Stargirl 1x9 : Brainwave 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 decades in the past as we learn how Brainwave came to be and how he learned to deal with his emerging powers over the years. Henry King was a scientist who one night while going to his car was involved in an attempted mugging. A hooded man demands that he be given Henry's wallet and car keys. As he says this his thoughts begin to be read by Henry who before was on the ground pleading for his life. Soon the hooded man is on the ground and Henry is alive and well car keys, wallet and all intact. It turns out he ended up giving the mugger a seizure killing him in the process. This was the first man Henry King killed in his evolution of becoming Brainwave. During last week's episode we saw his son Henry Jr discover Brainwave's secret room filled with his costume and various other things including VHS tapes. Well Henry Jr gets to watching them tapes and they are all titled with a Day. A giant bundle of tapes can be seen on the shelf going all the way up to the late 60 in numbers. In these tapes Henry Jr hears his father discuss his growing powers and his realisation that humanity is full of monsters. Why did he say this?? well with his new powers he is able to fully read minds and hear what people are thinking. Jealously, anger, guilt and deceit all fill people's minds. With each mind Brainwave would read his mind would be overcome with pain resulting in severe headaches. Back in the outside world and Henry Jr is now suffering from the same thing his father did. Each time he peaks inside someones mind he too can feel their pain which in turn makes things worse for him. More on Henry Jr in a bit.

Back at home and we see Courtney talking to Pat in the basement. Courtney tells Pat what happened when she came into contact with Henry Jr last week. He read her thoughts and now knows everything that she does. Concerned by this is Pat who disagrees with Courtney almost immediately who says that she wants to recruit Henry Jr much like she did with the other JSA members. Pat shows Courtney a really cool photo of another group he was a part of before the JSA. They were called the 7 Soldiers of Victory and the photo in itself is one giant easter egg. In the photo we see hero's like Vigilante, Crimson Raider and even Green Arrow & Speedy of all people. Not sure this will go anywhere but was really cool to see nevertheless. Courtney soon goes as far as to see Henry Jr at the hospital where his emotions and reaction to what Courtney says to him go a little bit far. After leaving Courtney gets further chastised by the other JSA members back at school. Both Rick and Yolanda are strictly against Courtney trying to recruit Henry Jr to the cause stating that people cannot change. Beth on the other hand is a bit more optimistic and agrees with Courtney even if it may not be the best idea. 

The episode draws to a close as Barbara invites Jordan and his family to her home for dinner that evening. With Courtney's recruitment of Henry Jr now on hold as he is once again visiting his dad at the hospital she has something else to worry about in Jordan. his son Cameron and his grandparents all come for dinner thanks to Barbara's offer. Unknown to everyone in the room Stargirl, Icicle and everyone else sit down to dinner. Jordan soon asks for seconds and Courtney goes to get it out of the oven. Scolding hot she picks up the pot but gets burned immediately. She puts on mittens and brings the bowl out. Jordan picks up the piping hot bowl with absolutely no problem, he doesn't even flinch in this moment. Immediately Courtney gets a bulb above her head moment and calls Pat to the kitchen to tell him that she is pretty sure Jordan is indeed Icicle. They need a bit more to go on really says Pat as everyone soon enough says their goodbyes. It looks as if Jordan is about to tell Courtney that he knows everything including her secret but instead he tells her that he was really there to see the girl his son has been raving about and he approves. Courtney's reaction is that of an immediate trip to the basement where her and Pat get interrupted by Barbara who catches them right in the act. The Cosmic Staff drops to the floor playing dead almost like in what was a funny moment. So now Barbara knows. What could come of this?? the episode ends back at the hospital where Henry Jr who is still with his dad. His dad's attorney soon arrives and is there to get Henry Jr to sign something so he can get money. Henry Jr ends up reading his mind and finds all of this out. The ending is not so good for the attorney who ends up suffering a seizure thanks to Henry Jr which much like his father many years ago resulted in his first life being taken. What's even more surprising however is that Henry King Sr wakes up seconds later asking what is going on as the episode then cuts to black. As you can probably tell this episode featured little to no action but instead was very character and narrative driven which was fantastic. It was well acted, well written and much like the 8 episodes before hand was once again just a pleasure to watch. Stargirl is well on it's way to becoming one of my all time favorite DC Comics to TV adaptations. 

★★★★