Smoke and Mirrors

For the Agent Carter episode, see Smoke & Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors
Season	3
Writer	Tracy McMillan
Director	Larry Teng
First Aired	December 13, 2019
Marvel Cinematic Universe
← Previous	Split Up
Next →	The Great Escape

"You're in the Algorithm, dear. This is your fantasy wedding, with your fantasy bride, and your fantasy friends. None of this is real."

―Magistrate's Wife to Karolina Dean

Smoke and Mirrors is the first episode of the third season of the television series Runaways.

Synopsis

The Runaways spring a trap to rescue their missing friends from Jonah and his family.

Plot

Chase Stein, Janet Stein and Karolina Dean are trapped in simulations generated by the Healing Algorithm: Chase believes that he saves Gert Yorkes from a Rite of Blood perpetrated by PRIDE; Janet lives a happy life with Victor Stein, who is kind to her, with her scientific abilities being recognized by the whole world; and Karolina repeatedly lives a wedding ceremony where she marries Nico Minoru while being surrounded by her friends and family. Meanwhile, Nico has visions of her own in her dreams in which she encounters a mysterious enchantress, Morgan le Fay, who assures her that she will help her rescue Karolina.

The Gibborim, now controlling Victor Stein, Stacey Yorkes and Tina Minoru, but still do not know where their last member is, the Magistrate's Son. Dale Yorkes has taken his daughter Gert and Old Lace to a cabin, but struggle to keep them calm. Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder, who have been arrested by the LAPD, meet with their lawyer Londell Kendricks so he can engineer their release. Meanwhile, the Runaways decide to mount an operation to rescue their missing friends, leaving Leslie Dean at the Hostel.

Molly Hernandez and Xavin go to the Yorkes Residence to investigate, but find no sign of Gert and Old Lace. Xavin notices that Hernandez is visibly troubled and offers to talk, leading to the two bonding over their ability to feel and display their emotions. Meanwhile, Alex Wilder and Nico head for the Stein Mansion to infiltrate the place and look for a way to save their friends. They realize that their friends are indeed held in the mansion, but that they cannot fight the three Gibborim in their current condition.

Janet begins to realize that she is in the Algorithm, but fails to escape, although she is able to briefly make contact with Chase. The Magistrate's Wife accesses Karolina's simulation to confront her and know her relationship to the Magistrate, revealing to Karolina that she is in a simulation.

Dale decides to make up for his mistakes. He apologizes to his daughter for what he has done, and offers to help her master her telepathic link with Old Lace. This enables Gert to expand her abilities, to the point that she can actually share the dinosaur's vision and control her. In the meantime, Catherine also decides to act on her misdeeds, and confesses to the killing of Darius Davis, ensuring that Geoffrey will be released while she is taken into custody to serve a jail sentence.

Tensions begin to arise between the Magistrate and his wife due to the former refusing to consume Karolina. However, they have a more pressing issue as they are contacted by the Magistrate's Son, seemingly controlling Gert. The three extraterrestrials leave the Stein Mansion, enabling Alex and Nico to infiltrate it. Indeed, it was actually a ruse by the Runaways: Xavin disguised themself as Gert and pretended to be the Son to lure the Gibborim out. During the confrontation against the Gibborim, Hernandez is able to shortly have the personality of her mother Stacey to resurface. Thanks to the trick, Xavin and Hernandez are able to steal some Inhibitor Pods.

Having entered Janet's simulation, Alex is told that he must find the Abstract and decrypt it so everyone can be released from the Algorithm. Alex thus jumps into Karolina's simulation, who was just reunited with Nico, to explain what they have to do. They exit the Algorithm right as the moment the Gibborim return home, and manage to hide in a closet.

Leslie goes to a hospital to perform some medical exams since she experienced signs of early labor. Surprised by the nurse's behavior, who abruptly leaves the room, Leslie takes the scanner and reviews the images of her baby, who appears to have glowing eye, thus revealing that the baby is from Gibborim ascent as well.

