Runaways: Hostile
January 10, 2018 11:48 AM - Season 1, Episode 10 - Subscribe

The season finale. Carolina faces down Jonah. The Pride gets rebellious (but not too rebellious). Old Lace gets a name. The show's title becomes significant.
posted by Parasite Unseen (9 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I honestly thought they would, well, runaway within a few episodes of the premiere. That it took the season finale to get there was a little surprising, but not necessarily a bad thing. I completely need to go back and re-read the original run to really appreciate what was done and not done in this show versus the source material.

I'm still mixed that there's been so much focus on the parents, and to a certain degree, tempered their villainy with a certain level of "for the greater good" type of motivation.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to the season two we've now been promised.
posted by Atreides at 12:36 PM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm totally on board the Nico-Karolina ship. (Karco ? Nina ? )
posted by Pendragon at 2:25 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]


Now that the first season has rolled out in its entirety, I am feeling a little more comfortable in judging what we have been shown thus far.

I came to terms pretty early in the season with the notion that the show was not going to do many of the things that I thought made the comic book as good as it was, but I also wanted to leave room for the possibility that the show would be great in other ways. Post-season finale, I remain unconvinced that the show is going to live up to its potential, but I think I will keep with it for the second season. While the first season did not quite blow me away, it was better than the first seasons of a lot of shows that I ended up liking quite a bit (ex: Star Trek: TNG, The X-Files, Black Sails). Runaways remains a middling show at best, but it still has the potential to pick up and become something special.

I remain confused as to the decision-making process for some of the changes that took place in translation from the comic to the show. I still have not figured out why they decided to kill the Hayes Hernandez parents, or why most of the parents were given a serious power imbalance in each couple, or why several of the families had their areas of focus changed (Victor taking time travel from the Yorkes family, whose specialty changed to genetics, the Minorus becoming computer scientists instead of sorcerers, etc.). Some of the changes I do not necessarily agree with, but at least understand.

I feel ambivalent about the Karolina/Nico pairing. I would be more supportive if I did not suspect that the writers intend to use it as an end-run around having to write the more interesting relationship that Karolina has in the comic (indeed, the comic relationship might be too interesting; I have long suspected that while he was writing the Karolina/Xavin story BKV decided that he would rather just tell that story instead of the ongoing Runaways plot, causing him to leave and start Saga).

So a B/B- for season one. It is unlikely to ever be a proper representation of one of my all-time favorite comics, but it has enough potential to be neat on its own merits that I intend to see where it goes next season.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:18 PM on January 10, 2018 [2 favorites]


Also, I do hope that next season gives us an answer to the biggest mystery in the Runaways universe:

In a setting where one of the main characters is world-famous and obscenely wealthy from his development of autonomous cars, why do the kids pointedly take Lyft in every episode?

I mean, I know how product placement works, but an in-universe explanation would be appreciated.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:25 PM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]


In a setting where one of the main characters is world-famous and obscenely wealthy from his development of autonomous cars, why do the kids pointedly take Lyft in every episode?

I mean, the lyft's could be autonomous... I had a similar thought though with the creaky Prius joke a few episodes back as well as every shot of the Yorkes featuring a well framed Volvo.
posted by NormieP at 6:23 PM on January 10, 2018


I just assumed their parents would rather pay for their Lyfts than pay for a personal driver. Although Gert and Molly drove their own car everywhere.
posted by numaner at 7:17 PM on January 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


I didn't read the comics, and I enjoyed the show. I think it could use some more action, but that's just the expectation of a comics show. They definitely don't have to focus on that. I like the character development with the teenagers, as well as how the adults slowly came around to be against Jonah. I want more for Janet, outside of Victor (who I'm sure is coming back), since we got a glimpse of her potential in that one flashback.

So I'm assuming Jonah is definitely throwing Frank into another pod to save Victor right?
posted by numaner at 7:21 PM on January 10, 2018 [3 favorites]


I would like to pause for a moment of appreciation for how great Brittany Ishibashi is as Tina Minoru. She manages to come off as simultaneously the most calculated and dangerous of the parents as well as the one who maybe most fiercely loves her kid, all while giving off a pretty scorching badass boss vibe.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:40 AM on January 11, 2018 [4 favorites]


@Pendragon "Nicolina"!
posted by alchemist at 4:09 AM on January 12, 2018 [2 favorites]


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