Stargirl season 1, episode 6 review: The Justice Society

“Let’s see how you like being taken out of the game.” Minor spoilers for Stargirl season 1, episode 6 follow.

Stargirl has finally recruited the new members of the Justice Society but, as it turns out, she can’t keep the secret from Pat any longer and that’s secret comes out in the latest episode of the DC Universe show.

Meanwhile, the Injustice Society begins to move forward with their plan for a New America full steam ahead.

Pat finds out

Unsurprisingly, Pat has found out that Courtney has taken the equipment from the Justice Society headquarters and has begun to give to her new recruits. And really, it didn’t take him all that long to figure it out either because Courtney is terrible at choosing whether to hide objects of massive power. So, after two episodes of setting the inheritors to the mantle of Wildcat, Hourman, and Dr. Mid-Nite, will their new titles be taken away from them pretty much immediately? Well, that’s where the drama for this episode comes into play.

After having back-to-back episodes of showing how Yolanda, Beth, and Rick all needed a purpose to their life, this episode does a great job of showing how their new roles have granted a new lease on life itself. They have purpose and they aren’t just going to give it up because Courtney and Pat ask them to. It’s a wonderful of showing that these characters are now in it for the long haul, even if they don’t fully have an idea of what that long haul means as of yet.

Beth, Yolanda, and Rick have quickly become incredibly interesting characters and this episode just adds on more reasons to keep rooting for them in various ways. Sometimes the episode feels rushed as it tries to juggle each of these characters and their new dilemma though, but the rushed nature of some scenes never stops the purpose of the scene from shining through.

As for Courtney and Pat, they haven’t really interacted much over the course of the past two episodes, for obvious reasons. Because of that, it has felt like some of the heart that was presented over the first three episodes of the season was lost. However, that heart returns in this episode as Courtney and Pat finally are back together again for more than just one or two scenes. Their scenes together in this episode are wonderful and effortlessly balance the humor and heart that Brec Bassinger and Luke Wilson ooze when together on screen. Their final interaction in this episode alone is so much fun to watch and worth them not being together for the majority of the past three episodes.

Sportsmaster and Tigress

Along with the Justice Society being pretty much fully formed for now, we also get to meet two new members of the Injustice Society, Sportsmaster and Tigress. I won’t spoil who they are just in case, you’ve never watched Young Justice, but it’s absolutely wonderful that they are keeping the mythology made for that series regarding these two mostly the same. There are obvious differences that need to be made to fit Stargirl, but it’s wonderful to see that backstory intact here.

Beyond the backstory just being intact though, this episode does a great job of really setting up the villainous side of Sportsmaster and Tigress. While the show is going out of its way to humanize Icicle in a fantastic way, it’s also taking a sort of sadistic glee in showing how far Sportsmaster and Tigress will go just to not deal with someone that they don’t like. It’s a great dichotomy between the villains while never shying away from the fact that are all evil.

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On a more personal note, I just love when Sportsmaster is taken seriously. Both here and in Young Justice, the character is taken extremely seriously within the world while also being completely ridiculous at the same time. Because of that, there’s this threatening feeling that the character gives off once you see him in action. It’s fantastic.

The first fight the JSA

Now that the JSA is finally together, Stargirl can lead them into their fight against the Injustice Society and the first ones in their way, Sportsmaster and Tigress. And, in a completely not shocking turn of events, things don’t really go their way.

First off, the team sees something that begins to show that this isn’t just a game that they’re playing. There are actual stakes involved and who they are dealing with simply don’t have the lines that normal people have. Courtney already knows the stakes involved after Joey’s death, but the rest of the team needed a realization in this episode and they get it in a relatively simple, yet effective way.

Then there’s the fight itself. There are definitely some growing pains on display with how the fight is filmed and edited, but other than that, it’s a pretty solid fight scene. Each character has a moment to shine and show off their abilities in solid ways and it actually feels like there’s a danger to everything happening. It’s not overly choreographed either which helps lend to the realism that the fight is trying to present. It just feels like kids just trying to hold their own against trained killers and it’s great.

Stargirl streams on the DC Universe on Mondays and airs on The CW On Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET.