Pilot Review: The Runaways

The Runaways (Hulu)
Premiered November 21

The TV world has Marvel fever, with Netflix launching its sixth series last week, and it’s no surprise that Hulu, the streaming service that made history with the first Emmy win for best series this past year, would get on board too. I’m not at all familiar with this storyline, though I had read brief summaries of what this show was about. What’s most unclear to me is whether this is meant to be a show for kids since all of its characters are teenagers with powers, or if it’s supposed to be much darker and for an adult audience. The powers that these teenagers have don’t seem to be all that exciting, and there’s not much unity among them, in terms of intelligence, social status, or anything else. I recognize only a few players in the cast, namely two of the fathers, James Marsters from “Angel” and “Smallville” and Kevin Weisman from “Alias,” and one of the mothers, Annie Wersching from “24,” though each of them only appeared in one short scene in this pilot. Before I remembered that only the first three episodes were released this past Tuesday, this struck me as the ultimate example of a show that’s probably made much better by binge-watching, since this episode only really got interesting in its last two minutes. Much as I’d like to hop aboard the Marvel bandwagon and make sure that I’m completely tuned in to all that’s happening in its cinematic universe, I’m more than content to leave this one behind since it just doesn’t compare to any of the other fare starring the Marvel Comics characters.

How will it work as a series? There are a lot of characters to keep track of, with six kids and nearly double the number of parents, so I feel like getting to know them is going to be tricky since there’s not nearly enough time to properly flesh any of them out. The question is also whether there will be flashbacks to fill in who the parents are or if we’re just going to learn things as the kids learn them.
How long will it last? Reviews seem to be pretty good, but I’m not sure that’s relevant after Netflix brought back the abysmal “Iron Fist” for a second season. Rather than releasing the whole series at once, this is set to play out over the course of an otherwise relatively quiet TV time, and so I have no doubt that this will be commissioned for a second season very soon.

Pilot grade: C+

What I’m Watching: Mad Men

Mad Men: Season 7, Episode 5 “The Runaways” (B+)

It’s so interesting how this show spotlights the various hobbies practiced by its characters outside of work. I remember when Ken’s science fiction writing career was squashed by those who thought that he couldn’t focus on his work at the same time, and now we have Lou drawing comics which, from the looks of it, weren’t that bad. Unfortunately, Stan and the rest of the gang weren’t subtle about mocking it, and, though it’s hard to have sympathy for a guy like Lou, it was tough to watch everyone laugh at him. It didn’t justify making Don stay late so that he would miss his flight to California, which in turn meant bigger problems at home that Megan tried to fix with a seemingly hallucinatory threesome that pushed the boundaries of where this show usually goes. The office antics were especially light considering the serious nature of Ginsberg’s condition, which meant from odd and overbearing to extremely concerning when he offered Peggy the nipple he had cut off to stop the hum of the machine. With one team member out of commission, Don made a bold move that definitely paid off, thanks to some helpful intel from Harry, offering to fall on his sword for a potential client with the full knowledge that they would never make him do it. Betty and Francis’ home life is certainly not picaresque at the moment, and though she’s so detestable, the choice moment from this episode was definitely Betty defiantly telling Henry that she wasn’t stupid and that speaks Italian.