Stargirl 1x05 "Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite" Episode Review

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Stargirl delivered a Halloween-themed episode. The episode also started with a flashback scene involving Rex Tyler / Hourman (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) and his wife Wendi (Kristi Brock) leaving their son Rick Tyler (Cameron Gellman) with Matt Harris (Adam Aalderis), Wendi’s brother and Rick’s Uncle. This scene also revealed how Pat retrieved all his JSA information from Rex Tyler via mail. The ending to the flashback also showed Rex and his wife getting killed by Solomon Grundy, making it look like a car accident.

This episode finally brought all the members of the new JSA together. In addition to Rick Tyler joining the team, Beth Chapel (Anjelika Washington) joined too as the new Doctor Mid-Nite. Beth’s quirky personality, upbeat enthusiasm, and non-stop talking made her fit perfectly with the light-hearted tone of the series. A superhero team will always need someone nerdy to tell the heroes all the exposition they need for missions and whatnot.

Rick was a legacy superhero like Courtney, which made his situation heartbreaking when we learned his Uncle Matt was abusive. I liked how they connected Courtney and Rick to the theme of being two different legacy heroes. While Courtney was set on honoring her father’s legacy as Starman, Rick was more interested in getting revenge for his father and mother.

After watching this episode, I felt like the pacing might have been too breakneck regarding the origin stories of Yolanda, Beth, and Rick. There wasn’t anything on the plot-front either regarding Icicle and Project New America. There were also villain children—Henry Jr, Cindy, and Artemis—still floating around in this series with unknown roles moving forward. Henry Jr. actually began to develop telepathic abilities; he accidentally read Yolanda’s mind, hearing her call him a jerk mentally.

Overall, the new Justice Society was officially formed. Pat had been too much in the background lately, but I have a feeling he’ll be joining in on the action soon enough based on the episode’s cliffhanger. Pat was not happy to find the Green Lantern’s lantern in Courtney’s gym bag.