REVIEW: STARGIRL - SEASON 1.10: "Brainwave Jr."
Lotta happenings in Blue Valley last week, as Courtney did her best to try and recruit Henry King, Jr. to the JSA to help them battle the ISA. Hank, however, is just getting used to his powers, and after watching his father's video journals, he felt his dad was right. He could read everyone's minds - including Courtney's - that he found out about both the JSA, ISA, and Courtney's identity of Stargirl. She did this WITHOUT the approval of Pat and the team, especially Yolanda, who still has a legit grudge against Hank for what he did to her. On top of THAT, with Hank's powers active, Dragon King now feels he's got the final piece to Jordan's puzzle for his "New America" plan. We also see Jordan and his family meet the Dugan family, with lots of awkwardness. To make things MORE awkward, Wilcat threatened Hank, and Barbara finally stumbles upon Pat and Courtney's secret.
Let the FUN begin....
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Intense! As they build to the climax, we're getting some REALLY good stuff out of these characters. NOW the kids finally have a harsh dose of reality thrown in their faces about the hero business, and it especially hits Courtney's family. We also got some revelations about Brainwave and Hank, as well as for Courtney herself.
First off...we get a little flashback once again to Blue Valley a few years back, as Pat was in the diner looking through Hourman's journals, trying to figure out what the JSA was up to, while Barbara was also there, selling her mother's house. Both realize they live in California after striking up a conversation, and the journey begins for the two. Now, present day, the cat is out of the bag, as Barbara has caught Pat and Courtney with the Staff. Her natural instinct is to react with shock when she sees it. And Courtney continues to try to keep the lie, but Pat won't let her. They then spill the beans about the Staff, Starman, the JSA, and Pat's former life as Stripsey. Courtney also tries to tell her mother that Jordan Mahkent is the villain the Icicle, and that he killed Starman, whom she STILL thinks is her dad, despite Barbara telling her he isn't. Barbara reacts in a way you'd expect a parent and wife to react when she finds out her husband and daughter have been lying to her about their secret superhero life---she gets pissed off. She orders Courtney to her room, and then let's Pat have it. He fesses up to everything, and had told her he intended to keep ALL of his former JSA life in the past, and NEVER expose the familty to it. Barbara isn't having it...especially after she finds out the REAL reason Courtney got hurt. She throws Pat out of the house. He wants to work it out, but she's too upset right now. He let's her be, and talks to Mike about it, who's wondering what's going on. Both go to the garage to crash until he can talk to Barbara when she's more calm.
Meanwhile, Hank is with his dad, who is now fully out of his coma. There's just ONE THING, however: he can't remember the last 10 years of his life. He has no idea WHY they are in Blue Valley, and Hank fills him in on the details. Henry realizes his son has the same powers has him, and says he'll help him develop them. He also finds out that his wife Mary had died. She had drowned, and when he found her, she was ice cold. This stirs Hank to go home, and rummage through his old man's video journals to find out what happened to his mother. After he has left, Henry gets a visit from Jordan, who's glad he's awake.
Hank is at home, looking at the video footage, and his father describes how he and Hank's mother met. She was apparently a superhero who foiled his robbery, and he fell for her. He tried to be an upstanding guy, and said that he began to question Jordan's master plan. He put it on Jordan as the culprit for Mary's death, which angers Hank all the more, so he goes to put an end to Jordan. He heads to the hospital, only to see Jordan and his father talking. While this is happening, the Staff awakes and goes to Courtney's room to get her out of bed, but she says she can't go out heroing, because her mother refused. Pat had also told her that it was over, that all the superhero stuff is done for them. The Staff takes off, and goes to the hospital, and tries to attack both men, but Brainwave stops the Staff, and Jordan freezes it, and captures it. Hank witnesses his father and Jordan leave with the Staff. Jordan is VERY interested in where it came from. Henry believes he feels his son's presence, and Hank does what he can to block his mind from his own father. Once they leave, Hank takes off...knowing he has to talk to Courtney. One other bit of info he managed to get out of his father's journals was the fact that Mary was Sylvester Pemberton's sister....and that possibly makes Hank and Courtney cousins.
