Six episodes into Runaways and they still haven’t run away. I’m keeping count. However, by completely going its own way, this might be the best show Marvel has given us to date. This episode takes place in one location and the drama escalates to a pretty dangerous level for everyone involved. Secrets are out and the fallout is going to be bad. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there are spoilers throughout.
1. An Origin and a Heist
“Metamorphosis” starts with the origin story of Pride. Jonah (the character that debuted last week) brought all these couples together by giving them all something they want. In return, they help him get sacrifices so that he can continue to live forever. Jonah explains to them that this is how things are they will keep doing this because of all that he has given them. Given that they all work in different sectors, it’s clear they were chosen for their strengths. The Yorkes are scientists, the Wilders are involved in the law and the community, the Minorus work in tech. This is what I figure is the reason for them being chosen. They don’t know each other and when Leslie puts a victim in the box Victor has created, they are horrified by what they find out is happening. They don’t want to be murderers but they also like having the things they have. It’s a simple origin but it works. Flash forward to the future and they are all getting ready for a fundraiser that they, as the Pride, have put together. The kids decide tonight is the night to do something big and they scheme to hack into Tina Minoru’s computer while all the parents are downstairs at the party. I put these two together because I think it’s interesting to see where things start to where things end up. Their scheming and lying has dug a hole that’s come back to haunt them over a decade later and it’ll be their kids that potentially end the whole thing. Their scheming is partially done for their kids and that’s what’s coming back in a bad way.
2. Karolina, I See You
One of my biggest things with this show is my (and many, many others) desire to see Karolina Dean be the same character she was in the comics. A big part of this characterization is her sexuality. The show has teased a potential relationship between Karolina and Chase and that comes to a head tonight in two conversations. One with Chase and one with Gert. As they all get ready for the fundraiser, Nico and Karolina decide to do that together and this scene is full of very subtle moments that show that Karolina has a crush on Nico. Gert has noticed this and comes after fairly hard about it because as we know, Gert has a crush on Chase. Let’s break this down: Gert likes Chase. Chase likes Karolina. Karolina likes Nico. Nico likes Alex. Alex likes Nico back. The conversation with Gert is a strange one because it comes off really petty on Gert’s behalf. It kind of forces Karolina to confront something about herself that’s deeply personal and something she needs to come to terms with on her own time. Gert just wants to protect her own interests here and spin it to show that she’s just caring. It’s rough and it makes me like Gert just a little less. In fact, it helps push Karolina to get vodka and go up to the roof. She talks with Chase and literally falls off the roof only to start flying after Chase grabs her bracelet in an attempt to save her. They kiss but Karolina is not into it. There is no love here other than friendship but I still feel weird about how backed into a corner Karolina was by Gert. I expect more from Gert but these are after all, teenagers. They have time to grow and learn and I think that’ll be a big part of what happens once they run away.
3. Victor Stein Lets Loose
I loathe Victor Stein because he’s an abusive jerk but he delivered my favorite moment of this entire episode because it’s just so dramatic and soap opera like. Victor starts to have one of his episodes brought on by his brain tumor and at the reception of the fundraiser, Tina brings him up to talk and he just drops a bomb on everyone. He knows that his wife is having an affair with Robert Minoru and he tells everyone all about it, very publicly, in front of poor Tina. He then collapses but the damage has been done. I love this because the separation in the parents is the most interesting thing that Runaways has done. In the comic, there were factions but there was nothing like this. The comic gave us a sense of unity for the most part but on this show, they aren’t even really friends. Their kids are but the parents are simply around each other because it benefits them all. They don’t share a bond deeper than the Pride. The complications between the parents has created even more complications for the kids and this story has turned into something truly exciting. I love that Runaways is more than just a Marvel show. It’s actually good television.
Continued below4. Oh Hi…Dad
So, Jonah is Karolina’s dad and like Leslie and Karolina, he wears a bracelet. They are a family of rainbow aliens but Karolina still has no idea about Jonah. She believes and has a solid relationship with Frank Dean, the man who raised her. Jonah is really creepy about meeting Karolina too. When he does greet her, he pretends to just be an old friend of her moms but there’s something so sinister in how he approaches her. Clearly something else is going on here and I’m eager to find out what it is. Speaking of Frank Dean, what we find out is that Frank caught Leslie and Jonah in bed together. The Yorkes used their serum on him to erase that memory, however, when Frank sees Jonah, that all comes back to him. I’ve mentioned this before but I see Frank Dean as a sort of wild card. He’s been kept out of the church’s highest level, he’s been suspicious of Leslie, he’s all but lost his acting career and he remembers what Leslie and Jonah did. He’s either going to die or he’s going to be a sort of ally for the kids. He’s got nothing to lose but Karolina, who he clearly loves very much.
5. Molly, No
At the very end of the episode, something very bad happens and it’s this that might be the catalyst for the kids actually running away. Remember when Catherine Wilder cornered Molly and wanted to know if she saw anything the night of the Pride meeting? Molly was able to use her wits to escape that but with the kids planning to expose the parents, Molly is worried she won’t get to learn anything about her real parents. Catherine promised her that and Molly, in a panic at the end of the episode, lets slip to the Wilders that she “didn’t see a thing” in response to them asking how she was. Catherine realizes that she made a mistake and Molly knows everything. Please leave my baby Molly alone. I beg you, Runaways, don’t hurt her.
