One down, five to go. Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin) went home to his parents in Marvel’s Runaways. He felt like it was the right thing to do for him. And maybe he’s right. The parents created weapons specific to the kids’ abilities as a last resort to bring them home. Chase warned everyone, but he’s the only one who felt it was time to go home.
There is at least one set of parents not participating in the attack, Leslie (Annie Wershing) and Frank Dean (Kip Pardue). Frank has force Leslie into reconditioning after she threatened to dismantle the Church of Gibborim. Leslie has a secret…she’s pregnant. She’s not the only parent with a secret. Victor (James Marsters) and Tina (Brittany Ishibashi) have revealed that they are not Victor and Tina. They are survivors from Jonah’s (Julian McMahon) ship who are looking for other survivors. Like Xavin (Clarissa Thibeaux), a shape shifter who’s obsessed with Karolina (Virginia Gardner).
RELATED: Read the Latest Recap of RUNAWAYS, “Last Waltz”
Leslie has a dream about the night her mother left the church. She remembers hearing Susan (Kathleen Quinlan) fighting with David about how Leslie is just a child. David tells Susan that she needs to leave. Next, Leslie sees a child and picks it up. The child starts glowing like Karolina and Leslie wakes up.
Left Behind
At the mansion, Nico (Lyrica Okano) calls a house meeting. She wants to know how Gert (Ariela Barer) is feeling after Chase left. Sheis mad, but says he made his choice. They have to move on. Karolina comes in, saying she got a call from Vaughn (Cody Mayo). Vaughn told her about how Frank locked up Leslie at the Crater. Karolina wants to save her. Alex (Rhenzy Feliz) says no, but Molly (Allegra Acosta) reminds him that they saved his dad from Jonah. Nico says it’s all or none and since Alex said no, it’s none. While they chat, someone watches from afar.
Two PRIDE interns arrive at the Stein house, so the parents can test out their weapon. The interns think they are getting promotions and talk about their good fortune. PRIDE sneaks up on them and uses the mind scrambler and darts on the ladies. When the interns pass out, the parents discuss whether or not the weapons will work. Robert (James Yaegashi) questions whether or not they are doing the right thing. Geoffrey (Ryan Sands) reminds him that they are testing the weapons on interns to ensure the kids won’t get permanently damaged. Catherine (Angel Parker) tells the group to wipe their mind and start over.
The next day, Chase is at home and Janet (Ever Carradine) makes breakfast for him. She say she did the right thing. He feels like he abandoned his friends. Janet tries to coerce Chase into telling her where the others are. Chase says he won’t betray his friends, no matter what.
Victor joins them and asks Chase to start working at PRIDE. Janet encourages him saying Jonah is gone. Now PRIDE can do some good. Chase agrees and he goes outside with Victor. Victor tells him that he’s been losing time and shows him his peeling arm. Victor didn’t tell Janet about any of this, but when he blacks out, he wakes up to technology that he doesn’t remember building. He thinks he was infected by the alien technology from Jonah’s machine.
Hostage
Leslie meets with Frank, demanding that he let her go. He says it’s not about saving her, but saving the church. Leslie knows he’s addicted to the power of the church, but says she will expose everything. After everyone hears the truth about the church, no one will follow him. Frank is no longer useful to her. He’s so self consumed that he didn’t notice that she’s pregnant. She doesn’t know if it’s his baby, but she will not go back into the white room to save her child.
Alex texts Livvi (Ajiona Alexus) to meet him, but Tamar (Ozioma Akagha) shows up. He wants the gun with his fingerprints on it. Tamar reluctantly gives him the gun, but warns him to stay away from Livvi. Alex promises that everything he’s doing is to get justice for Darius (DeVaughn Nixon). Tamar suggests that he shoot his parents instead.
Nico tries to retrieve the Staff of One from the wall, but it won’t come to her. She transforms to Darkhold Nico before it will even move. Afterwards, Nico check on Karolina. Karolina is packing to leave. She wants to help her mom escape the Crater. Nico says she will go wit her, despite her declaration from earlier. A strange pair of eyes watches them from a painting. Molly comes in, having overheard their conversation and wants to help Karolina too. It can be a girls trip/rescue mission.
They meet up with Vaughn and head to the desert. Vaughn has a huge crush on Karolina and tries to impress her with snack and talk about how strong he is. He even brought the standard Gibborim uniforms, but Nico has to remove her goth makeup. Karolina agrees. If Nico shows up like that, they will know she doesn’t’ belong and Karolina says she needs Nico by her side.
Pride in PRIDE
Chase looks around the PRIDE office as an intern talks about the great projects that they do. He comes to the board room, but the door is lock. The intern tells him that only the PRIDE board members go in there. He asks if they are ever around and that prompts the intern to tell him how ungrateful he sounds. She thinks he’s just some rich kid who got a job because his parents are on the board. Chase says he’s there to help and asks for his first duty. She sends him to sort through the junk mail and trash.
The PRIDE members are in the board room secret room. Catherine asks why Chase is there, but no one seem very concerned. They are more concerned about what Stacy and Dale have been up to. Tina told Robert about what happened in their lab. Stacy, without her glasses, defends herself, reminding everyone that they could have done worse to Tina.
