult (or a show like this) tell me it was fine to still love the things I did, instead of chasing whatever fad everyone else had moved onto.
4. Small Town
Dion’s birthday party is shared with and held at the home of Andre Patel, the son of Mark’s colleague Tasha, which the flashbacks show has been an arrangement since Dion was at least 4. It’s interesting that while Nicole had to sell their house and change schools after Mark died, she’s still part of the same community in Atlanta, even going to the same bakery for Dion’s birthday cakes. Similarly, BIONA’s head Suzanne Wu tags along with Pat to the party, having become suspicious after the disturbance in the last episode: this tightly knit, familiar world for Dion threatens to be unraveled just as easily because of that.
5. Be Careful What You Wish For
After Dion’s stressful birthday, Nicole rewatches the last video Mark sent her, and expresses resentment that he’s not around to help her. However, Mark’s ghost is still floating around, observing Dion as he goes to sleep before the Storm summons him once more: after he leaves, Nicole observes the storm outside and sees it is the very Storm that took him – like Pat and Wu, Nicole’s relationship with Mark may well bring the danger she seeks to protect her son from.
Bonus thoughts:
– We learn Mark and Nicole’s nickname for their son is Bug – that’s a weird name, you have to admit.
– Mark’s death is much staged far more convincingly than most of the big visual effects sequences on this show.
– I legitimately got stressed for Nicole when she thought she arrived too late to get Dion’s cake from the bakery.
– You gotta wonder if Dion will be invited back to Andre’s next year after his flying inhaler punctured their bouncy castle.
Alright, see you all next time for “ISSUE #106”!
