I agree. Icicle was watching them all and I have no problem imagining that he thought Gambler was committed to change for his daughter, just as he saw that the Crocks would be loyal to Pat and Barb. (man, Icicle just loved killing his teammates...)
I had fun with the finale. I didn't exactly love some of the fight pairings (we had too many ice-powered villains, and it doesn't feel great to see our heroes fight the elderly), but some of it was great. Pat vs. Humanite-in-Sylvester in particular. Dragon King-in-Humanite vs. the All-Stars was cool too, and at first I thought Jakeem was dumb by being vague as to who he was saving, but it showed the kind of command he now has over the Thunderbolt.
I was worried they were just going to have Cameron up and leave so that we end the season with a heartbroken Courtney, but they didn't do that. Artemis also provided some closure with Icicle.
Man, that final scene. Loved it! The JSA Legacy lives on! Glad we got to have it to wrap up the series and learn a bit more about what the JSA have done in those ten years and how much growth the heroes have gone through. And Jay appears! Jay Garrick is the elder statesman to the JSA just as much as John Wesley Shipp is the elder statesman to DC TV shows.
I agree, it avoided a lot of traps the other shows did. Maybe it was the lower episode count per season.
I think that was a plot for next season. There were lots of people around, and that kind of thing needs a scene's full attention. And this way, Cindy can chase the dog with her doll-father thing and we can see Rick make nice with his future in-laws.
Sand and Sylvester pretty much had to happen next season given what they set up. Damage, though, that was unexpected. And I wonder how they would have addressed Green Arrow and Speedy (I know we saw them in a picture, but I don't think they were name dropped).
That's...a choice. I guess I shouldn't put all my hopes on the final season of the Flash tying all these shows up (because I really want a Legends and and Mia conclusion there), but I would have thought it would make more sense for Stargirl to appear on Flash than Titans.
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I liked Courtney as a character, but I think the breakout characters on the show were: Cindy and the Shade. Both characters were very charismatic -- even when on the wrong side of the law. I never read any comics with Shiv, but I think her casting resulted in her being a hero at the end -- whereas I'm pretty sure she's still a villain in the comic books. Shade was also great casting.
Things that bothered -- mostly because they didn't match the comic books:
- That the ISA was able to defeat/kill the JSA. That was just a bad premise. Would have been better if it has been a cosmic accident -- or them stranded in Limbo.
- Stripesy not being a strongman. What was his purpose before inventing STRIPE. I guess he hung out with Doiby Dickles adn Johnny Thunder.
- Most of the JSA remaining dead. Thought for sure we'd get more Jay Garrick and Alan Scott!
- Beth and Dr. Mid-Nite/Dr. Midnight. Every CW DC show has to have a nerd become a costume hero -- but I wish they had cast someone else as a nerd and given us a Beth more like the books.
- Only one female character in original JSA -- and she wasn't even a member of the original team in the comic books. Couldn't they have used Black Canary since this was NOT the same Earth as the Arrowverse. Power Girl and/or Fury would have been cool as well.
No Spectre! Would have been nice to have him show up in the Eclipso season.
To be fair, there are things I liked a lot -- even if they were a little different than the comic books:
- Ultra-Humanite
- The Crock family
- Jade & Obsidian
- Mr. Bones
- Jay Garrick (too bad he couldn't have been a full member -- despite the showing was a young JSA).
Last edited by kcekada; 01-05-2023 at 08:50 AM.
^^^ Stargirl and Arrowverse are not on the same Earth.
Yes, that was my point even though I incorrectly types that they were. Since they were separate Earths -- they should have been able to use Black Canary. But I did forget that Stargirl didn't start as a CW show, so there was likely a licensing issue.
Rewatching. You suppose Icicle saw anyone but Brainwave and maybe Dragon King being his equals? We didn't get to see enough of Ultra-Humanite to get a sense, nor any interaction with The Shade. All the others, however, he seemed to hold as subordinates, at best.
Had the ISA alliance not been fractured, do you suppose its senior members have eventually fallen out?
I don't know if he saw them as equals so much as being instrumental to his plans, and it was probably the same for Ultra-Humanite. He came off pretty affable to everybody even the people he eventually killed, but I think the only people he really cared about anyone other than his own family. Which was true for a lot of the ISA.
Having finally seen the Stargirl (series) finale myself this past weekend, I would generally cosign most of you in being simultaneously satisfied that a lot of the lingering loose ends were tied up as well as they could be and disappointed that a lot of great future plotlines teased in the "Ten Years Later" flashforward at the end wouldn't be fleshed out in future seasons, particularly the one with the real Sylvester Pemberton getting his brain back in his body, after all. At least Artemis got to avenge her parents and make sure Icicle never resurrected himself again, even if I was wondering if she'd be Tigress II like in the comics canon (and Young Justice's later seasons), or maybe Sportsmaster II. I was also glad that the new JSA team managed to make up with their families by the end, and well . . . couldn't really go wrong with a (literally) last-minute appearance from the original Flash, Jay Garrick. All in all, not a bad way to close out if that had to happen, and I did like the "Never the End" tagline concluding the episode (and series).
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