Marvel's Runaways S03E01 Review: Morgan le Fay

Marvel's Runaways, Season 3, Episode 1: Smoke and Mirrors

I am very slowly moving through the glut of Marvel shows that I haven't watched for the past year or so, and one of these shows is Runaways, another show that is among the large amount of Marvel TV projects that were cancelled last year as Marvel is moving all their TV efforts into Disney+. Unlike some other shows, Runaways at least seems to have one last season to wrap up all of the hanging plot threads between the increasingly convoluted conflict between the children, PRIDE, and the invading aliens, some of which have basically possessed members of the PRIDE. And it's... let me tell you that it's kinda confusing remembering who is who and who is possessed by who and who is captured by who. And while "Smoke and Mirrors" plays catch-up as much as it plays set-up, it's something that's necessary for a show like this, with so many moving characters with differing motivations and loyalties. They are, at least, sticking with the alien storyline, at least so far (there is the mysterious magic dream and I know a certain Marvel villain makes her live-action debut, but I'm not sure how mysterious magic dream lady is going to factor into the show) instead of introducing a half-dozen random new plotlines.

And as we go through the season three premiere there certainly is a sense of things being rushed. Dale going off with Gert and Old Lace ends up going a full 180 as Dale basically realizes that his attempt of 'kidnap my daughter and live a happy life in a random cabin' is not a smart plan, and while I believe that Gert and Dale are both kooky enough that their wacky conversation would work in-universe, and the Yorkes-es have been some of the least evil PRIDE members, it does feel rushed because we jump straight into Gert's warging abilities into a Deinonychus very quickly. Also feeling quickly is how the Wilders being captured by the police ends up veering quickly in something that would probably take half a season if we were going through the pacing of the past two seasons -- basically, Catherine takes the fall after all the guilt of killing Darius and fucking up their family, while Geoffrey Wilder goes free.

Janet, Karolina and Chase gets trapped in the Algorithm, basically sedated and trapped in ideal lives, while the Magistrate, the Wife and the Daughter are basically arguing on whether to eat these humans. It's interesting and it allows the cast to dress up for the huge lesbian wedding between Karolina and VR!Nico, but ultimately it's just some neat fluff before Janet finally figures out she's in the Algorithm and starts trying to find a way to escape, which they kinda-sorta end up gaining the help of Alex when he and Nico infiltrate the PRIDE-base. Also, hey, turns out that the Wife and the Daughter aren't very, very keen on Karolina, a.k.a. 'the bastard child', and Wife is very much willing to murder Karolina off the bat.

It's fun to see the actors for Stacey and Tina (especially Tina -- Brittany Ishibashi does an amazing pouting act throughout the episode) act when they are possessed by these aliens, and we get some fun bits of them trying to figure out human culture. They're also looking for the Son, the fourth member of their group, which have apparently possessed one of the children, which is one of the big mysteries. The remaining Runaways discuss how they are totally shooting to kill the PRIDE members possessed by the aliens, but when push comes to shove, obviously Molly tries to do the whole 'talk down your possessed mom and win her over with the power of love' things, and what do you know, the power of love works and Stacey regains control of her body long enough to tell Molly to GTFO. This is Runaways, after all, it's not that dark of a show. (Xavin's conversation with Molly earlier in the episode also works amazingly well)

Speaking of which, yeah, we do get a bit of an action scene, but as the season premiere it's not super-duper exciting, it just serves mostly to get the ball rolling on most of the plot elements. We do get some fun usage of superpowers, though, with Xavin's shape-shifting giving some expected 'gotcha' moments that are still executed well. Overall, though, a pretty solid season premiere, reminding us of the many conflicting loyalties and allegiances that the cast of Runaways have.