Karolina hangs out with her dad and everyone else gets suspicious on a decent Runaways
TV Reviews RecapFinally, some fresh blood… sort of. A lot of the running time of “Old School” is devoted to Topher. What’s his deal? Where’s he from? Why do his eyes glow like Molly’s? And should the other Runaways trust him? If you’ve read the Runaways comic, you know that the answer to this last question is “probably not,” but you also could have figured that out by being a human who consumes a bare minimum level of media in this oversaturated year of our Lord 2018.
Let’s get this out of the way: Jan Luis Castellanos is hot. It’s fun enough to watch him smolder at Nico, or preen at Alex and Chase, or even worm his way into poor Molly’s heart. But so far, Topher isn’t that interesting. He presents himself as a street-smart homeless kid who knows things about the world the Runaways couldn’t imagine—which would be a cool way to integrate a new character into the group, if it seemed like that was going to be his main angle. Instead, that gets very quickly undermined “untrustworthy junkie,” which is a much less compelling character type with more predictable outcomes.
Everyone is deeply suspicious of Topher, for good reason. Besides the fact that all of the kids have been given plenty reasons to be distrustful of everyone else, there are just too many possibilities. Topher could have been sent by their parents. He could be an undercover cop. He could just be a random criminal looking to ransom them. When he gets food for the group, he claims he’s doing “urban foraging” from trees in the area and bakeries getting rid of their day-old products, but it’s way more likely he’s been stealing. He has a suspicious sore on his arm. Even when he helps out with their heist at the end of the episode, it’s just a display of skills that could easily be put to use as an infiltrator.
By far the most compelling thing about Topher is what everyone else thinks about him, which comes into focus as a philosophical argument about what the team’s values are. Molly and Karolina are committed to the idea that they should accept Topher as someone who claims to have a similar background (and definitely has similar abilities) to their group, while Chase, Alex, and Nico want him gone. My personal take is closer to what Gert describes as a “hundred-yard dash between my anxiety and my idealism,” which resolves in favor of anxiety. Don’t let yourselves get betrayed again, kids!
This is, to be fair, also a smart way to force the main characters to reengage with the show’s class politics. Everyone is committed to no longer being spoiled rich kids (and, of course, it would rule if part of the Runaways mission ended up including blowing up the exploitive companies that built their parents’ wealth), but the temptations of their old lives are strong—and, no matter what, it’s going to take them a long time to change.
It certainly took Geoffrey Wilder a long time to change. And even now, he comes close to reverting to his old way of conducting himself. In the wake of Darius’ murder, he is, understandably, furious with his wife. Catherine’s line on this is tough: She claims that Geoffrey’s commitment to Darius was a fantasy, an illusion about what his life was when he was younger. Angel Parker has had a lot of fun with this icier incarnation of Catherine, and I really hope she gets to say more stuff like, “Did I not meet you because you killed your boss?” It might happen soon, since everyone in Pride is now committed to the idea of killing their new boss and never seeing each other again.
After the Victor and Janet material in the last episode, it’s time to check in on a different couple’s plan to kill Jonah. Dale and Stacey go to the dig site to test out a serum they hope will kill him, which, tentatively, seems to have the desired effect: Necrosis on material that, for some reason, is probably the same type of organic material as Jonah. Girl, I guess! It’s a mostly successful endeavor, except that in the process the Yorkes run into Jonah and Karolina.
Besides introducing Topher, Jonah and Karolina’s big father-daughter hang is probably the second-biggest plot of the episode, and it goes a long way toward something I didn’t think the show was even going to attempt: humanizing Jonah. He’s clearly very sick (he needs a new sacrifice), and wants to spend time with Karolina before he either revives or dies. When he calls her and stops himself in the middle of a demand (“I need to—I’d like to see you”) Julian McMahon’s generally excellent villainous smirk softens before our eyes. I doubt the show is going to go out of its way to suggest that Jonah actually should accomplish his goals, or that he should be forgiven for any of the horrible things he’s done, but I do appreciate the extent to which everyone is given some degree of moral and emotional shading. (They didn’t have to do that!)
