After Pat finds out that Courtney took the old Justice Society’s costumes and equipment, he demands that she get it back from Beth, Rick, and Yolanda but, just as it looks like the new JSA is done for, they get an easy mission to prove themselves which, as you can imagine, goes quite a bit sideways.
My goodness, I just enjoy this show to pieces. I’ve said before that Stargirl is a superhero series that isn’t ashamed to be a series about superheroes… that it doesn’t need to dance around a superhero’s name or come up with excuses to not have that hero in costume so that it can be more “grounded” or whatever the buzzword is for “lame” nowadays, but Stargirl really jumped into the deep end with this episode. I mean… Sportsmaster, folks. Friggin’ Sportsmaster. Fighting costumed teenagers with baseball bats, golf clubs, and a birdie. That’s… amazing. I have no words for it. Stargirl has embraced its comic book roots so tightly that the cheese and corniness that practically exploded from the screen filled me with such joy. It’s the closest, I think, that any DC live action show has ever come to being a cartoon and, yes, that’s counting the King Shark and Gorilla Grodd episodes of The Flash.
Beyond that, I am loving how Stargirl never loses its enthusiasm or optimism even in the face of darkness. I love how Joey’s death earlier in the series continues to hold weight and isn’t forgotten. I enjoyed how Pat re-evaluated his position when Rick confronted him about his own inactions. It was so human and so organic that it didn’t seem like a sudden flip-flop when he let Courtney keep the team. I even loved the filler segments with Barbara and Mike which has basically, in one episode, turned Mike from an annoying kid character better suited for a dumb Disney Channel sit-com to a deeper and more empathetic dude who just wants acceptance. The relationship between step-mother and step-son was very sweet.
I enjoyed the action in the episode as well. Sure, some of it was rather silly and had the heroes making some dumb mistakes, but given the entire episode was about heroes making dumb mistakes, it’s understandable. I am somewhat concerned with Beth’s place on the team as this episode proved that she’s basically useless in a fight. I really hope they find some niche or talent for her because I can see her character getting very annoying if she doesn’t grow into her role as a hero.
Overall, it’s another very enjoyable episode of Stargirl. It’s everything I want it to be and more. Compared to all of the other grim and gritty stuff on DC Universe, Stargirl is like a refreshing puff of marshmallow vapor right in the face and I mean that in the best possible way.
Jason Gaston 