Stargirl TV Show

[obatalla]

You know what this is about? Who people identify with and have an affinity for. I remember seeing a gay themed movie awhile back that had a gay and straight guy as the main protagonists. Towards the end of the movie the gay friend died and in the director commentary there was a split reaction. Most people were fine with the movie and the plot, but most gay people were not. They identified more with the gay character and saw that as the person they were along the journey for. So it hit harder when the character they were more invested in was snuffed out.


This applies in comics and tv shows and movies. I favor the characters that have more flashy powers. In Xmen I liked storm more than wolverine or cyclops and even gambit, because I thought her power was way cooler and more impressive. This will obviously not scale to everyone, we are getting into the nature of preference and how that impacts perceptions of the same show. But for me, since I like seeing magic and telekinetic mental powers, losing those on the team was a much bigger hit, just like gay viewers losing the gay character while most of the straight watchers were like who cares, I'm good!

I imagine the people who love the wolverines of the world and favor the punching and kicking and mma extreme over tk powers or magic characters did not bat as much of an eye at the loss as I did.


That is one of the virtues of games, these intersections of preference and identity don't have to be zero sum, people can choose what they prefer. It's also why it's generally a good thing that media tries to expand the types of characters and identities that are depicted, since more people with a broader range of preferences get something that appeals to them. (conversely, when people who are used to getting most media content depicted in a way that caters to their preferences have more stuff show up that is designed to cater to other groups, this causes a great deal of bitterness in a lot of people [see a large chunk of the reaction to star trek discovery])

I'm just salty that what appealed more to me was just gutted like a throwaway star trek red shirt.

Definitely agree...Im not a fan of characters like stripesey...they are boring clownish golden age creations that dont resonate with me...I didnt like henry or the magicians son's dying only to be left with a host of sidekicks...their deaths maybe up the stakes but it their inability to keep them in especialy in henry's case when he is a part of the jsa down the line was short sighted and lazy.

[Güicho]

Totally fun goofball ending, loved it. LOL
And the surprise return at the end, fantastic! I didn't before, but now especially I won't rule any of the JSA completley out for the count.
Agree with others Courtney and Pat's new team should go by Infinity, and leave JSA to the classics.

Character arcs : obviously Courtney and Pat and them connecting make this show. "The staff chose me... and I choose you." relationship is what carried the show to fruition.
Rick Tyler holds back from a really dark place, allowing the mindless beast to live, saved himself form becoming that himself.
On the other-hand, Yolanda, who was there when needed, otherwise once a sweetheart, with everything going for her, might have lost the most of who she was, and sadly (although understandably) steps into her darkest place yet. (most worried about her). And she's likely most susceptible to next seasons villain.
Beth needs to either rebuild Chuck, or essentially become everything he was to honor him, just for her own sake (I think that's her stronger story arc, she should also create her own midnight costume.... and get Hooty as a sidekick)
And Mike Dugan (and bulldog) absolutely needs his own villain-busting vehicle and/or mecha-suit.

Next season is going to be a long wait.

So which incarnation will we get?

[obatalla]

Did they even explain how shiv knew about eclipso?

[Frontier]

Did they even explain how shiv knew about eclipso?

I assume she must've read up on the ISA files to know Wizard had it.

[obatalla]

I assume she must've read up on the ISA files to know Wizard had it.

the fact that we have to come to that conclusion speaks of a rushed writing to come to a conclusion...they could have set this up with all the time she was sitting in jail.

[Jackalope89]

I assume she must've read up on the ISA files to know Wizard had it.

Yeah. My reaction to that?
"You had Grundy locked behind a heavy steel door. But a being like Eclipso is just put into a storage box!?"

Yeah. But a good season ending. One ending on an upbeat (for the heroes, mostly) note, with plenty of foreshadowing for next season. And Mike definitely needs his own thing. What that is, I don't know. But he needs it. Especially with that save.

[kcekada]

Brainwave jr should be alive, and so should the wizard kid. And brainwave sr was taken out way too easily.

They dangle cool and interesting powers, only to have those people snuffed out. I guess they have to make sure only stargirl has any substantive flash. God I am so effing salty right now.


Maybe the writers did this as a reverse "women in refrigerators" since Henry is basically used as character development for Yolanda.

That final scene hurt a lot. I thought Henry was acting out of character, but I would much have preferred that Henry's consciousness would have awoken in Sr. and fought back. I guess there is a remote possibility he could be brought back -- somehow rescued by Dragon King and preserved in a coma, but seems unlikely. If so, what a waste of a good character and actor.

[kcekada]

Wait, so Christmas was only 6 weeks away? It seemed a lot "warmer" throughout the show.

Also, while STRIPE looked great as always, the CGI on Grundy was really lacking.

Yeah, he's probably better reserved for night scenes. Even in the dark tunnels-- he was still to well lit -- so his flaws were apparent.