And then there’s Leslie. The church told PRIDE that she went on a European pilgrimage, but they aren’t buying it. Dale is actually glad she’s not around. He wants to question Chase again about the others, but Victor says he didn’t bring Chase home so they could torture him for information. Catherine and Stacy want to mind erase him, but Victor says no. Since he developed the weapons and the tests were successful, Victor says everyone will do things his way. He was able to get his son back without using the weapons after all, so he must be doing something right.
The Compound
The girls and Vaughn arrive at the Crater, but it is heavily guarded. Karolina sees Frank walk by and wants to talk to him. Vaughn goes with her so no one will get suspicious. Nico tells her to send up a flare if she runs into any trouble.
Frank is looking at Leslie’s pregnancy test, confirming her claim. Karolina walks in the office and immediately asks to see her mother. At first Frank is suspicious, but Karolina says she wants them to be a family. Frank says he will talk her to see Leslie. When they get to the reconditioning room, Frank locks Karolina inside. He says she’s good, but he learned how to spot lies from her mother.
Later, Susan walks into Karolina’s reconditioning room and tells her that Leslie is close. She explains that she is Karolina’s grandmother. When Leslie said her name, she remembered who she was. Susan says she would have fought harder for her family if she knew she had a granddaughter.
Vaughn runs back to Nico and Molly, telling them where Karolina is. They discuss running in to find her. Molly suggests that Nico get her staff, but Nico is scared of it. She says they will wait for Karolina to signal them if she needs them.
Leslie is locked in a room near Frank’s office. She is yelling at him and throwing things at the door when Susan and Karolina find her. Leslie is happy to see Karolina and both of them are ready to leave immediately. Susan says that’s not the reason she is helping them. She wants them to overthrow Frank and lead the church, but they don’t want to stay. Susan agrees to help them find a way out.
Reconnection
At the mansion, Gert catches Alex playing with a gun. She reminds him about how dangerous guns are. Alex promises to get rid of it soon. Gert tells Alex that getting revenge won’t make him feel better. Alex says it’s not revenge, it’s justice. They turn their conversation to Chase. Alex doesn’t seem to care one way or another about what Chase does. He says caring only gets him into trouble.
Gert’s stomach growls about the same time that Old Lace is growling at the Yorkes for food. They feed the dinosaur and Gert can taste it. She realizes her connection to Old Lace has been restored.
Earth Angel
Susan, Leslie and Karolina stroll casually toward the gates. A guard asks for the release paper and they have some. He lets them go through one gate, but there is a second that is still closed. Frank shows up, yelling for the guards to stop the woman from passing through the gate. Molly and Nico see everything and move in to help Karolina if they need to.
The entire compound is watching, so Karolina lights up her skin and starts to float. Everyone believes they are witnessing a miracle. Frank demands that she stop what she’s doing, but it’s too late. Everyone is bowing to Karolina. She cites scripture and then comes down. She tells the guards to open the gate and they do as she is told, despite Frank’s protest.
Susan tells the girls that she is staying. Karolina has restored everyone’s faith in the church. Someone needs to stay behind to lead them. Leslie says she needs Susan, more than ever, but agrees to let her stay. Nico and Molly join them, calling Karolina an angel. The girls and Vaughn leave. Susan turns on Frank, calling him a apostate. She claims that he tried to steal the church from Karolina. The guards seize him and throw in a reconditioning room.
The girls go back to the mansion, with Leslie. Alex gets upset because one of the parents is there. He tries to make her leave, but Karolina won’t allow it. Leslie says she has nowhere to go now. Everyone, but Alex agrees to let her stay. Gert is a little jealous and reminds them to tell her the next time they go on a girls trip.
Karolina feels a little bad about preying on people’s beliefs, but Nico thinks it was amazing. Nico admits her fear of the staff. She has only hurt people with it. Karolina suggests that her darkness makes Nico who she is. In the same way that Karolina’s light does the same for her. They can’t be afraid of it. Karolina kisses her to calm her down.
The Proposal
Chase continues his task and finds a vial of Jonah’s DNA in the trash. He puts it in his pocket when the intern returns to check on him. She invites him out with the rest of the staff, but he refuses. Victor walks in and asks Chase what he found. Chase doesn’t tell him about the vial and says everything is pretty normal. He says the real problem is what PRIDE does behind closed doors.
Victor takes Chase inside the board room, and into the PRIDE headquarters. All of the parents, minus Leslie are there waiting for him. They invite Chase to join PRIDE, but he doesn’t want anything to do with them. They admit that they have all done bad things…even Chase. The parents want to make up for it. They want a second chance to be families. It starts with giving the kids control of PRIDE, so they can make the world a better place. All Chase has to do is to agree to help get the other kids back. He wants them to promise that no one will get hurt. They promise and Chase walks into the HQ.
A graffiti artist paints another mural, this time of Karolina…the angel. At the mansion, Karolina finds the drawing of the angel and studies it. Gert comes out of her closet, freaking Karolina out a bit. But it’s not Gert. It’s Xavin, using Gert’s image to keep Karolina comfortable. Xavin says she waited her entire life to be with Karolina. She’s been watching her so she can explain. She says Karolina is her destiny…her betrothed.
RELATED: Catch up on RUNAWAYS Season 2 Here!
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E07) I Could Not Prevent It - June 24, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E06) Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Made Light - June 17, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E05) Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape - June 10, 2024
