Stargirl season 1, episode 1 review: A new generation of hero is born

“Someone with honor must carry the torch.” Minor spoilers for Stargirl season 1, episode 1 follow.

After her mother marries Pat Dugan, Courtney Whitmore moves with her family to the small town of Blue Valley, Nebraska where she quickly begins on her path to becoming Stargirl.

At the beginning of that path though, she learns what really happened to the Justice Society of America when they disappeared ten years ago.

Casting is key

There are so many things that can go wrong with pilot episodes. From a lack of identity for the show to a premise that doesn’t hook you in immediately, television pilots are a notoriously tricky thing to crack. But, the most important thing to get right is casting which is what will truly hook you into the show. It doesn’t matter if the story is great or if the show has a great identity, casting makes or breaks a premiere episode.  Thankfully, the casting is Stargirl is phenomenal, especially with Brec Bassinger and Luke Wilson as the core of the show.

Brec Bassinger is a pitch perfect Courtney Whitmore. Everything about her in this first episode is like watching Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., the series Courtney first appeared in, come to life. From the first time she appears on screen in this episode, it’s clear exactly who she is without the need for any dialogue and that’s all thanks to Bassinger’s wonderful performance. She’s a frustrated teenager who’s going through great change and Bassinger sells this incredibly well. As the episode goes on, we get to see the more joyous and awe-filled side to her, but the first couple of scenes that she’s in really are what make you latch onto Courtney. Even though Bassinger is the third person to play a version of Stargirl, she has already shown that she is the perfect encapsulation of the character.

The same goes for Luke Wilson as Pat. He’s the person that series creator Geoff Johns originally envisioned as the character and it’s easy to see why. He’s great here. He and Brec have a natural chemistry together, which is great considering they are the two anchors of the show. Wilson pulls off that “stepdad trying to hard” vibe incredibly well, but there’s more to the character than that, and Wilson switches gears very easily. Amy Smart, who plays Courtney’s mom, is also really good here, even though she’s only in a couple of scenes. Just like Wilson, she has great chemistry with Bassinger and they really feel like a mother/daughter duo.

High school sucks

Beyond the great casting though, it becomes quickly apparent that this is going to be a coming-of-age story just as much as a superhero story, which feels incredibly fresh in the superhero genre. There’s a light Breakfast Club feeling a couple of times in the episode which really helps accentuate what the series is going for. The overarching story of the season isn’t apparent yet, only hinted at, but this episode does a really great job of setting the coming-of-age notions that the series is aiming for.

The episode also goes a long way to establishing the isolation that Courtney feels in her new school. It’s a feeling that almost everyone reading this will understand in at least some context of their life and it’s portrayed incredibly well here. In fact, it made me think of my first couple weeks of college. Anytime a show or a film can viscerally make you recall a time in your life, that means it accomplished its job of setting the scene in a fitting way.

More from Arrowverse

• The 9 best (and 8 worst) Arrowverse characters
• 27 best fighters in the Arrowverse, ranked
• All 8 Black Canary actresses ranked from worst to best
• 11 things nobody wants to admit about the Arrowverse
• The 7 best (and 6 worst) Arrowverse villains

The high school scenes, as well as the bullies that are ever-present in high school media and real life, also help to effectively establish Courtney’s character beyond her own isolation to her surroundings. It quickly shows that she has a heroic side to her and doesn’t like bullies, which is key for a superhero. These scenes also quickly establish the high school characters that will matter more as the season goes on, but definitely aren’t the focus right now which is good.

The comics come to life

Throughout the episode, the love for the comics the show is based on is clearly on display. From the larger things like the Justice Society to the smaller things like the Action Comics logo being on a moving truck, the love that Johns and the rest of the team have for the source material is clear.

The episode is basically a straight adaptation of the first couple of issues of Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. by Johns and artist Lee Moder, which is incredibly rare in the world of superhero film and television. To see an actual comics storyline accurately re-created in live-action, but different enough to feel unique, it’s a great feeling as fan of said comic series.

It’s also just nice to see something superhero related not shying away from the more obscure elements of the mythos. To have both the Justice Society and Injustice Society featured within the first ten minutes of the episode, it’s something that probably no one was ever expecting to see.

There’s an embrace to the comic book nature of the show that pretty much every show and film based on a comic. There’s an inherent ridiculousness to the show and it embraces that while also taking the story and characters seriously. The combination of embracing the ridiculous while also still taking things seriously is one of the big reasons why this episode works so well.

Did you enjoy the pilot of Stargirl? Let us know in the comments below!