Tag: james marsters

Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 8: Tsunami Recap

~ Metacrone

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In Runaways episode 8, Tsunami, the cast plays Survivor: Pride edition, while Victor Stein bleeds out on the floor. They prove to be as inept at life saving as they are at parenting and loyalty. The kids are also confronted with life and death issues, as Chase faces losing his father, Nico and Alex explore Amy’s death, Molly receives a message from her long dead parents, and Gert and Karolina try to help Chase while dealing with their own messed up families.

The episode picks up right where episode 7 left off, with Victor having been shot in the chest moments before by Janet , who managed to wear fabulous shoes to the occasion, because a woman has to some talents, and chic but understated dressing is one of hers. You’ll never catch her coming to the murder party underdressed, even if she was just lying around her bedroom when she heard her husband firing the fistigons at her son. We can also add stepping up when it matters to her list of talents, and pretty good aim with a handgun.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 7: Refraction Recap

~ Metacrone

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In this week’s episode, Refraction, the characters spend most of their time dealing with the fall out from last week’s episode, Metamorphosis. Refraction, in its various definitions, refers to a bending or changing of light to alter the way things are seen. In this episode, various agents, including the Jonah juice cure-all, Jonah himself, Leslie, and Molly, alter the perceptions and dynamic of Pride and the kids. But change is not necessarily good, and the metamorphosis that was referred to in the last episode is going to be complex and difficult for the characters, at the very least.

In the opening flashback we watch Victor and Janet Stein meet for the first time. He uses a pick up line that compares light refraction to time travel, then insults her intelligence when she doesn’t fall for it. She takes the bait. The scene changes to Victor holding newborn Chase as Janet watches. He’s in awe of his child, declaring that Chase is the only thing that matters.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 6: Metamorphosis Recap

~ Metacrone

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This week we get more background on the early days of the Pride, the kids pull off a complicated plan, and the parents interact with the mysterious Jonah. Everyone’s personal lives, youth and adult, begins to get in the way of the goals of the group. The kids’ romantic entanglements and personal dilemmas are charming to keep up with, since they are mixed up with the discovery of their powers. The parents aren’t as much fun, but Julian McMahon might just be playing the devil this time around, instead of just a character who’s devilish. He certainly gives Lucifer a run for his money.

We learn over the course of the episode that Jonah had gifted the parents with many of their hearts’ desires over the years, with the understanding that eventually he’d need something in return. Apparently none of them had ever read fairytales or seen movies about the mob, because they all agreed, thus getting themselves involved in an evil bargain that they couldn’t escape.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 4: Fifteen Recap

~ Metacrone

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The Runaways get serious about their investigation of their parents this week, while their parents get serious about fixing the mistakes made the night of the ritual. By the end of the episode, we’ve gotten a pretty clear idea about the morality and criminal competency level of many of the parents, though a couple remain elusive. The kids start the episode with differing opinions about their parents, but by the end, their investigation brings them into alignment.

The cold open shows us the Minoru family discovering Amy’s body after her suicide. Nico finds Amy dead in bed before school. She looks blue, but that could be a lighting effect. Nico reacts normally, screaming for her parents, crying, calling 911. Tina and Robert react calmly, almost as if they expected this. They seal the house rather than calling for help. Tina uses a jolt from her staff to knock Nico unconscious so that she can’t call 911, then locks Nico in her room. When Nico wakes up, she uses the house cameras to spy on her mother, who is busy paying off a local police detective.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 3: Destiny Recap

~ Metacrone

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This episode is the third part of the three part introduction to the series. We’re done with the night of the Pride ritual, and it’s time to cope with the morning after.

The episode begins with a flashback to ten years ago, when everyone attended the funeral of Molly’s parents, who died in a house fire. The entire Pride, and their children, are there. Little four year old Molly sits alone in a tiny wheel chair with a pink cast on her right leg. She’s next to the Yorkes, who look devastated. The entire Pride has the grace to display varying levels of sadness, except for Tina, who looks like the funeral is making her miss another board meeting. The distaste and impatience on her face are palpable.

After the funeral, everyone gathers together for food and memories. Tina conspicuously pulls her sleeve down to cover the thick bandages on her right hand and arm. Geoffrey confronts Robert about Pride members potentially murdering each other, but Robert insists it was a cooking accident. He implies that he didn’t see the cooking accident, saying he’d know if she’d done something to the Hernandez.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 2: Rewind Recap

~ Metacrone

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In episode 2 of the Runaways, aptly titled Rewind, we spend most of the episode within the same time frame covered by episode 1, Reunion. This time around, we spend more time with the parents, who are full of secrets. Every family is keeping more secrets from their kids, and each other, than just the true nature of the PRIDE.

The episode opens on the moment when Molly takes her photo of the Pride ritual. The kids and parents all try not to panic. Tina suggests that the flash may have been light from the staff bouncing off the sound barrier she created.

The kids run upstairs and try to escape, but the secret passageway door has automatically closed and locked. Molly uses her new super strength to force it open. None of the other kids realize what she did.

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Marvel’s Runaways Season 1 Episode 1: Reunion Recap

~ Metacrone

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My review of the first three episodes is HERE.

Episode 1 of Marvel’s Runaways is the first of the three episodes that HULU released together to kick off the series. The three episodes work best if watched together and viewed as an extended pilot. That makes Reunion part one, in which we focus on the titular kids.

The episode opens on a bus bringing a young woman to Los Angeles. A boy is reading a copy of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. Things are about to get weird underground.

The woman is a runaway with no place to go. She spends the night wandering around town. At one point she phones home, but doesn’t speak. Her mother calls her Destiny. A baby is crying in the background.

After she hangs up the phone, Destiny is accosted by two men who speak Spanish to her. They’re trying to get her to go with them and pushing her along, but they aren’t touching her sexually. Only one line is translated: We’re trying to save you.

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Marvel’s Runaways: Review of Episodes 1-3

~ Metacrone ~ 1 Comment

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[Contains Minor Spoilers]

Marvel’s Runaways, now streaming on HULU, is based on the comics by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. Vaughn serves as a consultant on the show. Runaways takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the shared continuity of the films, the Netflix shows, and the ABC shows (and probably more). HULU released the first three episodes this week, and will release new episodes weekly into January.

The first three episodes are meant to be watched together as a unit. Episode 1 gives us the perspective of 6 kids as they reunite as a group, after drifting apart for the 2 years since the death of Nico’s sister, and they make some life changing discoveries. Episode 2 gives us the parents’ perspective of the same fateful day, as they prepare for and hold a meeting of their charity group Pride, and we discover that they aren’t who they appear to be. Episode 3 unites the groups and moves the plot forward from the night of the parents’ Pride meeting in Episodes 1 and 2, giving us a sense of what the show will be like going forward.

It’s a good way to do an extended pilot for a show with a large cast and complicated backstories, so that each character gets their due and we get an introduction to all of the subplots. It’s hard to imagine how they’ll keep up with everyone on a regular basis, but Agents of SHIELD manages to keep up with a large cast by keeping the plot moving quickly, rather than dwelling on slow character moments and artistic cinematography in the style of the Netflix Marvel shows.

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