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. In “Old School” we get to meet this new version of Topher, see Karolina take a leap of faith and a fun chase ensues. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there will be spoilers.
1. A New Friend?
At the end of last week’s episode, we got to meet Topher. Topher is a character from the comics but it’s clear that here he’s going to be slightly different but I still suspect he’ll be evil. Instead of being a vampire, Topher is addicted to some kind of substance that seems to give him some kind of abilities. Topher immediately does everything he can to become friends with this group despite no one but Molly trusting him. Topher brings them food, he brings them money, he even gives them advice on how to survive out here when no one ever trusts rich kids who runaway. Topher is a con artist, that much is clear. He’s incredibly good at winning everyone over over the course of the episode. The only one he doesn’t quite win over is Nico because she’s just too mistrusting (in a very good way in this case). Molly however, gets very carried away and starts to believe that he’s her long lost brother. The thing about Molly is that she’s much younger and feels very lost in the world, so to run into someone like him who vaguely looks related to her, has her all turned around and fully ready to trust this guy. Topher in the comics ends up being a lot of trouble but it’s clear they’re going somewhere else with this. I’ll talk about this more in a later point but if the betrayer (cause there will be one) is not Karolina then I suspect Topher is working for the parents in some capacity. I’m still not sure how his whole addiction angle will play out but I do think there’s some merit to it when you’re dealing with kids in a big city who have no home and no family. This is something that happens. This group of kids came from a sheltered life and now they’re seeing the worst that the world has to offer and I think it’s valid to introduce this. I’m not just not sold on it working out from a storytelling perspective.
2. The Yorkes Are Causing Trouble
This week we get to catch up a little with the Yorkes, who are trying their hardest to kill Jonah. They have the serum that he’s used before, particularly on Frank, and they think this will be the key to taking out Jonah. The science behind all of it is kind of wonky but with a show like this, it’s what you’re going to get. Thanks to Leslie, they get access to the dig site and are able to test their theory on some kind of substance they think is exactly what Jonah is made of. Their test goes well as the substance turns necrotic but they have to run away because surprise (!) Jonah and Karolina show up. They get away and we’re left wondering what’s next. The Yorkes are kind of this hilarious mad scientist couple that I wish we could spend more time with. You can kind of see how all the kids are like their parents but with Gert, Molly and their parents you definitely see it. They’re totally insane and definitely more evil than they let on which I think makes them great characters.
3. The Search Changes
Now that the kids aren’t fugitives, it’s going to be a little tougher to get them home so PRIDE has a little meetup to figure out what’s next. Before that happens, Catherine and Geoffrey Wilder have a fight over what happened with Darius. I don’t think there’s a lack of trust between the two now but I find Catherine’s coldness super interesting. She’s fully aware of what needs to be done in this situation and isn’t scared to do it. I think that scares Geoffrey a little in the way I think Tina scares the rest of them. Tina and Catherine are very similar people and I don’t think their relationship will have any kind of happy resolution. Because the kids aren’t fugitives anymore, a new approach has to be taken so they figure out with their surveillance cameras that the kids were seen at one of their anonymous soup kitchens, so now they’re taking a more practical approach to finding them and asking people questions. I really like when the parents are together because their personalities are so different and clash so much. The only thing keeping them together at this point are the kids. They hate each other and it shows and I cannot wait for this to blow up, because it will.
Continued below4. The Great Escape
Back at the mansion, Alex determines that he needs a computer, specifically one from their high school. Topher eggs this all on and says they should do it and so we get a really fun little chase and escape scene with the kids at their old school. After the Yorkes trigger an earthquake at the dig site, the school is evacuated and the kids can get in. Gert vanishes and almost gets everyone caught because she tries to get her meds. That leads to the nurse calling the parents who show up ready to reclaim their kids. Chase and Alex get caught up too when Chase ends up face to face with someone from his past who makes Gert feel some type of way. In the end though, they escape and it’s really fun watching them band together like this. They’re becoming closer and more cohesive and I love it. When they get out of the school, Topher ends up giving them the computer and it’s a little unclear how he did that. This is why I think there might be something to the whole “he’s the betrayer” theory.
5. Daddy Dearest
Jonah is dying and he needs another sacrifice as soon as he can but that’s not proving easy. Because of this, he contacts Karolina and tells her that he needs to see her as soon as possible. She agrees and goes to meet him because she has a lot of questions about who and what she is. He wants to provide her with that and when the earthquake happens, he asks her again how much she wants this. She says she does and he takes her to the dig site. The episode ends with them glowing and going down into the hole. I think one of two things are going to happen with Karolina, she’s either going to betray the whole group or Jonah is going to use her as his sacrifice after telling her everything she wants to know. In the comic, we do lose one of the characters and I think it’ll be Karolina by way of Jonah or accidentally by The Yorkes. If that doesn’t happen, Karolina is definitely the one who will betray the group so that she can be closer to Jonah and her heritage.
