Oh boy oh boy I love these heroes so much and I love that we finally get to properly get to know everyone. First of all: Hello, Lyssa! Aiden is one of my favorite characters to write for, and it was so fun to dig into his past, the people in it, and how his powers would have affected them.
I’m interested to see how Lyssa is received — from the actors’ perspectives, most found themselves so frustrated with her, and her interactions with Aiden made the character more sympathetic in their opinions. For me, I love Lyssa. I love how adamant she is about her own needs and health, but her soft inability to say no when someone else is in danger. I’m so excited to dive into the past between Aiden and Lyssa, and find out who Aiden was before we met him last season.
With Jen and Max, the cool part of this episode, for me, was exploring their relationship outside of the other people they interact with. Up until now, we’ve only seen Max and Jen as part of a unit, whether that’s with Aiden, or Aiden and Justin. What do they look like when you take away the constant bickering and struggle for footing, and just let them be friends?
Something about letting Jen share her powers with Max felt right. A soft, quiet moment between two people who have a similar secret, but not exactly a shared one, finally getting to share the actual fine points of their powers with each other. I wanted to give both Jen and Max a moment of pure relief — Jen because she gets to share her powers with someone close to her and isn’t rejected, and Max because she gets to have just one bit of time that isn’t completely overwhelmed by her own powers and the people around her.
And what better to end a moment of peace than a panicked phone call from Aiden? 🙂