DC’S STARGIRL: Episode 1.1: Pilot

In the pilot episode of DC’S STARGIRL, a new superhero series on The CW, the sidekick to a dead superhero called Starman is amazed when Starman’s powerful, fickle Cosmic Staff appears to anoint his teenage stepdaughter as Starman’s heir. The pilot episode of STARGIRL is engaging fun, with some morally uplifting elements, but MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children because of brief foul language, intense jeopardy and action violence, an occult comment, a couple crude instances of name calling, and an implied Romantic, politically correct attitude that crops up a few times.

The pilot episode opens by saying, “A Golden Age of Heroes protected the world for decades. Ten years ago, that Golden Age ended. . .” Cut to Starman’s sidekick, Pat, racing down the street in Los Angeles and busting through the gates of a huge mansion burning in green flames. Starman and his colleagues of the Justice Society of America in a big mansion battling the Injustice Society, led by a supervillain named Brainstorm. The battle isn’t going well for the Justice Society, and a fatally wounded Starman escapes with Pat in Pat’s flying red and white 1957 Chevy. The night Starman dies, a 5-year-old girl named Courtney waits for her daddy to come home for Christmas Eve, but he never shows.

Flash to 10 years later. Courtney’s father has never returned. Her mother, Barbara, has married Starman’s sidekick, but Pat hasn’t told her about his superhero past with Starman. Barbara met Pat on a visit to her hometown, Blue Valley, Nebraska, and she’s decided to move the family back to Blue Valley where Pat is opening a garage. However, Courtney’s not happy about moving out of Los Angeles, and she’s sulking.

In Blue Valley, on her first day of high school, Courtney learns that the school is no longer offering gymnastics, the main thing she was hoping to try at the new school. Also, during lunch and another girl are bullied by three jocks led by a boy named Henry. Courtney gets in trouble when she fights back.

At home that night, Courtney comes upon her stepfather’s hidden stash of Starman gear, including his Cosmic Staff, which absorbs stellar energy to give its wielder special powers and is able to shoot yellow bolts of lightning. The staff lights up when Courtney touches it. It takes her out to a nearby park, where Courtney learns the staff can fly if she lifts it up.

The staff flies her to the local drive-in, where Henry and the other two bullies are bullying some students in their cars. Using the staff, Courtney stops the bullies from harassing the students. When Henry says, “You’re dead, kid,” the staff suddenly has a mind of its own and fires a bolt at Henry, but Henry steps aside and the bolt blows up Henry’s car. The staff flies Courtney away from the scene.

Courtney returns home and tries to replace the staff where she found it, but Pat discovers her. He’s amazed to see that the staff seems to have an affinity for Courtney. He tells her about being Starman’s sidekick but assures her that Starman was not her father. Their private identities were different. Pat warns Courtney that people have died when they got too close to the Justice Society.

Henry tells his rich father about the incident at the drive-in. He orders Henry to bed, then opens a secret room behind a bookcase, which reveals a supervillain suit looking a lot like Brainwave’s.

Later that night, the staff wakes up Courtney and takes her outside to do some more practice. They soon run into Brainstorm who tries to interrogate her telepathically and threatens to melt her brain. Courtney tries to fight back with the staff. The fight ends with a surprise.

The pilot episode of DC’S STARMAN is an engaging opening to the series. The script and the cast do a good job of setting the stage for what’s to come. Viewer’s don’t yet get a good look, however, at the heroic themes that will animate the series. All we know from the pilot episode is that the bad guys are mean bullies and killers, and the good guys are not.

It’s clear, though, that this is a battle between good and evil. Also, Courtney’s mother and new stepfather are clearly concerned about protecting Courtney and her stepbrother, Mike. That said, there are some implied Romantic, politically correct elements that seem to promote a liberal view toward tradition and a rich versus poor anti-capitalist motif. For example, a teacher tells Courtney she doesn’t need to be a gymnast; she can become a cheerleader. Also, Brainstorm is clearly a very wealthy man, so the episode has a tinge of anti-capitalist leftist class warfare. However, Courtney’s stepfather is opening up a garage, and he meets the owner of the gym across the street, so the pilot also has a small-town business vibe. Another issue is a comment made about the stars being aligned for Courtney’s discovery of the Cosmic Staff. This line establishes a possible metaphorical link to occult astrology. Finally, the pilot episode contains two obscenities and a light exclamatory profanity.

All in all, therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children regarding the pilot episode of DC’S STARGIRL. Sadly, except perhaps for THE FLASH, all the other CW superhero programs contain frequent strong politically correct elements and other dangerous worldviews and philosophies. For example, occultism and homosexual lust has totally taken over CW’s superhero program, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. So, media-wise viewers should be skeptical of this new one until MOVIEGUIDE® can tell you otherwise.