S.T.R.I.P.E.
Following on from the surprisingly decent pilot episode, Stargirl returns with a slice of drama that deepens the relationship between Pat and Courtney while establishing the rhythm that’s likely to consume the rest of the season from here. The cat and mouse game between Courtney and Brainwave throughout this episode is really well worked into the school drama and the ending certainly leaves things wide open for next week’s episode too. Episode 2 of Stargirl begins with Pat flying Courtney to safety as Brainwave heads outside and picks up the charred remains of Courtney’s ID card. While he plots his next move, Courtney learns more about Starman’s past, including Icicle killing him. Courtney impatiently demands to know what Brainwave is up to but Pat pleads with her to remain calm. As it turns out, Henry visits William at his house in the middle of the night and reveals what happened involving Starman’s staff. He then goes on to tell William they need to move forward with Project: New America no matter what. In the morning, Henry tries to learn from Junior whether it was a girl who beat him and his friends but struggles to get answers from his son. For now, Junior tells him it was too dark and couldn’t see for sure. Meanwhile, Pat tries to learn how to use the mech-suit given he’s never actually used it before. He starts making modifications one step at a time while telling Courtney not to pursue Brainwave as it’ll lead to bad things. Just like any typical teenager though, Courtney doesn’t listen and starts restoring her costume and patching it up. Afterwards, she sits at lunch with Beth who video-calls her parents. Only, her Mum happens to work for Henry who sees Courtney on the call and figures out that Courtney’s profile matches the card he picked up. He decides to head along to the Open House at school that evening to confront Courtney but it turns out our teen super has the exact same idea. Courtney spots Henry that evening who follows her across the gymnasium and confronts the young girl in the school hallway. He tells her to bring the staff or he’ll go after Barbara, making sure she suffers an excruciating death. When Pat learns what happened, he decides to go it alone and face Brainwave instead of handing over the staff. Feeling powerless, Courtney holds back tears while talking to her Mother as Pat faces Brainwave in his mech-suit. He’s no match for Brainwave though and finds himself trapped but thankfully Courtney arrives with the staff, calling herself Stargirl and donning a brand new costume. She calls Pat her sidekick and with the staff in hand, she faces off with him but Brainwave is too much. Pat manages to distract him long enough for Courtney use the staff and impale it into Brainwave’s head, sending him into a comatose state. Back home, Courtney excitedly talks to Pat about their upcoming venture, telling him he should be called ST.R.I.P.E. and trying to work out when to hit their next target. Meanwhile, Jordan arrives at the Injustice Society and talks to Steven about Brainwave, deciding that he’s going to go after Stargirl as wisps of frosty cold air leave his mouth, which is where the episode ends. Will Brainwave arrive later in the season raring to go and desperate for his revenge? Or could we see Junior take up the mantle and learn the extent of his powers? The scenes involving Henry and his son appear to hint that Brainwave’s son may hold some secret power we haven’t seen yet, but for now this remains a theory rather than anything with substantial evidence. With two musical montages this episode and a more straight forward plot, the final act crescendos that nicely into the parking lot fight. Whether we’ll start seeing monster-of-the-week episodes now to establish the connection between Pat and Courtney remains to be seen but for now DC Universe’s latest superhero drama delivers another decent episode. Published: 25 May 2020 at 12:52pm on TheReviewGeek.com
