Television

There's a lot happening in this episode of STARGIRL, and the title -- "Brainwave Jr." -- is a promising one. I've been hoping that Henry King Jr. (Jake Austin Walker) was going to come out a hero instead of following in the villainous footsteps of his father, the Injustice Society's resident telepath, Brainwave (Christopher James Baker), and I was right. Sort of.

But before we can deal with that, we are thrown into the family chaos that has erupted in the Whitmore-Dugan household. Barbara Whitmore (Amy Smart) has seen the cosmic staff in action, and now it's up to Pat (Luke Wilson) and Courtney (Brec Basinger) to tell her the truth about what Stargirl, and Barb does not take the news well at all. In fact, she's so angry she makes Pat leave for the night. Mike (Trae Romano) overhears, and decides to go with his dad to spend the night at the repair shop.

We've mentioned before just how much fun it is for comic book geeks to watch STARGIRL. The references to the original Justice Society, the hints and easter eggs, are all things that make our inner comic nerds grin from ear to ear.

And tonight was no exception. In fact, they ratched it up to eleven early in the episode.

Courtney (Brec Bassinger) barely survived her battle with Shiv (Meg DeLacy) -- her high school classmate, Cindy Burman, and daughter of the villainous Dr. Ito, the Dragon King (Nelson Lee). Dr. Ito is thought to have died a long time ago, but Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) believes differently. He fought the Dragon King several years ago -- alongside a completely different team of heroes: The 7 Soldiers of Victory!

Yes, if you are a long-time comics fan, you may now take a moment to squeal.

When LUCIFER was damned to cancellation after its third season, fans reacted globally with an online campaign to #SaveLucifer: and it worked. Streaming service Netflix stepped in to offer salvation to the "police procedural meets theological fantasy" series, based off the comic book series created by Neil Gaiman.

At least, for a time.

The fourth season started answering the questions raised by that season three cliffhanger, where Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) became fully aware that Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) was exactly who he always purported to be, and ended with him having to return to his place ruling Hell in order to keep Decker safe.

When we reached the end of the previous episode, Courtney, as Stargirl (Brec Bassinger), had been locked in a fight with Cindy Burman (Meg DeLacy), whom viewers know to be the daughter of Injustice Society member and mad scientist, Dragon King (Nelson Lee). The fight was interrupted, but not without Courtney sustaining injuries.

Her stepfather, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson), rushed Courtney to the hospital and told them she'd been in a car accident. To cover his story, he then went out and purposely wrecked his vintage Buick, blaming the accident on his giving Courtney driving lessons.

Good news for fans of DC Comics on the small screen: CW has released a statement verifying that STARGIRL -- the show you should be watching -- has been renewed for a second season!

The statement from CW reads:

July 6, 2020 (Burbank, CA) – The CW Network today announced it has renewed the hit new series DC’S STARGIRL for a second season.  The CW will become the exclusive in-season home to the breakout superhero hit next season, airing on The CW Television Network and streaming the next day on The CW’s free, ad-supported streaming platforms.  The first season of DC’S STARGIRL is currently airing Tuesdays (8:00-9:00pm ET/PT).

Week after week, STARGIRL continues to impress, and after seven episodes I realize that I've never expressed just how much the overall soundtrack of the series contributes to its appeal. The music is just as much of the show's Americana as are the classic automobiles and clean-cut teenagers.

In this episode, two more characters make themselves known -- one of them in the very title of this two-parter. "Shiv" is the villain name given to Cindy Berman (Meg DeLacy). She's Blue Valley High's queen bee and HBIC of the mean girls. But more than that, she's the daughter of Dr. Ito, the Dragon King (Nelson Lee), whose approval she desperately seeks. Cindy is the only child of the Injustice Society legacy who knows about the ISA, and wants her seat at the table. She's the girlfriend of Henry King Jr. (Jake Austin Walker), but only because she's been assigned to him by her father to keep an eye on him until he exhibits his psionic powers.

The team comes together in the latest episode of STARGIRL, aptly titled "The Justice Society." After having successfully recruited Yolanda (Yvette Monreal), Beth (Anjelika Washington), and Rick (Cameron Gellman) as the new Wildcat, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Hourman, Courtney (Brec Bassinger) is busted by her stepdad, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson), for having absconded with all the JSA paraphernalia. The weaponry is simply too dangerous, and he charges Courtney to go get everything back from her friends.

Her friends, unsurprisingly, disagree. Yolanda finds hope for renewal in the saga of the first Wildcat, Ted Grant. Rick has a connection to his father and a way to hunt down his killer. And Beth has a rather cringey and uncomfortable connection to the A.I. that runs through her powered goggles.

Some television shows take the viewer on cross-country trips to find the best hidden restaurants. Others take you on house-hunting journeys, or tag along with CEOs who get an incognito look inside their own companies from a new perspective.

Madison Young's trek across America is to discover, illuminate, and partake of the sexual kinks practiced in different regions. And if you think that this is all something that stops with leather and handcuffs, then you've only read the opening sentence of the opening paragraph of the encyclopedia set of sexual paraphilia.

The ranks of the new Justice Society of America expand by one this week with the induction of Yolanda Montez (Yvette Monreal) into the role of Wildcat. Yolanda's backstory is a heartbreaking cautionary tale that rings true to the viewer, making her instantly both sympathetic and heroic as we see how a young girl who only three months prior was outgoing, vivacious, and a leader in the student body go to being an outcast and introvert.

