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Set to the backdrop of Halloween hitting Blue Valley “Hourman and Dr Mid-Nite” continues the theme of legacy and loss especially regarding Rick Tyler and Beth Chapel. The two characters are contrasted from one another as Rick doesn’t “wanna play dress-up” as a superhero whereas Beth is more than willing to become one even against Courtney’s wishes. Along with these we have multiple teases for future story lines to come in the first season all of which I am very excited to see play out.
An Unwilling Hero(Rick Tyler/Hourman II):
I really enjoyed how well they balanced giving us more of Beth’s backstory while also officially introducing us to Rick Tyler. I found it interesting how they only gave us such a small opening sequence with Rex and his wife, but they perfectly managed to give us the emotional impact we needed to see watching them say goodbye to Rick and tragically die due to Solomon Grundy. Just from that very opening sequence you can already tell even before the time jump how Rick was going to turn out. Personally I would be angry at the world if I was questioning why my parents seemingly died from an accident and I was stuck with a scumbag uncle who I had to pretend was my actual father as well.
His story-line in the show I felt also translated very well from the comics with instead being a drug dealer he was dealing alcohol to his fellow students. Both versions of Rick reflect how he is just a brash teenager who is angry at the world,but will like his other fellow JSA members find peace by becoming a superhero. I liked that whole scene with Courtney convincing him to join them so they can both get justice for their father’s(even though I feel like Courtney’s father isn’t actually Sylvester). Which works perfectly for why he would want revenge on the Injustice Society to get back at them for killing his parents.
The Eager to be Superhero(Beth Chapel/Dr Mid-Nite II):
In stark contrast to Rick, Beth is more than willing to become a superhero(even if Courtney doesn’t want her to be one). I liked seeing how they continued Beth’s story from last episode sneakily listening in to Courtney and Yolanda discussing who they were going to pick to join their new super team. That whole scene with her being introduced to Dr Mid-Nite’s A.I. after putting on his goggles was great, especially after with all that exposition about more of Beth’s backstory as well as the original Dr Mid-Nite’s. I felt so bad for Beth after Courtney continually dismissed the idea of her being the new Dr Mid-Nite as she was so eager to be one. Everything about Dr Mid-Nite’s goggles were a very smart way to give viewers exposition while also not feeling too forced. Can’t wait for her to see both her and Rick as part of the new JSA.
Injustice Society’s Plans:
Throughout the episode and at the very end we see the Gambler and Fiddler steal a satellite for the Injustice Society as part of their Project: New America. Seeing Gambler and Fiddler team-up was really cool to watch and I’m hoping we get more sequences like that in the future. Makes me excited for next episode as we see Sportsmaster and Tigress vs the New JSA. The whole scene was very intense and a great way to showcase how both the Gambler and Fiddler are a real credible threat against the new JSA.
Other Takeaways:
There are a lot of other small tidbits that I really enjoyed the show teasing this episode with Henry starting to gain his powers and Pat discovering Alan’s lantern in Courtney’s bedroom. I’m very curious to see how Henry starts using his powers and if he will in the end pick the side of good(like the comics) or will he start using his powers for more nefarious purposes? Whatever the case I’m hoping Henry gets a cool mindscape scene with his father explaining to him how he got his powers in a future episode. Regarding Pat I am very curious to see how well he reacts to Courtney rebooting the new JSA against his permission. I also am very excited to see how Alan’s lantern comes into play and why it glowed for a little bit when Pat was called towards it.
Final Thoughts:
In summary this was another very good episode of Stargirl managing to handle every element of the series very well. Rick and Beth’s development was great to see and I am excited to explore more of these characters as the series carries on. The one thing problem I had with this episode was Courtney’s continuous disapproval of Beth being the new Dr Mid-Nite. I felt like she would have at least given her more of a shot before dismissing the idea right away. I personally preferred last week’s episode “Wildcat” over this one though as it focused more on developing one character rather than two, but this still worked pretty well for what it was with the development of both Beth and Rick.
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