With Molly’s parents not being around she often felt underdeveloped when compared to the other characters. It now seems fitting that the revelation of their fate should go hand in hand with uncovering of one of the biggest mysteries of the show. It turns out Jonah plans to mine a special type of ore from under Los Angeles under the pretence of using it to create a form of sustainable energy. But the Hernandez's, being geologists I think, realised that in the drilling a fault line would be hit causing catastrophic earthquakes, the destruction of L.A. foretold by Victor’s machine presumably. Jonah was willing to destroy the city above to get the prize below; its exact nature left a mystery for now save for a glowing, shape-shifting sample in the Hernandez's lab. The Hernandez's wanted out, which of course lead to their death.
In a flashback to the night they died, we were finally given a definitive answer as to what happened to them. Hint's that Tina Minoru may have done the deed were cleverly revealed as nothing more than a red herring as it seems she really did just burn her hand whilst cooking, but specifically because she was taken aback by a phone call from none other than Leslie Dean, informing her that she had done the job and killed the Hernandez's with an incendiary device. Toddler Molly, who was in the lab with her parents at the time, obviously survived but now we know it wasn't so much a miracle, as her origin story. Exposure to whatever the weird substance Jonah was after seems to have been exactly what gave the TV version of Molly, who is definitely not a mutant, her powers.
Realising that the site for Pride's new school was a cover for digging down into the Earth and with no way to legitimately bust their parents thanks to Chase trashing Alex’s laptop, the kids came up with a simple but effective plan. Break into the site and stop the dig, whatever it took. Using their school dance as cover, the kids got all dressed up but it wasn’t long before hormones and repressed feelings came to the surface ahead of their low-key mission to save the city.
Chase and Gert, whose relationship in the comics was always one of my favourites, felt somewhat rushed and out of nowhere as the two admitted to having feelings for one another before slipping into a side room to rip each other’s clothes off. But it was when Nico and Karolina went looking for them and Karolina took her chance to kiss her long time crush, seeing as she may never have the chance again should they fail, that things got interesting. Nico, who has never been written as bi- sexual in the comics as far as I can tell, kissed Karolina back, taking the whole Nico/Karolina ship which has been brewing for the last 14 years since the comic’s inception to a whole new level. And frankly, it was about time. Despite what others may decry as diversity for diversity’s sake or some kind of liberal agenda, it actually makes sense for these characters. Obviously it’s where they choose to go next that will determine if it was the wise storytelling move. For now, the four in question, Gert, Chase, Nico and Karolina seem to have silently agreed that maybe what happened at the dance should stay at the dance, for now at least.
Pride were finally confronted with the knowledge that their children knew about their operation, despite how obvious it should have been by now. But of all people, it was Frank Dean that turned the kids in to Jonah after Karolina had confided in him. When the kids nearly got caught sneaking into the site, Karolina bluffed her way past Church of Gibborim security with a phone call to Frank. But whilst it initially looked like he played along granting them access, he actually had Jonah right beside him essentially fencing the kids in so they knew exactly where to catch them. It looks as though everyone, Pride, the kids, heck even the audience, may have overlooked Frank’s ambition and desire for meaning, something which looks to have fuelled him into making some very questionable choices as of late.
The kids, who had toyed with calling themselves the RUNAWAYS after the kids their parents had killed, a nod to the fact that they themselves didn’t quite fit the show’s title yet, trashed the site with an impressive show of powers, especially from Molly who shoved an 8-wheeler truck right down the hole destroying the drilling apparatus. But then Pride showed to stop their children and the kids showed that they were ready for a fight, especially Molly since she knew someone in front of her killed her parents. Following suit, Karolina threw down her bracelet and revealed her gifts to all. With no secrets left, the epic final shots gave promise to the long awaited confrontation to between Pride and their children before cutting to the credits, extracting a loud “damn it” from me. But I cannot wait until the finale. The truth will out, blood will be split I’m sure and after spending most of this episode in the backseat of Gert's car under a blanket – for real - I hope Old Lace is finally and truly let loose on those murdering bastards.
Written by Nick Whitney, RUNAWAYS Beat Writer
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