'Runaways' Recapped: Everything You Need To Remember Before Diving Into The New Season

It's been a hot minute since we last checked in with the young heroes of Marvel's Runaways, which debuted last year on Hulu. The series, based on the Marvel comics of the same name, follows a group of teens who discover that their parents are part of an evil supervillain group/cult known as the PRIDE. Despite their differences, the kids band together to cope with this life-altering information... and try to stop their parents. In case you need a refresher, here's everything you need to know about the first season of Marvel's Runaways before Season 2 premieres on December 21.

Alex Wilder (Rhenzy Feliz) is the glue that holds these burgeoning teen heroes together. When we first meet Alex, the introverted computer nerd and brainiac misses hanging out with his group of friends – all of whom went their separate ways following the death of Nico Minoru's (Lyrica Okano) sister Amy, each of them leaning hard into various high school stereotypes: Nico has become a super-goth Wiccan. Chase Stein (Gregg Sulkin) is a lacrosse player who is often underestimated and dismissed as a dumb jock. Gert Yorkes (Ariela Barer) is a woke riot grrrl type and social activist. Karolina Dean (Virginia Gardner) is a wholesome blonde girl rebelling against her parents, who are uber-religious and involved in some kind of scientology-like organization. Molly Hernandez (Allegra Costa) is the youngest of the group; a sweet and naive (or so they think) tag-along pal who was adopted by Gert's parents after the mysterious death of her own.In the very first (and rather eventful) episode, the teens reluctantly come together and discover their parents performing a ritual sacrifice with a young woman in a hidden area of Alex's house. Throughout the first season, the teens realize they each have powers and abilities of some kind: Karolina is an alien-human hybrid who can fly and project beams of light. Alex is a computer and tech wiz (obviously). Nico can cast spells with a powerful weapon known as the Staff of One. Gert has a telepathic link with a genetically-engineered dinosaur her parents developed in their lab. Chase is every bit the engineering genius as his evil father, who makes terrible weapons; unlike his dad, Chase has chosen to use these creations for good – like the "fistigons," a pair of high-powered gauntlets. And Molly has the power of superhuman strength and invulnerability; her eyes glow a conspicuous shade of green, like a certain smashing superhero we know and love.

Alex's parents are Geoffrey (Ryan Sands) and Catherine Wilder (Angel Parker); the former is a self-starter who came from a rough background, while the latter is a successful lawyer. Karolina's parents are Leslie (Annie Wersching) and Frank Dean (Kip Pardue), the leaders of the scientology-esque Church of Gibborim. Frank is a former child star-turned-struggling actor and isn't actually a member of the PRIDE, while Leslie (who is in the PRIDE) desperately wants Karolina to follow in her footsteps and become a leader of the church.Victor Stein (James Marsters) is the intensely abusive father to Chase, and uses his fists to guide his son in the "right direction." His wife Janet (Ever Carradine) is the perfect PTA mom on the surface, but she's just as brilliant as her husband – though she's grown immensely afraid of him and struggles to protect their son. Stacey (Brigid Brannagh) and Dale Yorkes (Kevin Weisman) are Gert's super-scientific parents with an affinity for bio-engineering.Nico's parents are Tina (Brittany Ishibashi) and Robert Minoru (James Yaegashi) – a pair of brilliant innovators whose marriage has suffered in the wake of their daughter Amy's death. Tina is a confident CEO and self-described "tiger mom," but her attitude has left Robert feeling a bit iced out of the marriage – so he carries on a secret affair with Janet Stein. It's hard to blame Janet, given how much of an ass-clown Victor is, but it's just as hard to feel too much sympathy for Robert as the stereotypical cheating husband who blames his wife for emasculating him to the point where he has to have an affair.

