Liam Hoofe reviews the fifth episode of Marvel’s Runaways…
Now halfway through its first season, Marvel’s Runaways has spent the majority of its time so far developing the characters in the show and adding more layers to the initial mysteries established in its opening episode. The fifth episode ‘Kingdom’ finally gives us a few moments we’ve been waiting for, but it still continues to add more intrigue to the show.
The episode opened with a flashback of Alex’s father, Geoffrey Wilder during his prison days.We see Geoffrey on the inside with his former friend, Darius Davis, who also made a brief appearance back in episode 2 of the show. Geoffrey is facing charges of murder when a mysterious man by the name of Joel offers to buy a piece of land he owes for five million. Desperate to get out, as a result of this, Geoffrey convinces Darius to take the fall for him, promising to compensate him for his decision.
Jump forward to the future and Darius, enraged by the fact that Geoffrey never lived up to his promise, has kidnapped Alex and is demanding 1 million from Geoffrey for his release. This leads to a confrontation between the two former friends, where Alex, frightened, accidentally shoots one of Darius’ men. The ensuing scenes were slightly chaotic but they ended with Darius being confronted by the Runaways as a whole.
This gives the episode its first big moment – the group using their powers as a unit. First, Molly used her freakish strength to lift Darius’ car, then Nico used her mother’s staff to shield the group from bullets, Karolina blasted the criminal with her glowing powers before Chase showed up and blasted him with his newly created fist weapons. It was a nice moment, one that will have satisfied long-time lovers of the comics waiting to see the group fully assembled on the big screen.
The group’s interactions for the rest of the episode were focused on them trying to understand their abilities and congratulating each other, in the way that teens would, on their powers. The group also realised that their parents were going to commit another sacrifice because Alex’s dad took the man his son had gunned down with him. This all led to the group realising that they need to stop their parents from whatever they are doing, and I suspect that the titular act of running away will be saved for right at the season’s end at this point.
This episode also saw a big breakthrough in terms of the parent/child relationship for several of the characters, most notably Nico and Chase. Chase’s relationship with his dad Victor, has been one of the more strained in the show and the two were finally brought together this episode through their love of invention. This led to the heartbreaking revelation from Victor that he is trying to create time travel because he is suffering from cancer. It was a poignant moment and it will no doubt be one that will make Chase’s decision to run away even more difficult. Nico also got to share a moment with her Mom, when her mother told her about the staff and allowed her to keep it for the night. I can’t help but think that is going to be a decision she will live to regret.
Further light was also shed on PRIDE this episode, with the group completing what appears to be their final sacrifice. In the episode’s final scene, we saw the old crusty man turn back into just a normal man – no other than the mysterious Joel who offered Geoffrey a way out of prison earlier in the episode. This revelation raises many questions for the show going forward. My guess is that each of the parents has made some kind of Faustian deal with him and that they are all now living in his debt. There is every chance that he is responsible for the death of Molly’s parents, who likely didn’t keep their end of the bargain. If we are to assume is he some sort of satanic, or extra-terrestrial figure, then it looks as though Leslie, Karolina’s mother has got some sort of special relationship with him. I was reminded in the scene where the two reunite of Bulgakov’s ‘The Master and Margarita’, something that was reinforced even more when they mentioned attending a ball later. We also saw an image of a collapsing Los Angeles on Victor’s time machine, which definitely seems like something that the devil, or an alien would fancy giving a go.
Kingdom was yet another solid episode of Runaways. One that gave us as many questions as it did answers. The potential Faustian nature of the show really sets it aside from the rest of Marvel’s works and the continued character development really makes this compelling viewing.
What did you think of ‘Kingdom’? Let us know in the comments below, and let Liam know on Twitter @liamhoofe
