Friday, June 23, 2023

TV Show Review: Stargirl - Season 3

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Acting, effects, when the show was on, it clicked
Cons: Pace was off, leading to some slow episodes
The Bottom Line:
Murder mystery
Still uneven overall
But it could be good






“How Scary Do I Look?”  “No More Scary Than Usual.”  “That Hurts!”

I found the first two seasons of Stargirl to be uneven.  When it was on, it was great, but when it wasn’t, it was very slow.  Despite a great set up that really appealed to me, I found that to hold true with season 3.

As this season opens, Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) and her family have returned from a vacation to find that the newly resurrected Sylvester Pemberton, aka Starman (Joel McHale), has made himself at home while they’ve been gone.  Courtney is thrilled he has chosen to stick around.  She’s hoping to really learn how to use the staff and its powers from the man who wielded it before her.  Her step-father, Pat (Luke Wilson), is less enthused since he has enjoyed bonding with Courtney over her training.  Plus, there’s the fact that Sylvester seems to be much more reckless with Courtney’s safety than Pat is comfortable with.

However, things get complicated when a former enemy of Courtney and her friends turns up dead.  All the evidence points to someone Courtney thought was a new ally, and it splits Courtney’s group of friends over whether this person can be trusted.  As more attacks happen in town, can Courtney find out what is going on?

A murder mystery – how perfect is that for me?  And I was excited when the discovery of the body ended the first episode of the thirteen episode season.  However, we had the usual distractions and sidelines as the season progressed.  Some of them were great at showcasing the various characters and advancing their storylines.  But some were just too slow.

I did feel that Courtney had matured some this season and didn’t just do things her way regardless of what anyone else thought, which was nice.  Yes, she still made some foolish choices, but at least they were new bad choices.

For a superhero show, this show saved their budget for a few big episodes.  We might get light action in every episode, but there were a couple of episodes where they went all out.  Those episodes were spectacular, and they would keep my attention every second.  The special effects were also good, as well.

When this show was on, it was great.  There were some strong twists along the way that I enjoyed.  The climatic battle was great as well.

It’s just that half the episodes are great, and half are a struggle to get through.

None of my complaints should be aimed at the actors.  They brought the scripts to life wonderfully every week.

Seeing the writing on the wall with all the changes going on at the CW, this show decided to wrap up things at the end of the season and even give us a few minutes set in the future as the final moments of the show.  I was satisfied with the way the show wrapped things up, and I suspect most fans will be, too.

While the first two seasons were released on DVD and Blu-Ray, this season has only been released on DVD.  Fans of the show are disappointed by this development, but I’m sure it has to do with the sales on physical media of the first two season sets.

I wasn’t disappointed when it was announced that season 3 would be the last we’d see of Stargirl, or at least this version of her.  Yes, there was enough I enjoyed to keep me coming back, but the hit or miss nature of the show kept it from ever being a favorite.

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