WiC Watches: Stargirl

Pictured: Anjelika Washington as Beth Chapel — Photo: Jace Downs/The CW

Episode 5: “Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite”

Stargirl gets off to a fun start this week as Courtney’s plan to create a new version of the Justice Society of America gains traction. In last week’s episode, Courtney was able to convince Yolanda to join the JSA as Wildcat, but there are still a few other positions to fill.

I’m starting to really appreciate the relationship between Courtney and Pat. She’s been doing things on the sly unbeknownst to him, recruiting a team and stealing all the precious JSA artifacts from the headquarters. But when he confronts her about it, she reveals her plan with no qualms. I like that the series isn’t trying to drag the story out by having her sneak around Pat for a whole season. She has a goal and if Pat isn’t on board that’s fine with her; she’ll continue doing her thing, with or without his help. Gotta love a determined young teen superhero!

This episode shifts the focus to another two members of the JSA: Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite. This entire time, Courtney has been working off the idea that Starman was her father. This isn’t something she’s confirmed, but it’s what she believes, and she’s determined to carry on his legacy.

But while Courtney’s true parentage is in question, we do learn about Rick Tyler, the son of Houseman. A quick flashback reveals a bit of Rick’s backstory and the connection he shares with Hourman, aka Rex Tyler. I’m enjoying these quick snippets we get of the past that help set up things in the present. They don’t go into boring, minute details, and give us just enough to tell us what we need to know.

As a child, Rick was left behind with his uncle after someone or rather something kills his parents. Clearly, life hasn’t been good to Rick in the years since his parents passed, and we meet him as an angsty, bitter teenager hell-bent on making everyone’s life miserable.

The theme of this episode is Halloween. As it ends up, Courtney isn’t trying too hard to hide her secret superhero life. She keeps the JSA artifacts in a duffle bag in her closet, and her Stargirl costume is just laying on top of it. While to some this may seem like a blunder or a mistake, it’s actually an intelligent way of helping us understand who Courtney is. She may be Stargirl now, but at the end of the day, she’s still a teenager in over her head, trying to figure out things as they happen.

Pat is angry to learn that Courtney hasn’t given up the JSA dream, and is 100% uncomfortable with the notion that she has been sneaking around Brainwave’s hospital room. But Courtney has an agenda, and she is determined to follow it.

At school, Courtney and Yolanda are busy trying to recruit the next potential JSA member. There aren’t many prospects, but there is one student hot on their trail: Beth Temple, who saw Courtney and Yolanda flying and jumping around at the hospital in last week’s episode.

Her curiosity leads her to Courtney’s house where she makes herself comfortable while waiting for Courtney to get home. I’m not 100% sold on Beth as a character just yet — I mean, she just strolls right into empty room like it’s nothing. She also finds the goggles made by Dr. Charles McNider, aka Dr. Mid-Nite. She puts them on and immediately sees the possibilities. The Using A.I. technology, the goggles give whoever is wearing them all the information they could possibly need or want. I won’t lie, it’s a pretty darn cool accessory.

Courtney comes home to find that Beth has welcome herself into the JSA. There’s a lot of resistance from Courtney’s end, but Beth refuses to listen, one of the reasons why I’m not sure I like her. Later that night, she forces Yolanda and Courtney to go to a party, completely unaware that Courtney isn’t too keen on having her be a part of the team.

Stargirl — “Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite” — Image Number: STG105c_0018b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Luke Wilson as Pat and Adam Aalderks as Matt — Photo: Annette Brown/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

While Beth isn’t of much interest to Courtney at the moment, she does have her sights set on Rick Tyler. She has a chance encounter with him when Pat’s car breaks down and Rick offers to help look at it. The hourglass amulet begins acting up, clearly indicating there is a strong connection to him.

After following him to the tree where his parents had their accident, Courtney just hands him the hourglass, which seems hasty. This amulet gives its owner one hour of super strength, but given Rick’s volatile nature, giving it to him was probably not the best thing to do, especially since he wants nothing to do with the JSA.

Courtney decides that instead of taking the subtle approach, she and Yolanda should put on their JSA outfits and try and get through to him. They don’t take Beth along, but it’s Beth who saves the day, sort of, with some new information about the death of Rick’s parents.

Thanks to the goggles, Beth learns that it wasn’t a car accident that took their life, but instead Solomon Grundy! He jumped on their car as they tried to escape, causing them to crash into a tree. After learning this, Rick reluctantly decides to join the JSA, if only for revenge. I could see that ending poorly, but for now, it’s all she’s got to go on.

It’s also odd that Courtney is so eager to rope Rick in but refuses to give Beth the benefit of the doubt. I know I’ve already said I’m not a big Beth fan, but later in the episode, we learn that she’s lonely and doesn’t get much attention from her parents. And it’s a little unsettling that Courtney is more interested in the bad boy who doesn’t want to be a part of this than the girl who is eager to help.

And now, we get to my favorite part of the episode. While looking around Courtney’s room, Pat is drawn in by a sound from her closet. Whatever could that sound be? THE GREEN LANTERN!

Does this mean what I think it does? Oh, I think it does, Stargirl fans, I think it does!

Grade: B+