Stargirl Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Frenemies — Chapter Six: The Betrayal.
Love may cloud your judgment, but that seems like a weak excuse for the JSA’s latest drama on, Stargirl Season 3 Episode 6, “Frenemies — Chapter Six: The Betrayal.”
After a strong start, this season is starting to feel stuck narratively. Stargirl, and Starman, both get some character development but it seems to come at the expense of the show overall.
Does Courtney’s romance with Cameron need to lead to a rehash of her and Yolanda’s friendship falling apart? Does Cindy need to be made to feel like a villain when she’s a victim again?
It would be nice if we could just enjoy the Cameron-Courtney ship finally setting sail without all this JSA mess, but I guess that’s too much to ask. Superheroes aren’t allowed to be in love!
It’s like everything that happened in the Shadowlands last season meant nothing. Somehow this unseen villain, and his creepy puzzle, are doing more to tear apart the JSA without barely lifting a bony finger than Eclipso ever did.
I’m glad Courtney has Sylvester to support her, but there’s no excuse for the show constantly sidelining the rest of the JSA so Courtney can learn “balance.” In its third season, it needs to learn to balance all of its characters if it wants to keep adding new regulars every season.
Sylvester: The line between Courtney Whitmore and Stargirl is blurry, at best.
If the show is moving towards setting up Mister Bones, as teased by the skull puzzle, it’s not doing enough to make me care.
Almost halfway through the season, we don’t know who killed the Gambler and why. As the trail of the murder grows cold so does my interest.
This installment isn’t all bad though and there is plenty of action to be had even if it doesn’t push the narrative along as much as it could.
Even though I am tired of the Yolanda and Cindy rivalry, the fight scene between her, Yolanda and Rick is one of the best of the season. Yolanda’s rage resurfaces and she lets it all out, showing off her cat-like skills.
It’s also the first time we see Rick as Hourman without the time limit, which I’m sure can only go badly in the future. For now, seeing him go full force is fun to watch.
Yolanda didn’t get her priest’s hint about not taking away the wrong lessons from her family’s harsh judgments. I hope for the sake of the character’s development she learns that soon.
It’s interesting to note that almost all of the fights this season are with former villains and not the actual murderer they’re looking for. The amount of time retreading old conflicts certainly earns the season its subtitle of “Frenemies.”
The scene between Pat, Barbara, and Cameron’s grandparents is one of the tensest of the season simply because Cameron’s grandmother is such a wildcard. She clearly isn’t ready to forgive and let go of Jordan’s death.
The inevitable confrontation when Cameron learns the truth about his father’s death is what I’m most anticipating. Sure Cindy is mean, but she’s not wrong that Courtney’s secret is bound to blow up her relationship.
Sylvester supporting Courtney as leader of the JSA, despite the mistakes she’s made, is the episode’s highlight warm moment. His opening up about what happened to his sister, and taking away the right lessons, shows how exponentially he’s grown over just a few episodes.
Even if the overall season arc is uneven, the characters are still the same ones we’ve grown to love over the past few seasons. For now, that’s enough to keep tuning in.
What did you think of this episode of Stargirl? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Stargirl airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Breeze Riley
Breeze Riley is a pop culture enthusiast who decided to turn her love of watching too much TV into a hobby writing about it. Although she's a convention-going sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she's just as likely to be watching an off-beat comedy or period drama. She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic.
4 comments
It’s obvious Sylvester is the big bad.
I love your recaps, they’re complete and well presented. I do think the show has lost some of its impetus this season. Season 3 lacks a sense of urgency and meanders. Also, I can’t stand the Crocks as comic relief. They were presented as ruthless killers in Season 1, and I can’t laugh at the “antics” of murderers.
I don’t know who’s responsible, but please fix the photo captions where Anjelika Washington is credited as playing Beth Washington/Dr. Mid-Nite. The credit should be for playing Beth Chapel/Dr. Mid-Nite.
Thanks for flagging, we’ve updated the caption.
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