Ron Does Stuff

This show finally found its groove in the previous episode, I wish they’d gotten to it earlier, but at least now I’m invested in the next threee episodes!

We start the episode with a flashback to Parker’s first job in a gang, a gang that John got him into. That first job goes awry but John saves Parker’s life, which of course makes his death now extra painful for Parker.

It also makes Parker extra suspicious of Riri, because whatever it was that was in that coat showed him her suit, or at least that’s what the shadow looked like. I think he’s trying to hide his suspicious of Riri, but to do that you gotta stop staring at her like that. The ominous “I’ve got plans for you” isn’t helping either.

Back at her place, Riri is looking at the piece of Parker’s cloak that she managed to swipe, and it looks like it’s…internally combusting? That internal combustion is what powers Parker. Where that internal combustion comes from is what Riri can’t figure out. It’s not Wakandan, it’s not Kree, it’s not Stark, it’s not Pym. Wait, when did the world become aware of the Kree? Is that in one of the shows I haven’t watched yet?

Riri’s problems don’t start there, because Joe/Ezekiel Stane has been arrested because his biomesh tech was found at Heirlum because Riri left it there. Even worse for Joe, he’s the one being branded as bringing dishonor to the Stane name when it was his father who tried to kill Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie. And you can’t really blame him for being mad at Riri! He’s in prison because of her!

Things don’t get any better when Riri goes back to the gang. Parker is bringing in another tech specialist, and lets Riri know that he knows she and Ezekiel are connected. I don’t know if he genuinely thinks that Riri just needed help but odds are he’s just setting a trap for her.

All of that bearing down on her leads to Riri being extremely paranoid, which eventually leads to her busting down her mom’s door because she thought she was being attacked. Her mom finally confronts her and asks her what is actually going on. Riri doesn’t say much, but her mother takes her to an actual magic practitioner in the neighborhood! Like, proper Doctor Strange parallel world-hopping magic!

The…witches? take a look at the piece of Parker’s hood and determine that it’s something that isn’t from their world and that it’s ancient. And they’re not witches, they’re sorcerers! Or at least the mother is! A Kamar-Taj ~dropout~! They look further into the hood and it is definitely evil. They drive Riri and her mom out of their shop and tell her to destroy it because it comes from a dark dimension, and it is evil, full stop. Of course, this discovery leads to an argument with her mom that ends with Riri running away from actually dealing with her problems and accepting some help.

Someone who is getting help is Ezekiel Stane, who just got a visit from Parker. Parker’s offering him a job, so I guess he’s going to be the new tech specialist that Riri will have to work alongside now. This is definitely not going to be one of Riri’s favorite work experiences.

While that’s being set up, Riri is over at Ezekiel’s bunker, trying to find a way to destroy that one piece of fabric from Parker’s hood. Nothing’s working though, and it’s enough to give Riri a panic attack. And it’s not going to get any better for her because while she’s out there having a panic attack, Parker’s gang is breaking Ezekiel out of prison.

AI Natalie decides that the best course of action to help Riri out during her panic attack is to bring Xavier over to where Riri is, which turns out to be a bad idea because he thinks the AI Natalie is horrifying and I agree! Now Riri really has no one to turn to because even AI Natalie is pissed at her!

Which is so bad for her because allies are definitely what she needs right now. Parker’s told his gang that Riri killed John, and now he’s upgrading Ezekiel into something that is probably not going to be something Riri likes.