REVIEW: Marvel's Runaways, Season Two

 REVIEW: Marvel's Runaways, Season Two

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

Gimme Shelter

This was a really strong episode; we get some truly brilliant scenes of the Runaway kids living rough, and the crazy amount of influence PRIDE have. They're in the media, on the front covers of all these magazines, and their name is plastered over all these homeless shelters too. It really feels like there's no escaping them for these kids. 

The stuff with Alex (Rhenzy Feliz) and Darius (DeaVaughn Nixon) is quite a funny fake-out too. The way it builds up, you really believe he's going to get Alex do something shady for the money - but in reality he just wants Alex to paint the bedroom for a newborn.  It's a really fun twist.

I was also really impressed with the death scene featuring Molly's last living relative Graciela Aguirre (Marlene Forte). The actor who plays Molly, Allegra Acosta, acts out discovering the dead body with no words, and you really feel her emotions at play.

Radio On

This episode has probably my favourite sequence in the entire show so far, this really epic fight between Tina (Brittany Ishibashi), Karolina (Virginia Gardner), Molly and Niko (Lyrica Okano). It is so cool, and it shows how brutal the parents are with what Tina ultimately ends up doing to Molly.

The stuff with Chase (Gregg Sulkin) and Gert (Ariela Barer) trying to get the power back in their secret base is very good also. There's a great sense of peril when they accidentally cause a power cut, and it looks like they could be discovered by the people who arrive to try and sort it out.

Double Zeros

Molly is pretty badass in this episode; she has some really cool moments at the beginning and end. The climatic showdown between the Runaways and Alex's Dad was pretty fun also; a great build-up of tension when they couldn't get the car to start. I thought the training scene was a very effective way of showing our characters trying to become better at working together as a team.

However I'm not totally sure what the character of Alex Wilder contributes to this series anymore. He doesn't really seem to fulfil any proper narrative purpose, and feels like a pointless addition to the Runaways team.

I mean, in the first season he was effectively their tech support, and the first few episodes of season two their way of getting money. Now he's just...there, which isn't helped by how the others all have powers in some capacity. Niko has the magical staff, Molly super strength, Gert controls the dinosaur, Chase shoots lasers from the gauntlets, Karolina flies and shoot energy beams. Alex, meanwhile, does absolutely nothing apart from be carried to the car.

Old School

This was an interesting episode. I like the mystery and enigma over whether Topher (Jan Luis Castellanos) can be trusted, and the drugs angle is quite a unique direction for a Marvel show. Alex also has more of a purpose again too; he seems to have gone back to being tech support.

Rock Bottom

This is probably one of season two's best episodes. The stuff with Topher is quite different and unique from the other Marvel film and television plots, the car chase is great fun and Molly's reaction to Topher's uncertain fate is brilliant drama. We also learn some interesting things about Jonah (Julian McMahon) and Karolina. Seeing his spaceship is very interesting, and this episode is really making me start to wonder if Karolina will end up betraying the Runaways. 

Bury Another

This was a good episode, although I am starting to feel a bit sorry for the parents. I mean, by this point the Runaways gang have done some pretty shady things themselves (Stealing a computer from a school, engaging in a brawl on the street with Topher)! And then what Alex does with his Dad at this episode is almost as dark and illegal as the sacrifices. True, none of the Runaways have killed anyone like their parents, but they're hardly saints.

I do like a lot of the conflict between characters keeping secrets though. Karolina coming out to Niko about her secret meetings with Jonah was a great moment, combined with the subversion of Gert wanting to keep her and Chase encountering Janet (Ever Carradine) at the hospital a secret, but Chase telling the others anyway. 

I think that's a really interesting dynamic, and I hope they keep having the Runaways going off on their own separate diversions, keeping it to themselves away from the others. It creates some brilliant character drama and conflict.

Last Rites

Well this was certainly an eventful episode. I'm still not sold on Alex keeping his father Jeffrey captive in the Runaways secret base, but it was good to see that he did at least pull Alex up on it by pointing out all the shady things Alex and the Runaways have done so far. It was great fun to see the kids and parents fighting Jonah side-by-side, and Niko was totally badass here. She could probably fight toe-to-toe with the Avengers with that magical staff of hers.

There's some great dramatic conflict here between Karolina and the rest of the Runaways too concerning the secrets she has been keeping from them; it will be interesting to see how her relationship with Niko is affected given the ending of this episode also.

Speaking of the ending, it's really making me wonder where the rest of this season and then season three goes from here. This felt like a finale to the entire show; it resolves so many plot threads, and the main driving force of the series is now gone. Where on Earth can they go next? 

