***This review contains spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
Moving to the CW network from the old DC Universe streaming service, “Stargirl” has to not only deal with a reduced budget, but also COVID restrictions. For the most part, the show succeeds with a pretty good season, but ultimately ends up suffering from bringing in too many characters and concepts that they don’t have time to payoff properly.
The plot is strong, but takes a little bit too long to really get going. The new ISA plotting to take on the JSA is interesting, but it makes Eclipso’s importance seem diminished after all the hype. However, after the two teams finally throw down, the show reveals its true potential. Eclipso isn’t all that terrifying, but he creates some creepy moments that keep our heroes on the defensive. Unfortunately, a lot of other plot points get thrown into the mix and none of them get their time to shine. Jade, Thunderbolt, an upgraded STRIPE, and most noticeably, the returning Starman all set up cool concepts but feel more like distractions to the main story than part of it.
Initially, it looks like all the returning characters are going to have strong arcs, but ultimately they mostly fizzle out before they can get going. Courtney seems to be on course to deal with the fact that she has a dark side that she doesn’t want to acknowledge, but while it ends up being a major plot point, it’s resolved even quicker than it’s introduced. Pat has some new backstory introduced on how the sins of his past have come back to haunt him, but none of that has any lasting effect. Wildcat probably has the strongest arc, but it’s too hard to determine how much of it is truly her conscience, and how much is Eclipso’s meddling. Rick also doesn’t get much to do. His befriending of Solomon Grundy is a nice touch, but it takes too long to get to the point, and then mostly gets dropped till the finale. Beth’s story line also feels like it could be better. “The kid that’s sad because the caught in the middle of divorcing parents” is a little too cliché, especially how over the top she is trying to get them to work it all out. Mike’s always had the hardest time finding a way to fit into these superhero storylines. Every time it seemed like they found a way to properly work him into the fray, nothing comes out of it. Controlling Thunderbolt, tricking out the STRIPE armor, and training with Pat all mostly lead nowhere for him. Cindy starts off as the season’s big bad, and gets some solid backstory and characterization, but her redemption arc falls just a little flat. And characters like Sportsmaster and Tigress, Artemis, the new Fiddler, and Jordan all are presented like a major part of this season before they basically get kicked to the curb.
On top of that, we have a few new characters that have joined the show. Eclipso is that biggest edition, and he works pretty well. We really don’t see a lot of him in his true form, but his child form is creepy as hell, and even when he’s not on screen his presence is felt. Thunderbolt is introduced early on and seems like he’s going to be big part of the show, but then he’s put on the backburner till the final few episodes. Jade was also introduced early on, but she seemed to have very little use besides setting up some conflict for season three. The biggest surprise was Shade, who’s introduced as yet another villain for this season, but ends up being a complicated character.
One of the most disappointing things about this season is the reduced budget. Season one had many shots of both Courtney and STRIPE soaring through the air, this time there’s only one or two quick shots. And while Gundy was well-realized last season, he looks a lot worse this time around.
Overall, season two of “Stargirl” is a solid ride, but adding too much stuff the mix not only takes away from some of the character arcs, but also keeps a lot of the new stuff from making an impact.
*** out of *****