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 “Radio On,” Jonah’s plan starts to become a tiny bit clearer, there’s a major showdown and Alex Wilder enjoys some kind of normalcy. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there will be spoilers.
1. A Quake In More Than One Way
At the end of last week’s episode, an earthquake hit the city and Jonah held Karolina and said that this was all just the beginning. This episode begins with that earthquake and everyone gets a bit shaken up, especially Gert and Molly (who has a really rough episode). Gert almost gets squashed by a falling pillar but thanks to Molly she doesn’t. When that’s over, Nico wonders where Karolina is because she’s the only one not there and it’s pretty fishy. Karolina, as we know, is with Jonah and they don’t know this yet. Karolina has questions and Jonah is really the only one who can give her the answers that she wants and in this episode, he helps her control her powers. She can’t do a whole bunch just yet but she no longer needs her bracelet to turn the lights on and off. It’s hard to not see this as a bonding moment and I think it adds credibility to the idea that she will be the one who betrays them all, not Alex Wilder. I think her motivations are there and I think Jonah is starting to play her to his side and there’s a real emotional core to it that will really rip the viewers apart if it goes that way.
2. Not So Mommy Dearest
Nico realizes that there’s only one thing that will help them get ahead of their parents is the Staff Of One. They use Karolina’s powers to send the smart house into chaos so they can walk in. That is all for nothing though when Nico’s parents are both home and Tina is not exactly going down without a fight…initially. Nico’s dad tries to talk to her and get her to see reason. He wants her to come home and just be done with all of this but Nico is not hearing it. Tina has the staff and she’s not going to just hand it over right away and a fight breaks out. Tina gets really rough with the kids and when Molly gets a significant hit against her, Tina tosses her in the pool and freezes it, almost causing Molly to drown. Nico yells to her mother that this is why her sister is dead and that hits Tina really hard and she stops. She lets everyone get up and doesn’t let Molly drown. She tells Nico that she can take the staff but when they see each other again, they will not be mother and daughter. Nico makes her choice and she leaves with the staff, leaving Tina very visibly shaken up by this because she thought she would stay with her. Tina Minoru is easily the most interesting of all the parents. The Staff Of One has clearly corrupted her. She’s a woman in tech who had to use everything in her arsenal to work her way up. She joined a secret organization for power and even though she loves her children, she couldn’t stop the death of one and the other hates her guts. She’s straight forward evil like the other parents but there’s something far more interesting about her because you can see her struggle with being a loving mother and wife with her quest for more power. She could have all of that but she’s gone about it so wrong and everything got screwed up. This fight is really rough to watch because she really loses herself in it and was pretty much resigned to let Molly drown like she didn’t matter. It’s not easy to lose sight that the parents are pretty evil (you know, with all the murder) but this is the first time where I felt really heartbroken for the kids in a way that moved me.
Continued below3. Normalcy
Alex Wilder is actually apart from the group for the most part of this episode. After losing their first batch of money, he takes off after the earthquake to go to Darius’s house to work. When he’s there, he gets to eat some actual soul food (not the rich L.A. nonsense that he’s accustomed to), listens to old records and gets his hair done. It’s all very normal and nice…at least for Alex. He has no idea that Darius is eventually going to turn him over to his father but he has a great time. He also gets to leave with a kiss from Darius’s sister in law, computer parts and more money so not only did he have a nice day but he helped out his friends. I find all of this with Alex really interesting because his naivety is becoming really apparent and if he’s still the one who ends up betraying the team, it’ll be for really different reasons. He’ll either snap or think he’s been played by everyone and go side with his parents in the end. I don’t know but the fact that I’m guessing is great because the magic of an adaptation is taking the source and tweaking it a bit to make it something new and special while still being the source material at its core. That’s what this has been so far and all the stuff with Alex in this episode really worked for me.
4. Let There Be Light
Never forget that Runaways is a show about teens and in any show about teens, there’s going to be angst and smooching. That’s what we get here with Gert and Chase, who’s status as a couple has been a little bit unclear. They’re alone at the underground mansion and Gert is having a hard time dealing with all that’s happened and it’s made worse by her not having her medication. She feels really unsure and upset about a lot of things and can’t handle it completely on her own. Gert and Chase have had a lot of build up as a couple but never really clarified what this was and Chase has really been a supporter of hers. He gets her and understands a lot about her with love and patience, which doesn’t come naturally to him given the way his family was. Chase is a good egg and he and Gert finally define whatever they have is and it’s adorable. They work together (with help from Old Lace) to scare off some DPW workers when Chase accidentally blows up a transformer and it’s there that they realize how good they are and it’s cute and I love it. They got the power on and also smooched and it was very sweet and pure. I love them as a couple and I’m totally ready to be devastated by what’s to come. This is Runaways after all, it won’t be a happy ending.
5. Those Pesky Parents
The parents are also up to their own tricks as all this is going on. The Wilders get the idea that if they get the cops off the kids that they’ll come up for air and expose themselves. Catherine can do that because framing people is apparently second nature for her but the problem is that they can’t do this unless they have someone else to pin the murder of Destiny on. They don’t have someone just yet but I’d bet good money on it being one of the other members of PRIDE. I just don’t know who yet. Maybe Robert Minoru?? The Yorkes?? We’ll see. Meanwhile, Janet goes to meet with Jonah to try and help him build another chamber but Janet starts to get wise and wants to know what he’s really up to and wants proof that Victor is alive. She gets the proof she needs but also starts to do her own digging into what’s going on. One of the most interesting this about Janet is that she’s not just some soccer mom who always kills it at the bake sale. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that but when she met Victor, she was in grad school herself. She was an accomplished scientist in her own right but had to put all that aside for Victor. Now, he’s gone and she’s kind of in the game again. This is not the strongest episode for the parents but what they do is part of the bigger puzzle of what’s going on. I am getting a little impatient with Jonah’s whole thing because I want to know what he wants to do. I want to know what the bigger story here is. TELL ME
