In the second season finale of Raising Dionthe Crooked Man/Brayden and his army of zombified thralls surrounded the school the night of the performance of dream girls “Dion and Nicole decided they would spend his last night alive facing him, together. Meanwhile at BIONA, Kat and Suzanne were in a race against time to save Pat from his self-inflicted coma.
1. Wow, that was weak
After considering not telling him, Dion warns his mother about Brayden’s army, and the two leave school to confront him, forcing Kwame to replace Dion during the performance. Noticing the Warrens’ absence, Tevin also comes out to help; Janelle also joins the fray in a dazzling display of light. They are still overwhelmed, but Nicole appeals to Brayden by reminding him of his mother, forcing the twisted man out of his body. Dion teleports into the chasm with the final antidote intended for his mother, and despite being infected by the spores, he manages to inject it into the plants, healing everyone — just in time for Esperanza’s rendition of “And I Tell You I’m Not Leaving.”
All of this happens on the half hour mark of a 38-minute episode; despite some good moments, like the arrival of Janelle, the reward with medicine from Nicole and Esperanza’s solo, it’s an entirely predictable and underwhelming affair, which seems more interested in musical moments than a confrontation convincing. Maybe it would have been more satisfying if I had watched the whole season, but having recently rewatched stranger things 2‘s finale (which is the closest analog to that), I can safely say that it was rushed and underfunded; they spent the entire season setting up a zombie takeover of Atlanta, as well as a major loss for Dion, and that was it? I know it’s a kids show, but come on.
2. Despite everything, Kat is devoted to her oath
Another moment I loved was how dedicated Kat was to making sure Pat survived by injecting herself with the powered-up DNA serum, despite her utter disdain for him. Sure, there’s a bit of self-interest, since his mutated DNA might provide the cure for his sister, but there was a stark contrast to David Marsh’s apathetic, “oh we can reap what we’ve got.” need his corpse” which was not entirely necessary for her; it was a good way to show (without saying it) his devotion to the Hippocratic Oath waking up under fire, and more than adequately foreshadowing his decision to join BIONA full-time in the end.
3. Write on the wall
Pat wakes up and he is more than (physically) fine, gaining new destructive abilities, which he quickly uses to leave BIONA HQ. Marsh confronts her in the hallway, but only to offer her resources to study her powers and build an army. The twisted man introduces himself and Pat greets him as he rejoins his body… and that’s it: Pat doesn’t kill any named characters, or even go off to taunt Dion. Could it be that COVID disrupted plans for a more impactful season finale? Maybe, but the result is still a horribly boring episode.
4. Post-Credits Tease
Perhaps the culprit was the decision to have a frankly ridiculous post-credits scene decades in, where Pat – now sporting a hilarious Vanilla Ice-inspired hairstyle and a Kylo Ren rip-off Force awakens costume – prepares to take Atlanta with his army, only to tremble when an adult Dion/Mind Mover shows up. So I guess we could have a time travel story if Raising Dion is renewed again? Because I don’t expect the show to go the long way until Dion finally kicks Pat’s ass, and neither should they, because that would be kind of depressing (Atlanta certainly looks for going through hell here.)
5. Hello again, ask again…
I could be sarcastic and say that Jason Piperberg doesn’t deserve credit from Dennis Liu for creating the comic this mediocre show is based on, but seriously Netflix, please edit the credits to include: without the artists, the comics wouldn’t be comics, just scripts, and it doesn’t change whether you like the show or not. Maybe there is some legal and financial rubbish preventing this, but if so, I will also continue to bang the drum for those unaware of the nature of comics. Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you read its Twitter feed about how he feels he doesn’t get credited, though he did “all the art, lettering, and the vast majority of the book layout/file prep for the 1st and only comic number”.
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Bonus material:
– I know the moment Nicole and Dion bit down on their Twix bars before facing Brayden was supposed to be a sweet moment (no pun intended), but it felt a lot like product placement.
– The funniest moment of the episode definitely had to be Pat joking Marsh might be his own Moira MacTaggert, and accepting her though he admits he doesn’t know who she is. (Also, depending on how you feel, Pat’s preference for pre-“House of X” Moira is a redeemable trait, or another in a long line of his sins.)
“So if someone raised the plants from the pit, everyone infected would become slaves again, right? I was just asking.
Well, that’s it for Dion, Nicole and their friends for now, since the show hasn’t been renewed for a third season yet – if so, hopefully it will start to be. the height of its potential and its diversified distribution.