Stargirl 1x3 : Icicle review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

This week's episode of Stargirl begins eight years in the past as we learn more of the villain Icicle's past. He is seen with his parents and his son standing over a bedridden woman. This turns out to be his wife who is clinging onto life. Everyone is present because she is pretty much minutes away from passing away. When the machine she is attached to begins beeping fast the young boy runs out of the room as Icicle whose real name is Jordon Mahkent promises his dying wife that he will get revenge for all those who wronged her and ultimately were the cause of her death. Her death was the cause of some sort of toxin that isn't really explained in the episode. Back in present day and after getting the better of Brainwave in last week's episode Courtney is adamant on finding the other members of the Injustice Society and along with Pat as S.T.R.I.P.E she is extremely confident in doing so. Pat shuts her down almost instantly however and sends her off to school telling her to live a normal life. At school Courtney begins to interact more with her peers and we meet an aspiring magician in Joey who performs a magic trick on Courtney that doesn't exactly go as planned but Courtney makes it out like it did. 

At Blue Valley Medical we see Pat visiting Brainwave who is still in a critical but stable condition from last week's episode. Pat speaks to a doctor who says that Brainwave was found outside of the medical center wearing his lab coat which Pat immediately cops onto thinking that he must've had some help in getting to the center. Back in school and Courtney further attempts to bond with her fellow students but almost always gets shut down by them. Slut shaming, and blatant bullying are all present in Blue Valley's High School and it upsets Courtney to no end. As for her mom Barbara she really begins to hit her stride at work after one of her ideas gets the green light by none other than Jordon Mahkent himself who it turns out also works at the American Dream building. He has her become a part of a special community task force as he attempts to discover Stargirl's identity on the down low. He also goes to visit another former Injustice Society associate who is now the mayor of Blue Valley and father to Joey who I mentioned earlier. He talks about his promise to his wife and how he's killed one Starman before and that this time will be no different. 

The episode draws to a close with the battle between Icicle, Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E, while walking home from school Courtney comes across a field that is covered in ice with a giant star symbol in the middle. She rushes home to tell Pat and he again tells her to forget about it, that he just too dangerous to take on even if they work together. Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E do end up getting to go toe to toe with Icicle who gets the better of them both at first. Things look to be on the up however when S.T.R.I.P.E. fires one of his fists at Icicle just as he is about to impale Stargirl. He gets blown onto a bridge that just so happens to be the same bridge the school bus is passing along. Icicle freezes the entire road which causes the bus to go out of control ending in it hanging off the side of the bridge. S.T.R.I.P.E. makes the save though but the day isn't won. Icicle spots another car coming and again uses his frosty powers to steer that car out of control. Joey who I mentioned earlier steps out into the road to get his magic cards back and..it ends in tragedy. We don't see Joey getting hit by the car but it's soon announced that he was killed in the accident. News of the tragedy soon reaches his parents who are hurt and dumbfounded by what happened. His dad in particular who goes to pay Jordon a visit with his magical wand that is powered by electricity. He actually ends up getting killed by the ice cold villain which means 2 losses in one day for Joey's mom, her son and her husband. Back home and Courtney is overcome with guilt and sadness of Joey's death. He was the only guy in her entire school that talked to her since she began. She says how sweet he was and how impactful he was to those around him. Pat tries to comfort his step daughter and brings her to the old JSA HQ to try and take her mind off of things. At the building we see all manner of things like Doctor Mid-Nite's Owl who is awaiting his master's return. Photos and pictures of hero's like Dr Fate and the original Flash Jay Garrick. Pat mentions how they were all his family and they died hero's. An idea springs in Courtney's head that if these were hero's that needed training to be the best version of themselves surely more can be taught this way?? Pat turns the idea down and they both leave but the last thing we see in the episode is Courtney back at the JSA HQ taking various items and objects like Doctor Mid-Nite's Owl, a giant Lantern ring charger and Wildcat's mask. The last thing we hear her say is that it's time to start recruiting as the episode ends on that note. 3 episodes in and Stargirl's potential to be one of the best DC TV shows to date is extremely high. It's extremely grounded in reality focusing on some real world problems alongside being fantastical. It's simply a joy to watch.

★★★★