Stargirl Review: Brainwave (Season 1 Episode 9)

Stargirl Season 1 Episode 9, “Brainwave,” confronts the idea of mankind’s duality. While not handing off any particular answers, the episode gives the viewers much to think about.

Henry King Jr. has a problem. He has inherited the same powers his father has. These powers include mind-reading, telekinesis, and mind manipulation.

If you are being honest with yourself, there is at least once in your life that you have wished you had similar powers. Imagine being able to know exactly what your friends think about you. Imagine having the power to force them to think otherwise.  

On the surface, these powers seem incredible — a blessing passed down the bloodline to further Brainwave’s lineage. Henry’s actions show us the flipside of the coin.

People sometimes have horrible thoughts; disgusting thoughts that no one besides themselves needs to hear. Our minds tend to think selfishly at opportune times. 

Your neighbor wins the lottery, but instead of being happy for him, you wonder why it couldn’t have been you. After all,  he already has a better-looking wife and the bigger house. You comfort yourself by thinking life simply isn’t fair.

Henry King Jr. hears every thought like this. Every fleeting thought of jealousy and rage-filled emotion any given mind can think up. It is enough to make someone believe that people are downright despicable. 

This is exactly the conclusion that Henry King Jr. comes to while watching his father’s homemade videos. 

He hears his father spouting out his theology on the human race, and it all begins to make some sort of sense to him. People think evil thoughts, ergo, people are evil. 

It seems like basic math and simple logic.

Trust me, I’ve been there. Constantly scrolling through social media, it is hard not to wonder what the world has become.

The bullied have become the bullies, and the hated have become the hater. Taking ideas out of context makes one feel as though the world has run out of hope, and everyone is deserving of punishment. 

Henry King Jr. is at a crossroads. 

Discovering that your father is a supervillain and murderer can impart a lot of damage to your psyche. Adding in the culling of your superpowers only brings the tower ever closer to teetering over. Without intervention, who knows where Henry will land. 

Courtney sees this pivotal moment as the exact time to act. She steps in as the voice of hope and reason offering him something positive to take out of this overwhelming experience. 

But first, she has to convince her teammates that it is a good idea to include Yolanda’s ex-boyfriend into the fold. 

Although Courtney sees the potential Henry has for good, Rick and Yolanda don’t believe this leopard can change his spots. While it is never revealed exactly why Rick feels so strongly against it, Yolanda’s resistance is self-explanatory.

Yolanda sees Henry in black and white. She loved him, and he hurt her. He took every good thing in her life and flushed it down the toilet. 

We never want to see our enemies as part of our bigger picture. We want to avoid even thinking about them if possible.

If Henry joins the JSA, he will be a constant reminder of Yolanda’s struggles and shortcomings. When we build ourselves up to become something bigger and greater than before, we choose to distance ourselves from our hurtful past.

Sadly, this is often the wrong step to take towards healing. Yolanda violently threatens Henry’s life, thinking thoughts of murder and vengeance to get her point across. Not very hero-like if you ask me.

Unfortunately, Yolanda’s vicious attack comes mere minutes after Courtney’s well-rounded speech about love. Henry’s somersaulting mind is still reeling from the truth-spill Courtney threw at him with good intention. 

His mind is struggling to understand how Courtney can see his need to love and be loved. He is contemplating every rational and irrational thought bouncing around his head — trying to see through the gray areas and find unrelenting truth.

I fear that Yolanda’s selfish interference may have made up Henry’s mind for him. 

He is now convincing himself that his actions against her define him.  He knows that the evil in his father’s blood flows through him as well. Like before, the numbers begin to add up in front of his eyes.

Courtney: People want to love and to be loved.

If Yolanda’s timing isn’t bad enough, after she leaves a lawyer walks in the hospital door looking to make a buck.

Ahh, the lying, cheating lawyer. A living, breathing 90s’ punchline in the flesh, waiting for the crucial moment to strike when Henry is at his weakest.

Destroyed by grief and indecision, Henry King Jr. is in the midst of a mental breakdown. Information overload has stimulated his mind to the max, sending his newly discovered superpowers into overdrive. He feels the need to spend some of his pent-up powers to have relief.

As the lawyer spins his lies, Henry sees right through him. Henry knows the man is only looking out for his own best interest, and for that, the lawyer must pay with his life.

Henry’s birth into evil mirrors his father’s descent into lunacy.  Fear and the feeling of powerlessness mold their actions into a fist that lashes out in uncontrollable anger. Two deaths define their origin stories. It’s not only the death of their victims but also the death of their innocence. 

Fortunately, as the episode ends I am not fully convinced that Henry King Jr. is one hundred percent evil. Like any other human being affected by power, he is simply corrupted. 

There is a part of me that believes that this isn’t Henry’s defining moment. Instead, this may be the moment where Henry will look back to see exactly where he strayed from the path. A segment in time where he had a misstep that led to the wrong conclusions.

I hope this moment of weakness will become his strong point —  building up a sense of morals and decency when he lacked both. 

That is actually what we should all do. Take the part of our lives that we feel are our biggest failures and turn them into positives.

Instead of letting our misjudgments bury us, stand tall against them. 

As the episode shows, everyone is capable of good and evil.

Henry’s father didn’t start as a villain, only a scientist. Henry’s misguided decisions aren’t pure acts of hatred. Yolanda’s lashing out doesn’t solely come from a place of caring. 

Duality lives in all of us. It is part of our free will — there is no escaping it. 

One bad choice will not define who we are. It is the sum of our overall decisions that ultimately show our true selves.

What did you think of this episode of Stargirl? Which side will Henry choose in the end? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Stargirl airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Trae Romano Talks ‘DC’s Stargirl’ Season 1 [Exclusive Interview]