Runaways' Biggest Questions From Season 1 Finale

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Marvel's Runaways, "Hostile," streaming now on Hulu.

Marvel's Runaways ends its first season today with perhaps its most conventional episode to date, if you can consider a group of teens pushing a dinosaur in a shopping cart through the streets of Los Angeles "conventional." But that aside, "Hostile" falls back on well-established tropes, as the kids line up against their "evil" parents, Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) has her own Civil War-style face-off against her biological father Jonah (Julian McMahon), and the titular Runaways ... run away ... in slow motion.

All the while, the Hulu drama continues to subvert expectations, with Pride establishing itself as the resistance against Jonah's mysterious (and likely apocalyptic) plans, and as the protectors of their children -- even if their kids don't yet realize it.

With the show's ever-changing status quo shifting yet again in the closing moments of the finale, we're left with some major questions about Runaways as we await Season 2.

What's in That Big Hole?

Avoiding the pitfalls of so many other shows, Marvel's Runaways has deftly solved some mysteries -- Who's the withered guy in the mask? Who killed Molly's parents? Who killed Nico's sister? -- even as it raised new ones. By the end of the season, we're left with plenty of questions, none bigger than what's at the bottom of that enormous hole at the dig site?

It's not the "clean, renewable energy source" that Jonah promised Pride, and it's probably not the skeleton of an ancient dragon (hi, Defenders). We presumably got a glimpse at what lies beneath in the Episode 8 flashback that depicted the death of Molly's parents. Some sort of ... glowing, moving ... coal? We know it had something to do with Molly's superhuman strength, and as the Yorkes discover in the finale, it's big, and alive. Could Runaways be planning to introduce the Gibborim after all?

What's Frank Dean's Game Plan?

We spent much of the season feeling sorry for Frank Dean (Kip Pardue), the fading former teen star used by his wife Leslie (Annie Wersching) to lend legitimacy to the Church of Gibborim. Dismissed as "Leslie's beard," he was mind-wiped to make him forget what he knew about Jonah and Pride, pushed to the fringe's of the church, and led to believe he's Karolina's biological father. As he began to uncover the truth, it seemed like he might be a valuable ally for his daughter and her friends in their fight against Pride.

Instead, time and again, he used the information for his own gain, betraying Karolina and Leslie, and ingratiating himself to Jonah. We get why he would want to stab Leslie in the back, repeatedly, but why Karolina? (Despite everything he knows, he still considers himself her true father.) Is it all a power play, after years of being powerless? Or is Frank Dean smarter than he lets on, and a couple of steps ahead of Jonah and Pride?

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Will Alex Wilder Turn Traitor?

In the original Marvel Comics series by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, Alex Wilder emerges as the group's de facto leader, only to be revealed as a mole who's secretly been working against the Runaways on behalf of their parents. The Hulu drama has seemed to drop clues to that turn throughout the season, most notably in his knowledge of Tina Minoru's password, and in his disappearance in the finale.

Each time, however, it's been a feint, with Alex (Rhenzy Feliz) revealed to have only the best of intentions. (He knew Tina's password because of his friendship with her late daughter Amy, for instance, and disappeared only to seek help, and money, from his father's friend turned enemy Darius). But what if he doesn't? When Chase and Molly orchestrate Karolina's escape from the Church of Gibborim in the finale, Jonah receives a text from an unknown source. We're led to suspect it was Frank Dean, but what if it was actually Alex instead?

Who's Geoffrey Wilder Planning to Call?

By the end of the finale, all of the parents have just about had enough, of Pride, of Leslie Dean, and especially of Jonah. While the Yorkes had long planned an escape to Guatemala, theoretically free of Jonah's clutches, now they're plotting how to kill him. Even Leslie Dean, whom we learned was responsible for the murders of the Hernandezes, has turned on Jonah and begun to scheme with the others against him.

Wanting nothing more to do with Pride, Catherine and Geoffrey Wilder (Angel Parker and Ryan Sands) ignored the group's call and went to confront Jonah on their own, hoping to get information from a recuperating Karolina about Alex's whereabouts. Rebuffed, and escorted by security from the Church of Gibborim, they decided in the final moments of the finale to take another approach to protecting their son and the other children. "I'm about to make a call," Geoffrey tells his wife, "a call that will change everything." Warned that he can't do anything that could endanger the kids, he continues, "I know. That's why I'm going to get them to safety -- and then, we go to war."

It's possible that Geoffrey, like his son, intends to reach out to Darius in hopes of moving the kids out of Jonah's reach. But that may be a little too predictable, suggesting a major new player could be introduced in Season 2.

How Long Can They Hide That Dinosaur?

In the closing scene of "Hostile," the Runaways arrive at a bus station, planning to choose a random destination to escape not only their parents, but Jonah. Just as they're about to make a decision, a television news report reveals an Amber Alert has been issued for Molly Hernandez, and that the other teens are now considered "persons of interest" in the death of Destiny Gonzalez, the runaway used by Pride in the botched ritual (and later killed by Chase's father and dumped on a beach). With no other apparent options left to them, the kids run, with Gert's dinosaur -- now officially named "Old Lace," as in the comics -- in hot pursuit.

The dinosaur's conspicuous presence has been a source of comedy relief over the past few episodes, hiding beneath a blanket in the back of Gert's car, or popping up at convenient (or inconvenient) times. In the finale, after Chase pushes a poorly disguised dinosaur in a shopping cart through the streets of Los Angeles, Gert is forced to make the heartbreaking decision to send Old Lace away -- for her own good, and for the good of the group. Of course, the dinosaur doesn't listen, and crops up in the dumpster outside the bus station before the Runaways make their escape. Believing they can't return to their own homes, and their "evil" parents, the kids have no obvious place to go, and most motels don't accept dinosaurs. So how long can six teens remain off the radar, with Old Lace in tow?

Now streaming on Hulu, Marvel’s Runaways stars Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin, Allegra Acosta, Ryan Sands, Angel Parker, Brittany Ishibashi, James Yaegashi, Kevin Weisman, Brigid Brannagh, Annie Wersching, Kip Pardue, James Marsters and Ever Carradine.