The Hollywood Reporter has just announced that Hartley Sawyer, who playes Elongated Man on The Flash on the CW Network, has been fired over tweets that have been deemed misogynistic, racist, and homophobic.

The tweets, dating from 2011 through 2014, were all posted before he began his stint on the DC Comics supehero show about the Fastest Man Alive, and read:

STARGIRL continues to scintillate for the DC television universe, aka the Arrowverse, and this third episode shows the series has no intention on dimming any time soon.

Having confronted Brainwave and leaving him in a coma, Courtney (Brec Bassinger) is eager to confront the rest of the Injustice Society of America. Now, I'm sure you may be thinking that the "Injustice Society of America" is a bit on-the-nose for a gang of criminals. But in this episode we are made privy to the notion that the group was formed to confront perceived injustice, not create it. In this instance, it's the Icicle, Jordan Mahkent (Neil Jackson) who wants to fight the injustices that gave his wife cancer and took her from him and his son.

When DC Comics first announced there would be a modern Batwoman character in their universe, it was a news event -- not because DC had a new character, nor because that character was going to be part of the Batman lineup, but because the title character was going to be openly gay. The series came out with a strong, noir-inspired start under writer Greg Rucka, but never really became integrated into the rest of the DC Universe outside of the “52” crossover miniseries where she made her debut.

Sports documentaries have always been one of the most popular forms of entertainment, as the general public loves getting the inside scoop on their favourite sports teams and players. With the coronavirus forcing the majority of people to stay indoors, there has been a huge spike in demand for content to keep people occupied, and it was this reason, coupled with the lack of live sporting events to broadcast, which led ESPN to move up the release of their ten-part documentary on the Chicago Bulls, titled ‘The Last Dance’. Broadcast by ESPN and Netflix, this series has been a runaway hit, as it has shown a side of the Bulls, and particularly Jordan, that had never been seen in public before.

If you go into the DC Universe streaming series HARLEY QUINN expecting it to be an extension of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES or any of the other DCAU projects, then you've put up an unnecessary barrier to enjoying this show. Yes, the series has Batman and Robin and the Justice League, and yes it has more DCU villains than you could feasibly lock up in a single asylum. But this is the DCU as viewed through the lens of Mad Magazine, with the editors high on cocaine while wearing bondage gear. It's irreverent, it's foul-mouthed -- and it's funny AF.

The second episode of the DC Universe streaming service's scintillating series, STARGIRL, addresses the question many viewers considered during the pilot: why are the villains of The Injustice Society all settled down in the idyllic small town of Blue Valley, Nebraska? It doesn't answer the question, mind you, but it at least aknowledges that it's a strange thing, as Courtney (Brec Bassinger) tells her new stepfather, Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) about her run-in with the villainous Brainwave.

There have been a lot of movies and television series that revolve around gambling. In most cases, these series lack an interesting storyline, and that makes them boring over time. There is a different television series that has a unique storyline but with all the gambling action jam-packed in it. 

The show is an action-packed, Vegas-set thriller called “The Player” and some wonder if it is worth watching. Here is a comprehensive review that will give you an idea of what to expect and if this gambling series is worth watching.

The Storyline

The Player is a gambling world series that has received global recognition for its unique storyline and stunning visuals produced by the production team. It is a series about gambling but not the conventional methods of placing bets at casinos but rather on the odds of criminal activities. 

DC Comics debuts a new superhero to its ever-widening stable of page-to-screen transitions, and it couldn't be a more welcome one. With the bulk of CW shows floundering with the handling of their title characters, the introduction of STARGIRL comes with a refreshing charm and innocence that makes the show not only a pleasure to watch for fans of the character, but also makes it attractive to new viewers.

After LUCIFER got nixed from broadcast television after it's third season, the fandom for the show came out in force to get the series renewed. Their #SaveLucifer campaign literally raised hell online, even getting a boost from celebrity Twitter expert William Shatner. And in the end, their revolt had the desired effect. The box art for the DVD release of the third season, which originally read "Final Season," got changed at the eleventh hour -- a clear indication that there was a disturbance in the force.

The diligence of the fans was rewarded, and Warner Brothers moved forward with a fourth season of LUCIFER, taking the devil to his new home on Netflix. And now that fourth season is being packaged up for the home entertainment market.

In 1984, the country was fully caught up in the fever of the first trilogy of STAR WARS films, and television had stepped up to fill that void with programs like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the simplistically titled and high-minded sci-fi thriller, V.

The "V" stood for "The Visitors," who were aliens who had come to Earth under the pretense of helping mankind. But the show was actually the long-form version of Damon Knight's short-story, "To Serve Man," because the Visitors were actually lizard people wearing human skin disguises, here to plunder our resources and process human beings as a food source.

After the CW's heavily watched CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS crossover, the showrunners made a point of merging the separate universes (SUPERGIRL had existed in a parallel Earth to FLASH and ARROW, largely because she originated as a CBS show before migrating to the CW). In current canon, the characters still believe there is now only one merged universe. But the viewers realize this is not the case, as multiple Earths were shown once more at the close of the event.

One of these Earths was Earth-2, originally the home of Jesse Quick and now the setting for the new CW series, STARGIRL, starring Brec Bassinger as young Courtney Whitmore who finds herself carrying on the legacy of a Justice Society of America hero. Whether or not this opens the door to Jesse Quick (Violett Beane) or her father, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh)  is anyone's guess, but we can keep our fingers crossed.