With all pretence dropped, the ISA moves on with its plan for domination by seeking to end the new JSA once and for all. Can Courtney and her friends hope to stand against them, or have they bitten off far more than they can chew?

One thing I really appreciate in genre is a sense of continuity – the feeling that things which happen actually matter and aren’t just dropped for narrative convenience. Pat and Barbara are working together to try to protect not just their own kids but all of Blue Valley, but as one small exchange amidst all the action and excitement in this instalment makes clear, that doesn’t mean that their marriage is fine, nor that they can just move past the secrets that were kept for so long. It’s a tiny thing, but it’s a very human touch that’s important in a show about superheroes.

Now that everyone knows who everyone is (ish), the ISA takes its gloves off as it dispatches various members to eliminate Courtney’s entire family. Problem for them is, they haven’t counted on just how difficult that entire family might make that for them. In one case this means more of a distraction, in another a genuinely pleasurable surprise as the most unexpected person of all steps up to quite literally save the day (or at least the immediate part of it).

On the bad guys’ side, there’s also some pleasingly rounded stuff. Dr Ido’s deadpan warning to Brainwave as to the potential risks of his part in proceedings and his flat acceptance of them. The continued infighting between various members of the ISA that leads to some fatal consequences. Perhaps most intriguing of all, the broad aims of the ISA, which when revealed to our heroes seem disarmingly benign, even very good, until the hidden cost inherent to their methods becomes apparent. It’s a nice moment where the viewer is briefly as confused as the heroes – an arch villain organisation that wants to stop global warming? OK…

The heroes don’t get left out either – Courtney and Mike get to have a nice heart to heart. Beth and Rick each get their chance to shine on the journey towards figuring out what the bad guys are up to and how to stop it, and Justin…well OK Justin gets to clean a toilet and be slight comic relief still, which still leaves him better off than poor Yolanda who mainly gets to quietly mope over the dead ex who ruined her entire life mere months ago by broadcasting an intimate picture of her to the entire school. Whatever else the show does and has done right (and that’s a lot) that clanger of a sub plot is still causing me and it problems.

As it rattles towards the final credits though, the full implications of the predicament in which our heroes find themselves become clear. The new JSA really might have to stand alone. I’ve got money on who their next member might be in the second season though.

Verdict: Full of nice surprises in contrast to the last episode’s predictability. One naggingly tone-deaf subplot aside, this is set for an exciting finish to what’s been an impressive maiden season. 8/10

Greg D. Smith