WiC Watches: Stargirl
By Ariba Bhuvad
Pictured (L-R): Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan, Amy Smart as Barbara Whitmore and Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore — Photo: Mark Hill/The CW
Episode 9: “Brainwave”
Stargirl shifts its focus this week to Henry, aka Brainwave Junior. It appears he’s followed in his father’s footsteps and also possesses telepathic powers. Side note: While it’d be cool to know if people are telling you the truth or not, I can’t imagine how irritating it would be to hear what everyone is thinking at all times. I’d rather be able to fly!
Anyway, we get to know a bit more about Henry’s dark side this week. There’s a part of him that isn’t entirely evil and is just trying to make sense of what’s going on. But by the end of the episode he succumbs to his anger and confusion.
The moment of truth comes when Dr. King’s sleazy lawyer tries to fool Henry into signing papers that would cheat him out of a hefty sum of money. Unfortunately for him, Henry reads his mind and accidentally “took care of business” by ending the guy’s life.
This episode stresses that villains and heroes aren’t necessarily all good or all bad. Henry is the perfect example of that, and I was surprised to find myself sympathizing with him throughout. It’s hard not to do, and I appreciated Stargirl for making me examine these contradictory feelings.
Things get even more interesting when Courtney tries to recruit Henry into the JSA. Yolanda and Rick are not on the same page with her over this, but Courtney always sees the potential in people. But her meeting with Henry doesn’t go as well as she would have liked. Still, I really enjoyed their scene together. It’s clear that they’re kids trying to make sense of a very adult world. The writers don’t water down the interaction, but keep it very raw and real.
While Yolanda and Rick don’t want Courtney to recruit Henry, Beth is a team player and cooperates when Pat asks for help. Yolanda takes matters into her own hands and pays Henry a visit in her Wildcat outfit to demand he stays away from Courtney and her family. She doesn’t want him involved with anything they’re doing, and even threatens his life. I’m not sure he got the message, but things do take a wild turn after this visit.
Courtney and her family have an awkward family dinner after Barbara invites Jordan (aka Icicle) and his family over. You have to remember that they don’t know Jordan is part of the ISA at this point, but it doesn’t take long for Courtney to put two and two together. The guy did grab a scalding hot tray of chicken dumplings without flinching, so that was a dead giveaway.
Also, did anyone else find the grandparents a bit frightening?
I loved how this episode ended! Up until now, Pat and Courtney have kept Barbara in the dark about all this JSA stuff. Although Pat was about to tell her earlier, Courtney stopped him. It was only a matter of time before Barb would find herself in the basement while Pat and Courtney discussed JSA matters, or find the Cosmic Staff out and glowing.
And lo and behold, it happened. How are they going to explain this? And how will she react?
Tune in next week!