On the other hand, Jonah feels like a literal incarnation of the trope that a man can only perceive women (or, in this case, humans) as being people after he has a daughter. He hits a bunch of the tropes pretty hard, including trying frantically to offer money to Karolina and giving her an ultimatum: If she doesn’t follow him, she’ll never know what she really is. (Again, I feel like we’ve heard this one before.) In any case, the episode ends with the two of them descending down the hole, so we’ll be finding out what’s actually at the dig site pretty damn soon.
While Jonah and Karolina are getting their quality time in, the rest of the kids start work on their own plan to mess with the dig site, which necessitates a very fun and good Runaways heist: They have to steal a computer from Atlas Academy, their old high school.
The theft is great, both because it’s an opportunity for the kids to run around frantically and do goofy lookout stuff and because it forces them all to confront the lives they’ve lost and the priorities they’ve been forced to abandon. In some cases, this is extremely literal: Gert tries to sneak into the school infirmary to get her medication, only to be stopped by the nurse. She notes that she used to take central air and heating for granted, but some things are harder to replace than others—at some point her mental health situation is going to become dire.
For the rest of the kids, we just get a sense of what’s missing from their lives now that they’re squatting in an abandoned mansion and literally fighting with their parents. They tell Topher not to take the side stairs because they might run into the “vape team.” (Cue Molly: “Sick clouds, bro.) Unfortunately, this answers my earlier question about which Runaway vapes… sadly, the answer is “none of them,” even though Chase definitely still blows thick cotton in secret. There are more than a few jokes about the history of the women’s bathroom, which got turned into a gender neutral bathroom after Gert successfully started a petition. Before they leave, Chase looks wistfully at the lacrosse team. Their new values and goals are certainly more righteous than their old ones, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t lost something.
Stray observations
- “Old School” is written by Tracy McMillan and directed by Patrick Norris.
- Tina: “Congratulations, our kids are no longer wanted for murder.” Robert: “We brought scones.”
- Lyrica Okana is great in the exchange where Topher tries to quasi-hit on Nico, only to be met with variations on “I don’t care.” It doesn’t matter what he says, Nico isn’t thinking about him!
- I get that they’d be afraid to go on another mission to one of the parents’ houses, but couldn’t one of the other kids have demanded that Dale and Stacey hand over Gert’s meds? They definitely would have done it.
- I didn’t have a good space to talk about it up top, but the runner where Pride tries to interrogate volunteers at the soup kitchen (and eventually the guy who stole the Fistigons) is very funny, and effectively shows how jarring it is to see these weirdos interacting with normal people.
- Runaways Dad Of The Day: Jonah! I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to give this award to Julian McMahon, one of my favorite genre actors and long-time prince of my heart. Please, continue to be a weirdly effective and sinister dad on this show.
18 Comments
Motorcade of Evil
This episode was great I’m already on episode 6! Glad I hung on to my Hulu subscription!
I laughed so hard when the street punk decided to shake the Pride parents for money, also way to read the room dude, and the reaction be Geoffrey’s fury before Robert just slides in with the cash. They played that scene so perfectly.The faster pace of this season has really helped the parents as they do feel much more complicated and dynamic than they did in the first season.
Roberts advice to the guy, that he could have asked for $100, was great. Tells you a lot about the character that he can’t help but offer a snide bon mot.
I think this is the episode where my current difficulties with the Karo/Nico pairing kind of became clear to me. I actually like the pairing, think there is a fun dynamic and the actresses have good chemistry. Also the visual difference adds to things although I think this was the first episode where the height difference between the two actresses was so blatantly obvious.However, as much as I can buy them in as a couple, it feels like they are much further along than the ending first season established and thus it feels like we skipped four, five episodes of relationship pacing to have them be already here. I think it is something that will became easier to handle, and I suspect that decision is linked to what they want to do this season, but it also deeply highlights how badly they messed up the relationship builds in the first season. Like seriously, what the hell was the point of the Chase/Karo fakeout? Especially considering the insane amount of resources they spent on it.
I feel like some of it can be explained by circumstance. Sure, if they were in their old lives, they would have had a slower progression. But now, with so much happening, essentially on their own, sharing a room, plus their age? Things move at superspeed. I do wish we saw more of those in-between moments though and it seems odd that Nico isn’t even a tiny bit suspicious of where Karolina keeps disappearing to.
