Generation Justice: Stargirl Episode 112, "Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. Part 1"

If you haven't watched any STARGIRL by now, you are lucky. Because you're only one week away from getting to binge the entire first season.

It's been a shortened first season -- only thirteen episodes in total -- but it's been a fun and enjoyable ride. DC and CW have given viewers the family-friendly super-hero show that its lineup had been sorely missing, and fans have responded positively to it. Brec Bassinger's portrayal of Courtney Whitmore, the teenager who becomes Stargirl, is fresh and optimistic, always appealing to the good in people. It's with this determined outlook that Stargirl recruits a new Justice Society from the unlikely group of social outcasts at Blue Valley High: Doctor Mid-nite (Anjelika Washington), Hourman (Cameron Gellman), and Wildcat (Yvette Monreal).

As the penultimate episode of the freshman season airs, the Injustice Society of America is on the verge of firing up their broadcast device that will amplify the powers of Brainwave (Christopher James Baker) so that he can send the ISA's manifesto into the minds of nearly a hundred million people, forcing them to accept the ISA's dream of a new America that will..

...combat global warming, do away with prejudices against race and sexual orientation, and provide universal health care.

As Hourman asks Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson): "Are you sure we're on the right side?"

Ah, but there is that niggling little catch about how those who fight the programming will die, and the estimate is that this number will be twenty-five percent. The race is on to stop the ISA in their tracks before the entire breadbasket of the United States is converted into a sovereign state of mindless slaves. The problem with that is that the broadcast has already started -- with both Barbara (Amy Smart) and Pat succumbing to Brainwave's attack, as the process only works against fully-formed brains; in other words, adults. You can expect that next episode is going to open up with the JSA battling their mentors -- S.T.R.I.P.E. and the Shining Knight, Sir Justin (Mark Ashworth).

This episode has some great battle scenes in it as the JSA prepares to withdraw and regroup. Since Brainwave has recovered from his coma, he remembers Stargirl's identity, and the ISA leader, Jordan (Neil Jackson) -- aka Icicle -- puts out a hit on the entire Dugan/Whitmore family, including young Mike Dugan (Trae Romano) because he doesn't want to leave the door open to any kind of legacy. Mike finally is let in on the entire supehero family secret in this episode, coming to Pat's rescue when the garage is attacked by Sportsmaster (Neil Hopkins), while the villainous Tigress (Joy Osmanski) battles Stargirl and her mom in the house. We also get a little more information on the new Fiddler, Anaya Bowin (Hina Khan) and her son, Isaac, who is definitely on the persecuted path of becoming a legacy villain himself.

This first season of STARGIRL has planted a lot of hints to excite Justice Society fans, most notably the Green Lantern power battery and the pink ink pen housing the Thunderbolt genie, and this reviewer is looking forward to seeing what the writing staff is going to do with them in the second season.