After last week’s epic episode that saw Henry Jr. be redeemed only to be killed by his own dad (ouch!), this week throttles things back a bit. Instead of action (the episode really doesn’t have any), the writers pay off on two mysteries they have been leaving breadcrumbs for since the pilot.
First, remember how Courtney (Brec Bassigner) keeps saying the deceased Starman is her dad? Well, at the end of the last episode, Barbara (Amy Smart) emailed Courtney’s dad … and got a reply! This episode finally answers the question – what is up with Courtney’s dad? After last week’s events, moving inward to focus on Courtney’s family was a smart move. There are some genuine moments between each of them that help build their characters and the relationships between them. Thankfully, Barbara is finally a major character. She is given plenty to do and has way more depth than she’s had in prior episodes. I don’t see her putting on a costume and joining the JSA, but she’s definitely going to contribute to the effort. With my demand to integrate Barbara satisfied, I can move to Mike. He’s been little more than the comic relief so far, but slowly he’s been given more emotions, which makes me kind of worried about what might happen to him going forward
Second, remember the creepy janitor guy? He’s been popping up here and there, slowly dropping clues as to his role in things. First he was just mopping the floors in the background. Then he helped Courtney in her fight with Shiv. This episode finally fills us in on who he is/was (for the record, remember when I said I thought I knew who he was a few episodes back? I WAS RIGHT! But I can’t prove it). By the way, if anyone noticed his name tag prior to this episode, hit me up on Twitter because this is the first time I’ve noticed it.
Finally, I should note that the reveal in the last episode that Brainwave is pretty much an irredeemable jerk was well played. He continues that trend here, and credit to the writers for laying some groundwork to support the explanation they provide for delaying his attack on Stargirl now that he is awake. This one is way better the coma memory loss crutch they relied on previously.
Stargirl continues to be one of my favorite shows because it lays the foundation for every important character episodes before they are integrated into the story. Like Easter eggs in a movie, these little details allow us to try to guess what will happen and avoids having characters feel forced into the show. Stargirl also has the perfect balance between action, pathos, and comedy. This episode is remarkably good, even lacking any action sequences, which makes me believe next week’s episode will be a blockbuster. I highly recommend this show.
This episode will debut on Monday, July 27th
Check back next week for my thoughts on the 12th episode of the series.
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