Courtney wakes up the next day, and can't find the Staff. When she asks her mother about it, Barbara can care less, and she tells her that they're leaving Blue Valley, so pack up. She's going to her job to hand in her resignation. Courtney, desperate, goes to Pat, and tells him the Staff is gone, but also to let him know that her mother said they're packing up and moving. Pat then goes to see Barbara, to try and stop her from going. Mike asks Courtney what's going on, but Courtney still feels the need to shield Mike from the truth, and he misconstrues it has her never liking him OR Pat. She says that's not true, but he's upset and takes off. She then bumps into Hank, and all is revealed between the two as Hank touches her, and she's able to read his thoughts...including the truth about Starman and his mother. She feels they're cousins (which we STILL don't know), and Hank tells her about the fact that his dad doesn't remember the last 10 years of his life. But as far as Icicle, they need to tell the team.
They meet the team at lunch in school, and Yolanda is IMMEDIATELY angry with Courtney for siding with Hank, as well has Rick, who feels Courtney blew their secret ID's. Courtney does her best to stick up for Hank, and tell the team what's going on. Rick isn't buying it, and goads Hank into fighting him. Hank uses his powers to push Rick away, and a fight almost breaks out, which Beth tries to downplay. Courtney says that the Staff is gone, and that she's being forced to move. They agree to check things out, but Yolanda says that any team that Hank is on, she won't, and won't be friends with Courtney anymore, either. Rick doesn't trust him, either.
Pat catches up at Barbara's office as she is sending an email out in regards to Courtney. He tries to talk to her, but they are interrupted by Jordan and his family, who have brought goodies for her. They all have a nice chat, and the family wishes them well, as they leave. After the Mahkent family is gone, Pat tries to tell her that he never meant for any of this to happen, but it's dangerous for them here, but also informs her about Jordan being the Icicle. She shows him that she had recorded the entire conversation, including everything that was said between the Mahkent family in Norweigian.
The team makes it into the tunnels, and Dr. Mid-Nite can get the goggles to function, because, as we had seen a couple of episodes ago, Chuck can't work because something disrupting him. Stargirl has the team split up---Mid-Nite and Hourman going one way, Stargirl, Wildcat, and Hank going another to try and find the staff and his father. Mid-Nite and Hourman end up finding Solomon Grundy in his cell, and Hank is dead set on taking him out once and for all for killing his parents. He powers up, as Mid-Nite tries to reason with him, saying that's NOT what they're there for. Hourman, however, won't listen, and begins pulling on the cell door to beak it off. Meanwhile, Stargirl, Wildcat, and Hank manage to stumble into Ito's lab, where they see the Staff, and Brainwave hooked up to machines. They are soon discovered, thanks to Cindy blabbing to her father that Stargirl is there. She wants him to let her out, so that she can kill her herself. Dragon King sends his hooded goons to fight the team, and he ends up going after Stargirl herself.
Stargirl uses a staff like weapon to hold off Dragon King's attacks, and holds her own for a bit, while Wildcat and Hank use their abilities to take down the goons. Wildcat soon gets through the hooded henchmen to grab Stargirl's staff, and get it to her, just as Dragon King is about to slay her. She manages to blast him away, and now she's truly ready for battle. Hank gets to his father, and it turns out, that Brainwave now has his full memory back. He then tells Hank that this is who he truly is, and that HE was responsible for killing his mother.....because she got in the way of the plan. Hank is sad, and feels that his father is truly lost, so he blasts his father, and the team makes a break for it to get out of the ISA headquarters.
Barbara and Pat, meanwhile, are at the diner, listening to the recording she made, and come to find out that while they LIKE Barbara, it won't make much of a difference soon...which is what her phone translated from Norweigian. At this moment, Jordan walks into Barbara's office looking for her, only to find the plate of cookies his parents brought left on the desk. He leaves, wondering where she is. Then, we see that the email she sent out, has gotten a response.