Over the course of the season, the kids do a little digging and uncover some unfortunate truths about the PRIDE, their heritage, and what really happened to both Amy and Molly's parents. With Alex's help, Karolina finds out that her mom has been sacrificing people from their church for years. Further investigation leads to the discovery of Jonah (career bad guy Julian McMahon), the real leader of the PRIDE; Leslie has been sacrificing her congregants to restore an ailing and decrepit Jonah back to his human-shaped glory. Via flashback, we see how Jonah made deals with the parents; in exchange for their loyalty, he grants them each immense wealth and success in their endeavors. When he first fully wakes up in episode 5, Jonah demands to see Karolina – as it turns out, he is actually her biological father. Meanwhile, Frank appears to know about his wife's weird beneficial relationship with Jonah and doesn't seem to mind, especially after the smooth-talking supervillain gives Frank (who failed to ascend to the highest level of his church) some powerful healing gloves to aid in his "ministry."While giving a speech at a gathering for the PRIDE, Victor reveals that he knows about his wife Janet's affair with Robert before collapsing from a brain tumor. Jonah uses his mysterious healing powers to revive Victor, who acts bizarrely affectionate and kind toward his family. Unfortunately, it's not long before he reverts back to his old, abusive self. Despite receiving a message from the future, in which Chase warns his dad not to pick up the fistigons, Victor does just that during a heated argument with his son – and Janet shoots him. Frank attempts to revive the Stein patriarch with his healing gloves, but it merely renders Victor comatose.As for Amy, the details of her alleged suicide began to come into focus throughout Season 1. One day, while hanging out at a coffee shop, she asks Alex to help her with a problem on her laptop. Alex discovers that someone has hacked Amy and is logging all of her keystrokes – a fact he neglected to share with Nico all this time. Amy freaks out and meets with a man named Kincaid, to whom she confesses to meddling with her mom's accounts and passwords in an attempt to "beat" her. When she attempted to hack into Wizard – the system that holds evidence of the PRIDE's evildoing – Tina was notified of the breach, along with the rest of the PRIDE. Kincaid urges Amy to tell her mother about this, but she declines. On the day that Amy allegedly took her own life, she received a text from an unknown number that read "He found out. LEAVE THE HOUSE NOW!!!" But before she could, a dark figure stopped her. That figure was, of course, Jonah. Concerned that Amy had gained access to the videos of all the PRIDE's ritual sacrifices, he took measures to protect the group – which meant killing Amy to keep her quiet.We learn the truth behind the death of Molly's parents in episode 9. After letting slip to Catherine that she knows about the PRIDE, the Yorkes have no choice but to send the little one away to live with a relative named Graciela, who hands Molly a letter from her parents. Inside, she finds a key which leads to a locker containing a VHS tape. On the tape, Gene and Alice Hernandez warn their daughter about the PRIDE. In the years since Gene and Alice were killed, no one in the PRIDE has taken responsibility for their deaths, but a flashback reveals that Leslie planted a bomb in their home and watched them die while she was on the phone with Tina. Gene and Alice were geologists, and the dangerous glowing rocks they discovered prior to their death are what gave Molly her powers. The parents aren't the only ones keeping secrets: Despite vehemently denying Gert's outspoken assumption, Karolina is, in fact, gay. During the first season, she kisses Nico and reveals a longstanding crush, and it seems Nico is receptive to the overture. Meanwhile, Gert pursues a longstanding crush of her own – and ends up hooking up with Chase.

In the final episodes, Jonah instructs Geoffrey to use his drilling company to dig a giant hole. The kids learn that Jonah is pursuing something that is "alive" and go to the drilling site, where they confront the PRIDE and reveal their powers. The parents are taken aback and Jonah kidnaps Karolina as the rest of group flees to the woods to hide. Gert is forced to part ways with Old Lace, setting her free in the wilderness (for now), while Alex, Chase, and Molly sneak into the Church of Gibborim to rescue Karolina. Leslie reveals that she may have played some part in Amy's death, however unwittingly, and expresses her uncertainty regarding Frank's loyalty – even though, or perhaps because he immediately told Jonah when Karolina came to him about the PRIDE.Troubled by Jonah's nefarious plan and whatever he's trying to unearth, Leslie convinces the Yorkes, the Minorus, and Janet Stein to help her kill Jonah – who has formed an unsettling alliance with Frank. The pair stand over Victor's comatose body as Jonah explains that he needs another sacrifice. Meanwhile, the teens fulfill the promise of the show's title and finally become actual runaways: As they arrive at a bus stop, they're reunited with Old Lace (!) and promptly discover that they've been framed for the murder of Destiny – the young woman who was sacrificed to Jonah at the beginning of the season.Season 2, which premieres on December 21, will pick up just 24 hours after the events of the Season 1 finale. The Runaways are, well, on the run. Co-creator Josh Schwartz explained in an interview that Season 2 will move much quicker than the first, and that this season will focus more on the kids instead of the parents. Speaking of which, the storyline involving Jonah and the PRIDE will come to an end in Season 2, which means we'll be seeing new characters (and villains) – including several from the comics. It's unclear exactly who will be introduced this season, but you (obviously) shouldn't count on seeing any heroes from the MCU.