Stargirl Frenemies - Chapter Thirteen: The Reckoning Television 

Five Thoughts on Stargirl‘s “Frenemies, Chapter Thirteen: The Reckoning”

By | December 8th, 2022
Posted in Television | % Comments

Well friends, we find ourselves at the end of the line for Stargirl. One of the many casualties of the sale of the CW, the show will not continue on under the new management. And, with HBO Max in shambles, leadership-wise as well, there isn’t a home for the adventures of the new JSA on television anymore. Does the show stick the landing? Let’s find out.

1. Ch-ch-ch-changes

For a show and a network that can sometimes rely too heavily on really trope-y understandings of good and evil, the third season of Stargirl worked hard to show that people, if properly motivated, can change. Whether it be the Crocks (R.I.P.), Cindy, or even Sylvester (more on that in a minute), these people can change. Or, to put a finer point on it, people can change if it serves them. Cindy changed from and evil extension of her father to an ally of the JSA in part because she had no choice. Pat changed from a human punching bag to a leader because he needed to help Courtney. Cameron changed because he finally saw what he was.

But more than anything else, the characters on this show changed because of legacy, either fighting for one or running away from another. The kids at the heart of this show are so focused on the connection between those that came before, whether literally family, or traditions, or namesakes, and their current lives. No actual teenagers think this way, but for the show, it works. It allows the most comic book-y aspects of the show to bleed through, even if it doesn’t always make sense why.

2. The Sylvester of it all

The handling of Sylvester all season long has been a bit of a mess. This is, in no small part, to the show establishing him as a right prick before his return at the end of last season. And so, when he’s a douchebag to Pat, it’s par for the course. But it also makes the ‘redemption’ of the character feel hollow. Sure, he’s not the Ultra Humanite anymore, but he’s also not anything worth really fighting for, is he?

But the character of Sylvester is really there to highlight what kind of heroes Courtney and Pat have become. And yes, those heroes would want to fight for Sylvester. But there still has to be a way that this could’ve been handled a little better.

3. The opposite of angst

The early seasons of this series were all about the intersection of angst and goodness, aka teenagers. Courtney was pissed off that she was moved to Blue Valley. Rick was pissed his uncle was a piece of shit. Beth was pissed that her parents gave her no time. Yolanda was pissed that her nudes got leaked. But as the show went on, even when the drama got ramped up, the angst went away. The show has increasingly drifted towards wholesome, and the last ‘present day’ scene being a big dinner between the heroes and their parents is about as wholesome as can be.

This fits into the old fashioned vibes of Blue Valley which, initially, seemed a little anachronistic for what the show’s characters were doing. But now, it is clear that the setting was always aspirational. Icicle wanted the whole world to look like Blue Valley, but Courtney also wanted that. Everyone on the show believes in the small town vibes and ‘pie cooling on a window sill’ of Americana. The central conflict of the show has been Courtney and co. believing that by showing people what they could have, it would make them work to get it, whereas Icicle believed that people couldn’t be trusted to get their on their own.

In the end, both sides are sort of correct, but you can’t help but side with Courtney emotionally and Icicle intellectually. In a perfect world, Courtney’s solution would be enough, but the world isn’t perfect.

Courtney did one more act of selflessness before the show wrapped up, which was deliver the Gambler’s letter to his daughter. Courtney doesn’t need to be told how to be good, she just is. She is the proof that Icicle’s plan shouldn’t work. But he’s the proof that hers won’t, either.

Continued below

4. Mike

I am very happy that Mike got closure with his mom, a closer relationship with Barbara, who he calls mom in a touching moment, and a future in the JSA (more on that in a minute). Mike has been given the short shrift by this show since the start, and this season he was essentially just Jakeem’s wingman the entire time. Due to that, they had to cram a lot of Mike-related exposition in, but still sort of ignored the man himself.

Mike deserved better, but the series decided early on that Mike was never going to be central to it. That played itself out this season.

5. The future?

The episode and series ended on two flash forwards. One was just a few months down the road, where Artemis used technology and a deeply damaged soul to kill Icicle once and for all. I know, you can’t believe that the steam cloud with his screaming face in it wasn’t the end! If the show were to continue, he’d wind up not being dead, but for our purposes, he’s gone.

But the more interesting flash happens 10 years down the road, where the Shade is giving a tour of a JSA museum, where he lists out the team’s ‘current’ roster: Starwoman, Wildcat, Jade, Obsidian, Dragon Queen (Cindy), S.T.R.I.P.E. 2.0 (Mike), Jakeem Thunder, Icicle, Artemis, Sand, Damage, Hourman, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Solomon Grundy. This is almost a perfect combination of Geoff Johns ideas/characters, with a few touches of James Robinson for good measure. Sand and Damage were mentioned by not-Sylvester in last week’s episode, which is another funny bit of the Starman situation. The Shade also says that, eventually, they were able to reunite Sylvester and his brain and rescue the Seven Soldiers of Victory, which ties up a plot point from the first season. We also find out that Rick and Beth, two characters who somehow have negative sexual chemistry on screen, are about to be married.

At the end, John Wesley Shipp shows up as the Flash (from a parallel Earth) and says that the JSA, including the Shade, is needed. This leads to a classic ‘never the end’ title card and the hope that The Flash or Superman and Lois make a call and we see these characters again.

Regardless if that ever happens, this show almost got there. Another season and a real expansion of the team, and this had the chance to be something special. But as it was, it was a very enjoyable way to spend 44 minutes each week. See ya at the Pitstop.


//TAGS | Stargirl

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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