The team tries to escape, but Brainwave catches up to them, as they reach a cell wall. Hank tries to reason with his father, but Brainwave says that he wants his son to join him. Hank refuses, knowing his father killed his own mother. Hank goes to fight off his father, allowing the team to escape. Hourman pulls the bars apart enough for Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite, and himself through. Stargirl offers to stay behind to hold off Brainwave, but he's blocking the Staff's cosmic blasts. Hank then uses his powers to levitate Stargirl to the other side of the bars. The team watches as Hank battles his father. As powerful has Hank has become, he his no match for his father, who uses the walls to fall in on his son. Hank does what he can to hold his father off, and looks to Stargirl, and says she was right...there IS good in people. He also apologies to Wilcat for what he did to her...saying he truly was sorry. He then falls prey to Brainwave, as he collapses the concrete ceiling on Hank...killing him right in front of the team. They couldn't break through Brainwave's shield to get to Hank and save him. The team has now faced death in the harshest of circumstances, as we leave ourselves a cliffhanger from there.
These last few episodes have given us a lot more action, and we've now seen the kids put in a situation where they have now finally realized that this superhero business is no game, and it has TRAGIC consequences. They also now have found out just how truly powerful the ISA is, and they know just how sadisitic they are, seeing as how Brainwave just up and killed his son, because he defied him....just like his mother. It gives this a truly personal feud now, what with Stargirl feeling she is tied to Hank courtesy of his mother and Starman, whom she feels IS her father, but Barbara has denied it, and that's probably WHY she sent the email out---to contact Courtney's TRUE father, to dispel the myth. But either way, for whatever bad things Hank did to Yolanda, and how much of a jerk he was in the series up to this point...what we REALLY got is a troubled young man who took A LOT of verbal abuse at the hands of his father, dealing with having NO mother figure in his life to nurture, and his inappropriateness towards Yolanda, and ruining her rep in school...we got some redemption for him. Sadly, we see that they rushed Hank along a little bit for the sake of moving the story into high gear with only about 3 episodes left of this season.
It WOULD'VE been nice to see a tad bit of a slow burn for Hank, as he began to master his powers, THEN see what side of the asile he fell on. Obviously, Rick and Yolanda had personal reasons for not wanting him around, and Yolanda already warned him that if he came across her friends, she'd kill him. But I now must wonder HOW her relationship with Courtney will be, having been upset with her for siding WITH Hank, considering all he did to her, and that she felt like a jilted friend. But in the end, I think she can see that Hank sacrificed himself for THEM...so that THEY can fight the fight against the ISA. Yolanda DID feel some pain, having not only the apology from Hank, but to watch him die at the hands of his own father. This whole incident is a HUGE splash of ice cold water (no pun intended) on their faces. Hank wasn't what they thought he was, and found that he had a nobler side. How this effects the team going forward will be interesting in and of itself. But ONE thing is for sure: They KNOW they're in for a fight, and they had BETTER improve and be ready---they're all at risk. The ISA plans on using Brainwave's powers to channel into the satellite they stole, and have him control their minds.
Let's hear it for Barbara for NOT being a shrinking violet, and for taking some SERIOUS charge in this episode. While it was a cute way her and Pat met, they sure as hell have issues to work out, now that she knows Pat and Courtney's secret. Her emailing what possibly is Courtney's father will be interesting to see next episode, and for her to record the conversation between her, Pat, and the Mahkents is extremely great thinking. When she listens to what they said, she now understands the brevity of the situation. And, try as Pat might, he couldn't get away from his past, and now has dragged Barbara, Mike, and especially Courtney into it. Now we see whether or not she and Pat pack the family and bail Blue Valley, or does she let them be the heroes they know they can be, and HELP them? And when will Mike get wind of this? He's bitter and Courtney, because HE thinks that SHE doesn't like Pat and him, which is totally untrue. She's just trying to protect him, like all heroes do..but they have yet to make him understand that.
I also wonder, with Jordan having not only visitied Barbara's office not once, but TWICE....that MAYBE he's got a thing for her?
Overall, it was a great episode, even if they rushed Hank's story a little bit to sacrifice him, going off script from official DC canon. But it now gives the team the harsh reality it needed, as well as showing you that NO ONE is safe on this show. His death will be a huge shadow that will be cast upon the team the rest of this season.
Hey...now we finally see WHY Dr. Ito was called Dragon King---what a face! Now we also understand WHY he has survived all these years.
What did YOU think? Leave a comment below
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That's it for this week...apologize for the lateness, but had a family emergency. But fret not, it's here for you to read, and I hope you enjoy it. BTW, be sure to subscribe and tell your friends.
Until next time...keep your eyes on the stars!
