Stargirl – Pilot

By starrymag | May 26, 2020

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

We start the series premiere of Stargirl with a flashback ten years in the past. It’s a not so jolly Christmas Eve all around. Pat (Luke Wilson)  is speeding to the Justice Society of America’s (JSA) headquarters. But he’s a sidekick named Stripesy, so Starman (Joel McHale) is on the phone telling him to stay away. He doesn’t listen.

 

When he gets to HQ the scene is pretty grim. Heroes and villains are fighting to the death and the JSA doesn’t appear to be winning. Pat whisks an injured Starman away and tries to help, but Starman says it’s too late. He tells Pat that the JSA must go on. Pat says he’ll do his best. But wait! Starman says no to him. It must be someone with grace and heroism. Someone with honor and strength. Seriously, someone who is not Pat. Is this really how you wanna spend your dying moments with your loyal sidekick, Starman? Finally, he tells Pat that he’s been a good friend and dies.

 

Elsewhere we meet a little girl. She is five-year-old Courtney Whitmore (Maizie Smith). Her mother, a waitress named Barbara (Amy Smart), is thanking the babysitter for taking Courtney  and her friend Mary (Olivia Baughn) on such short notice. Courtney’s dad bailed and the little girl says she just wants her father.

 

Flashforward a decade we meet a teenage Courtney (Brec Bassinger). Through pictures of her and her friend Mary we learn the girl’s got a passion for martial arts and gymnastics. Also, she’s moving to Nebraska. She and an older Mary hug goodbye. Mary teases Courtney about Pat being her new Dad. Courtney firmly states that Pat isn’t her Dad.

 

Pat as it turns out the father to a boy named Mike (Trae Romano). He’s not as angry as Courtney about the move, but not entirely sold yet. Pat says he needs him to be positive, but Mike notes he thought they’d stop moving once he and Barbara, Courtney’s mother, got married.

 

Once in Nebraska Mike warms up. Courtney is still mad. Her mom says that if she needs to be mad then he should be mad at her. She’s the one who accepted the job there. Also, we learn that Blue Bell, Nebraska is where Pat and Barbara met. Pat cryptically said he happened to be there looking for something.

 

Pat is opening up his own garage and meets a not so subtle gym owner named Larry (Neil Hopkins), but his friends call him “Crusher.” He seems like he’ll be trouble later. Barbara is having a good first day at her new job as she gets her own office. Courtney’s first day of school doesn’t go well. The gymnastics team got cut and the kids are mean. At the losers lunchtable Courtney meets a girl named Beth (Anjelika Washington). Two boys in Letterman jackets come over and start calling another girl next to Courtney a slut and start referencing some revealing pictures. Courtney steps in. He takes Courtney’s phone and she shoves him, but unfortunately she’s the only one who gets reprimanded.

 

It’s a tense family dinner. Mike made friends so he’s off to hang out. Pat suggests a movie night with Barbara and Courtney. Courtney shuts him down and tells him to stop trying to be her father and storms off. She goes to what looks like an attic and knocks over a box. She finds some JSA pictures and Starman’s old suit. Another box near her grabs her attention by glowing. She reaches inside and finds the cosmic staff. It reacts to her holding it and it becomes clear the staff has a mind of its own.

 

The staff has pulled Courtney all the way to a park. Also, it can fly and it takes her to the drive-in. One of the obnoxious kids from the cafeteria, Henry (Jake Austin Walker), is bugging the movie goers. A boy in a parked car asks Henry to knock it off. Henry and his friends, gang up on him. Seeing this all play out, Courtney takes the staff and uses it let the air out of Henry’s car. But one of his friends tips him off. Henry and Courtney get in a fight. His friends join in, but Courtney comes out on top. The staff also sets Henry’s car on fire to make a point. Henry says that his father will kill him.

 

Courtney runs home and confronts Pat with the staff in hand. She explains that the staff blew up the car. She wants to know what the staff is. Pat explains the staff belonged to Starman and that it is extremely temperamental and dangerous. He wants to put it away. We learn that the staff isn’t supposed to work for anyone, but Starman and he doesn’t get why it works for Courtney.

 

History time: a decade ago on Christmas Eve the heroes of the JSA sang their swan song. All of the heroes died saving the world. It makes  Courtney wonder if if her mother knows and if her father could have been Starman. Barbara is in the dark and Pat says that’s highly unlikely that Starman is her dad. Courtney wants to think her father didn’t come for her on Christmas Eve because he was saving the world, but Pat says Starman’s real name was Sylvester Pemberton and Courtney’s dad’s name was Sam. It could be an alias, she reasons. She then goes off to ask her mother.

 

Courtney’s mom wants her to apologize to Pat. Not happening. Also, Courtney says that Pat might not be who she thinks she is and asks if her father was a superhero. Barbara gets upset and says that her father only saw her once a year and until Courtney was five years old. After that he bailed completely. Pat, Barbara says, is the only man who’s ever really been committed to them. With that said, Courtney decides to keep the JSA to herself for the time being.

 

Remember Henry? Based on him not being able to make eye contact and his hunched over posture, we get the impression that his dear old dad (Christopher James Baker) doesn’t just use words to make a point. At the very least his son is afraid of him. But Henry’s father isn’t interested in the car. Just the staff. He gets what little info his son has and then sends him to his room. We get a batman-esque seen of a pull-away bookcase that leads to a secret passage.

 

Courtney and Pat have another talk. Way back when Pat was Sylvester’s family’s driver and mechanic Sylvester put on a mask to stop some criminals threatening his parents. Pat helped him. Later Sylvester got the staff and joined the JSA bringing Pat along for the ride. Being a sidekick, he explains, was an honor. Then, why isn’t he in the picture? It seems that Pat was the one who took it. Courtney doesn’t like Pat having so many secrets, but she’s ready to acknowledge that he makes her mother happy. So, she won’t tell, but wants Pat to stay out of her way. Pat explains it’s not just about the secret. It’s about safety. They’ve got a sort of deal. When Barbara and Courtney talk again she tells her mom that she’s going to give Pat a chance.

 

The staff doesn’t seem as ready as everyone else is to call it a night. It floats to Courtney’s room and pulls her out for some flying and sparing. It’s fun, until they’re interrupted.

 

We find out that Henry’s father is a super villain and he sees Courtney’s face. She and Pat didn’t have an in depth talk about the importance of secret identities. Courtney gets thrown around by Henry Sr who calls himself Brainwave. He can read thoughts and threatens to melt Country’s mind after getting the info he wants. Yikes.

 

The staff helps Courtney out by dodging some tires and get away. While running she bumps into an Iron Man-esque robot. Inside is none other than Pat. He reminds Courtney that he asked her not to touch the staff.