As Raising Dion slowly creeps toward that vital halfway point to the season, the mystery continues to unfold as Dion and Pat stumble across BIONA’s hidden treasures from Iceland, Nicole connects with her past to secure a future for her and Dion, and the lightning elemental’s instinct is revealed.
After Charlotte sent Nicole the impossible video of the elemental creature of lightning, Nicole believes that if she can track down the original poster, then maybe she can find answers about what happened to Mark and, by extension, maybe a bit more on her son’s future. Thanks to her neighbor Malik, Nicole ends up speaking to the young woman responsible for the video posting and while she’s most definitely a conspiracy nut, her assertions that this elemental has been spotted in several areas throughout the world should light a fire of dread in the young mother. From a viewer standpoint, that truth is laid down hard when Walter Mills, a farmer in Alabama whose abilities allow him some form of super-growth control over plant-life, is seemingly taken by the creature; whether he’s killed outright or absorbed, remains a question to be answered at a later date.
While Nicole’s day is caught up in finding a job and answers about the video, Pat takes Dion off her hands and spends a day with his godson at BIONA. Should be a nice, chill day, right? If you’ve watched this far—let alone know the narrative beats of a story like this—then such a concept is laughable.
The first part of their day is innocuous enough (though Lars, one of Suzanne’s underlings, does stare at Dion a few ticks too long to be anything casual), with Suzanne taking some time with Dion, most likely due to his father’s rock-star status in the company. It’s not until Dion hears the bleats of pain from animals deeper in the facility that the trip goes quite a bit off the rails.
Ignoring the silliness of an ID badge floating through the air through several floors and hallways without a single person catching sight of it, the pair gain access to the classified room, and the potentially sinister nature of BIONA comes to life. Not only are they experimenting on irradiated animals from Iceland, most likely exposed to the radiation during the aurora event—which is almost certainly behind Pat’s migraines—but the company is also keeping surveillance on several people throughout the world, one of which is Walter Mills. None of this is a coincidence and alludes to BIONA’s hand in what happened in Iceland, whether directly or their desire to capitalize on the phenomena (or both), considering where we are in the season, will soon be revealed.
BIONA’s importance notwithstanding, Dion’s abilities keep getting more impressive. Pat’s theory is that Dion’s able to control the interaction of ions, both in himself and those surrounding him. Never mind the fact that he doesn’t know how anything works, but his ability to short out an entire wing of a state-of-the-art facility just by closing his eyes and trying real hard… I almost expected him to raise his arms to the sky and shout “Yatta!”. Not only that, but he also heals an injured snow dog just by thinking of it. Just how that adds up for him being able to perform these fantastical feats is treading very closely to “because the plot needs it to go that way” though I’ll refrain from blasting the series too much considering this is often the case in series’—from genre shows like this to more “series” dramas like This Is Us or NCIS.
So what does it all mean? Well, as Dion’s power levels creep closer to that magical 9000 mark, the elemental is still out there. Alabama’s not too far from Atlanta and Dion’s meddling at BIONA has no doubt put him on their radar and it may be the impetus they need to go after him, reaching the boy before the elemental. If that is the case, could BIONA end up being the good guys who, despite shady methods, are trying to save the day? Nice thought but, considering the direction we’ve seen so far, Raising Dion will continue towards that banal, oft-used “big company bad/little guy good” that while it often works, when the presentation is lacking subtlety, it’s difficult to overlook the formulaic design. Yet, there’s still Team Dion.
If the series continues in the direction it appears to be headed, our emotional connection to that trio will be vital in making the show something we’ll be looking forward to, even when it reaches the end.
Raising Dion “Issue #104 – Welcome to BIONA. Hope You Survive the Experience”
