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Primetime Picks… 11/21/17

Nov 21, 2017 Posted by in Features | Comments

Today Hulu launches the new series Marvel’s Runaways, which follows a group of six suburban Los Angeles teenagers whose parents are some of the richest and most powerful in the local area. The teens used to be the best of friends, but have grown apart over the past couple years, ever since their friend Amy suddenly passed away. Now loner Alex (Rhenzy Feliz, Teen Wolf) is trying to bring the old gang back together—activist/feminist Gert (Ariela Barer, One Day at a Time, Atypical) and her adopted younger sister Molly (Allegra Acosta, 100 Things to do Before High School), amateur wiccan/Amy’s sister Nico (Lyrica Okano, The Affair), jock/inventor Chase (Gregg Sulkin, Wizards of Waverly Place), and Karolina (Virginia Gardner, Zoo), the poster child for her mother’s massive religious empire. However, shortly after the group reunites, they accidentally witness something horrible, and discover that their parents are part of an evil organization called Pride. The teens decide to investigate the truth about what they witnessed, but must also keep their parents from finding out. They slowly discover things about their own pasts that their parents have hidden from them, and learn to unlock unknown powers. The teens now find themselves in a strange new world of mutants, witches, telepaths, aliens, dinosaurs and everything inbetween.

The series comes from executive producers Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage (The O.C.), and Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and many other Marvel TV series), and is a nice blend of teenage drama and sci-fi/fantasy thriller, with a touch of humor. The adult cast is made up of many familiar faces, including Brigid Brannagh (Army Wives), Annie Wersching (24), James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ever Carradine (Major Crimes), Kevin Weisman (Alias), Carmen Serano (Breaking Bad), Kip Pardue (Ray Donovan), Angel Parker (The Strain, Lab Rats), Ryan Sands (The Wire), and more.

It’s great that Hulu has decided to launch the series with the first three episodes as there are a lot of characters to get to know and explore. The first episode gives viewers an introduction to the teens, while the second takes a look at the same events through the perspective of the parents, and the third episode is where things really start to kick into gear. There is a lot of backstory that is slowly metered out over the course of these first few episodes, which do an excellent job of setting up the premise and revealing just enough to give you an idea of what’s going on, but also keeping a lot of the story a mystery to keep you interested in discovering more. The tone and look of the series kind of reminded me of Misfits, where there is this group of kids banding together—some of them with powers—and they are keeping things from the adults, while there is this larger, dangerous mystery going on. Similar to Misfits, it appears that each episode will primarily focus on one of the characters, giving more of their story, while also progressing the overall arc of the show. I was definitely hooked by the end of the fourth episode, and look forward to checking out more.

After today’s initial three episodes, Hulu will drop one new episode each week.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording The Middle, Fresh Off the Boat, This Is Us, The Mick, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Flash, and Damnation.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including Chicago Med & NCIS: New Orleans, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/21/17 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.