'Marvel's Runaways' Season 3: Parents and aliens are no longer enemies as Morgan Le Fay's dark magic takes over
The Season 3 of 'Marvel's Runaways' dropped on Hulu on December 13. It was a bittersweet reminder of what this show about troubled teenagers on the run from their evil parents could have been. The first two seasons were enjoyable, but rather messy and seemed a little unsure of how the story should be carried forward. There was a problem with the pacing, as the writers chose to focus on the parents and the runaways did not actually run away till the end of the season. Season 3 worked hard to rectify its mistakes and go in a completely new direction by the middle of the season.
In the first two seasons, the 'evil' parents and the complicated entanglements with alien royalty were the primary focus. The parents were then possessed by the alien family — Jonah, his wife and daughter. While Jonah took over Victor Stein (James Marsters), his wife possessed Stacey (Brigid Brannagh) and the daughter caught hold of Tina Minoru (Britanny Ishibashi).
In the third season, the fourth member, the sadistic son, resides in one of the teens, and that happens to be Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz). But not for long. The show spends the first five episodes tying up the major threads from the first two seasons and then plunges into dark magic and dimensions as if it had pressed a retconning button. Parents are no longer enemies. The final villain is Morgan Le Fay (Elizabeth Hurley), who is a sorceress from Arthurian legends as well as a character in the comic books. Her black magic seeps into the show like a heavy poison, with its trademark of black smoke and a crow cawing.
During the whole alien drama, Morgan has been forming a slow connection with Nico (Lyrica Okano) and trying to come across as some sort of guardian angel before going fully dark. Staying true to the storyline of possessing parents, Morgan possesses Nico's father, Robert, who finally dies in battle. This really wasn't the best season for parents. Later Tina explains Nico's history with Morgan, and how she was manipulated by her. Morgan wants the staff and hopes to get it through Nico.
The Runaways and Morgan have an epic stand-off in the last few episodes, and Morgan is finally defeated and sent back to the Dark Dimension, but that's after seemingly killing off Gert (Ariela Barer). There's a whole lot of time travel and fights with past and future selves, but yes, Gert survives and the show appears to have a happy ending.