Marvel's Runaways S01E07 Review: More Setup!

Marvel's Runaways, Season 1, Episode 7: Refraction

So this is another episode that felt like it didn't do much but just sets things up and repeats some things that we've seen before... and really, only the performance of the actors really keep me from dozing throughout this 45-minute long episode. Again, we're entering the second half of the season and the Runaways aren't even close to running away. And while I realize that this espionage stuff is pretty neat and entertaining to watch in and of itself, I really kinda wish that we get a move going. 

We get to deal with the fallout of the affair, but it feels more like a continuity nod where the kids go "our parents fucked, right? How's yours dealing?" "Eh, kinda pissy". We get some unnecessary flashback to Victor and Janet Stein's youth where they drop heavy-handed foreshadowing about time-travel, before cutting away to Janet being super-fine with this suddenly energetic and happy Victor that's spending time with his kid and being supportive and going to open houses and shit. It's understandable, but it is one hell of a mood whiplash. Meanwhile, Bob Minoru is just trying to make their relationship 'public', while no one else really gives two shits about him. 

There is also a sense of disjointedness (apparently, after writing this review, I was informed that this episode was written by the dude that made Iron Fist? Jeez.) where the kids alternate from snarking and being mean at each other before immediately being best buddies in the next scene. And I realize these are teenagers, but to see them jump back and forth between emotions as if they have ADHD is kinda jarring. It does give us the neat scene where Nico keeps trying to get Alex to tell her how he knows about her mother's password, but for the rest of the cast it's a weird cut from scenes where they're panicking and going "oh my god, we need to bring our evil parents down!" to cracking jokes about Gibborim church stands to bonding moments with my evil parents. (Also, we don't actually get an answer about the Alex problem)

The Wilders contact the Yorkes about Molly's whole finding-out thing, and it's clear that they're the good cop in this situation. They want to protect Molly, send her away and all, but this, of course, fucks up poor little Molly's mind. And in fairness to my earlier criticism, this episode handles Molly very well. She confesses to her friends that she fucked up, ends up with anger from the older kids, and then she goes home to see that her adoptive parents are sending her away. The fact that these scenes have her joining the cheerleading squad in between them is perhaps unfortunate, though. I get that they're trying to show Molly looking for somewhere where she belongs, but it's so ham-handed and poorly done that it feels jarring. Thankfully the tearful sisterly hug between Gert and Molly is amazingly well-done. 

Meanwhile, the Yorkes parents get some extra spotlight, because apparently Jonah's magic blood induces a huge, huge high of positive emotions, as Dale experiments with the blood and accidentally gets some on his arm, and he spends the entire episode high on drugs, being super friendly and happy and everything... which ends up taking a dark turn when it's revealed that Victor Stein's supportive dad deal is caused by the huge infusion that he got when Jonah cured his brain cancer. And the episode ends with Victor's abusive tendencies (that uncomfortable flashback to Victor and young Chase is definitely warranted) and he beats up Chase... this time nearly doing so with the Fistigon gauntlets. Janet is forced to shoot Victor presumably to death to protect their child, which is the huge cliffhanger for this episode. With magic curative blood, though, I'm not sure if we can count Victor out just yet.

Hopefully, this will finally lead to the Runaways actually, y'know, running away, with Chase and Molly both coming into straight-up conflict with their parents.

We get some weird bit with the time-travel TV where future!Chase warns Victor to "don't pick up the Fistigons", which is pretty neat instant-foreshadowing, but I'm not sure if we need them. We also get some scenes where Frank Dean apparently gains healing powers and has regained his memory about seeing his wife fucking Jonah, and confronts Leslie about it... but I have to confess that I don't give that much of a shit about Frank Dean's subplot, honestly. Leslie and Tina Minoru also have a bit of a 'we rule PRIDE' moment, and Leslie tries to get everyone together... but it's more of the same, to be honest. The mystery about Jonah is still being built up, but I don't think we get any closer to any answers here.

Overall, while there are some great moments, it's a less-than-stellar episode of Runaways.