RUNAWAYS Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Metamorphosis


This week's RUNAWAYS went a little Mission Impossible by way of Sixteen Candles as the kids tried to get the video of their parents committing their sacrifices off of Tina Minoru's servers. The only way to do that however was to infiltrate the HQ of her company Wizard – think Marvel/Hulu's answer of Apple; All the kid's phones are Wizard - under the cover of Pride's charity fundraising gala held there. Cue the formal wear and limousine, all very “Prom”. 

The girls got together to get ready before the limo turned up to drive them all, boys included, to the party (Stan Lee cameoed as the limo driver!). Karolina, who's still trying to work out who she really is in that allegorical sci-fi way where her sexuality is represented by her literal rainbow powers, was told not to be ashamed of who she is by Nico. Great advice except it was coming from the one person Karlolina wants to be with but can't be, because Nico obviously has a thing going on with Alex. Still, there was a moment between the two girls, a look that wasn't just platonic from Karolina that I'm sure will give the shippers enough fuel for a thousand fan-fics. Gert even spotted it, but when she tried to bring it up with Karolina in a misguided attempt to ally with her, Karolina reflexively pushed back, denying it and gladly, wilfully twisting Chase around her finger to spite Gert because she knew she liked him. Not too surprising really as RUNAWAYS is YA TV show. It's not so much a love triangle going on right now as a love conga line. 

With Gert distracting the guards by way of a vintage Star Wars arcade machine in the lift lobby, which actually makes sense for an LA based tech company if you think about it, Alex and Nico snuck into the server room. Kudos to Marvel for getting a Star Wars reference in an episode that was due to air the same week as the release of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. Also the fact that it was known to be a gift from Nico's father to her mother was a nice touch, which I'll get to in a second. When Alex and Nico found they couldn't access the servers directly due to their being some kind of proprietary Wizard tech, they switched to plan B and headed to Tina's office. 

Karolina and Chase were precisely no help as Karolina decided right then was a good time to swipe a bottle of vodka from the party and get drunk by herself up on the roof. Chase tried to talk her down when she sat too close to the edge but sure enough, she slipped over. What could have been a messy end for the poor girl, turned into a super powered coming out, as though we've seen her powers already, this week Karolina finally took flight. Props once again to the SFX team for the effects on Karolina as they're impressive for a TV show budget. When Karolina safely touched down back on the roof the fool Chase, convinced this moment should somehow be about him took the opportunity to kiss her. The look Karolina gave over his shoulder as they hugged afterward spoke a thousand words. But six will suffice. She's just not that into you. 

Whilst Pride's public face made a show of their charitable contributions, Victor, driven to breaking point by a pain in his head, snapped and publicly revealed he knew his wife was having an affair with Robert Minoru, before passing out. Whilst Victor was rushed to the back Tina made her way to her office, away from prying eyes so she could let herself be vulnerable about the revelation. Close to being caught in the act of downloading the files they needed, Alex and Nico had to hide under the desk as the ice queen Tina Minoru cried her eyes out. 

The humanising of the parents reached a new level this week with both Chase and Nico, whose relationship's with their folks were the most strained before all this craziness kicked off, questioning whether handing them over to the police was the right thing to do. A flashback even revealed how Pride were initially tricked into going along with their first sacrifice. Alex had to use a few choice words to keep Nico “on mission” which seemed to work for now but at the expense of some of Nico's trust in him, especially over exactly how he managed to guess Tina's password to her office. Alex was keeping something to himself, but as to exactly why who's to say. 

The newly regenerated Jonah made his rounds at the party, suitably creeping everyone out, especially Karolina as he finally got to meet his daughter. Frank, Karolina's not-biological- but- totally-real dad showed some personal growth when he revealed he was done pursuing a higher position within his wife's church. But when he met Jonah it was revealed he had seen him before, one time walking in on Leslie and Jonah in bed together. Looks like poor Frank has always know something more than meets the eye was going on in his wife's meditation room. Jonah made himself useful however, when he provided a special serum to be administered to Victor that immediately relieved him of all his symptoms. Alien in origin like they hinted the Staff of One may be? Perhaps. I'm sure we'll find out more as an Gert's inquisitive father Dale pocketed the serum for now. 

Ultimately the kids got the video off the server but Alex would need to decrypt it, setting back the timeline of a confrontation with the parents for another week. Molly however, tired of waiting for Alex's mum to tell her about her parents, accidentally let slip that time to have that conversation was running out, tipping Alex's parents off that she had seen their ritual. Nice one Mol.

Written by Nick Whitney, RUNAWAYS Beat Writer


Related Posts:
RUNAWAYS Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Kingdom

RUNAWAYS Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Fifteen

Comments