Exclusive Interview
‘The Runarounds’ Couples Rundown: Where Every Relationship Stands at End of Season 1 (VIDEO)
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Runarounds Season 1.]
The Runarounds would be first to tell you that love and rock and roll go hand-in-hand.
Prime Video’s latest teen drama is here, and not only does The Runarounds offer plenty of bangers, but a good amount of romance. It follows five bandmates — Charlie (William Lipton), Topher (Jeremy Yun ), Wyatt (Jesse Golliher), Bez (Zendé Murdock), and Neil (Axel Ellis) — as they try to get their big break after graduating from high school. They experience their fair share of highs and lows on their journey and in the love department.
Swooon sat down with the cast to get an update on their characters’ relationship status by the end of Season 1. Keep reading for their takes on Sophia (Lilah Pate) and Charlie, Bender (Marley Aliah) and Neil, and more.
Sophia & Charlie
We had our doubts about whether or not Sophia and Charlie would make it — seriously, who steals someone’s diary and makes a song out of it? — but by the finale, they’re in a good place. Charlie runs out mid-performance to make things right with Sophia, and if that’s not proof of true love, what is?
Should the show get another season, Lipton teased that it might not be smooth sailing for the couple from here on out as they try to balance their romantic relationship and creative partnership. “I think, creatively, Sophia and Charlie might be a little bit on different pages, even though they want what’s best for one another,” he said. “I think it’ll be very interesting to see how that all plays out.”
Pate thinks that Sophia may question whether or not Charlie has blinders on when it comes to her. “I think Sophia will be curious if he thinks she is a writing genius, or it’s just that he has this giant crush on her and wants to have her,” she said. “So I think once they’re together, will he still value her words as much and want her to be incorporated with the songwriting process?”
Jackson Lee Davis / Prime
One thing we can be sure of is that George (Shea Pritchard) is pretty much guaranteed to be out of the picture, according to Pate. But could he still be mad that Sophia ditched him for Charlie?
“I mean, [George] probably has a lot of resentment, which, as he should,” she explained. “Sophia did not do something that was very kind to him, but I think that these two [Charlie and Sophia] are pretty locked in on their decisions, so I don’t think it’ll impact that. But could he continue to want revenge? Potentially.”
“We wish him healing,” Lipton quipped.
Sophia & Wyatt
Were we the only ones who noticed Sophia and Wyatt’s moment in Oz during Episode 5? And then when Wyatt says that Sophia is “nonnegotiable” and has to be included on the Runarounds’ record deal? Could there be a spark there, or are they just friends?
Pate doesn’t think their relationship is a romantic one. “I think that they have a really beautiful friendship, and I think it’s a nice outlet for Wyatt and kind of an unexpected friendship, which is why I really liked it, and that was one of my favorite scenes [in Oz] to film and watch back,” she said.
The actress continued, “I think their friendship and the way that they’re there for each other and can open up that’s not romantic or like the girl’s girl relationship is really cool. But I don’t think it’ll be shipped, but I can see some TikTok edits potentially happening.” (You know what to do, TikTok editors!)
Topher & Amanda
Topher and Amanda’s (Kelley Pereira) relationship went undefined for most of the season, even though they started to pull away from each other romantically.
“I think it’s almost a bit unclear in many ways, like it’s never really said that we’re broken up, but it definitely feels that way by the end of the season,” Yun said, calling out their scene in the airport. In Episode 8, Amanda comes out to Topher after figuring out her sexuality throughout the summer.
“I think it’s kind of another story of just friendship winning out overall in many ways,” Yun said, explaining where the exes stand now. “It was a partnership for six years, right? I think it’s something that I feel like both of them are happy not to have lost.”
Pereira agrees, calling it a “homie-ship.” She added, “I feel like they do understand each other as people because they’ve been with each other for so long and they’re always there for each other no matter what, and maybe it became romantic at some point out of just like, ‘Well, this is where the romance starts, I guess?’ But I think it’s always been almost like family, if that’s not weird.”
Amanda & Bender
Speaking of, when she’s coming to terms with her sexuality, Bender offers to kiss Amanda during their trip to Oz. We’re sure that the moment will have fans rooting for them to become a couple, but Pereira doesn’t think Amanda has feelings for her friend.
“I feel like it’s not a feelings thing,” she said, which made Aliah ask if she was sure.
“I think it’s more of like, Bender is this fluid girl that Amanda sees, and she’s just drawn to a little bit,” Pereira explained. “And Bender stretches out her hand to be like, ‘You can show me who you are.'”
She says it’s the first time that Amanda’s ever felt something like that from somebody, which makes her feel safe to experiment. “I think it’s really also friendship that’s true and honest,” she said.
In a potential second season, however, the actress wants Amanda to get a love interest. “Hopefully, Amanda has some girly pop that she’s into,” she said.
Neil & Bender
After having a one-sided crush of epic proportions, Bender finally gets her guy. “She was so frustrated,” Aliah recalled. “Oh my god, back and forth and back and forth, and just like honestly embarrassed for a lot of it. But at the end, you know… there were glimpses of hope here and there that she clung to and it was nice.”
“She didn’t want to mess up the friendship aspect of it, but it’s really hard to be friends with someone you love like that,” she continued.
Neil spends most of the season pining after an older rock star rather than his friend, but he finally comes to his senses in the end. But is it really over with Phoebe? “Unless she asks us to play another show, yeah, it’s probably over,” Ellis joked. “No, I’m kidding. I think he kind of realizes what was right for him all along by the end of the season, which definitely would’ve made my high school self very happy that he did the right thing.”
Hannah & Catesby
The teens aren’t the only ones with romance drama in The Runarounds. Charlie’s mom, Hannah, has to grapple with her first love coming back into town. She hasn’t seen Catesby (Mark Wystrach) in almost two decades, which leads to some tense moments between them. It’s clear they still have an affect on each other.
The exes don’t act on it, since Hannah is still with Charlie’s dad (Hayes MacArthur), but it’ll be interesting to see how they interact now that Charlie knows that Catesby is his biological father.
“I think come Season 2, [Charlie’s] going to have to deal with this major shift and his discovery of his true father,” Lipton teased. “Mark Wystrach is one handsome dude, he’s definitely a solid contender for Hannah, but I think Charlie’s more preferring the dad that he grew up with rather than this cowboy music man that just came into town.”
The Runarounds, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
