Stargirl 1x10 “Brainwave Jr.” Episode Review
Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.
Wow. The latest episode of Stargirl broke me emotionally. I cannot believe superhero fans are sleeping on this show. “Brainwave Jr.” managed to break the Dugan-Whitmore family, remind us Brainwave (Christopher James Baker) was the most ruthless villain on this show—not Icicle (Neil Jackson)—and the team fight scene against The Dragon King (Nelson Lee) and his minions was the best one in the series thus far.
Like seriously, Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) and Courtney (Brec Bassinger) need to fight together more often as a team. Don’t even get me started on the final scene that pulled on all our heartstrings. But of course, I’m going to talk about it, so let’s just start there.
Henry Jr. (Jake Austin Walker) made the ultimate hero sacrifice, protecting The Justice Society from his awakened father. In my episode review last week on “Brainwave”, I wrote how “it’s just difficult to get onboard with [Henry Jr.]” and now I’m crying for him hardcore. His last apology to Yolanda for hurting her and last words to Courtney about people being good were truly heartbreaking. Brainwave killing his son—and revealing he killed his mother too—was a truly shocking turn of events that made this supervillain truly irredeemable. Henry Jr’s redemption arc was short but earned in the most painful way possible. I wasn’t ready for this episode whatsoever.
Shit will hit the fan in the final three episodes.
In other parts of the episode, Courtney and Pat (Luke Wilson) have to deal with the fallout of Barbara (Amy Smart) learning the truth about them being superheroes. Amy Smart finally becomes more involved with the plot, and she handles Barbara’s rage, disbelief, and sense of betrayal really well. The flashback scene at the beginning showing how Pat and Barbara fall in love made the tense present-day scenes harder to swallow.
Pat and Mike (Trae Romano) had to sleep at Pat’s work garage for the night, marking the potential beginning of the end for this happy little family. The end of the episode leaves their family status in the air, so the Dugan-Whitmore Family’s future is uncertain as we head toward the season finale in the coming weeks.
As for the other members of the JSA, Rick (Cameron Gellman) is still the most annoying character with his hotheaded rage against the ISA for his family’s death. Yes, that motive is a good one, but he prioritizes his need for revenge over literally everything else. Also, Beth getting paired up with him in this episode to balance his anger with her sweet nature might be unnecessary emotional labor on her end. Beth deserves better than that. It’s not her job to fix Rick’s anger problems.
Overall, this episode had the JSA realize being superheroes is a super dangerous lifestyle. Seeing Henry Jr. die right in front of them was likely the wake-up call they needed. While Courtney had already gotten that experience with Joey Zarick’s death back in episode 3, this will be Rick, Beth, and Yolanda’s first real loss in the superhero business. Next week’s episode—the fallout—is going to be explosive. Everyone is in so much danger!
Thanks for reading this episode review! I’ll see you all next week!