Past Life

This episode does a pretty decent job at dealing with the aftermath of the previous one. We get to see Karolina grieving for her dead father and searching for things he may have left behind, whilst Alex tries to bring justice for Darius's murder. Frank (Kip Pardue) continues to shock me with how two-faced he is, and there are more surprising plot points in the narrative such as PRIDE and the church appearing to be coming to an end that makes me question just what happens in the remaining episodes and season three (although to be fair, there is a cliffhanger at the end of this episode that's clearly going to be resolved in the next).

Big Shot

Blimey, this season really did just go up a gear. From the opening scene of the Molly rescue operation to the shocking cliffhanger regarding Alex's girlfriend Livvie (Ajiona Alexus), this was a real rollercoaster of an episode. The show really went to the next level here!

I loved all the bent cop stuff in this episode; you really felt the level of danger and peril Alex was placing his friends in, and when he strikes that deal with one of them without consulting the others first the writers do a really good job in establishing the conflict and disagreement caused within the group. The fact that the script even acknowledges how by this point the Runaways have arguably been as morally corrupt as the parents is just the icing on top.

You really feel for the poor dinosaur too; I'm intrigued to find out what's wrong with both the dinosaur and Gert. Whatever it is, it seems a bit unusual, and my only guess is that it has something to do with Jonah. 

Hostile Takeover

This episode really continues the high peak this season hit from the previous episode. It truly feels like Marvel's Runaways here is in its golden era. The scenes with the rogue cop and his gangsters are so tense, especially when they break into the Runaways' secret base, and the set-up for the next episode with Frank trying to recondition Leslie is shocking stuff.

Talking of shocks, I did not see that reveal regarding Gert and her dinosaur's mystery illness. The parents really do get more and more despicable;the talk of a manmade virus and germ warfare feels weirdly topical in 2020 given the conspiracy theories regarding the pandemic, almost as though the writers foresaw the future. Marvel's Runaways predicted it?

I actually thought before this episode that Stacey (Brigid Brannagh) seemed like one of the better parents, but now she's dropped right down in my estimations. Making your own child ill just to bring them back home after they ran away is truly despicable, and it was great to see Dale (Kevin Weisman) horrified at this discovery too, as it means that at least one of the parents is a decent individual (so far). 

Last Waltz

Okay, there are a lot of game-changing moments in this episode. First you have Dale and Stacey turning on Tina, then Chase deciding to leave the group behind at the end. I honestly think Chase made the right decision; he has a point that there's maybe not much need for them to fight their parents anymore.

That indoctrination place for the Pride church where Leslie is sent is very unnerving. Those scenes reminded me a lot of the classic series The Prisoner, what with them not being allowed to refer to each other by their real names and having to use these weird codenames, almost as if they are stripped entirely of their identity. That kind of stuff is very gripping to watch.

And how good did Molly's belated birthday celebrations look? Blimey, the Runaway kids really went to town. The set design for that sequence was on point; whoever were the set designers for this series totally should have got a pay rise, for their work has been phenomenal. It's nice to have a scene where these characters are just having fun; it helps to level out the more serious stuff, and shows that these people are still young at heart. 

Earth Angel

Wow, just when you think the parents couldn't get more disturbing - they test their weapons out on innocent people and wipe their minds over and over again. These parents really don't have any boundaries, and it's always entertaining watching their evil antics.

Speaking of which, I'm certainly not a fan of what Frank has been doing. First trying to recondition his wife's mind, and here imprisoning his own daughter, Frank has really become a character you love to hate.

It was nice seeing Karolina finally meet her grandmother, and her mum Leslie should make an interesting addition to the Runaways. I'm looking forward to seeing how one of the parents being a part of their group changes things. 

Split Up

Oh my God, this episode had EVERYTHING!

Killer drones, car chases, murderous parents...you name it. THIS is everything I wanted from Runaways and more when I first started watching.

Split Up has without a doubt one of the greatest fight scenes between the parents and kids. The battle between Niko and her Mum and Dad is totally epic, and is honestly up there with some of the MCU films' fight sequences.

Oh, and that animation explaining the prophecy that Karolina is supposed to fulfil was beautiful. It's very similar to the one in the Doctor Who episode 'Can You Hear Me' in the way it's animated, and does just as good a job as that example of selling the exposition.

The cliffhanger here really makes me desperate for Disney Plus to put Season Three on their streaming service (NB: Season Three is now on Disney Plus). I need to see how it's resolved!

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