There are lots of movie and tv shows about teenagers discovering that they have superpowers, but not many about eigh-year olds. In Raising Dion, single mom Nicole must deal with her own problems and her son's superpowers, which draw the attention of the usual medical specialists, dark-government agencies, and monstrous supervillains. Gavin Munn plays Dion's best bud. To see if they have a gay-subtext relationship, I reviewed Episode 2.2, about a new boy in school, figuring that this was the episode where Gavin first appears.
Prelude: Mom and Dion off a giant smokey monster in naked human form. So far, so good. The monster leaves, and a guy named Pat (Jason Ritter, left) is left (fully clothed). He explains: "It took a whole day for my body to completely reform, and another to walk to the nearest town, where I decided to start a new life."
Scene 1: Zoom out: he's being interrogated, claiming that he did unspeakable things because the Crooked Man was controlling him. And now it is controlling someone else! Big Boss Suzanne doesn't believe him.
Scene 2: Guys in Hazmat suits investigating a giant crater. There are footprints down there -- maybe the security guard. They call him to check, but he's at home with a disgusting pustulating growth on his neck. They block off the crater so no school kids fall in.
At that moment, Mom and Dion (Ja'siah Young) drive past. Dion, now ten years old, is troubled, but Mom tells him that there is nothing to worry about. He praises his superpower trainer, Tevin (Rome Flynn, top photo). Mom says "I'm glad you like him." Next subject of conversation: the upcoming musical, which Esperanza is counting on him for. Does Dion have a girlfriend? TV writers are hesitant about portraying gay pre-teens or even teenagers, but they'll happily have toddlers expressing heterosexual desire.
Scene 3: At school, Dion is drawing in the abs on a muscular superhero. Questioned by his friend Jonathan (Gavin Munn, already a regular), he claims that they are power stabilizers to help him go faster. "Um...ok," Gavin says, rather obviously pretending not to know that Dion is gay. I'd better take another peek at Dion's interest in his superpower trianer.
Their third friend Esperanza (Sammi Haney), who has a unique body type and uses a wheelchair, wants to know when they're going to investigate the mysterious crater. How about today after school? Next, she has picked out the songs they're going to use for their auditions for the school musical. BFF Jonathan says there's no need: he has his song picked out, and it's going to be awesome!
During class, the new kid Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner) keeps glaring at Dion.
Scene 4: B Plot with Mom and her sister Kat discussing where their lives went wrong.
Cut to school: after class, New Kid Brayden reads the minds of the kids around him, mostly criticizing him for being strange. Dion and his buds friend-up to him: "I know how hard it is being the new kid." They ask him to audition for the school musical.
Scene 5: Out in the hall, Crooked Man tells Brayden to "get him alone!", so he asks Dion for a tour of the school. BFF Jonathan wants to come, too, but Brayden mind controls him into agreeing that it should just be the two of them.
They walk down a deserted hallway. Dion asks Brayden why he moved to Atlanta. "To find you." I don't think he means "we were meant to be together."
Crooked Man smokes out of Brayden and tries to grab Dion, but fails.
Scene 6: After school. Mom arrives to pick up Dion, but Esperanza stalls her, and at the crater, BFF Jonathan stalls the hazmat guy, so Dion can zap down and investigate. It's got glowing purple flowers with undulating stamens that reach out for him -- ulp, time to zap away!
Scene 7: At the Bio Institute, while Dion is changing into his superhero-workout clothes, his trainer Tevin asks Mom out. I'll skip the Mom and Patrick plots. Actually, they take a while. I guess child stars can't work a lot of hours.
Scene 8: Brayden at home -- he lives by himself -- eating pizza. He criticizes the Crooked Man smoke-monster for trying to attack Dion, when he wasn't strong enough. "Well, he was just so close, and I couldn't help it." Crooked Man is not quite as scary when he whines to a little kid.
Next criticism: "Why are you using the weird flowers to build an army? Why can't you kill Dion all by yourself, you wimp?" Crooked Man doesn't answer; he just complements Brayden: "You're making me stronger. Soon I will be ready."
Next: when the job is done, will Crooked Man abandon Brayden? "No, I'll keep you with me." Ten to one he's lying.
Scene 8: Dion in his room, reading comic books. Why is there a map of Scandinavia on his wall? Suddenly Brayden appears! He explains: "I'm not actually in your room, I'm in your head. I have powers, too." While Dion stares, he says "I think we're going to be best friends." Uh-oh, that sounds sinister. The end.
The Dion plot is a little thin, so lI'll add a scene from the next episode:
The Musical Auditions: Dion's main friends and Brayden compete for Dion's attention. Brayden uses his superpowers to zap the two of them into a field (a boring field? How about Disney World?). But Dion still chooses his main friends. Brayden roils with jealousy.
The femme diector, Mr. Kwame (J. Harrison Ghee, who won a Tony for his role in Some Like It Hot ), uses the opening of Fame: "you got big dreams? You want fame? Well, fame costs, and here's where you start paying -- in sweat!" This is a fourth grade musical review, not Broadway!
Ulp, all of the kids sing "Oh, Susannah!" Badly! "Fosse, forgive me!" Mr. Kwame cries. Then Esperanza does a mesmerizing performance of "Beautiful Dreamer."
Jonathan doesn't audition; he uses pyrotechnics and confetti cannons to push for the job of stage manager. The end.
Beefcake: None, but I included the butts of Jason Ritter and Rome Flynn after the break.
Heterosexism: Just among the adults. I researched the series, and none of the kids is involved in a heterosexual romance.
Gay Characters: One scene implying that Dion is gay. There are probably hints in other episodes, too, but I doubt they go beyond.
According to AfterEllen, Mom's sister Kat gets a "surprise! she's a lesbian" moment that is never referenced again. There are rainbow posters around the school, but I can't read what they say.
Gay Subtext: Dion and Brayden have a kid version of a toxic romantic relationship, complete with gaslight, blaming, and abuse. Nothing with Dion and Jonathan in this episode.
My Grade: Esperanza steals every scene, and Jonathan is amazing as a pre-teen operator. Dion is the morose, troubled Peter Parker type. Mom is definitely over protective. Kid plotline: A-.
Overall, this seems to be Mom's story, about the problems of raising a "special needs" kid and dealing with the season's Big Bad. Grown-up plotline: C+.
Butts after the break. Guess which belongs to whom:
