REVIEW: Marvel's Runaways, Season One

 REVIEW: Marvel's Runaways, Season One 

Originally published in 2020, here are my thoughts on the first season of Marvel's Runaways.

Reunion

This was a slow burner, but it did well in introducing the characters and the set-up for the series. I like the concept of the parents having a secret society under the guise of a charity; I think that's a really strong narrative hook.

Rewind

 I actually enjoyed this more than the first episode. It was pretty interesting seeing the events of the first episode from the perspective of the parents running the secret society, and there's some intriguing set-up for future episodes too. A great concept. 

Destiny

Quite an entertaining little episode. It's good fun seeing the gang looking for clues around their individual houses regarding their parents and their sacrifices, and it leads to some cool moments with x-ray goggles, snow and a dinosaur, which really lend the episode a real comic-book vibe.  There's a good central mystery at the heart of this regarding a text message Karolina (Virginia Gardner) receives from the teenage girl who was supposedly sacrificed in the events of the first two episodes - Destiny Gonzalez (Nicole Wolf) - and whether it means she could still be alive. It keeps you invested throughout the episode, and the answer we later receive at the end of this instalment does not disappoint.

Fifteen

This gets pretty dark as some of the parents' actions are truly horrendous. First we discover that they lied about Amy's (Amanda Suk) death being a suicide, seemingly suggesting that the parents actually killed her for one of their rituals (NB: It is later revealed that it was the alien Jonah (Julian McMahon) who murdered Amy), and then we witness two of the parents deliberately seek out a homeless person as a sacrifice because they see them as people who 'don't count'.

I absolutely loved this episode; things really feel like they are starting to pick up steam - and we get more of the dinosaur. Dinosaurs are always a big plus. Also: I did NOT expect that cliffhanger ending!

Kingdom

The episode that so far feels the most like a Marvel superhero show. We get more superpowers, more of a typical 'good guys versus bad guys' narrative and it feels much larger than life than the previous episodes in the season up until this point. The scenes with Alex's (Rhenzy Feliz) captors make for quite a tense watch, and ending was delightfully weird.

Metamorphosis

A good episode for Karolina. It delves deeper into her character, we find out about her internal conflict over whether she loves Nico (Lyrica Okano) or Chase (Gregg Sulkin), and discover more about her powers. Not the most eventful beyond soap opera-style affairs, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Refraction

This is more of a soap opera style of episode, so if you don't like superhero shows such as Arrow or Batwoman then this won't be for you. Personally I enjoyed seeing the aftermath of the extra-marital affair exposed in the previous episode, and the cliffhanger ending reminded me in a good way of an iconic style of soap opera storyline that has been done numerous times within the medium of television. The kids really don't have it easy with their parents, especially Chase and Molly (Allegra Acosta).

Tsunami

This is a really interesting episode of Marvel's Runaways. We got to find out more about the events which led up to Amy's death, and see more of the harsh brutality of Jonah. I'm really intrigued to find out what's on the VHS tape that Molly's parents left for her - were they a part of Pride too perhaps? 

Doomsday

This is another really good episode; the show kind of shifts to becoming more about the end of the world and less about a secret society, which works and helps maintain interest. Intrigued to find out why Leslie (Annie Wersching) is so afraid of her daughter Karolina's powers. 

Hostile

This was both an epic final episode, and also strangely open-ended for a season finale. We get some really cool stuff with Jonah versus Karolina at the beginning, and the sequences with the Runaway kids on the run is really captivating to watch, but it doesn't really resolve the season. It feels more like a mid-season finale, and yet this is definitely the final episode of Season One.

I did enjoy this episode a lot overall though, and it sets up a great new status quo for the second season with the kids now being hunted by the law.

What are your thoughts on the Marvel's Runaways' first season? Let me know in the comments.