Stargirl Season 2 Finale

 

Created by: Geoff Johns 

Produced by: Jennifer Lence

Starring: Brec Bassinger (Stargirl), Yvette Monreal (Wildcat), Anjelika Washington (Dr. Mid-Nite), Cameron Gellman (Hourman), Trae Romano (Mike Dugan), Meg DeLacy (Shiv), Amy Smart (Barbara Whitmore), Luke Wilson (Pat Dugan)

I've been very impressed by this whole series. 

This makes me very happy because the DC universe has had a lot of difficulty lately. Batman vs Superman, Whedon's Justice League, WW84, both Suicide Squads, and Birds of Prey all felt a lot of hurt from critics and consumers alike, even though I enjoyed all of them personally. Even on the small screen, Titans and CW's whole Arrowverse has felt a lot of criticism and even the acclaimed Swamp Thing was cancelled after its first season. 

Of course, most of the recent small screen offerings have been doing well. Fans are loving Doom Patrol, Young Justice, and Harley Quinn, the newest CW offering Superman and Lois has been universally praised, and even Titans is gaining about as much praise as its criticism. But I might go so far as to say that Stargirl has been my favorite (perhaps alongside Superman & Lois). 

I've really enjoyed everything about it and it has remained consistently great for both seasons. Its first season did a great job of introducing characters and giving them each fair screen time, even with its larger cast. It also did the very impressive job of balancing a dark and bright tone. The titular hero keeps the series tone very bright and optimistic, yet the series featured multiple deaths, even that of younger people. This could easily trainwreck a series or at least kill an episode with such contrasting emotions, but Stargirl pulled it off. 

I've been most impressed by the character stories. Throughout both seasons I've felt invested in and cared about each of the main cast, which as been even more impressive in season 2 considering the larger roster. In this season finale, there was never a scene I didn't care about or a character onscreen who I wasn't invested in. And there were a lot of characters on-screen. Speaking of which, special shoutout to Milo Stein, a very young actor who played the villain Eclipso and absolutely killed it. 

The finale's story left me very excited and wanting more. I'm really interested to see where our current actors go from here. Will Beth's parents have a larger role in season 3, now that they know their daughter is a superhero? Will Shiv be accepted into the JSA, and how will that go? Will Jennie still be a prominent character? Who is this new Skull character? What's going on with Iceman's family?