Stargirl 1x10 : Brainwave Jr review

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

The previous 9 weeks of Stargirl have been a genuinely enjoyable, atmospheric and overall a good time. But with this episode boy did they really knock it out of the park in this episode. The episode begins 2 years in the past in Blue Valley. We're shown Pat and Barbara and how they came to meet one another at a diner. The sort of lovey dovey vibe being showcased between them is far from what is happening in present day as we're soon thrown into the aftermath of last week's ending which was Barbara finding out the truth about what has been going on. Barbara is as you can imagine is thrown for a loop and immediately tells Courtney to go to her room. This is before Courtney like previous in the season says that Starman is her father. Barbara says he isn't and sends Courtney off like I mentioned. Next up in her cross hairs is Pat. She tells him that she is disappointed in him. He put Courtney, himself and their family in danger. She ends up asking him to leave their home. Pat agrees and Mike goes with him. When last week's episode ended we also saw Brainwave awaken from his coma right in front of his son Henry Jr who had just used his powers to get rid of the lawyer who had shown up at the hospital. Glad to have his father back Henry Jr learns that his father's memory has been damaged and he can't remember anything after his son's 6th birthday. 

Back at home and after reading his fathers mind Henry Jr learns that his mom was the light of his fathers life. But not only that upon further research through his father's video tapes Henry Jr finds out that Jordan (Icicle) was the one responsible for his mom's demise and Brainwave solely blames him. As Henry Jr was out of the hospital Jordan ends up paying Brainwave a visit solely intent on using his powers to put them to work on the machine that the ISA have been planning to use. As they are leaving the hospital room the Cosmic Staff comes rushing into the room. It blasts Jordan but gets stopped in it's tracks by Brainwave before Jordan recovers and uses his ice powers to stop the Cosmic Staff. So why was the Staff there alone?? well Courtney is still very much grounded and isn't allowed to leave her bedroom. In fact Barbara has plans for her and Courtney to leave Blue Valley. Courtney awakens the following morning and gets told this by Barbara. That's the least of her worries however as she soon learns that the Cosmic Staff is missing as it's chest is empty in the basement. She goes to see Pat at this garage who has no idea what is going on given that he hasn't been at the house after he was told to leave. While on the way back home Courtney gets a message telepathically from Henry Jr who shows her everything that has happened over the past couple of days. Courtney knows she only has one solution and gets to work.

The episode draws to a close as Courtney meets with the rest of the JSA members at school who right away are against working with Henry Jr. Yolanda especially given what happened between them in the past. It's understandable given the history between not only Yolanda but everyone else given how Henry Jr had acted in the past. He says he has changed however and won't use his powers in any evil way. So it's mission time for the JSA. They are all soon off Henry Jr including to the tunnels below Blue Valley where they don't have the Cosmic Staff to help and Dr Mid-Nite's info either as Beth's goggles begin to malfunction the deeper they get. They are soon outed and a giant fight breaks out as Stargirl takes on Dragon King whose face we see for the first time. Wildcat manages to retrieve Stargirl's staff who uses it to her advantage. Henry Jr finds his father whose mind has already been corrupted to it's previous state by the ISA. The fight leads deeper into the tunnels where the JSA get backed into a corner by Brainwave who is back to his previous merciless self. A giant revelation follows and that is that Jordan did not kill Henry Jr's mom Mary but it was actually Brainwave himself. He tells his son this as the two face off in a corridor of the tunnel with the rest of the JSA trapped by bars that cannot be broken or bent to their will. Father and son share a moment before Brainwave ends up killing his own son burying him under a giant pile of rubble. Henry Jr does manage to apologize to Yolanda before it happens and he tells Stargirl to never lose her good values. And that's how the episode ends with Henry Jr's demise. What a way to not only end the episode but what a way to blow the remaining episodes wide open. Simply put this was the best episode of the season thus far and that's saying a lot given how consistent the season has been. 3 episodes now remain and they are going to be can't miss!

★★★★★