The Runaways are forced into a fight against their parents, but that fight isn’t exactly fair when their parents aren’t all who they think they are, and are armed with weapons they can’t hope to defeat.

Things start to become more and less clear as this episode rolls on. Chase – being the idealist he is – wants to believe the offer the parents made about PRIDE and so arranges a meeting with the rest of the Runaways to try to persuade them to come back and join him ion using PRIDE’s resources and infrastructure to do good. When they give him their fairly predictable answer, PRIDE’s plan B (which was likely plan A all along) kicks in and the kids find themselves in the fight of their lives.

And then it gets complicated. It’s been clear for a while that certain of the parents aren’t themselves, and here it finally breaks the surface properly. Victor, Tina and Stacey all act to secure targets in their own fairly direct and brutal ways. Along the way, they hit a few speed bumps – Xavi is absolutely determined to protect Karolina and it turns out that she’s someone Jonah’s people knew quite well. Dale is getting increasingly worried by his wife’s escalating violence and ruthlessness, which is only serving to slow her down, and Tina – or whatever is controlling her – hadn’t reckoned with quite how powerful her daughter has become.

Meanwhile, Geoffrey and Catherine have issues of their own – Alex has been working very diligently at his plans for the last few episodes, and now they begin to come to fruition. He may not have any superpowers, but he’s got a sharp mind and a new-found willingness to act with the same level of ruthlessness he’s seen in his own kin.

As things barrel on towards the climactic conclusion, twists and surprises come thick and fast, ending on a particularly large one which shifts a lot of things we thought we understood and leaves a lot of new questions for what feels at this point like the inevitable third season. Much as the episode gives us the satisfaction of several explosive showdowns, it leaves plenty for us to look forward to next time out.

Verdict: A fitting conclusion to what has been a fascinating second season. Can’t wait to see what this show does next. 9/10

Greg D. Smith