Runaways is back baby! And they’ve finally run away. The first season was arguably the best of any Marvel television and so far, the things the first season did right have been carried over but the stakes are even higher. On the run, they’re wanted by the cops and their parents. “Last Rites” is a very season finale feeling episode and it’s fantastic from start to finish. Let’s jump into this but be warned there will be spoilers.
1. A Flashback And A Flash Forward
“Last Rites” starts with two important bits that do completely opposite things. One gives us a glimpse to a possible future, one to the past. The flashback shows us Leslie’s dad dying as Jonah watches on and talks a lot of religion. Young Leslie is wide eyed and ready to do whatever Jonah wants and it’s pretty funny because she’s decidedly not that these days. This gives us a little insight into what their relationship was like then and it’s very weird because she’s very young here. Then we’re taken to something happening in the future at the dig site. We see little things that tease what might happen, such as an unconscious Nico and a screaming Karolina. It’s not clear what’s happening but we’ll definitely find out. Looking at this after watching the episode, it really works to mess with the viewer. It’s also super well lit in a very alien sense.
2. Papa Wilder Comes Through
Last week, in an effort to save Geoffrey Wilder, the kids ended up kidnapping him and now, they’re going to use him. Alex’s plan to destroy the ship has turned into a rescue mission because Karolina’s family is maybe in there and she doesn’t want them to die. So, now this is a rescue mission and now they need Geoffrey. Geoffrey goes along with the kids’s plan because he wants his son back and wants to protect the kids. So, he uses his street smarts and strength and teams up with his son to infiltrate the dig site and it’s great. I absolutely love how Geoffrey and Alex interact with each other and how they play off each other. It’s fun a moment in an episode full of a lot of seriousness.
3. The Showdown
All of “Last Rites” is basically centered around this big fight that’s going to finally go down between the parents, the kids and Jonah. Everyone descends upon the site and all hell breaks loose. Molly, Chase, Karolina and Nico all go down into the site itself and start using their various powers to try and break open the ship. Gert is sent as the lookout because of what has already happened and because they told her to leave Old Lace behind so she won’t be super useful here. She agrees and seems really excited at being the lookout because she thinks that she can be useful here. The parents then show up and they have to get going ASAP but Karolina can only fly two people at once so she takes Chase and Molly with her. The actual showdown starts when everyone is above ground and lots of lines are thrown around and lots of powers go flying around. There are family reunions and lots of feelings all out here on the table but everything changes real fast when shit goes down.
4. Nico Handles It
After Karolina takes Molly and Chase away from the emerging ship, it seems like Nico might be lost and Jonah is pissed off. The parents start firing everything they’ve got at the ship and Jonah completely loses it and unleashes his fury on everyone. Nico emerges with the staff of one and everything starts to move slow. It’s a beautiful shot with Nico remembering everything Jonah has done, especially his murder of Amy. We see her find her and her parents find her and her life just going down from there and it’s palpable rage. She runs up on him and stabs him right through the heart with the staff and ends it all on her own. The parents watch on with all mixed expressions but Tina seems to have a sense of pride in her expression. She’s watching her daughter understand this power she has doing something that she knows had to be done. The whole thing is done very, very well and is the highlight of the episode for me.
5. What Happens Next?
“Last Rites” is a huge episode and the ending of this episode is a big turning point tease. What happens now that Nico has killed Jonah? Based on how Karolina reacted, that relationship is over and done. Everyone else seems to think what Nico did was right but this friction between her and Karolina won’t just go away easily. With Jonah seemingly gone, what happens between the kids and their parents? Do the kids now try to take their parents down and send them to jail? Do they try to work on these relationships and go back home? They all seem to be in different places on that but since I’m still convinced someone is going to betray the group, I think it’s worth noting that Chase seems ready to go home. “Last Rites” is a weird episode only because it definitely feels like a finale. One of the biggest problems with the Marvel Netflix shows was that the seasons went on too long. The plot was something that could be resolved in about half those episodes so I would hate to see Runaways fall into that trap because it’s such a good show.
