Marvel's Runaways S02E12 Review: Church Rescue Mission

Marvel's Runaways, Season 2, Episode 12: Earth Angel

So the whole Church of Gibborim storyline finally draws into a bit of a close and... I can't say that I really care at all? Honestly, the acting for everyone involved is pretty damn fantastic, but just like the whole Alex-gets-over-his-head-with-police-games storyline, I find it really hard to care for this bit, and even moreso because the Church of Gibborim stuff had a whole ton of clunky buildup, and I don't care as much about Leslie Dean as I do Alex Wilder. 

And, again, just so damn much about the Church of Gibborim ends up feeling kinda m'eh for me. A lot of power to you if you do enjoy that storyline, but I'm just so unenthused with the secret backstory behind this religious cult, or that Frank Dean's basically gone into full lunatic mode, or that Susan and the rest of the Gibborim cult still believes in the essence of the message even though their whole religion is essentially made up by a dickish alien. And... and I dunno, I kind of get it, intellectually, that people won't be willing to give up their entire way of life and their beliefs just because someone claims it to be so, but still... the way that this is done is honestly just so dang underwhelming. Even moreso than any of their conflicts against PRIDE, Jonah, Topher or even AWOL's strike-force, I really didn't feel any threat from the Cult of Gibborim. Sure, Karolina ends up being tossed into a shed by Frank briefly, but that's honestly is more of a writing device to hammer home that Frank's irredeemable at this point more than an actual obstacle. 

Like, Karolina literally just finds out about Leslie from a random prophetic dream, which I felt was pretty damn random. And I'm not sure if we ever even established that Karolina can't use her alien rainbow-beam powers without technology nearby, and Susan randomly having a change of heart off-screen despite being pretty damn indoctrinated was definitely an asspull. Eventually, they manage to sneak out with Susan's help, and Karolina shows off her light powers and is hailed as the new messiah by these gullible, foolish religious cultists, the increasingly insane Frank Dean's thrown into reconditioning in a very karmic fate... and the Runaways plus Leslie end up leaving the compound. Okay, sure. I really don't find any of these to be particularly exciting. It's well-acted enough, for sure. Particular kudos to the Dean family's actors for really carrying the scenes (even if Frank's reduced to a moronic loon, a far cry from the how his character seemed like it was going to shape up to be) but ultimately... eh.

Ultimately, we do get the acknowledgement that Karolina's using her powers to prey on the beliefs of gullible people, but we really don't get a sense of that considering how cartoonish the Church of Gibborim's believers have been shown to be. Frank's insane, Vaughn's a well-meaning loon and Susan's such a non-entity that I really don't care about how they are and how they perceive Karolina. 

Meanwhile, Alex, Xavin and PRIDE are sort of sidelined for the entire episode other than a couple of scenes in the beginning and the end. Xavin, at least, ends up being the cliffhanger as she reveals herself fully to Karolina at the end of the episode and declaring herself as Karolina's betrothed. The only other interesting this is Chase, who spends the entire episode sort of stuck in a B-plot of trying to dig up anything about his parents and finding nothing... but Victor ends up offering Chase a seat at the table and, supposedly, ownership of PRIDE as his legacy. Which... honestly, the build-up to both Xavin and PRIDE, and the whole alien-possessing-random-PRIDE-members bit, is just so much more interesting and built up a fair bit better than the Church of Gibborim storyline. At least it's over, right? Next up is the final episode, which I feel will end in a cliffhanger, considering how much things seem to be built up in this one.   

Random Notes:

• Alex spends the entire episode moping about how "it's no longer a democracy" and generally acts all surly that they're doing things he doesn't want to do. They're sort of setting up a huge Alex-falls-out-with-the-Runaways storyline really fierce, huh?
• Alex also gets a very brief bit of talking to Tamar and getting the gun from Darius's car, but is told to basically stay the fuck away from Livvie. 
• Nico gets some nice bits this moment for what little she's allowed to angst about how scared that she can't control her powers, all Hulk/Bruce Banner style, but she doesn't end up having to use them at all in this episode. 
• Gert, who's still very blase about leaving Old Lace behind, has restored her psychic connection with Old Lace. And while the scene of Old Lace tasting Dale's cooking is fun, it makes me wonder what narrative purpose severing the psychic connection for all of a single episode is meant to accomplish. 
• The rest of PRIDE, meanwhile, are finally testing out their weapons on a bunch of poor employees, showing off the brain-scramblers and the mind-wipe device in a pretty dark yet comedic sequence. 
• Vaughn is kind of a non-entity, but I did enjoy just how much he's so convinced that "Vaughn the Brawn" is going to help out in them helping Karolina to break Leslie out. 
• I'm 90% sure Xavin peeking through holes cut into the eyes of a portrait is a reference to something that happens in the comic-book Runaways run, but I wasn't sure who did this. I kinda want to say Alex?