Raising Dion series premiere recap: How Do You Raise a Superhero?

In episode 1 of Netflix series Raising Dion, we meet Dion, his superpowers and his struggling mom. Can Dion have a normal life?

Raising Dion begins with Nicole Warren (Alisha Wainwright) asking why her son Dion (Ja’Siah Young) has to save the world. That may sound like an exaggeration, but we soon find out he has extraordinary powers. Living in Atlanta, Nicole is a single, hard-working mom. However, it’s implied that Dion — innocent as he is — can be a handful. She’s worried about him making her late for work on a school day.

Dion, on the other hand, is worried about fitting in, being the new kid in town. On top of that, we quickly see that he’s no ordinary child. When he accidentally spills his cereal (with his mom out of the room), time sees to almost freeze for him. He can interact with the milk and cereal pieces. He considers it magic, and who would say it isn’t? Still, he seems too young to understand how unusual it is.

Dion isn’t very popular in school. In fact, he ends up sitting with Esperanza Jimenez (Sammi Haney), who he considers unpopular. Later he skips out on class to impress other kids with skateboarding. He fails miserably for a while. However, when he concentrates enough, he does an amazing (almost otherworldly) skateboard trick. While the other kids were rude to him, even they can’t deny the majesty of his trick.

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Later, after learning his mom lost her job for being late, Dion goes out for pizza with Pat (Jason Ritter), his godfather. They discuss superpowers, such as telekinesis, and agree that Mary Poppins is scary. While pretending they’re superheroes, Pat says Dion’s identity must be a secret. Awkwardly, the conversation shifts to Dion asking how his father, Mark (Michael B. Jordan) died.

The revelation

The mysterious elements of Raising Dion become greater as it progresses. In a flashback sequence, we see Mark constructing a Faraday cage. It’s also revealed that he drowned. Now, as Dion tells Nicole he’s becoming a magician, he proves it by making his toys fly around. At first thinking it’s a trick, she quickly realizes it’s not, as Dion loses control to the point of accidentally cutting her shoulder!

Nicole wastes little time speaking to someone about it, contacting her sister, Kat (Jazmyn Simon). She does not believe her nephew can move things with his mind, however, and thinks her sister must be on drugs. Later, Nicole tells Dion that his father had been caught in a hurricane and died trying to save a woman named Charlotte Tuck from drowning. They watch a video he made for them before his death.

Photo: Ja’Siah Young, Alisha Wainwright.. Raising Dion: Season 1.. Netflix /

The lake house

After all the excitement, Nicole decides Dion could use a day off from school, and they head to a lake house. It’s a pretty big moment for Raising Dion. He insists on fishing out in a boat, which is simple enough of a plan. However, after telling him he won’t catch any fish doing things his way, he proves her wrong in the most epic way possible: Dion telekinetically lifts most (if not all) of the fish out of the water! Then, when Nicole tells him they’ll drown in the air, Dion skillfully makes some water float to encircle the gasping creatures. However, things go awry when Dion loses control. For whatever reason, he starts uprooting trees, and a branch knocks him overboard!

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Thankfully (or the series would be over too soon), Nicole rescues him. If that’s not enough, later on that night, Nicole and Dion encounter the mysterious “rain people,” who are ghost-like figures who appear in the stormy weather. One of them is actually Mark, who informs them they should not be there. So, who or what are the rain people and what do they want? What’s wrong with being at the lake house? Will Dion become less afraid of Mary Poppins? We’ll find out!

What are your thoughts on Raising Dion? Let us know in the comments!

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