Stargirl Wraps Too-Short First Season With Stellar Teases for 2021

DC's STARGIRL has been nothing short of stellar throughout its 13-episode freshman season. The latest entry into the Arrowverse (the show was teased at the end of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, so we're counting it), the show has been one of the most consistently fun, fresh, optimistic, adventuresome, straight-up superhero shows to have graced the CW network. There's a respect and an adherence to the source material -- not just to the STARGIRL comic book heroine herself but to much of the DC Universe in general. The costumes, the props (there's a green lantern seen more than once that I'm still waiting to see get fired up!) and the name-drops have all been enough to make a comic book fan giddy to his core.

The Injustice Society of America have fired up their machine that will amplify the powers of Brainwave (Christopher James Baker) so that they can take over the minds of the 100 million adults making up the central part of the United States, so that the ISA leader, Icicle (Neil Jackson) can bend them to think the way he wants them to think. Succumbing to this device is Stargirl's mom, Barbara (Amy Smart) and her stepdad, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson), formerly known as the sidekick Stripesy. Pat has now created a giant mech for himself, rebranding as S.T.R.I/P.E. -- and under Brainwave's control, he begins to fight Stargirl (Brec Bassinger), as she and the rest of the Justice Society try to locate the ISA's machine and shut it down permanently, before it kills the estimated 25 percent of those effected who try to fight off Brainwave's influence.

Bath (Anjelika Washington) gets the bright idea that the ISA tunnels had signal dampeners, which must have been taken down now to allow for Pat and Sir Justin (Mark Ashworth) to be effected. She has "Chuck" -- the AI behind the Doctor Mid-Nite goggles she wears -- to hack into them, but the goggles themselves have been hacked into by The Gambler (Eric Goins), who stops them at every turn. So Chuck devises a plan to distract The Gambler by hacking into something he cares about more -- his money -- and Beth begins to drain accounts with large charitable donations. The ploy works, as The Gambler frantically tries to save his money, and Chuck gets the dampeners online just long enough to break the contact for Pat and Justin.

What follows is a redux of the JSA vs ISA we saw the season open with, only with the new players on the board. It's a wall-to-wall brawl, with some great fight choreography. And when The Gambler sees that the JSA is getting the upper hand, he calls in reinforcements: He releases Solomon Grundy! During the battle, Shiv (Meg DeLacy) gets free from her cell as well, and makes it clear whose side she is on -- her own!

As the JSA members overcome their odds, Icicle runs off to get Barbara and Beth, who are in Barbara's office. He attacks and freezes the Doctor Mid-Nite goggles, shattering them, before taking Barbara up to the roof where he tries to explain his plan for a better America. But when Barbara refuses to listen, he turns on her, just as Pat and Stargirl show up for the rescue, and the ultimate fight between the team leaders. In the end, justice triumphs in the most unlikely way and from the least likely member of the family: Mike Dugan (Trae Romano), who must surely get inducted at some level as a legacy hero at some point. (There has already been some speculation, as mentioned on our season recap with David Taylor II, that Barb Whitmore might be the former Liberty Belle, and that perhaps Mike might become the new possessor of the Thunderbolt. However, Jakeem's name has already been dropped, and it's unlikely that CW would run the risk of backlash by replacing an African-American character with a caucasian actor.)

The victory isn't without consequence, however. Both Beth and Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) have been impacted personally in this fight, and it will take some time to recover. Justin leaves Blue Valley to find his horse, Winged Victory, and would like to see some of the other members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory again. (So would we, Justin, so do that side quest for Season Two and bring them all here -- including the Earth Two Green Arrow. Wouldn't Stephen Amell look great in the Robin Hood outfit?) (In the comics, the Seven Soldiers had been scattered throughout history, and the Justice League had to find them and bring them back together. That would be all kinds of fun!)

As the episode closes out, we get some hints of things to come, including a quick cameo of the classic Starman villain/friend, The Shade, and Shiv finds a particularly ominous looking black diamond -- and yes, it's that black diamond, in case you're a fan in the know and were wondering, because she speaks the name: Eclipso!

We close at Christmas, six weeks later, with Courtney and Pat getting closer than ever as father and daughter, with a (bit of a filler) scene of Courtney flying around Blue Valley to take the patriotic hero pose on top of the water tower with the American flag, just as the credits roll...

...and stop. Because in North Hollywood, California, someone is looking for Pat Dugan. His name? Sylvester Pemberton: Starman!

2021 cannot get here soon enough!