The PRIDE parents have to face up to the fact that they can’t just dissolve their association with the children still on the loose. Alex hatches a plan with more consequences than even he can anticipate. Old Lace is not feeling well.

The title of the episode seems apt on several levels, alluding as it does to how various characters here are vying for authority or simply position over one another, as well as to the slightly more ethereal influence that seems to be moving on the sidelines.

Alex is the obvious target for the moniker, hatching a plan that will involve him fronting up to AWOL and his strike team in order to try to take down PRIDE once and for all. The problem is that he doesn’t really seem to be too intent on sharing his plans with anyone – Livvie included – and that gets him into all sorts of trouble. The other problem is that – as much as he’s always been the unofficial leader of the Runaways – he just isn’t blessed with the sort of cunning or muscle to try to do deals with men possessed of plenty of both.

But Alex isn’t the only one trying to assert himself. There’s so much dealing and double dealing going on in this episode that you’d be forgiven for needing to watch it twice to try to keep up. The clear theme here is that an organisation like PRIDE, in order to wield the sort of influence it has, has to have labyrinthine ties to all sorts of the wrong kind of people, and when one of those people starts to waver in loyalty, or become less useful, or simply show weakness, then it causes ripple effects in all sorts of unpredictable directions.

As to the parents themselves, they’re back together because they’re forced to be, and hatching plans to try to arm and protect themselves against the powers their kids have. What’s less clear as the episode goes on is exactly what – or who – might be driving that. There are several clear instances of parents acting out of character, and it all rather seems to point in the direction of our favourite arch villain maybe not being quite as dead and buried as he appeared to be.

And there’s Old Lace, who’s acting very oddly after an encounter with something she maybe shouldn’t have eaten. This is worrying for the gang on two levels – one, it’s really difficult to get decent veterinarian care or advice for your secret dinosaur, and two, Gert’s psychic link to the creature works both ways. While they’ve all been busy at each other’s throats for various reasons lately, maybe this is a problem that can reunite the group, even if only temporarily.

Verdict: So full of double crosses that it’ll make your head spin, if anyone thought there’d be less intrigue with Jonah not in the picture, this proves them wrong. 8/10

Greg D. Smith