So far I've found Stargirl to be a perfectly adequate comic book series. It stays close to their roots, and doesn't try to be anything it isn't. It's pretty cliche, campy and predictable, but it doesn't try to be anything else. It had some surprising moments of darkness, which I thought were handled pretty well, but as a whole the show is pretty easy going. Is it really that good of a show as a whole? I don't think so, but because it's so enjoyable, and doesn't try to be anything more, I found myself enjoying most episodes.
This finale is more of the same. We get to see all the heroes go up against the villains in an action packed episode. I think a lot of it feels contrived. These kids who've only been heroes for a little while are taking out villains that were fighting the original JSA, but it didn't bother me too much. The fight scenes are weird, because technically speaking they aren't great. The wire work makes everyone look like they're floating, and characters straight up defy gravity at points. There's definitely some sloppy choreography sometimes, and some noticeable stunt doubles. With that being said, the camera work is quite strong, and it does have moments of surprisingly strong choreography. Put together it's not too noticeable, and because of its previously established sillier campy tone, the wire work completely works. I've found the fights to be quite enjoyable, and I love how most of them are done in longer takes, instead of having more shaky cam, and quick cuts. I really loved that shot with the heroes in one side, and the villains in the other side.
I think the villains have been largely decent. The only ones I'd call good are Brainwave and Icicle because they are the most developed, and coincidentally both killed children. The other villains work for their roles though, and are all fun. My only real disappointment from the side villains was that Sportsmaster felt a bit underused at the end. The real surprise this episode was Grundy! I think we've all been waiting for him to make his appearance as he has been very heavily teased throughout. S.T.R.I.P.E against Grundy, while technically not having great CGI, was just exciting and a lot of fun. I also was very glad that Grundy was spared by Hourman, which shows some character growth for him.
As for the other characters, I think they were all handled pretty well, except for some disappointing deaths. Stargirl finally accepts Pat as his father, which is decently handled, but nothing too special character wise. My favorite part was Wildcat meeting Henry again. At first I was really mad they brought him back because it felt like such a cheat, and it didn't make sense, but then the twist it was Brainwave actually made a lot of sense, and Wildcat killing him was pretty shocking. This is something I definitely hope to see developed and affect her in the next season. I am not really a fan of the new Dr. Mid-Nite, Beth Chapel. The whole hacking aspect just feels convenient and silly. Not to mention her crying over a pair of goggles. I mean I know they were her "best friend" but I think that whole aspect of the character felt extremely silly, and it doesn't help that her character is used as the comedic "quirky nerd" side character. Shining Knight is another character that feels very silly, and honestly felt quite pointless. He could actually be an interesting character based on the concept that he's displaced from time, and was driven kinda crazy, but they don't explore that well, and again, he's just too silly.
Onto the villains, I was particularly disappointed with 2 of the deaths. Dragon King gets killed by his daughter Shiv, which feels a bit odd. I think it does make sense for the character, but why couldn't she have waited for her father to kill one of the heroes first? It's also disappointing because Dragon King was so underused, and he seemed like one of the most interesting villains. Then we get Brainwave's death, which I thought was actually very good considering he died because of how little he knew his own son when he was posing as him. I thought that was a perfectly good death, and I was satisfied with what he did in this season. Unfortunately the best villain gets the worst treatment. Icicle was the most developed character. Neil Jackson probably gives one of the strongest performances on the show. His motives are decent, trying to force the world to be better even if he kills for it with Project New America, which is pretty silly, but works. He feels reminiscent to Arrow's Malcolm Merlyn, which is a compliment, but not as psychopathic. I was extremely disappointed to see him killed off by Mike Dugan running him over. First of all the entire moment is convenient as hell, and it doesn't make sense that a car crash like that would shatter Icicle entirely. I liked that Mike actually got development recently, since his father spent so much time with Courtney, and he isn't a hero like most of them, but this wasn't the way to go in terms of pay off for that. Regardless I hope to see the other villains who weren't killed off come back and be more developed. Sadly the remaining villains don't seem as interesting, but that doesn't mean they can't be.
The episode ends with Stagirl destroying the massive satellite dish, which was out in the open. Makes me wonder why they even had to fight everyone if they could've destroyed it from the outside without any real issues. It doesn't bother me too much though, this show has always been somewhat contrived, but once again, it is saved because of its tone, and the fact that it doesn't try to act like it's better. Then we get a fairly long epilogue just showing how far the characters have gone on. It felt a bit cheesy, and I hate the pop songs they always overuse on this show, but we get some nice teases. We got 2 villain teases, and I'm looking forward to see Shade, who was previously teased in the premiere. Finally we got a Starman tease, which should be interesting.
Overall I thought this was a good finale for this show. It just felt like a good pay off to the solid build up from this season. It's what you've seen in most episodes of Stargirl, but bigger, so if you've enjoyed those, you'll most likely enjoy this finale as well. The series as a whole isn't that good, in my opinion. Despite my enjoyment, I do think this show could be a lot better. It's very cliched and predictable, apart from a few moments. It's very noticeably contrived at times, and some characters could be a lot better developed. It definitely gets too silly sometimes. It's a very simple show, and has very little complexity most times. There were exceptions here and there, and it surprisingly got better as it went on, but I still don't think it's good as a whole. Honestly usually these problems would annoy me more, but because the series doesn't take itself too seriously, accepting its campy tone, I remained entertained and satisfied.
