Tensions within the JSA reach breaking point. Pat and Barbara go on a recon mission. Sylvester steps up to lead the team while Courtney’s distraction continues.

It’s difficult not to feel more than a little sympathetic towards Courtney. She’s saved the day twice now, taken some pretty hard knocks and basically been living a double life as a normal schoolgirl and a superhero, and also she’s spent a lot of that time being told she needs to work hard to find balance. Now she’s actually found something outside of being Stargirl that she wants, nobody is happy with that either – can the girl catch a break?

Whether it’s her team-mates’ bubbling resentment at her absence as they continue the hunt for the murderer in their midst or her well-meaning but overly fussy mum and Pat undertaking a ‘mission’ to visit with Cameron’s grandparents, it feels like she cannot. That said, she is dating the son of a former nemesis, and what’s more, she’s actively helping to train him in controlling his abilities.

While she’s pre-occupied with that, things are quickly escalating within the team. Yolanda has all the proof she wants that Cindy is the Bad Guy they’re looking for, but Sylvester advises caution while they sort through the details of whatever might be contained on the Gambler’s laptop. Beth’s genius starts to unlock its secrets, but there’s one in particular which catches her eye and might spell trouble for everyone.

Inevitably, conflict occurs and when it does, it comes with emotional as well as physical fallout. Courtney is so determined to defend Cindy as being capable of change that she’s somewhat blindsided by a fairly standard example of the OG mean girl lashing out, though not as much as her teammates when they learn the full truth about her relationship with Cameron.

It’s an episode where we get to explore a lot of smaller, intriguing elements of characters in the show. Yolanda’s Catholicism has been relegated to the background lately, as has her relationship with her parents, and both are brought back into the frame here, marking just how much Yolanda has grown in some ways while having room to mature still in others. Cameron’s grandparents too become considerably more interesting here as it becomes clear that they aren’t necessarily the united front we may have previously thought. It’s also nice to see Sylvester really starting to grow into his role as a mentor to Courtney and the rest of the gang – far from being the thing which might dislodge Courtney in her role as Stargirl and leader of the new JSA, Sylvester might well be the one who cements her in both roles.

Verdict: An interesting instalment which intrigues with its smaller as well as its larger moments. 8/10

Greg D. Smith