Television

‘DC’s Stargirl’ season 1 episode 6 recap: ‘The Justice Society’

Courtney’s JSA finally comes together for their first (unsuccessful) mission in a strong episode.

June 24, 2020

For the first time all season, Stargirl’s episode six starts in the present time as we see Larry Crock and his wife Paula watching their daughter Artemis during football practice. After a confrontation with a fellow teammate that results in Artemis punching him, the football coach benches Artemis. Later that evening, Larry and Paula kill the coach causing Jordan (“Icicle”) to get their suits out of storage because they will be getting back into action soon.

Meanwhile, Courtney returns home, sneaking in through her bedroom window when Pat turns on the lamp like a stereotypical father of any teenager. Pat confronts her about taking the different JSA items and Courtney reveals she already started recruiting new team members. This upsets Pat deeply and he warns Courtney that what she is doing is extremely dangerous. He asks her if she’s ready to be responsible if one of her new friends dies, just like Joey Zarick.

The next morning, Pat heads off to talk to Rick about his father and to get the hourglass back while Courtney goes to school and tries to muster up the courage to ask Yolanda and Beth back for their JSA items. Yolanda feels she is finally going to become herself again thanks to Wildcat and Beth finally has somebody, a friend if you will, that will listen to her in Chuck. Needless to say, both girls do not take kindly to Courtney’s request as does Rick to Pat’s.

Stargirl 1.6.1

Courtney attempts to speak to Yolanda and Beth after school before Rick shows up. Rick asks Beth to use Chuck to find any information on a formula that his father had written in a notebook that he just received from Pat. Chuck, unfortunately, has no knowledge on the subject, but is able to detect Steven Sharpe AKA The Gambler attempting to steal satellite codes from a communication company. The trio of Beth, Rick, and Yolanda feel they should team up to take Sharpe down, which Courtney finally agrees to.

Pat returns home later to discover that Courtney didn’t come home and immediately suspects that she is out with the others. While Pat rushes out, Courtney teams up with Rick, Yolanda, and Beth to infiltrate the facility and stop Sharpe. We get a seriously cool moment here with all four heroes in their costumes for the first time together. The team doesn’t find The Gambler, but instead runs into Paula and Larry or Tigress and Sportsmaster respectively.

A well-choreographed fight that gives all four heroes a moment to shine and even more so for the villains ensues. Even though the young upstarts hold their own fairly well at the beginning, they are quickly outmatched by the evil duo. Thankfully, Pat arrives in STRIPE, which prompts Sportsmaster and Tigress to flee.

‘DC’s Stargirl’ season 1 episode 6 recap: ‘The Justice Society’

Back at the garage, Courtney opens up about being extremely frustrated with her teammates not listening to what she said which is mirrored by Pat. This brief moment I feel will inevitably bring Pat and Courtney closer as the season moves forward.

Meanwhile, the episode comes to a close as Jordan gathers the other members of the Injustice Society as they talk about the successfully stolen satellite codes. It is revealed that Project: New America cannot come to life without Brainwave. Until then, IS will spend time finding out just exactly who the new Justice Society members are.

This is the exact type of episode I was waiting for. After weeks of build-up, we finally see an episode with the Justice Society members working (well, sort of working) together to take down a threat. We finally see a villain of the week trope with a very well-done fight scene. This is definitely not going to be the first time we see Wildcat faceoff with the Injustice Society’s Tigress as that is a fight that writes itself.

‘DC’s Stargirl’ season 1 episode 6 recap: ‘The Justice Society’

I talked briefly in my review last week how I felt like episode five lost an opportunity to further flesh out the character of Beth when they combined her episode with Rick. However, I feel that I might have misspoke. This episode, while focusing mainly on the team coming together for their first mission, shines a new light on Beth’s character development that I looked over. The reason why Beth is going to shine as the new Dr. Mid-Nite is because Chuck, an AI based on the original, is going to be the friend Beth needs to become less dependent on her parents. I can already see that character growing in just two weeks.

Another major upside to this week’s episode is finally seeing Pat re-enter the main narrative instead of being a part of some B plot in every episode. As Courtney struggles with the leadership role thrust on her, she and the rest of the new JSA will continue to look up to Pat as somebody that is to be trusted both on and off the battlefield. One idea that will continue to be explored is of mortality. There is no argument that Courtney’s beliefs are well intentioned, but their fight is dangerous and their arch foes are much more experienced than they are. This fact was super clear when the teenagers enter the facility before being confronted by Sportsmaster and Tigress. It is here they find the body of one of the security guards. The directors play it smart here when they give just enough of a pause to show the emotion on the kids’ faces and the instant realization that they are in for a fight that they might not come back from.

While I am far from certain about this, I do have a strong feeling that we are going to move into the defeat of the current Injustice Society with their children rising as a newer, younger Injustice Society in the future. We already know that Brainwave’s son Henry Jr. has already shown glimpses of having his father’s powers, but we also saw that Jordan’s son, Cameron, might have icy abilities as well. Throw in Artemis and possibly Cindy and there you have it.

After a couple of slow weeks, episode six really begins to pick up the pace here. There are just enough questions, answers, and intrigue in this episode to continue to have the series move forward as a whole. With everything that is coming together, I have a feeling we are in for an exciting second half of the season, especially with a two-parter coming next week.