Finale Score: (7/10) Season Score: (6.5/10)
This finale is more of the same. We get to see all the heroes go up against the villains in an action packed episode. I think a lot of it feels contrived. These kids who've only been heroes for a little while are taking out villains that were fighting the original JSA, but it didn't bother me too much. The fight scenes are weird, because technically speaking they aren't great. The wire work makes everyone look like they're floating, and characters straight up defy gravity at points. There's definitely some sloppy choreography sometimes, and some noticeable stunt doubles. With that being said, the camera work is quite strong, and it does have moments of surprisingly strong choreography. Put together it's not too noticeable, and because of its previously established sillier campy tone, the wire work completely works. I've found the fights to be quite enjoyable, and I love how most of them are done in longer takes, instead of having more shaky cam, and quick cuts. I really loved that shot with the heroes in one side, and the villains in the other side.
I think the villains have been largely decent. The only ones I'd call good are Brainwave and Icicle because they are the most developed, and coincidentally both killed children. The other villains work for their roles though, and are all fun. My only real disappointment from the side villains was that Sportsmaster felt a bit underused at the end. The real surprise this episode was Grundy! I think we've all been waiting for him to make his appearance as he has been very heavily teased throughout. S.T.R.I.P.E against Grundy, while technically not having great CGI, was just exciting and a lot of fun. I also was very glad that Grundy was spared by Hourman, which shows some character growth for him.
As for the other characters, I think they were all handled pretty well, except for some disappointing deaths. Stargirl finally accepts Pat as his father, which is decently handled, but nothing too special character wise. My favorite part was Wildcat meeting Henry again. At first I was really mad they brought him back because it felt like such a cheat, and it didn't make sense, but then the twist it was Brainwave actually made a lot of sense, and Wildcat killing him was pretty shocking. This is something I definitely hope to see developed and affect her in the next season. I am not really a fan of the new Dr. Mid-Nite, Beth Chapel. The whole hacking aspect just feels convenient and silly. Not to mention her crying over a pair of goggles. I mean I know they were her "best friend" but I think that whole aspect of the character felt extremely silly, and it doesn't help that her character is used as the comedic "quirky nerd" side character. Shining Knight is another character that feels very silly, and honestly felt quite pointless. He could actually be an interesting character based on the concept that he's displaced from time, and was driven kinda crazy, but they don't explore that well, and again, he's just too silly.
Onto the villains, I was particularly disappointed with 2 of the deaths. Dragon King gets killed by his daughter Shiv, which feels a bit odd. I think it does make sense for the character, but why couldn't she have waited for her father to kill one of the heroes first? It's also disappointing because Dragon King was so underused, and he seemed like one of the most interesting villains. Then we get Brainwave's death, which I thought was actually very good considering he died because of how little he knew his own son when he was posing as him. I thought that was a perfectly good death, and I was satisfied with what he did in this season. Unfortunately the best villain gets the worst treatment. Icicle was the most developed character. Neil Jackson probably gives one of the strongest performances on the show. His motives are decent, trying to force the world to be better even if he kills for it with Project New America, which is pretty silly, but works. He feels reminiscent to Arrow's Malcolm Merlyn, which is a compliment, but not as psychopathic. I was extremely disappointed to see him killed off by Mike Dugan running him over. First of all the entire moment is convenient as hell, and it doesn't make sense that a car crash like that would shatter Icicle entirely. I liked that Mike actually got development recently, since his father spent so much time with Courtney, and he isn't a hero like most of them, but this wasn't the way to go in terms of pay off for that. Regardless I hope to see the other villains who weren't killed off come back and be more developed. Sadly the remaining villains don't seem as interesting, but that doesn't mean they can't be.
The episode ends with Stagirl destroying the massive satellite dish, which was out in the open. Makes me wonder why they even had to fight everyone if they could've destroyed it from the outside without any real issues. It doesn't bother me too much though, this show has always been somewhat contrived, but once again, it is saved because of its tone, and the fact that it doesn't try to act like it's better. Then we get a fairly long epilogue just showing how far the characters have gone on. It felt a bit cheesy, and I hate the pop songs they always overuse on this show, but we get some nice teases. We got 2 villain teases, and I'm looking forward to see Shade, who was previously teased in the premiere. Finally we got a Starman tease, which should be interesting.
Overall I thought this was a good finale for this show. It just felt like a good pay off to the solid build up from this season. It's what you've seen in most episodes of Stargirl, but bigger, so if you've enjoyed those, you'll most likely enjoy this finale as well. The series as a whole isn't that good, in my opinion. Despite my enjoyment, I do think this show could be a lot better. It's very cliched and predictable, apart from a few moments. It's very noticeably contrived at times, and some characters could be a lot better developed. It definitely gets too silly sometimes. It's a very simple show, and has very little complexity most times. There were exceptions here and there, and it surprisingly got better as it went on, but I still don't think it's good as a whole. Honestly usually these problems would annoy me more, but because the series doesn't take itself too seriously, accepting its campy tone, I remained entertained and satisfied.
Finale Score: (7/10) Season Score: (6.5/10)
