With Jonah gone (for now), there’s a lot of open narrative space on Runaways. What are the kids doing, with their parents’ boss dead? What are the parents doing? What does the next phase of the show look like? The answer, it turns out, is that Pride’s stable of corrupt cops has become a minor antagonist—a decision that makes sense in theory, but proves a little stale in practice.
To be fair, there is a degree of humor in Molly’s escape from Flores, which is pleasantly and unexpectedly fast. I really did think a lot of this episode was going to be a rescue mission, but instead she’s back with the rest of the team by the opening credits, totally humiliating Flores in a manner that feels very reminiscent of an ’80s teen movie. And with Flores off the table as a credible threat, it makes sense that he’s replaced as the primary “bad cop” by AWOL, a new minor antagonist who can be positioned between Pride and their children and summarily dispatched.
Myles Bullock tries his best to make AWOL interesting, but it doesn’t work. Partly, this is because “corrupt cop in LA with serious ego problems” is a tired trope, and one that Runaways doesn’t seem to acknowledge at all. Flores literally describes AWOL as “talented, ruthless, but he doesn’t always follow the rules,” which is my favorite parody log line for an episode of Luther. And the scene of Flores and AWOL yelling at each other is completely leaden—I really thought the show was self-aware enough that any scene where someone growls “You question my loyalty?” would have at least a hint of irony, but alas.
At bottom, AWOL just doesn’t have the built-in tension of the kids’ relationships with their parents. Pretty much any villain will feel like a letdown when the primary focus is people who are so close to our heroes. The show tries to deal with this problem by making AWOL an antagonist for Alex specifically, but the Runaways leader spends most of “Big Shot” acting like a huge dumbass. He makes everything about his own ability to devise plans and tricks people into things when it would be easier to be honest and forthright with everyone, like dragging the team to the restaurant where AWOL is known to hang out with no plan beyond “getting AWOL’s attention” to successfully flip him.
Alex doesn’t have bad ideas necessarily, but he’s doing them all on his own, and refusing to think about the team. Again, I appreciate the drama this creates, but Alex asking everyone to trust him again and again feels just a twinge too on-the-nose for a grim superhero story for my taste. After all, they only get away from the restaurant because Nico uses the “pause” spell to stop AWOL and his team in their tracks. (This does lead to a funny visual effect of the cops’ eyes moving very slowly in their frozen heads.)
Meanwhile, some weird stuff is happening with the parents! Several of the members of Pride appear to have been possessed by the aliens on Jonah’s ship (including, potentially, Jonah himself), a fact that is heavily hinted at throughout the episode. This makes one of the subplots, in which Victor starts to build weapons to use against the kids, feel potentially way more sinister.
Robert offers to help Victory for some reason—nominally to keep an eye on him and make sure the kids aren’t in danger—and Janet inserts herself into their brain trust, in the wake of her growing technological confidence. It’s the first real acknowledgment of the parents’ romantic subplot from last season, and it is awkward. Though it’s not as awkward as the Wilders’ trip to visit Tamar, who somehow does not kill Catherine where she stands. AWOL, who magically shows up at the house later, asks the right question: “You taking orders from the same people who killed your husband and paid me to shoot at your baby?”
Right now, it’s unclear exactly who is being possessed—though it’s most likely Tina and Stacey. The scene between Robert and Tina in which she suggestively goes on about the sugar and dopamine reactions she’s getting from the cake is a neat trick, since it’s not implausible that Tina would actually talk this way about cake. But it also makes much more sense when it becomes clear that she’s not herself, and is in the process of losing control to one of the aliens. Stacey, meanwhile, demands that Dale stay away from one of her projects, “Or I’ll feel that you don’t respect the autonomy of my process.” This is easily the highlight of the episode.
Unfortunately, we’ll probably have to wait at least one more episode for more material with the possessed parents, because AWOL kidnaps Livvie at the end of “Big Shot.” It’s a way of getting leverage on the Runaways, and bringing the teens back to their parents—but it’s also an obvious setup for the next episode, like Molly being captured at the end of “Past Life.” I doubt the resolution of this one will be as compelling, or as quick.
Stray observations
- “Big Shot” is written by Kirk A. Moore and directed by Wendey Stanzler.
- Alex says he’s going to make Livvie’s phone look like it’s in Wakanda, which is the first Marvel Universe.
- Chase and Gert have some pretty sweet interactions in this episode, largely surrounding them taking care of a sick Old Lace—until it becomes clear that Gert has the same illness.
- Remember when everyone thought Flores and the strike team were going to be out of a job last episode? What was up with that?
