Stargirl Season 3 Episode 7 Review: Frenemies – Chapter Seven: Infinity Inc. Part One

Although the investigation into the Gambler’s death is put on pause, it’s for a good reason on Stargirl Season 3 Episode 7, “Frenemies – Chapter Seven: Infinity Inc. Part One.”

From the start of the episode with a flashback to Jennie (Ysa Penarejo) and her brother Todd (Tim Gabriel), you know you’re in for an exciting time. The mythology of Jennie’s power gets a new twist with the introduction of her brother as we see he also possesses some sort of connected power.

Throw a villainous Mister Bones (Keith David) into the pot and you’ve got a stew going! Finally the big bad has appeared in the flesh, well actually just bones, this season.

This flashback’s connection to the present-day events isn’t immediately clear but still works. The setup of the team’s mission to take out all of the spy cameras in town is equally fun and keeps the show moving until the Shade shows up to whisk Courtney and Pat away.

That’s what Stargirl has been lacking, the right amount of intrigue and action to go along with the mystery, and this story nails it. Even if we’re getting more questions than answers at this point, at least we’re getting something new.

The sidequest to the Helix Institute to help Jennie, and by chance, the Shade whose powers have become entangled with hers is a fun diversion that adds new air to the deflated mystery around the Gambler.

Is Mister Bones also the Gambler’s murderer? What does he really want with Todd’s power? Will they save the Shade and Pat from the Shadowlands?

Such a huge switch in direction is a big swing for a show that’s been tightly focused on one mystery, but within the confines of the installment energizes the season in a way it needs. The pieces aren’t fully fit together yet, but there’s a bigger picture forming and it’s a fascinating one.

Fans of heroes without “star” in their name will also cheer at the fact the rest of the JSA gets some time to shine (even if it’s never enough).

I love that despite Yolanda and Courtney’s falling out the Dugan-Whitmore house is still a safe place for her to go after her mother kicks her out. Yolanda’s storyline isn’t a happy one (yet) but there’s something to be said about the character finally getting to stand up for herself and free herself from an abusive situation.

Yolanda deserves so much better and I hope this is the start of a new chapter for her.

Equally promising is some follow-through on Rick’s storyline now that he’s modified the hourglass to no longer be set on a timer. Following through on Sylvester’s warning, it seems like having unlimited power is affecting Rick in a bad way, even scaring his bestie/ potential love interest Beth.

Given Rick’s hard life, you can see why feeling so powerful might be a nice change of pace for him, but there’s something sinister in the way he carelessly destroys the school. His new Hourman roid-rage is setting up more trouble for the character that Stargirl needs to follow through on.

There are still some dropped plotlines that the show appears to have let go of (cough, cough, Grundy) but at this point, any development for these characters is something I’m happy to see.

Overall, the amount of action and balanced character development packed into this episode is a great change of pace for the season. Whether switching tracks to revisit the Shadowlands and the mystery of Jennie’s brother will fully course-correct the season or derail it is yet to be seen, but there’s more reason to be optimistic now.

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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