[kcekada]

So does Courtney's costume come with an internal heating system?

spoilers:

Why would "Henry" referring to the others as "her friends" set off a red flag? Henry never considered them his friends.

end of spoilers

I think it was just his entire attitude. He had no fight in him -- just wanted to run. That was the opposite of Henry's final moments.

[Güicho]

spoilers:

Why would "Henry" referring to the others as "her friends" set off a red flag? Henry never considered them his friends.

end of spoilers

He had a whole story arc you seem to have missed where he sees only the worst in people, yet in the end dies trying to save them.
And while his betrayal and connection to Yolanda was personal. His sacrifice in the end was bigger than that, about the team surviving. Yolanda recognized that.
And thus knew this must be Brainwave manipulating what he thought she (a young girl) wanted to hear most.
Which plays into her personal arc; letting that go.
Which she did, when she guts him for the greater good. (what otherwise looks like the guy she wants back, saying the things she wants back).

Did they even explain how shiv knew about eclipso?

That specific exposition would have been completley unnecessary at this point.

We know her father has been training her, building her to be one of their own. She would have insight into much of their dealings by design. And we know she's a smart girl. Even hints how he would leave (the most dangerous) things open to her, see chemistry class.
This was well established, seeing her know where to go next speaks to that exact set-up.

I assume she must've read up on the ISA files to know Wizard had it.

the fact that we have to come to that conclusion speaks of a rushed writing to come to a conclusion...they could have set this up

They did set it up. see above.

they could have set this up with all the time she was sitting in jail.

Why would she have access to the library while imprisoned? Where she would have gained this "knowledge" is before she was imprisoned, as she was being trained.
The whole point of the imprisonment is denying her access from that stuff.

the fact that we have to come to that conclusion speaks of a rushed writing to come to a conclusion...

No it speaks to proficient editing and story telling, and not wasting time on unnecessary exposition when it's not necessary at this time.
Eclipso's narrative and connection will come later, when it's needed. Here would have been completley unnecessary.
All we had to know is her Father by design in "creating" her, gave her access to the tools, and now with him out of the way, she is going to use them to her own ends.
Which nicely fulfills her first arc.

[Captain Smith]

Nice episode but stupid fighting as usual for most shows. Why didn't Brainwave just vaporize Wildcat - no need for the disguise? Courtney forgets she has an energy weapon to go H2H after the usual talk. Just open up at the get go. If John Wick or Ollie were there at the start of the fight, it would have been over rather quickly, except for Grundy.

Kind of dancing about governmental response. The Feds would have been all over that town unless they are corrupt and part of the 'conspiracy'.

However, it was still fun. Glad to see that some were truly eliminated. No Joker never dies syndrome.

[Agent Z]

He had a whole story arc you seem to have missed where he sees only the worst in people, yet in the end dies trying to save them.
And while his betrayal and connection to Yolanda was personal. His sacrifice in the end was bigger than that, about the team surviving. Yolanda recognized that.
And thus knew this must be Brainwave manipulating what he thought she (a young girl) wanted to hear most.
Which plays into her personal arc; letting that go.
Which she did, when she guts him (for the greater good).

That's still not the same thing as them being his friends. That just makes Henry heroic.

I think it was just his entire attitude. He had no fight in him -- just wanted to run. That was the opposite of Henry's final moments.

This I think makes more sense.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Nice episode but stupid fighting as usual for most shows. Why didn't Brainwave just vaporize Wildcat - no need for the disguise? Courtney forgets she has an energy weapon to go H2H after the usual talk. Just open up at the get go. If John Wick or Ollie were there at the start of the fight, it would have been over rather quickly, except for Grundy.

Kind of dancing about governmental response. The Feds would have been all over that town unless they are corrupt and part of the 'conspiracy'.

However, it was still fun. Glad to see that some were truly eliminated. No Joker never dies syndrome.

Yeah, federal response is a hard thing to handle in these shows. The ISA would have had a hard time fending off the army or national guard

[Flash Gordon]

the fact that we have to come to that conclusion speaks of a rushed writing to come to a conclusion...they could have set this up with all the time she was sitting in jail.

Yeah, that was weak. Felt very "who cares?"

Overall the whole episode felt like the stories were ending because they're ending, not an organic close or narratively compelling conclusion. They set up a lot of great stuff, so I thought we were in store for more than a simple superhero joint with a "might makes right" message.

I'd say up till episode 12 the show was absolute fire.
Great performances throughout the last episode though. The whole cast really shines.

[Jon Clark]

Yeah, federal response is a hard thing to handle in these shows. The ISA would have had a hard time fending off the army or national guard

That depends. If the soldiers arrived while Brainwave was still hooked up they'd be controlled. If it was afterward (assuming the JSA Jr failed) then they'd have been fighting the brainwashed population of multiple states as well as the ISA.