Stargirl season 1, episode 2 review: S.T.R.I.P.E.

“I’m Stargirl and this… is my sidekick.” Minor spoilers for Stargirl season 1, episode 2 follow.

After barely escaping her fight with Brainwave, Courtney, with the help of Pat, continues to learn more about what it takes to become Stargirl in the latest episode of the new DC Universe series.

Pat isn’t all that thrilled about this development though and tries his best to protect her from the danger she is putting herself into.

Courtney and her staff

“A boy and his dog” trope, eat your heart out, you have a new challenger in town and it’s “a girl and her Cosmic Staff.”

Wasting no time from the end of the premiere, this episode picks up immediately with Pat landing his giant robot in front of Courtney, quickly taking her away from Brainwave. It would’ve been so easy for the show to skip forward an hour or two and not deal with the immediate fallout from the fight, but instead, the better decision is made. By following Courtney and Pat in the immediate aftermath of the fight, this allows character building the organically occur for each character.

In Courtney’s case, we get to see the bond she has with the Cosmic Staff grow through their mutual fear. It makes the bond between the two feel more realistic as it allows the audience to see Courtney, and whatever entity inhabits the staff, to simply react and exist. They aren’t just taking everything in stride, but rather feel very human in spite of the circumstances, which allows the audience to connect with them more.

When away from the staff though, Courtney can’t help but continue to get in trouble. This is great because it establishes even more that she’s not a perfect character. She makes mistakes. She’s stubborn and rushes headlong into situations she shouldn’t. She feels like a real person, a real teenager, not just a caricature. By doing this, she’s also basically a 1 to 1 adaptation of how she’s portrayed in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. which is fantastic as it shows the love being put into this show.

When it comes simply to Brec Bassinger’s performance in this episode though, she absolutely kills it on every level here. She’s fantastic. She had already showcased why she was the perfect choice to play Courtney in the premiere and she proves it even more here, especially toward the end of the episode. In a scene just featuring Courtney and her mom, Bassinger is phenomenal. She has about five emotions running across her face within that one scene alone, constantly shifting back and forth between them in a way that feels so real and absolutely right for Courtney in that moment. And once she dawns the Stargirl suit, she embodies it so well.

S.T.R.I.P.E. to the rescue

After being introduced in the last few seconds of the premiere episode, we really get to see Pat and his suit in action in this episode. It’s not much (because it’s super expensive), but what we get in this episode with the S.T.R.I.P.E. suit is fantastic. It’s humorous and character building for Pat in the best way possible. Almost every scene revolving around Pat and his suit in this episode is even more cheesy than the last episode and said cheesiness works incredibly well here. It allows us into Pat’s world of a reluctant return to superheroing while also showing us that Pat is a genius engineer, even if he doesn’t get things right on the first couple of tries.

More than just showing Pat with the suit though, this episode goes a long way in showing who Pat is beneath the suit and the secrets. And honestly, it’s a pretty simple answer. He’s a good, kind man. There’s not much more to him than that and there doesn’t need to be. Who he is, that’s enough. This is most evident in a conversation with Courtney late in the episode where he’s trying to protect her and her mom by basically sacrificing himself for them. It’s exactly what a hero would do and, whether she will admit it or not, he’s a big part of why Courtney dawned her Stargirl suit.

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And just like Bressinger, Luke Wilson knocks it out of the park here. His background in comedy really helps with many of his scenes in this episode, but where he really shines is the aforementioned scene with Courtney. The way Wilson plays it is absolutely perfect for the character of Pat. His fear comes across as authentic, but there’s so much more simmering underneath that fear. It’s a scene that very easily could’ve been played as a screaming match, but Wilson goes to smarter route by having an incredibly stern, forceful delivery in almost a whisper. It perfectly conveys what’s happening for the character in the specific scene, while also showing that Wilson was the perfect casting for Pat.

Injustice grows

Stepping away from Courtney and Pat though, this episode does slow down quite a bit so that it can introduce more of the supporting cast, mainly those who are a part of the Injustice Society. This is a necessary slow down that needs to occur, but it’s also very noticeable. Every scene that Courtney and/or Pat aren’t in almost has a void of charisma that those two carry. None of these scenes without Courtney or Pat are necessarily bad per se, but the lack of the two main characters is very noticeable as none of the villains are particularly memorable or interesting as of yet.

On the flip side, we get a tiny bit more exposure to the future members of the Justice Society. It’s nothing more than one or two lines for the most part, but it’s smart to continuously expose the audience to the characters in small doses for the moment. There’s a sense that the show would’ve been slightly more interesting if it focused on the future Justice Society more right now, but villains need to be set up properly, so it makes sense why the focus is going there for now.

DId you enjoy Stargirl’s second episode? Let us know in the comments below!