- AWOL kills Flores in the meat fridge of his favorite restaurant, which is psychotic—he’s probably damaging all the meat!
- Runaways Dad Of The Day: Dale, who is easily manipulated into making Stacey a snack after trying to have a legitimate conversation with his wife. Kevin Weisman is just great this season.
19 Comments
Is that Nico? What are they doing with her look, and what’s the point of it? The character design they’re trying to adapt was based on then-contemporary Japanese street fashion, too-hip-awkward rather than nu-metal-in-2018 awkward, and I understand if they changed it because her character is different, but, like, has it somehow been reinterpreted as “Make her look like she was mugged by Hot Topic from 1999” on this show? Is she supposed to be a fucking idiot in this version?
or she just found it in a secondhand shop dude, dont overthink
How is this different from what she normally wears?
It is not, although that is more my issue with her wardrobe. While all the kids are ridiculously clean and well-shaven for their conditions, at least their clothing at least looks like something they would get from second-hand stores. Nico, instead, constantly wearing elaborate ensemble outfits is starting to become ridiculous.
I think the AWOL stuff would have more impact if Alex actually felt the weight of working around everyone. He’s caught up in “justice” against his parents precisely because they betrayed him and his notion of who they were. If he at least got a glimmer that he was doing the same thing to the other kids and had a little character growth, it would be nice. The writers seem hell bent to keep him at odds to the mass of the group instead.
The Roxxon Easter egg! And the Wakanda reference!!! #ItsAllConnected!!!
I love that Alex is being an asshole again, because it makes for really funny banter between the runaways. However this times he was just plain stupid so that’s less fun. I hope Livvie survives by the end of this season, although I’m thinking her chances are not that great at this point. Also seeing Gert and Old Chase laying like that on the floor “dying” brought back some awful comicbook memories that I was not expecting to revisit this early in the show.
Yeah, there’s a definite sense that whoever decided how to rearrange the major Runaways plot points for this show did so with no regard whatsoever for what buildup is necessary for the emotional or logical payoffs.
“Old Chase” is a great typo.
Wakanda wasn’t the first reference. There have been several Roxxon signs in this season alone. But Wakanda is probably the most overt nod…
Alex. Is. A. Moron.This is one of those things that I can understand the concept they are go for with the character, at least I think I do, the execution is so bad. If I’m correct, they are setting up Alex feeling the need to prove himself as someone who matters in a team full of superpowered teens while showing that growing darkness in him, but the way he is doing it is just so bad. I mean that resteurant scene of trying to catch AWOL’s attention was absurd.It also doesn’t help that Livvy’s role increases so exponentially that it is legit difficult to really get why she is suddenly so chummy with everyone.
While I’ve appreciated overall the work they’ve done with Nico/Karo this season, especially considering how central that relationship is to the larger story, the pacing of their arc in these past two episodes is insane.Karo: Nico, you killed my father instead of just putting him to sleep.Karo the next day: Hearing my father explain how he killed 15 teenagers because he loved me really cheered me up.Karo on the following day: Oh you’re all going from some great Caribbean food, Nico included. Sure I’ll tag along like nothing is wrong.Karo at the end of the episode: Nico, I really miss talking to you. Maybe a good night’s rest will make me okay with you killing my father and we can start catching up again tomorrow.What drove me nuts was that some of the issues could easily have been addressed, just showing a brief moment of awkwardness between Nico and Karo at the restaurant, but instead they filmed with Nico and Karolina literally walking next to each other like they were on a regular nice little stroll.
Or how about Karolina’s “I need a break from everything you gu-oh, you need help to bust out Molly because she’s been captured by some cops during a mission you guys decided to do even though we said no missions? Sure I’ll help!!”
I can understand Karo wanting to help Molly, but considering the nothing she shows up for…
the show went on a downhill without Jonah
Which is really weird since he was the worst thing about season 1.
I’m not sure I like the parents being possessed. I don’t know enough about the lore so if it is reversable beyond killing the host, but yeah…I don’t want these characters taken away.
Especially because of which ones it is so far. Like, it couldn’t be Robert, who brings the absolute least to the show out of any main character, or Frank, who’s just painful to watch. No, it had to be two of the ones that matter instead. To answer your question about the lore: There is no lore. This didn’t happen in the comics.
Yeah. Brittany Ishibashi (Tina) in particular has been absolutely crushing it and putting in a really interesting portrayal. I hope not to lose it to a silly cake-eating alien.
If Old Lace dies, I will never forgive the writers. That’s all. 🙂