Saturday, August 1, 2020

Stargirl - Episode 7


Stargirl continues to be a revelation. Every single character should come off as cliche and predictable and in many ways they are cliche and predictable but in interesting ways. The bad guys are still really really evil but smart evil and the heroes are all just teens with the usual teenage and young superhero problems. It's an odd combination but it works for me.

I am even starting to like Luke Wilson who usually makes me want to punch myself in the head worse than his brother Owen does.

Courtney is a cool Stargirl but she is too eager for her own good but the team calls her on it. She is kinda selfish too. It's all about her and it's usually at this point in the comic book where the hero gets her ass handed to her by a badder and better evil version of herself. It's teachable moment time for Stargirl in this episode.

They have given her an arch-villain for her to fight and the identity of that teenage villain is brilliant given all that has come before in Season One. I can't believe I didn't see it coming but I did not. Again I am reminded how well this show is very well cast with each young and older actors fully committing to the whole wacky concept.


The first battle between our two girls with energy staffs is great and very complicated for television. I have nothing but good to say about the fight choreography on the show. Although obviously done by stunt people in dim lighting to preserve the illusion, the edits are solid and I enjoyed it all.



And for the main villain, Icicle, he is not a simple guy either. The death of his wife hangs over him like a stone weight and what he does he does because of her love. It's evil, yes, but it comes from a very real place of pain and Neil Jackson does a fantastic job showing every bit of that pain.


Of course HIS son has a crush on our young Stargirl so that can't end well for him. Anything happens to that kid and Icicle will kill the entire town of Blue Valley to get to Stargirl. This type of plotting is very much in the comic book style and I think that is a strength. Every relationship is also given time to develop so that their impact can be felt down the line. It makes any deaths (are there are many, many deaths in Stargirl) even more affecting emotionally.


I hope this first season is only 13 episodes because I am happy with how this one is developing but I don't want to have to make time for twice that number of episodes. That is when you veer too much from the main story and adding nothing but fluff and filler. Stargirl has not of that which seems to be the plague of other DC shows on the WB.

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