Stargirl S01E06 Review: To Make A Superhero Team

Stargirl, Season 1, Episode 6: The Justice Society

So this is the big payoff for the first half of the season. The formation of the brand-new Justice Society of America. It's honestly kind of a shame that Pat and the villains actually ended up being sidelined for such a huge part of the past two or three episodes, but otherwise the pacing's been more or less pretty decent to get us here.

I do really like just how utterly cocky everyone is, though. Courtney has always been reckless, Yolanda's not too big on restraint and Rick puts the two of them to shame. Beth's a bit better, but she's so eager to jump into all this fun superhero stuff that she doesn't really act as the brakes for the team. And being the only non-combatant among the quartet, she's way too eager to try and tell everyone about news that her A.I. buddy, the disembodied ghost-voice of Charles McNider, is telling her.

I really do like the pretty realistic conversation between Pat and Courtney, which is a very effective way in removing Pat from the main meat of the storylines in the past couple of episodes. Pat doesn't see the struggles that Rick and Yolanda goes through. He doesn't know what becoming the new Wildcat or Dr. Mid-Nite meant to Yolanda and Beth. All he knows is that these are unknown quantities, and they might very well get themselves killed just like poor Joey Zarick. The fact that someone had died -- and Pat saw his entire superhero team get killed in a single night -- makes Pat's concerns so much more realistic instead of reducing him to the don't-have-fun guy.

The problem, as the episode shows us... it's hard to even consider it. As Courtney tries to bring up the courage to talk to them, Yolanda and Beth are both thanking Courtney for the incredible, life-changing purpose that they've gotten from becoming their respective superheroes. (I do really like that we get a bit of a connection to the 'legacy' theme when Yolanda researches her predecessor, Ted Grant, and gets super-duper inspired by his life) When Courtney rips the band-aid off and asks for the superhero gadgets back, all she gets is an understandable set of 'fuck you's. Even Pat's attempt to talk to Rick ends up with Pat speechless because, for better or for worse, Rick is able to utilize his father's legacy, the hourglass, better than Pat will ever be.

And there's also the fact that, well, Pat really didn't think to utilize any of the gadgets before. Sure, maybe the Hourman hourglass, the Cosmic Staff, Green Lantern's lantern and presumably the Thunderbolt refuses to work for Pat. But as the junior JSA discovered, literally five minutes after Beth looks into Rex Tyler's plot device notebook, they get something via Dr. Mid-Nite's goggles. Sure, it isn't much and the plot moves straight into superheroics. Beth's goggles ends up discovering that Dr. Mid-Nite's old nemesis, the Gambler, is doing some hacking villainy. And, well, as the new JSA points out... he's just some schmuck that's great at hacking. He doesn't even have cool superpowers like Icicle or Brainwave, he's basically easy meat.

The problem is, of course, the audience is also simultaneously following the story of other members of the ISA -- crazy sports-fanatic parents Lawrence "Crusher" Crock (the gym dude we got introduced to in episode 1) and his wife, Paula Brooks. Who to the world looks like just a pair of overly-enthusiastic sports parents, but we quickly establish that they're tied to the ISA when they talk to the Gambler... and they killed the coach that benched their daughter Artemis for getting into a fight. Honestly, I love this pair. Nevermind the fact that they somehow got the comic-book looks into extreme accuracy (as much as I love the CW-DC and Netflix-Marvel shows, we don't get any sort of 'military kevlar is more realistic' bullshit here), I absolutely love that somehow, they made these two adorable. As adorable as sociopathic parents who kill gym teachers are, of course, but there's just a hilarious charm seeing the two of them get excited when Icicle lets them off the leash to bodyguard Gambler's hacking job, or them turning into awkward parents talking to their daughter about going for a date night (and suggesting an ideal workout routine). There's a very fun cartoon/comic-book-y energy to them.

