REVIEW: STARGIRL - SEASON 1.11: "Shining Knight"
The new version of the Justice Society have just learned a valuable lesson: The hero business involves sacrifice and, sadly, casualties. Henry King, Jr. is now dead---at the hands of his own father!! Now, Brainwave is back, and ready to help the Injustice Society put forth their plan for "New America", and using the stolen satellite they have to control the minds of everyone in America, and bend them to their will. Hank saw his father's evil, and tried to use his newfound powers to stop him, only to die in front of the new JSA. Now, the team MUST pick up the pieces, and try to find out HOW to stop the Injustice Society from enacting their nefarious plan. Meanwhile, Barbara will now have to deal with what's really going on because she is now privy to Jordan's plan, and her and Pat must now take that info, and see what they can do to help in order to save the day. And what about the Shining Knight? The man has been disguised as the school janitor, and we have been VERY curious about HIS story since the beginning of the show. This week...in the wake of tragedy yet again...we dive in to find out more about HIM:
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Superhero action took a backseat this week, as we focused on the fallout of the death of Hank King, and the furthuring developments between the Injustice Society's plans, and Barbara Whitmore's discovery of Pat and Courtney's hero activities. We finally also got Justin the Janitor's full story as to how the former Shining Knight got to where he was. While there were no super heroics or huge villainy going on, it was still a quality episode, as it gave us a second to take a breath, and absorbed all we have learned thus far, and is now preparing us for the upcoming season finale, which will give us that long awaited battle (hopefully) between the Injustice Society and the new Justice Society.
And MOST of all---we FINALLY got some closure on the identity of Courtney's real father.
The episode began with Justin the Janitor, whom we now know is the Silent Knight, wandering the farmlands of Blue Valley looking for his steed. He asks a farmer out working about it, and the farmer threatens to call the cops on him. Justin seems out of sorts, as he eventually looks at the tractor, and figures out that Stripsey can help him. At that same time, a bus coming from Omaha arrives in Blue Valley, and a man gets off the bus. He ends up heading to the Dugan house, where we see Pat, Courtney, and Barbara discussing Jordan, Brainwave, and everything going on with the Injustice Society, and what they can do to stop them. Pat wants her to take Courtney and Pat and leave, but she refuses. Pat and Courtney chat alone, and she feels responsible for Hank's death, as well as Joey's. Pat tells her not to shoulder the blame, but Courtney feels bad about the fact that she dragged everyone into this mess. Mike shows up, and tries to find out what's going on, but Pat yells at him. Mike wonders what he did wrong, and Pat apologizes. Mike says Courtney has a visitor.
Courtney then meets Sam Curtis, whom Barbara says is her father. Courtney won't buy it, but Sam shows her the locket that he has with her baby picture in it. While Pat and Courtney were having their Stargirl chat before she met Sam, Barbara had wondered where Sam had been the last 10 years. Once he meets Courtney, he wants to have a chat with her, and she agrees.
Pat heads to the garage to meet the team, and it's just Beth and Rick there. Rick feels that he's almost figured out his dad's formula, but Pat puts all of that off. He tries to explain to them about Courtney's real father showing up. Explaining to her how distraught she was. Yolanda was missing---she went to church to pay her respects to Hank. Just has Pat tries to get what he wants to say out, Justin shows up at the garage, and the kids know who he is, but he calls out to Stripsey. Pat tries to help him, but Justin hallucinates he's seeing the Dragon King. Pat manages to talk him down, and asks him what's going on. Justin says he can't remember, and that he came to Blue Valley looking for the Dragon King, but he got captured, and lost his memory. Pat realizes that the Shining Knight has been brainwashed, and tries to jog his memory.
We get to the villain side as Jordan meets up with Henry. They have a chat about Hank, and Henry says that he is ready to proceed with the plan, but senses hesitation with his friend. Henry reminds him that he killed his wife and son, with now feeling even MORE powerful after having slain him, and that it's all for the sake of taking over America. He tells Jordan that Stargirl is Courtney Whitmore, and that Pat Dugan is Starman's sidekick. Armed with this new info, Brainwave plans on killing the family, but Jordan doesn't want to kill Barbara. Henry reminds him of the plan, and tells him to make up his mind, or he'll make it up for him.
Courtney and Sam continue to talk, especially about how he used to sing her to sleep at night, and that he has spent all this time chasing different jobs, trying to land into some decent money. He really wants to get to know her better, and she said she'd think about it. They have breakfast, and later on, he talks about the lockets belonging to his grandmother, and that they were special. He'd like to take both of them, and get money for them, in order to get a better place set up, and then she can come visit him. She's a tad reluctant, but gives it to him anyway. He goest to take off, and says he'll see her, but she knows better: he's never coming back, and that she's willing to part with that part of her past. She then goes inside, and Pat tells her that he's there for her should she need him, and she runs to him, and hugs him, crying in his arms. This does NOT go unnoticed by Barbara. Pat then catches up to Sam, and he says that he doesn't want Sam to come back, and Sam has no intention, then makes a backhanded comment about Barbara, for which Pat decks him. That's pretty much Sam's contribution to the show.
