As Stargirl moves into its season one endgame, “Shining Knight” takes a step back and makes sure that all of the pieces are set up exactly where they need to be for the two part finale. It also pauses the superheroics almost entirely to shore up the family dynamics, which it does to great effect.
1. Windmills are a little on the nose
The amnesiac Shining Knight gets the title and about 1/5 of the spotlight this week. As we all know, there’s nothing that writer Geoff Johns likes more than a reference that basically anyone with a 9th grade education could sniff out. And so, of course, we see Justin staring at a windmill and getting confused, in a Quixotic Cliff’s Notes moment.
But Justin, played by Mark Ashworth doing his best Tim Blake Nelson from O, Brother, Where Art Thou? impression, is portrayed as a sympathetic character and a tragic one. Justin has his memory zapped, likely by Brainwave, and comes to Pat for help. In what will become a theme of this episode, Pat knows exactly what to do, and his gentle manner helps Justin relax and tell his story. Of course, both Beth and Rick are incredulous that his sword is actually Excalibur and/or that he was an Arthurian knight.
My prediction for next week, vis a vis Justin: he’s going to ask Courtney to zap him in the head with her Cosmic Staff, and that will restore his memories. When you see it, just remember Uncle Brian told you so.
2. The Dugan/Whitmore Family Circus
The last few weeks have featured some of the best family dynamics of the whole season, and this episode just ramps it up. It’s sort of amazing that I’m feeling genuine sympathy for Mike, a character that I spent early episodes trashing. The poor guy is pretty much the only person in Blue Valley who is unaware of what is going on. But this episode used him really well, as it did all the members of the family.
Without feeling rushed or forced, the family unit, which was shaky as shit when the series began, now feels real. I still don’t really believe that they pulled it off.
3. Faux McHale
The casting department did an excellent job casting someone who, in a bad photo, might just be Joel McHale. They also did an excellent job from an acting perspective as well, as Geoff Stults did a really convincing job playing the remorseful father, but was never 100% believable. It was a nuanced performance, and one that had me on the edge of my seat all episode. You see, this was essentially the same beat as from the “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.” comic, so I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire time.
And when it did, Brec Bassinger did her best acting of the season. She didn’t tear up, she didn’t get mad, she just sat there as her father laid his betrayal at her feet. Her motionless absorption of the disappointment that his sweet talking had built up was an emotional gut punch. Her falling into Pat’s arms and sobbing felt incredibly real and earned and, again, would be unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Sam’s betrayal of his daughter somehow worked even better in the show than it did in the comic, because in the comic Courtney’s parentage was never in question. For the show’s Courtney, losing her dad also means losing being Stargirl, which then spirals into her feeling responsible for her friends’ deaths. For a show that started off as a pretty breezy superhero story, it has gotten awfully heavy lately.
My one critique of the Sam storyline was the scene with Pat chasing him down. Yes, that is absolutely what Pat would do in that scenario, but it put too fine a point on it. We didn’t need him to say that he wasn’t going to come back. He didn’t need to insult Barbara. He was already a supreme shit; piling on didn’t do too much to actively change our thoughts about him. While Pat knocking him down was a catharsis of sorts, it isn’t cathartic for Courtney, who is our proxy on the show, and so it didn’t really accomplish what it set out to, despite being nice to see him eat shit.
Continued below4. Full evil
Last week, I guessed that maybe Brainwave was protecting his son to put on a show for the ISA. Well, that was a bad guess. Brainwave is an all-out monster at this point, and is even pushing Icicle to be a more evil dude. You see Icicle struggling with being one of the villains who wants to save the world or a villain who wants the world for himself. He thinks he’s the former, but everyone else on his team is the latter, and that leads to him having to make a decision. Despite wanting to ball Barbara, he decides that not only should Pat and Courtney die, but but Barbara and Mike, too. He’s snuffing out any potential pitfalls on the path to Project New America.
5. The real Shining Knight is the friends we’ve made along the way
While this episode obviously takes its name from Sir Justin, it is also a commentary on the men in Courtney’s life. Her father swoops in, posing as a knight in shining armor, ready to take her on trips to California and fill the hole in her life. Pat, however, emerges as a great father to Courtney. He is stern when he needs to be, but always makes time for her and her needs, whether they be superheroic or personal. He’s trying to be that for Mike, too, but so far he’s failing pretty spectacularly at that. But we have to cut Pat some slack, as he has quite a bit to balance.
The two-part finale starts next week. I, for one, can’t wait.
