Raising Dion – Season 1 Episode 3 Recap & Review

The Coming Storm

After showing off his powers to an excitable Pat, episode 3 of Raising Dion begins with Nicole taking offence to his enthusiasm. After Dion heads to bed, Nicole and Pat discuss his powers, where he tells her Dion needs something to control his abilities and stop him erratically losing his temper. In storage, she finds a watch and gives it to him in the morning as a way of channeling his emotions.

Seemingly able to keep his abilities under control now, Dion heads back to school where he’s teamed up with Esperanza for a school science project. After discussing his watch, the boys tease him and snatch it away, refusing to give it back. Losing his temper, Dion knocks the child into the wall with his powers, before the teacher breaks up the fight, getting the wrong end of the stick and assuming Dion beat him down.

After the initial school drama, Nicole receives a call from Charlotte. She tells her to meet at the swings in 20 minutes, prompting her to hurry off. While she drives to the scheduled location, Pat realizes his company Bioma may have more going on than he initially thought.

Nicole makes it to the woods, after walking from the swings alone, where she asks Charlotte about Dion’s powers. It turns out Charlotte has powers of her own, as she suddenly appears before her. It’s here we learn more about her invisibility and also that Mark originally had powers too. It turns out Mark saved her from a storm and as she relays the story about the spirits she saw during the freak storm the night before, it turns out something far more sinister is going on here. Wide-eyed and afraid, Charlotte disappears upon hearing this news, leaving Nicole alone.

Pat picks up Dion from school and takes him to play basketball with Malik, encouraging him to use his powers in secret whilst not letting the other boys catch on. After surprising everyone, he heads back home where Nicole shows up soon after and tells him about Charlotte and her abilities. Afterward, she speaks to Dion in bed about racism before tucking him in to say goodnight. Meanwhile, Charlotte sends her a picture of the thing inside the storm which happens to be a giant, electrified creature.

With more backstory around the big, antagonistic threat Dion will inevitably face, Raising Dion does well to set the stage for the conflict to come. While the series itself has struggled thus far to find an identity, this episode in particular does well to shake off the early cobwebs and start delivering something that feels a lot more fun and dramatic. As we approach the halfway point of the show, hopefully Raising Dion can build on this.