The second episode of DC’s Stargirl’s second season (billed as “Summer School”) poses the question: What does it mean to be a hero? Is it about smashing bad guys or helping people? The impetus for that question is the arrival of another offspring of a DC legacy character – Green Lantern. As is the case in Season 1, Stargirl organically introduces new takes on DC characters by having the role be taken over by the next generation – usually their kids. This allows Stargirl to give a fresh take on characters without violating longstanding canon or seeming to change characters just for the sake of change (Marvel went through this a few years back in their comics, replacing its main heroes with varying degrees of success).
While she’s a new character, I already prefer Stargirl’s approach to Green Lantern to the deservedly maligned motion picture (sorry Ryan Reynolds). It’s great to see Dugan (Luke Wilson, continuing to be one of my favorite parts of the show) get to play the Obi-Wan to another fledgling hero and she provides a vehicle to give Courtney some much needed depth. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is used as a backdoor pilot for yet another Arrowverse spinoff.
As far as last week’s other addition to the show, Stargirl gives another sneak peak of Zeek. I’m wondering if there’s more than meets the eye with him as he seems to have been accepted into the crew pretty easily, almost too easily. This week also introduces another promising character from the lower tier of DC lore.
But Stargirl’s second season isn’t all about new characters – one of the best characters from season 1 re-emerges and provides one of the episode’s best scenes at the end. Rick’s ‘leaving food in the woods for bigfoot’ plot also continues. Rick has never been among my favorites, but this story has promise. Given Stargirl’s record of playing the long game, I have confidence that the writers will tie his arc back into the main story.
Season two has maintained the chemistry it established in the first season, while effectively integrating new characters. Thus far, the pieces are still being set, but there have been some good hints about this season’s overarching plot. I do recommend seeing Season one before starting this season, but at at a minimum, you’ll want to see the first episode of the season to understand what is going on.
DC’s Stargirl S2 E2 ‘Summer School: Chapter Two’ is now available on the CW streaming service with new episodes premiering every Wednesday!
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