Stargirl, Season 1, Episode 9: Brainwave
So after the pretty intense Shiv two-parter, we delve into a pretty interesting episode focusing on another child of a member of the Injustice Society -- Henry King Junior. So far, the show has been pretty simple in splitting its characters into neat 'good guy' and 'bad guy' categories. And sure, Jordan and Cindy may have some sympathetic qualities to their backstories and their day-to-day life, but the show also emphasizes how off the deep end they are. And it's been pretty simple. Courtney and her family; her nice schoolmates; the weird janitor... they're all good guys. The bad guys are all villains, and the children of the bad guys are, so far, either villains or blissfully unaware. And being typecast as a typical jerk jock in the first two or three episodes and coming into conflict with Courtney and Yolanda, Henry King Junior sure fits the bill, right? Except he's been mourning his comatose dead throughout the season, and last episode's little origin story plunges Henry Junior into the fact that not only is he a telekinetic superhuman, his dad is also a supervillain and his girlfriend has been planted to watch over him.
Simultaneously, this episode also serves as a bit of an origin story for Henry King Senior (hereby referred exclusively as 'Brainwave' so I don't have to keep going back and forth) via a brief flashback and little VCR tapes that Henry Jr finds in his father's creepy supervillain closet. It's... it's kind of interesting how they basically show us Brainwave's delve from being a man who's constantly scared due to his own abusive father; how he was scared and confused of his powers; discovering he can cure his migraines after he killed a mugger and blinded a lecher; and ultimately he was corrupted into into being a supreme misanthrope that views all humans as absolutely ugly and trash underneath it all. And with Henry Junior being absolutely confused and all of these recordings not only come from someone with the same powers at him but his very father... yeah, it's not surprising how halfway through the episode Henry Junior is leaning dangerously close to becoming a psychotic supervillain himself.
Yet this is where Courtney comes in. Realizing what's going on with Henry Junior from the climax of the previous episode, Courtney realized just how confused and panicked Henry Junior is, and while it's a bit naive on her part to immediately assume that Henry Junior could be JSA material, the logic that Courtney employs -- that Henry Junior, while a dick, is not a bad guy. And that hand of hope, that olive branch, is ultimately what causes Courtney and Henry Junior to become buddies. Unfortunately, Courtney is the only one who feels this way. Pat treats it with indifference and caution at best, while the rest of Courtney's JSA, especially Yolanda, is outright hostile at the idea of Henry Junior hanging out with them.
Unfortunately, Henry Junior having powers is also something that the Injustice Society really needs. Having had their mysterious New America supervillain plan (they casually just reveal they want to brainwash half of America with the devices they've collected) hit a snag due to Brainwave being comatose, Dragon King decides that they can use Henry Junior in his father's stead. To complicate matters, Henry Junior awakening his own powers causes Brainwave to start waking up from his coma... and Courtney's attempts to talk to Henry Junior gets him to read from her mind that Courtney was responsible for putting Brainwave in a coma in the first place. The dialogue is honestly a bit clunky, and it's more or less just setup. Ultimately, while Henry Junior drives Courtney away, he is left thinking about it.
Slightly later on in the episode, Yolanda shows up as Wildcat to fight Henry Junior, threatening to gut him and leave him bleeding to death if he ever comes near Courtney and her family. It's honestly a bit understated and Yolanda, Beth and Rick have been put on the backburner ever since the JSA-formation episode... but it's a pretty powerful moment, Yvette Monreal actually feels threatening, and it raises a bunch of interesting questions about Henry Junior's eventual fate in the show. Again, it's nothing particularly novel, just a case of 'can an antagonist who wants to redeem himself make amends to his victims?' bit, but one that I feel is done neatly enough. Of course, when Henry Junior gets to meet a particularly asshole lawyer who wants to kill Brainwave to get some compensation money, he ends up using his Brainwave powers to kill the lawyer... an act that somehow wakes Brainwave up. Cliffhanger!
There's a bit of a B-plot with Barbara inviting the entire Mahkent family to the Whitmore-Dugan household for dinner, and there's the general awkwardness of Main Superhero and Main Supervillain saying grace together without realizing who the other is. For his part, Jordan seems genuinely happy to see this girl that his son has been crushing on (with the obligatory jumpscare of 'I know all about you', rendered a bit extra effective after the Shiv stuff last episode) and I think he kinda maybe has a thing about Barbara? Ultimately, Courtney has her suspicions that Jordan is actually Icicle, because he uses his powers to cool a plate of chicken dumplings. Kinda comes out of nowhere and feels a bit too silly for my taste, honestly; although I do like the thematic and very teenage-girl worry of Courtney thinking that Icicle's son Cameron might also be a villain.
Also kind of silly and worth pointing out is the Norwegian grace that the Manhkent clan says before praying. Cameron has no idea what it is (he takes elective French) but essentially it's them promising the vengeance of Niflheim (are we in Thor now?) towards their enemies. That's like, so random and kind of over the top.
Other than that... we do get a bunch of extra world-building exposition. Turns out that the Seven Soldiers of Victory also exists in this continuity, and they fought the Dragon King before he became a creepy sewer lizard-person that joins up with the ISA. There's also exposition through Rick and Beth's off-screen research that Blue Valley is built over a network of tunnels by Freemasons or whatever. We get more Janitor Justin scenes, but nothing super concrete. Also, the establishment that Cindy has basically disappeared, with some cover story or other of her going off on rich-girl holidays. The actual Cindy is in a cell, trading barbs with her lizard dad. That's it for our resident psychotic cheerleader, I guess.
Oh, and the cliffhanger! Courtney and Pat arguing about using the staff to hunt down Icicle, only to be witnessed by Barbara. This is honestly the sort of superhero story trope I've never been the biggest fan about (which is why I am so pleased the MCU's Spider-Man kept Aunt May discovering and freaking out over his superhero identity off-screen between movies), always finding it kind of repetitive, but in Stargirl and it's more family/small-town drama setting, it actually kinda fits. Ultimately, not the strongest episode, but still a fun watch.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Pat reveals that he was part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in this continuity as well, which is also a superhero team that he was and Star-Spangled Kid were part of in the comics. Alongside the characters that have already appeared in the show (Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy and Shining Knight), the other members of the original Seven Soldiers of Victory are:
- Green Arrow, a.k.a. Oliver Queen, is an archer who was once a rich millionaire who was inspired by Robin Hood and ended up going around fighting crime. Green Arrow is one of the few heroes to actually remain unchanged and not rebooted during the Silver Age (albeit he did get the now-iconic Van Dyke beard in the Silver Age).
- Speedy, a.k.a. Roy Harper, is a teenager trained by his father in the art of archery, and upon his father's death, was adopted by Oliver Queen. Speedy would become Green Arrow's sidekick, and later on, one of the founding members of the Teen Titans.
- Crimson Avenger, a.k.a. Lee Travis, is the very first superhero published by DC comics, preceding even Batman and Superman. Originally debuting with a trenchcoat and fedora, Crimson Avenger would later adapt a more superhero-y look. While the origins for Crimson Avenger have changed over the years, he's basically someone inspired to take up vigilantism, battling with gadgets including a gas gun that created crimson smoke.
- Vigilante, a.k.a. Greg Saunders, is the first superhero to have the name 'Vigilante', a cowboy-themed, well, vigilante who went back to his hometown to exact vengeance to a gang of bandits that killed his father. While not a super-powered individual, his hand-to-hand combat skills earned him a place among the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
- Wing is Crimson Avenger's valet and sidekick, and is the unofficial eight member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
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