Now before Courtney got home, Pat had been working with Justin to try and jog his memory, and explain how he got Excalibur, the sword, which the kids hear. He believes no one is safe, but he DOES look impressed when he sees the robot S.T.R.I.P.E. that Pat built. He hends up going home with Pat, and Barbara offers to help him get some rest. Courtney goes to school, and explains her situation, and that she is responsible for Joey and Hank's death, and feels bad for dragging everyone into this situation. She also says she's not Stargirl anymore, because she's not Starman's father...and the Staff won't work for her anymore. The rest of the team tells them that despite who they are, they STILL feel like they are the heroes they are. But Courtney just can't do it.
The kids then attend the school memorial for Hank, and his father comes up to the podium, and throws some song and dance about how much he loved his son and so on, meanwhile he's mentally challenging the kids to come after him, because he knows who they are. Courtney runs home and tries once again to get the Staff to work, but it doesn't. She's despondent, and feels that she is unworthy of being Stargirl.
Jordan comes into Barbara's office, and tries to recall her search history on her computer, but it's been erased. He has his tech crew recall it, and he finds out that Barbara was researching about Starman and his death, and that's enough for Jordan to change his mind.
Pat talks to Courtney, to assure her that she IS the chosen one, and that the Staff KNEW she was the one to take up the mantle of Stargirl. She isn't sure, and Pat says that just because she is not Starman's daughter, it doesn't mean she isn't worthy. She tells him that Brainwave knows who they are, and needs to get the Staff to work. She needs to believe in herself. He leaves her to try and get the staff to activate. He goes to talk to Barbara, and she says that she is scared that her daughter could die doing this hero stuff. But she also knows that the Staff chose Courtney. Courtney still can't get it to work, and needs Pat AND Barbara with her, as she tries to get her confidence back, and activate the staff. She does, and the Staff comes to life, as bright as ever. As they see that Stargirl is back, they're being observed by Justin, who smiles as he sees the Staff come to life.
We finally see Jordan return to the tunnels, where the ISA HQ is, and he has made up his mind. He says that it's okay for Brainwave to take out the family...even Barbara. But he also mentions Mike, saying that they don't want to leave a legacy behind. Brainwave goes off to take care of the dirty deed, as Jordan looks upon the countdown clock he has set up for his New America plan to go into effect.
As I had mentioned at the beginning of this review, this show was big on moving the storyline forward in as far as what the Injustice Society's huge plan is in regards to New America: Brainwave will be hooked up to Dr. Ito's machine, and---with the satellite---take over the minds of America, to bend them to their will. We also see that Jordan has a soft spot for Barbara, as he sees what a loving mother she is, and is fond of her. But knowing that her daughter is Stargirl, and Pat is the former Stripsey, he realizes that he cannot give in to sentimentality, and that the plan is the most important thing---to fulfill his dream for the sake of his dead wife. Brainwave goes out of his way to remind him that he killed his own wife and kid in order to make this plan a reality. While Jordan seems like he has a soft spot, we see that Brainwave does NOT. He is pure evil to the core, with no morals whatsoever. This now heightens the stakes for this new JSA to get it together. And now, Courtney's family has a target on their back.
I was glad we finally got to the bottom of Courtney's daddy issues. Sam is a jerk, and a deadbeat dad. We know he NEVER had any intentnion of wanting to spend any time with Courtney...he just wanted the lockets, so he could hock them for money. Courtney, however, is smart enough to realize that, and gives him the locket anyway---her way of breaking with her past. It does cause her emotional distraught, as she now relaizes that she is NOT Starman's daughter, and it gives her something she's not had since she got the Staff: doubt. Courtney has had enormous confidence up to this point, but with reality hitting her in the face, she finally felt that she was unworthy of the Staff...and she felt the Staff realized it.
One of the big things I got out of this episode was that Pat was the pillar of strength this entire episode. He managed to calm Justin down, and keep him from going off the rails, and the HUGE thing: his relationship with Courtney went to another level. It's the father/daughter bond that we had long been waiting for between the two, and tonight sealed it. Pat took offense to how Sam treated her, and Sam got his comeuppance for it. But Pat was solid tonight, and I LOVE how he's starting to get it together. But he also made sure to give Courtney that confidence back, to assure her that, regardless of WHO she is, the Staff CHOSE her, because the STAFF believed in her...and she needed to to that for herself. Credit also goes to Barbara for being as supportive as she has, despite having all this dumped on her so quickly. The family unit is now getting stronger....except for Mike. I feel bad Mike's kept out of the loop, and I hope it doesn't turn into a HUGE mess if he gets attacked. I believe he'll find out within the next episode or two as we get to the season finale.
It was good for the kids to mourn Hank, as they realize he wasn't as bad of a kid as he was made out to be with them. It especially hit Yolanda, who---despite the terrible thing Hank and Cindy did to her---she saw the REAL Hank in the tunnels...the one who died for them. I still feel that she does still love him, and how that effects her going forward will be interesting. The kids also deserve some credit for trying to reassure Courtney of her role as Stargirl. They pretty much said the same thing to her that Pat did later...only with Pat, it reasonated.
All in all, I enjoyed the pause in action, to get the plot moving forward, and for these characters to take time and reflect. We also finally got Justin's backstory, and why the Shining Knight has been the way he's been---because Dragon King brainwashed him, and he lost his memory. I'm looking forward to it coming back. The JSA will need all the help it can get in these final two episodes.
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There's another installment in the books. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I hope you guys have enjoyed my blog. Please subscribe and leave a comment below on what YOU thought about this episode.
Until next time...keep looking to the stars!