Of course, a good chunk of this episode's appeal comes from the last 10 minutes, which is just a genuinely well-done superhero action scene. The past couple of episodes have all been super-light on action scenes and... this might probably be my favourite sort of action scene? Flashy nonsense, slow-motion wire-fu... it's genuinely a delight to watch. Sure, I really do love the more adrenaline-pumping realistic explosions of the big-screen movies or the super-gritty fights in the Netflix shows, but there's also something to be said about watching Tigress and Wildcat jump on and off walls while exchanging blows, or Sportsmaster using baseballs to whack Hourman and knock him off-guard, or that particularly cool double-team takedown that Sportsmaster and Tigress did to take out Stargirl. The fight choreographer had fun, really knowing the sheer fun and ridiculousness that comes with a character whose gimmick is 'fights really well with sports gear'. Just look at that scene where Sportsmaster catches Tigress and gives her a twirl and they hold a pose. It's not particularly realistic, but neither is anything in a superhero show. So yeah, I absolutely love the fact that they embrace the very comic-book-y aesthetic. Very fun without falling into campy ridiculousness. Everything here from the mid-battle pose and the exploding baseballs are all played straight -- they might be goofballs, but they're also serious villains that pose a threat, and I feel like the show just strikes the perfect balance between the two.

And as much as Hourman and Stargirl might have abilities that wouldn't make a regular human (as well-trained as the gym-rat couple are) stand a chance, I really do like how the episode highlights just how disorganized and overconfident the JSA are. Stargirl, having been out fighting Icicle and Brainwave, has slightly more experience than them. But there's a very great scene where the four kids just stop dead at the sight of the corpse of a security guard. Sure, they've got superpowers and super-gadgets... but at that point, the danger just became real. And they might feel invincible, but people like Sportsmaster and Tigress have made a living fighting -- and killing -- other superheroes. Which is why Hourman, too secure in his strength, gets absolutely overwhelmed by Sportsmaster. Or how Wildcat, with her super-suit and gymnastic training, is absolutely no match for Tigress until Dr. Mid-Nite comes in with a convenient fire extinguisher. Yolanda and Rick are easily the ones that have the biggest power trip from their newfound superpowers, and are also the first two to be taken out by the more experienced supervillains. Superpowers (or a super-suit, in Yolanda's case) they may have, but they don't have adequate training or the mindset to actually be in a fight for their life. In the end it's Stargirl that puts up the longest fight, but even then she also gets taken out of the fight. They didn't even manage to stop the Gambler; all they did was get him to shut off his 'Timber' music.

And, well, the JSA manages to stop themselves from getting killed by exploding hockey pucks with the simultaneous arrival of STRIPE in his big scary robot-man armour as well as the Gambler's mission being done. The only victory the good guys have here is the fact that all four kids survived a fight against far, far more experienced fighters. I do really like the final scene, though, of Courtney ranting to Pat the difficulties of essentially, well, herding a bunch of teenagers. Pat and Courtney have a bit of a laugh when Courtney realizes that her own rebellious streak is giving Pat the exact same problems, but hey, at least everyone is on the same page and Pat's ready to try and mentor a new generation of superheroes.

Other than the JSA and the Sportsmaster/Tigress date night, there are a bunch of side-plots going on. Icicle gets a bit of a monologue regarding Project New America, there's an off-hand mention about how Principal Bowin is the wife of the original Fiddler, Yolanda learns about Ted Grant, Pat gives Rick a speech about his dad putting a limiter on powers, and Mike makes a volcano out of chocolate. Mike's probably the longest side-plot out of this, I feel. The family drama is, of course, the least interesting part of the show but I am intrigued that Mike's basically being tsundere about his dad coming to see his science fair project. Granted, Pat's actually dealing with superhero stuff, but the crushed look on his face, and the delight when his step-mom Barbara shows up. That's neat.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll rewatch that action scene again. That's awesome.

DC Easter Eggs Corner: 

• We've talked about them lightly before, but yeah, this episode marks the formal present-day debut of superhero couple Sportsmaster and Tigress, as well as their daughter, sometimes-supervillain and sometimes-hero Artemis Crock, although she's still basically a civilian at this point. We've spoken about the rough origin stories of Sportsmaster, Tigress and the Gambler before. 
• The shot of the JSA standing with STRIPE behind them was glimpsed during CW's Arrow/Flash/Supergirl/Legends Crisis on Infinite Earths. 
• They're using hand-me-downs, so Rick is using Rex Tyler's yellow-caped suit (comics!Rick has reverses the yellow and black) and Beth is using Charles McNider's green-hooded suit (comics!Beth has a unique costume distinct from the other Dr. Mid-Nites).
• The access code password is 1941, which is the year that the Justice Society of America debuted in the comics. 
• A blink-and-miss-it easter egg is that one of the theaters is playing the movie 'Strange Adventures', a 244-issue comic book focusing on science fiction stories published by DC comics. Later, some of the stories would be retconned to have involved the original JSA in it.