Cast

Main Cast:

• Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder / Alex Wilder
• Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru / Nico Minoru
• Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean / Karolina Dean
• Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes / Xavin (disguise) / Gert Yorkes
• Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein / Chase Stein
• Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez / Molly Hernandez
• Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder / Catherine Wilder
• Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder / Geoffrey Wilder
• Annie Wersching as Leslie Dean / Leslie Dean
• Clarissa Thibeaux as Xavin / Xavin
• Ever Carradine as Janet Stein / Janet Stein
• James Marsters as Magistrate / Victor Stein
• Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes / Magistrate's Wife / Stacey Yorkes
• Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes / Dale Yorkes
• Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru (archive footage) / Magistrate's Daughter / Xavin (disguise) / Tina Minoru
• James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru (archive footage) / Robert Minoru

Special Guest Star:

• Elizabeth Hurley as Morgan le Fay

Guest Stars:

• Myles Bullock as Anthony Wall/AWOL
• Jeremiah Birkett as Londell Kendricks
• Susan Papa as Ultra Sound Technician

Appearances

Locations

• Earth
  • Los Angeles, California
    • Stein Mansion
    • Hostel
    • Yorkes Cabin
    • District 27 West Side Station
    • Yorkes Residence
    • PRIDE Headquarters (flashback)
    • University of Los Angeles Medical Center (mentioned)
    • PRIDE Construction Site (mentioned)
    • Timely Coffee (mentioned)
  • Switzerland (mentioned)
• Multiverse
  • Dark Dimension (dream)

Events

• Gibborim Prophecy
  • Infiltration into the Stein Mansion
  • Ambush on the Magistrate's Family
• Rite of Blood (virtual reality)
• Siege of the Hostel (flashback)
• Chase of the Runaways (flashback)
• Battle at the PRIDE Construction Site (mentioned)
• Assassination of Darius Davis (mentioned)

Items

• Healing Algorithm
• Staff of One
• X-Ray Specs
• Abstract
• Inhibitor Pods
• Crow Necklace
• Fistigons (virtual reality)
• Dematerialization Box (virtual reality)
• Book of Gibborim (virtual reality)
• Church of Gibborim Bracelet (mentioned)
• Large Hadron Collider (mentioned)

Concepts

• Dreams

Vehicles

• Nemo Leapfrog
• Magistrate's Ship (mentioned)

Sentient Species

• Humans
• Gibborim
• Xartans

Creatures

• Deinonychus
  • Old Lace
  • Old Lace
• Crows (dream)

Organizations

• Runaways
• PRIDE
• Los Angeles Police Department
• Buzzcom
• KTOZ News
• KVXJ News
• KZXC
• Runaways (virtual reality)
• PRIDE (virtual reality)
• Nemo (virtual reality)
• Church of Gibborim (virtual reality)
• Forbes (virtual reality)
• Wizard (mentioned)
• Crips (mentioned)
• CERN (mentioned)

Mentioned

• Magistrate's Son
• Elle Dean
• Darius Davis
• Curtis Stein
• Xavin's Parents
• Alice Hernandez
• Gene Hernandez
• Miley Cyrus
• Earth, Wind & Fire

Music

Song title	Artist	Location(s)
Hallelujah	2Cellos	A vision of Chase Stein walking Karolina Dean down the aisle, on her way to wed Nico Minoru.
2 Million	G Flip	Leslie Dean goes through pregnancy pains. Xavin gets Molly Hernandez to sit down and talk.
Sensation	Talisco	Xavin leads the Magistrate, his wife and their daughter into a trap. Molly Hernandez tries to bring Stacey Yorkes forth by appealing to mothering instincts.
Inhaler	Hilary Woods	Alex Wilder pulls Nico Minoru out of Karolina Dean's mind, then they hide just as the Magistrate and his daughter return to the lab.

External Links

• Smoke and Mirrors on IMDb
• Smoke and Mirrors on The CW
• Smoke and Mirrors on Marvel Database