Yeah, but it still doesn’t really work. There is an affection there that hasn’t really been established. Again, I’m not against it, but rather this does reflect how incomprehensible some of the creative decisions of the first season were.Seriously Nico and Karo barely interact in the first season. They have a couple of scenes together in the first two episodes and then they rush the kiss in the eight, I think, episode. In between they spend huge amount of resources on doing that weird Karo/Chase fakeout that basically doesn’t impact anything. So if they knew that not only was Karo/Nico the relationship they were working towards, but that it would also be a central relationship, they should done a hell of a lot more groundwork for it even before it became a thing of reality. I think that in turn would have helped a lot with the dynamic here as then that sense of familiarity and intimacy would be based on those interactions.
I agree, specially taking into account the source material, where they literally waited 10-15 years to get them together. I was expecting something similar in the show, like maybe Karolina hinting something about having had a crush on Nico for a long time.. And we did get some lingering looks, like when K found Nico and Alex making out, but a regular viewer could’ve easily missed that. So when they kissed it’s very easy to say that it came out of nowhere, even though there were *some* hints at some point.
Even regarding the source material it was odd as it was literally only the recent run where Karo and Nico really got together with little indications for it in between. In the original run Vaughan had Nico reject Karo, although his approach was so weird after that that I still don’t really know what his end game there was.So even if one had read the comics, there was literally no reason for them to expect that Nico would return Karo’s feelings. As mentioned, they’ve made it work this season, but the show has had to work from a deficit to account for those bizarre creative decisions in the first season.
I’ve read the comics and there was a lot after ‘there’ from Nico/Karo especially after K leaves with Xhavin [Vol 2]. Nico goes into a bit of a depression that Chase comments on: “are those Karolina’s clothes?” Nico has been moping in the bedroom they shared. When K & Xhavin come back [Towards end of Vol 2] there is tension between Karo/Nico/ Xhavin. Iimmediately Nico is suspicious and asks K where- as K finishes for her[ Nico] “…the place where we almost kissed right?” Strange Question for Nico to ask to prove if it was really K. After, she hugs K, telling her that she’s not all alone anymore. Then she deflates when she sees Xhavin, asking in a small voice “ So you’re still together?”Xhavin tries to seduce K as Nico, telling K that she thought this should please her [K] as Nico is someone K has feelings for. K doesn’t take the bait, telling Xhavin as Nico that Xhavin has earned her loyalty. Othere scenes include Nico questioning Xhavin’s gender and their relationship with K in a conversation with K that ends with Nico breaking down after K tells her that Xhavin gives her something she [Nico] can’t. I’ll offer one more scene from Vol 2. There are more in the 2008 run, where Nico very blatantly flirts with K on several occasions and the writers retcon the almost kiss of vol 2 to a kiss [or those two kissed bts or something] when K asks Nico who the best kisser is between Chase, Victor, Alex, and her [K] in a game of truth or dare. Nico responds Karolina.Anywho, back to vol 2. Chase & Xhavin have a chat where they aren’t exactly even taking about the same things [hilariously] and Xhavin confides that she Xhavin is a girl, just not the ‘right’ girl. In closing, lots there in the comics. There are so many examples. What I didn’t get was why writers kept teasing those two and then doing nothing about it. It felt unnecessary. Bonus: Remember when K went to visit Nico at Shield confinement/prison after murder world in Avengers Undercover? That adventure features Nico, Chase and Alex!Ok that’s all!
I’m slightly confused. My point was that after Vaughan’s run there hasn’t been much by other writers on the Nico/Karo front before the current, so from that point of view this hasn’t been building for 10-15 years.Also agreed on the Vaughan run examples, but that was again my point. His approach to the relationship was really weird and never brought to a conclusion in a definite manner, which is why it remained such an odd thing during his run. Part of it was because of Xavin, but I’m assuming I’m about to get a lot more opportunities during this season to explain why I hated that character so much.
