Raising Dion Issue 107

Dion discovers first-hand the consequences of using his powers without thought when he’s wracked by a mysterious fever after trying to heal Pat’s migraine. That one act sparks a domino-like effect on the other players, particularly BIONA, who takes advantage of the opening his hospital stay gives them.

Before delving into the hit-and-miss actions of the main story, “Why So Vomity?” begins with Charlotte driving to Alabama to meet with Walter Mills. Instead she’s greeted by his sister Joan (Rebecca Harris, Outsiders), who’s watching over Brayden. The boy is not shy in telling her about the Elemental (he calls it ‘Lightning man’) and how it killed Walter. More than that though, Brayden speaks to Charlotte telepathically. This is further proof that whatever affected those present for the aurora event, is passed down to their progeny just like any other genetic trait. Though the Elemental never appears, Brayden’s reaction to Charlotte leaving him may be the scariest part in the episode. He lashes out at her telepathically and though she leaves, guilt eating at her for leaving him undefended, Brayden’s reaction could be a precursor to that of an antagonist in the making.

Kat is such an underused character. Writing her into more of the narrative would have cleaned up some of the dips the season has experienced so far.

Back to the main story, Dion’s hospital ordeal is a catalyst that should, in theory, turn up the excitement a few notches. First off, when Kat (Jazmyn Simon, Ballers, Acrimony) discovers her nephew has superpowers, she deletes his medical records. Predictably, she’s caught by her girlfriend and senior doctor Danielle (Erica Tazel, Queen Sugar, The Good Fight), and this action may spell the end of her medical career. On a semi-positive front, the unknown quality of Dion’s illness spurs Nicole to give Pat the memory chip she found in Mark’s watch. Pat decrypts the data at BIONA, giving the protagonist pair a much deeper understanding of what they may be dealing with. Unfortunately, everything goes belly-up when, believing Dion’s massive temperature spike may be signs of hemorrhagic fever, the hospital calls in for a CDC quarantine; BIONA takes the window to act, abducting Dion in order to do whatever nefarious companies of science do in these situations.

Though there are positives, “Why So Vomity?” is a frantic and uneven mess. Too much of what goes on either doesn’t make sense, lacks any sort of subtlety, or worsens my view on characters. The conclusion is particularly poor, where BIONA takes Dion out of the hospital, enacting no precautions should this truly be a communicable disease. I know this is fantasy but having such a shoddy end develop in order to further the plot is just poor and lazy writing. It would have been more acceptable if they snatched him off the streets. But that’s not all; Pat is solidified as a weak character with nary a backbone, a true disappointment, especially considering how vital he is in saving Dion’s life. And though Kat is represented well here, too much of her arc is squeezed into this episode where it should have been sprinkled in throughout the season. As probably the strongest support character, the series’ inability to properly use her is a narrative crime. It’s a similar complaint I’ve had with Dion’s school life and Nicole’s professional life; they are there to balance the super with the mundane and while necessary, too often there’s a rush on how events play out.

Adding in other instances of uninspired writing (Walter’s sister proclaiming he had the devil in him…really??) and uneven tone, “Why So Vomity?”, despite pressing the narrative in a positive direction, is a byproduct of trying to put too many things in the hopper it too short of a timeframe.