The finale to season 2 of Stargirl is an odd duck, as it both feels incredibly rushed and also like it is dragging things out to bizarre lengths. Each moment in this episode that felt surprising or earned was still telegraphed, and all the stuff that felt expected just kept going and going. That’s not to say that this was a bad episode, but rather one that had a pacing issue that hasn’t really plagued the show before. Let’s hope this is a one time issue.
1. “I Wish”
The return of (Jim Gaffigan as) Thunderbolt was the obvious deus ex machina that the series was dangling in front of us the entire time, and this episode was just waiting for the right time to deploy him. This was also the first time the series really showed the true power of the Thunderbolt. Obviously, it took the combined might of Jennie’s ring, the cosmic staff, and the Thunderbolt, but they quite literally turned Eclipso into toast. The Amelia Bedelia nature of Thunderbolt translates well to the show, and will surely lead to more hijinks down the road.
That said, there were so many wasted wishes in this episode. Because Thunderbolt doesn’t have a genie’s ‘3 wishes’ limitations, not only could they have wished for the engine parts to fix S.T.R.I.P.E., but most importantly, also could have wished for him to fix Rick’s hourglass. While Rick getting Grundy to help was a fun move, it would’ve been far more effective if he, you could, wasn’t useless in the fight.
2. Courtney has earned the power of love
For a show that is really leaning away from actual superpowers in exchange for magical trinkets, Courtney has been reinforced time and time again as having the heart of a champion. This episode nicely shows not just her big heart, but also how that heart has changed others. Yolanda refuses to listen to Cindy’s “we have to kill the host” argument, Sylvester, who quite literally just met her, tells her how much he believes in her, and Pat flat out tells her at the end “we won because of you.”
While she’s made a bunch of dumb decisions, she’s easily the most responsible lead on any of the CW-verse shows, despite being the youngest. I hope when the next crossover happens, she’s rightly placed in the middle of the action.
3. Hail, hail! The gang’s (almost) all here
This episode brought back everyone from this season, from Grundy and the Shade to Sportsmaster and Tigress to Jennie and Thunderbolt. At the end of the episode, when the accumulated heroes are standing down Eclipso, it was sort of incredible to see just how many people were there, and that’s not counting the fallen Grundy and the totally absent from this season Shining Knight. What, no one called Justin?
From the looks of it, most of these folks will have some sort of role in season 3, and so it’ll be interesting to see just how the show arranges itself to make room for everyone, or if certain people will be relegated to background status.
4. Ok, for real, what the fuck is up with Zeek?
All season, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop with Zeek. The character is bizarre; he winds up working for Pat, finds S.T.R.I.P.E., but has no questions about the giant robot. He sees the Thunderbolt bring Chinese food from China, and just accepts it. I thought for sure that he was going to be revealed as some double agent, a hero in disguise, something. Instead, he’s just a simpleton given a stereotypical ‘hick’ name.
5. The seeds of Season 3
So here’s what we know about Stargirl‘s third season. Starman is camping out with the Dugan/Whitmores to train Court. The Crocks moved in next door (somehow not being tracked back to jail?). The Shade wants to stick around Blue Valley. Cindy/Shiv wants to join the JSA. Keith David is the voice of the terribly CGI Mr. Bones, who looks to be the season’s big bad. Grundy may return. Jennie is looking for her brother. Mike and Jakeem want to start their own super team. Dr. McNider is taking off to find his wife and son.
There are a lot of pieces on the table for the season, and it seems like the show’s scope continues to grow. This is the closest to a DC Comic that a CW show has felt since the early seasons of The Flash, and I mean that as a very high complement.
Enjoy the break, and we’ll see you back in 2022.
