I Watch TV: Stargirl Season One

 

Stargirl Season 1

Ten years ago on Christmas Eve the Justice Society Of America fought the Injustice Society Of America*. They lost, with Starman passing on his cosmic staff to his non-super-powered sidekick Stripesy aka Pat Dugan, then dying**. On that same Christmas Eve Courtney Whitmore wraps a present for her dad who never arrives.

Ten years later, Courtney is now a high schooler, her mum has married Pat Dugan and the family moves from California to Blue Valley, Nebraska. Courtney, a keen gymnast, finds the gymnastics program has shut at the school, and quickly manages to fall out with the cool kids led by Cindy Burman.

Exploring the basement she discovered the cosmic staff, learns that Pat Dugan used to be a superhero’s sidekick and comes to the conclusion that she is Starman’s daughter. Dugan met Courtney’s mum in Blue Valley, her home town, when she was dealing with her mum’s estate, and he was trying to follow the cold trail of the Injustice Society (he’s a car mechanic and his cover story was he was looking for parts for classic cars).

Of course the Injustice Society have settled there, forming the New America Foundation that has re-opened the local tyre factory and making the town pleasant and prosperous (the reveal of their plan is hilarious, ends vs means etc). So when Courtney makes a splash as Stargirl one of them, Brainwave, attacks her and they fight, eventually Brainwave losing when Dugan arrives in a giant car-themed armoured robot-suit. As the extent of the Injustic Society's plans and control are revealed Courtney decides to reform the Justice Society, against Dugan's wishes, recruiting some other teenagers to her vigilante gang.

It appears as though it’s going to be a show about balancing school, home and superhero life, but it kind of ignores the school after a while (inevitably the Principal is involved). The Injustice Society have settled here and their children are here, mostly unknowing of what’s going on with some exceptions. It has a lot to say about legacy and inheritance, but nothing definitive. It’s very willing to have people die; indeed an early casualty is one of the Injustice Society’s member’s son, exposing both the cracks and the weaknesses. It also wants to say something about vengeance, and memory and forgiveness but that all gets a bit wiped away in the final battle.

Watch This: Some teen superhero action remixing DC comic villains and heroes
Don’t Watch This: For all the legacy discussion and the fun of the villains it swings wildly between light-hearted family drama and gritty violence

 

* Legacy names from comics of the 1940s; occasionally people do ask where these names came from

** Eh, SPOILERS