Runaways in back for season 3! It’s bigger! It’s bolder! It’s…ending. But that won’t hold us back from having a great time watching. This show has been one of Marvel’s strongest for two years now and this season seems like it’ll be bonkers in all the best ways. So watch with us! We’ve got magic phones, adjustment periods, and resurgent religions to spare.
1. Brunch to the Future
After dealing with possessed parents and a trip through purgatory that lasted 6 months in the real world, this episode opens on the Runaways doing something very important- having a nice weekend brunch. Gert, Karolina, Molly, and Chase (Alex is stuck somewhere unknown and Nico is off doing Nico stuff) all go to an over-crowded spot to have their first normal human experience in a while. While they’re waiting, a guy Max is giving out a new Corvus (a new phone built by the Minorus’ company that has a Morgan le Fey narrated commercial) to everyone standing in line. Max ands Gert hit out off, much to Chase’s chagrin, and despite the fact that Gert and Chase belong together, it is very cute. There’s some strong, smooth world building done here, introducing a new status quo where people are dependent on these phones which are very clearly made with evil magic without overshadowing the normalcy that the group is trying to achieve. As the crew is wrapping up brunch, Max accidentally knocks a Corvus out of one guys hand, sending him into a berserker rage (millenials, am I right?); the guy attacks Max and just before giving him a bottle opener to the eye, Molly intervenes. This is a solid kickoff to what’s probably the best episode of the season yet. It’s filled with tons of strong communication of the new status quo that doesn’t feel overly expository. More than that, though, this episode ties together the confidence the series has gained with age and the thing that made it so endearing in season one. Early on, the show saw a lot of success leaning into the ways that superpowers and world-saving intersected with being a normal teenager today. The past few episodes have leaned more into the sci-fi/superhero end of things and while that’s been interesting, episode 6 seems to bring a more emotionally grounded approach to things, bringing stellar, deeply fun results.
2. Gib Me More
So it turns out the past 6 months haven’t just seen big moves by Morgan le Fey. Leslie Dean brought back the Church of the Gibborim and it’s good I guess? When Molly and Karolina visit, they find out that the group it in a “post-radiance” phase now and according to Leslie, it’s giving people hope. By far the best part of this subplot is Vaughn, the church staffer with a giant crush on Karolina, throwing around slang like “okurrr” and “sis” to relate to Gen Z churchgoers. Also great in here, is Molly being reunited with Dale, who the episode initially introduces as though he’s exiled himself in the woods. Dale reveals that he’s trying to be more independent, intentionally avoiding Stacey and everyone else and setting up a tent on the church campus for the sake of processing on his own. It’s honestly not very interesting but it’s fun enough that I’ll allow it. The real event of the pair’s discussion is Dale’s accidental allusion to Leslie’s involvement in the death of the Hayes parents. While he waves it away, a seed is certainly planted for an interesting confrontation in a future episode.
3. Morgan le FUN!
Wow wow wow is this a pleasant development! Not only is the Morgan le Fey story moving like a freight train but it’s actually fun as well. A story that was meandering early on is now the source of the show’s wonderful status quo. When Nico gets a message from her father to meet at a restaurant, he introduces her to the woman who saved his life- Morgan le Fey. She woke him up, healed him with magic (a fact Robert is oblivious to), and has since taken a massive role in changing the direction of Wizard. Elizabeth Hurley is doing awesome work here, chewing up scenery and injecting fun energy into every frame that she’s in. Where the Magistrate family was self-serious, Morgan is taking joy in every action she takes. Her manipulation of Nico is relatively transparent, but Hurley brings a sinister charm to the whole thing that makes Morgan impossible not to love. Also notable here, is le Fey’s visit to Tamar’s house, where Geoffrey Wilder is helping take care of Tamar’s kid. This is yet another stop on the weird Tamar story train given her involvement in Catherine’s death but that’s beside the point here. Thanks to Morgan, the HQ for Corvus phones is being build right in Tamar and Geoffrey’s neighborhood, a move that will help bring jobs and prosperity to a needy community. It’s not the most interesting part of Morgan’s plot but it does drive home how smart she is- covering all of her bases and making sure that success is likely.
Continued below4. So You’ve Been Possessed by an Alien Family
Victor and Stacey get a bit of perfectly pleasant screen time this episode as they try to bounce back from being possessed by the Magistrate and the Bride. We get an absolutely hilarious scene with them at “Alien Abductees Anonymous,” where they listen to a lot of people talk about being anally probed. Once Victor’s turn comes around and he reluctantly describes his whole (insane!!!) character arc, the group rejects it, accusing him of making fun of them and questioning the lack of anal probes. It’s a fun aside that both gives space to develop two of the most interesting Runaway parents and further help the world feel more lived in. After the meeting, Victor invites Stacey to his lab to help with a project; once she gets there, Janet is hanging out on a big screen. It’s an interesting development (especially after her emotional goodbye with Chase) but one that we’ll have to wait to see more of.
5. Ain’t No Party Like a Corvus Launch Party
At the official launch party for Corvus there is quite a bit of plot going on but here are the basics: Max reveals that Corvus is going worldwide, Morgan le Fey is named CEO of Wizard while Tina’s security clearance is taken away, and Karolina confronts Morgan who says that Nico is already hers which leads to a Karolina/Nico confrontation, which leads to Nico joining Morgan’s coven. Hoo-boy am I out of breath right now. It’s definitely a large number of notable things happening in relatively little time (especially when you have to review it) but that’s part of what makes the climax of the episode so exciting to watch- it gives everyone real, full moments but quickly and effectively. It’s a lot of strong execution of simmering plot points linked with set up for what should be a very strong final 4 episodes of the season if they look anything like this one. The episode ends with Gert, Karolina, and Chase returning home to find Molly staring into a floating Corvus that she heard Alex’s voice coming from. Stick around and we’ll see where this cliffhanger takes us.
