In the seventh episode of DC Universe’s Stargirl , as Pat teaches Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick the importance of teamwork, the ISA converge to figure out who is trying to take them down.
The episode begins with our JSA getting ready for the day — Courtney saying good morning to the Cosmic Staff, Rick carving an hourglass symbol onto the tree his parents crashed into, Yolanda working out with the punching bag, and Beth singing and dancing with her goggles/Chuck while she brushes her teeth. After Mike gets home from his paper route, Courtney and Pat have to use Pat supposedly teaching Courtney how to drive to cover-up the fact that they’re actually talking about Pat training his stepdaughter and the newly appointed JSA team.
At the hospital, Henry and a very insincere Cindy visit Henry’s father, who is still in a coma. While Henry talks about wanting to will his father awake, Cindy offers to help him plan Homecoming, but Henry doesn’t care about the dance. At school, the JSA crew are enjoying their newfound friendship until Cindy literally runs into them and Courtney questions why the mean girl is, well, so mean. Beth shares that Cindy’s mom died a few years ago and her dad got remarried, but Rick says that’s no excuse, Cindy is just awful.
At American Dream, Jordan asks Barbara to accompany him to close a sale on a sewing machine factory in Oakville that is available for interested buyers, saying they would only be gone for a day. Back at school, Cindy gets into a fight with her friend, is rude to the mysterious Justin the janitor (who owns an enchanted sword), and continues being awful to everyone around her.
During lab, Courtney finds herself stuck with Cindy as a partner. In another part of the school, Henry suddenly starts to hear the thoughts of the other students in his classroom during a test. Henry takes advantage of his growing abilities and uses his telepathy to cheat on the test. Back in their own class, Courtney is surprised Cindy is able to mess with dangerous chemicals without reading the instructions. Cindy said that she grew up mixing chemicals thanks to her dad being a chemist and how they did science experiments for fun. As the two sort of bond, Cindy offers to hang out on Saturday night and Courtney is open to the idea.
When Cindy gets home, she treats her stepmother terribly, including knocking a plate of food from her hands. Cindy’s stepmother is clearly scared of the teen, who says her mom is “disobeying” her. After typing in a security code, Cindy makes her way into the tunnels below their house, leading her to the Injustice Society’s headquarters.
At Pit Stop, Pat’s shop, the group meets up to begin learning about how to use their powers as a team. Pat has set up an obstacle course to help the kids learn more about their enemies and how to fight them. Meanwhile, Cindy listens in on a meeting between the ISA, who are discussing who the JSA are and if they should recruit their own children to the cause. Cindy overhears the codename Stargirl before being dragged away from her eavesdropping.
Pat goes over the ISA with Courtney and the others, introducing them to Icicle, Sportsmaster and his partner Tigress, the Gambler, the Fiddler, and Solomon Grundy before his schooling is interrupted by Courtney, who wants Pat to speed up the training process. Pat argues that if they’re not properly trained they’re going to get hurt. Courtney decides to show off her fighting skills by taking down all of the fake ISA “dummies” Pat set up for training, but the others get mad at her for showing off and not allowing them to practice since this is new to them. Pat says they’ll pick it back up tomorrow.
Elsewhere, Cindy confronts her father, Dr. Ito, saying she wants to be part of the ISA and kills one of his drones to prove her readiness. He tells her that she’s learned nothing from her mother’s death, and Cindy says that she was young and that was a mistake. Cindy spots a staff on the wall, which is ripped out of her hands by Ito when she ignores his demands not to touch it. Cindy then tells her dad she is bored with Henry, who she is apparently only dating to keep an eye on for Ito. Dr. Ito says that if Brainwave never wakes up, they’ll need Henry’s telepathic abilities for Ito’s machine, so Cindy can’t dump him yet because she needs to keep watch. Cindy doesn’t think Henry has his father’s powers.
Cindy demands to know who Stargirl is and about the Justice Society, wanting a seat at the table. Dr. Ito says she’s not ready, and to stop taking this out on her stepmother as she took a long time to prepare (in the same way he made his drones). Cindy leaves after her father calls her his greatest experiment.
At their home, Jordan and his son Cameron talk about Homecoming. Cameron has someone he wants to ask out but needs advice. Jordan talks about meeting Cameron’s mom and how they ended up together. Jordan tells his son he was put on this earth to find love and to not let anything stop him from trying.
While Barbara goes out of town for the night, Pat takes Courtney and Mike to the Homecoming game. When Pat briefly leaves to grab them some food as the football game commences, Mike vents some buried frustrations towards Courtney, calling Pat his father, not hers. Mike mentions how Courtney and Pat hang out all the time, and asks, “Do you see me with Barbara 24/7 because I don’t have a mother? No, you don’t. ‘Cause I deal with it.” Mike then says that he and Pat have been through a lot, more than Courtney knows, before stomping away.
Cameron sits down next to Courtney and asks her out to the Homecoming dance. Courtney really wants to go to the dance and decides she’ll talk to Cindy about hanging out another time. When Courtney tries to ask Cindy about hanging out on another day since Cameron asked her to the dance, Cindy gets pissed and tells her to forget it, forever.
At the concessions, Lawrence approaches Pat about his diet as Courtney decides to follow Principal Bowin into the school, determined to prove that she’s the new Fiddler. When Pat returns, he finds only Mike and wonders where Courtney is. Back inside, Courtney grabs her Cosmic Staff and gears up. Using the staff, she opens the secret passageway Bowin used and follows the long path through the underground tunnels, tracking Bowin.
Elsewhere in the tunnels, Cindy searches for her dad, upset he is never there when she needs him. She then notices that Stargirl has infiltrated the ISA base and steals one of Dr. Ito’s outfits, taking a step closer to becoming the villain Shiv. Without covering up her face, Cindy goes after Stargirl and the two fight it out in the school. At one point during the fight, Courtney discovers that Cindy has the ability to heal rather quickly.
After Cindy overwhelms Stargirl and is about to finish Courtney off, Justin the janitor steps in with his sword, stopping her and knocking her down. As Courtney passes out, she hears Justin say, “Until death, it is all life.” The Cosmic Staff finds Pat and leads him back to Courtney, who finds her in the gym right after Cindy has fled the scene. Justin watches from afar, recognizing Pat as Stripesy.
What did you think of the new episode of Stargirl ?
