Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite
Stargirl returns this week with an episode that sees Courtney assemble her team and prepare for the fight ahead. With more back-story given for the supporting cast and a noticeable lack of super-villain action this time around, Stargirl continues to offer up entertaining drama but this episode isn’t quite as strong as some of the earlier material we’ve been given. Episode 5 of Stargirl begins in Blue Valley 9 years ago. A young boy called Rick is told to stay with his Uncle Matt while his parents, Wendi and Rex, leave in the middle of the night. With $50,000 and Rick’s surname changed for protection, his parents say their goodbyes and hit the road. Only, on the way their car takes a hit by Solomon Grundy. We then cut to present day where Rick and Matt’s relationship is fractured to say the least. At the same time, Courtney wakes up late for school and after shooing her Mother away, grabs the hourglass and scrambles down the stairs. Before she leaves though Pat shows her a newspaper article and contemplates whether all of the ISA members are in Blue Valley – including the Principal who may be “The Fiddler”. For now though, Courtney heads to school where she and Yolanda discuss the Injustice Society. Unbeknownst to them, Beth happens to be listening to their whole conversation after spying them at the hospital last episode. As school draws to a close, Courtney and Pat head out on the road but run into car trouble. When Rick approaches and discusses what’s wrong with their motor, Pat figures out he may be related to the Justice Society, thanks in part to him discussing a yellow ’66 Mustang he has. Courtney comes to the same conclusion but through the hourglass she brought with her, which starts to flash in his presence. Beth heads over to Courtney’s house but finds herself in the possession of a pair of goggles, courtesy of Court’s dog. When she puts them on, she hears the AI rendering voice of Dr Charles and starts to learn more about the superhero world she’s inadvertently getting mixed up in. When Courtney returns home, the two start discussing her disguise. Courtney tells her to go home but Beth continues to try and help, figuring out that Rick’s Dad was Hourman, meaning Rick is destined to take up his Father’s place in their team. Pat meanwhile, heads over to his house but receives a pretty frost reception from Matt, prompting him to leave not long after. That evening, Yolanda is not best pleased that Beth is now part of their group and hangs back while they attend a Halloween party Rick’s at. Courtney and Beth split up to try and find their classmate. Eventually they confront him in the garden and as the trio approach him. we learn that Hourman has super strength for 1 hour of the day while the other 23 he’s just a normal guy. Upon hearing this, Rick rejects the call to action and walks away – keeping the hourglass for himself. Courtney and Yolanda desperately try and get through to Rick, who eventually opens up and admits he’s suffering from a lot of anger. While he rejects them both, Beth approaches and manages to get through to him, showing the moments Solomon Grundy murdered Rick’s parents courtesy of the glasses. Upon seeing this play out, he agrees to help them but only so he can exact revenge. As the episode closes out, the Principal plays the violin and works with the Doctor to control the minds of a couple of truck drivers while Pat heads up to Courtney’s room and finds the bag of superhero gadgets first-hand and realizes what she’s doing. With the team starting to assemble and lots of interesting tidbits of history for our different characters, the biggest take away from here comes from Rick’s motivation to join the new Justice Society. Driven by anger and revenge, could he potentially be seduced to work against them and join the ISA? It’s certainly something that may be a possibility going forward but for now, with Stargirl rallying the troops and Pat learning what she’s doing, I’d imagine we’ll be graced with a fair amount of action in the weeks to come. Stargirl bows out this week with another enjoyable episode and although it’s not quite as strong as some of the earlier episodes, especially given the lack of action, there’s enough here to enjoy nonetheless.