I’ve read the comics and there is lot ‘there’ from Nico/Karo especially after K leaves with Xhavin [Vol 2].In the aftermath of K’s departure [and even while K is deciding whether to go] Nico displays a bit of confused emotions. She goes into a bit of a depression that Chase notices and comments on: “are those Karolina’s clothes?” Nico had been moping in the bedroom the two shared.When K & Xhavin come back [Towards end of Vol 2] there is tension between Karo/Nico/ Xhavin.Immediately upon her return Nico is suspicious and asks K where- as K finishes for her [ Nico] “…you were asking about the place where we almost kissed right?” It is a strange question for Nico to ask to prove if it really is her. Then she hugs K, telling her that she’s [Nico] is not all alone anymore and that she’s been horrible to everyone in her absence. She visibly deflates when she sees Xhavin, asking in a small voice “ So you’re still together?”There is also the scene when Xhavin tries to seduce K as Nico, telling K that she thought this would please her [K] as Nico is someone K has feelings for. K doesn’t take the bait, telling Xhavin as Nico that Xhavin has earned her [K’s] loyalty.Othere scenes include Xhavin’s constant second guessing of Nico’s ability as a leader and their [Nico/Xhavin] clear dislike of each other. Then Nico questions [on more than one occasion] Xhavin’s gender and their relationship with K in a conversation with K that ends with Nico breaking down after K tells her that Xhavin gives her something she [Nico] can’t.I’ll offer one more scene from Vol 2 [2005]. There are more in the 2008 run, where Nico very blatantly flirts with K on several occasions and the writers retcon the almost kiss of vol 2 into a kiss [or those two kissed bts or something] when K asks Nico who the best kisser is between Chase, Victor, Alex, and her [K] in a game of truth or dare. Nico responds Karolina.Anywho, back to vol 2. Chase & Xhavin have a chat where they aren’t exactly even talking about the same things [hilariously] and Xhavin confides that she [Xhavin] is a girl, just not the ‘right’ girl.In closing, there is a history of these two in the comics. Karo has feelings while Nico is hinted at having something…confusion? There are so many examples. What I didn’t get was why writers kept teasing those two and then doing nothing about it. It felt unnecessary.Bonus: Remember when it was K who went to visit Nico at the Shield confinement/prison after “Murder World” in “Avengers Undercover”? That adventure features Nico, Chase and Alex!Ok that’s all!
I don’t remember the first season too well but I think the Chase/Karolina pairing was the expected pairing because they were conventionally attractive and the later pairings were a better fit with their new lives.
No, Chase and Karolina were clearly never going to happen. Karolina was not into Chase, and Karolina was shown pretty early on to be interested in women. Likewise, Gert was clearly shown as interested in Chase. But Chase was not interested in Gert and Nico was not interested in Karolina (she was interested in Alex).
In both cases, the groundwork was laid for one side clearly but not at all for the other side until the dance episode. Suddenly, Chase was interested in moving on with Gert and Nico was passionate about Karolina. It was very poorly done. Both were set up as rebounds more than anything else.
The show’s slowed Gert/Chase down in a way that would work if the relationship didn’t seem unhealthy at this point. A relationship shouldn’t make Chase so unhappy and uncomfortable! Nico/Karolina are full steam ahead but it’s still hard for me to know what makes Karolina work so much for Nico. Other than that Karolina is very pretty.
Blows thick cotton? What?
From the moment I saw Topher in the trailer for this season, one question has been running through my mind: “Is he gonna still be a vampire?”
The bad news, of course, is that the answer is no.
The good news, though, is that because the drug he’s taking is apparently the same substance that induced Molly’s powers, I get to say that this is the MCU effectively introducing MGH (and/or effectively resurrecting the “IGH” plot thread from Jessica Jones). If Jonah dies before he finishes explaining stuff to Karolina, never fear: We should just be a season or two away from Xavin showing up to explain the rest. 😉
I don’t think it’s MGH otherwise Molly would be a mutant. IGH sounds much more likely, if they explain it at all.It’d be interesting if it were some kind of derivation of Jonah Juice.
This Topher thing makes little sense to me. I’m only halfway through the episode, but they should’ve snapped his neck the second they saw him. Some arrogant prick showing up at your hideout unannounced and swinging his d around like he owns the place ? nuh uh. And injecting random Spanish every other sentence is also kind of lame pandering (and annoying, imo) (not unlike the Alex and African American hair styles and product thing last episode but worse.)