Post — Aaron Ngo

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

The latest episode had a team-oriented focus on both heroes and villains. The major players for the rest of the season have been presumably assembled, and now their plans have been put into motion. When Pat (Luke Wilson) learned the truth about Courtney (Brec Bassinger) recruiting other kids to make the new JSA, he demanded all the stuff back out of fear for their safety. Of course, Courtney understood her step-father’s anger and frustration, but the kids had already bonded with their cool toys.

Yolanda was looking up Ted Grant’s—the previous Wildcat’s—history as a Boxer, wanting to prove herself as a worthy successor by doing the research. Beth also made a friend out of the A.I. Chuck in Doctor Mid-Nite’s Goggles, and Rick believed the hourglass artifact belonged to him, since it was his father who created it. There was no way in hell these kids were going to give up being superheroes.

However, after the events of their first mission as a team, they learned that excluding Pat wasn’t the best idea. They still needed guidance on how to be heroes. The kids also respected Pat way more when they learned about S.T.R.I.P.E., the super cool robot he built.

On the villain’s side of the episode, Icicle (Neil Jackson) had returned to honor his dead wife’s birthday alongside his son Cameron (Hunter Sansone). As Sportsmaster—Larry “Crusher” Crock (Neil Hopkins)—and his wife Tigress—Paula Brooks (Joy Osmansky)—stepped up as villains of the week in this episode; Icicle was shown more humanity regarding his grief.

Larry and Paula—Artemis Crock’s (Stella Smith) parents—were classic helicopter parents. Artemis was considered a candidate for the JSA, but Courtney passed on her due to her love for violence. Anyway, her parents attended Artemis’s football games and practices. The strange thing was that Artemis didn’t seem bothered by this (it might’ve been normalized for her). Then when they didn’t like the coach benching their daughter, they beat and killed the coach. They had done this at least three times based on their interaction with Icicle.

Sportsmaster and Tigress were hand-to-hand combat specialists, deadly fighters as individuals and as a team. They gave Courtney and her friends a hard time. The fight scenes were pretty exceptional though. The choreography was clean and the transitions between the two fights—Tigress vs Wildcat and Sportsmaster vs Hourman—were smooth. The best part about the latest episode was Stargirl fighting them alone two-on-one when the others tapped out. It had been quite awhile since we saw action like this.

Overall, the series had assembled their pieces for the next phase. The new JSA—Courtney, Pat, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick—has been officially formed. The villains were getting ready to start-up Project: New America in addition to making plans against the new JSA. Since there are 13 episodes this season, Stargirl has also reached its halfway point. The second half of the season is looking to get more dangerous. There was also a minor subplot involving Barbara and her son’s science project, which was really cute. The next episode needs to get here faster!

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