User Reviews

You know what the saddest part about the ending of this show is? We may likely never see any of these characters in live-action again. If we do see any JSA members again in live-action, it'll probably be the ones everyone knows like Alan Scott, Rex Tyler, Charles McNider and, yes, Courtney Whitmore. But we may never see Yolanda Montez, Beth Chapel, *Rick* Tyler, Jennie-Lynn Hayden, Jakeem Thunder, Cameron Mahkent (if he's not a villain) and Cindy Burman ever again! And of all the things that got me emotional in this finale, that may be the only thing about it that makes me truly devastated. Because if this show proved nothing else, it's that you can get an audience to care about these little-known characters!

When we see Beth and her family talking about working together and we see Yolanda go off and call her mom (who's just the frickin' worst by the way), I got emotional because the writers had done the work to make me care about Yolanda's turbulent family life. When Mike gets to meet his mom at the diner, and then he returns to the car and he calls Barbara "mom" in the same way that Courtney calls Pat "dad", I got emotional because the writers put everything into making me care about the Whitmore-Dugan family. When Courtney goes to see Becky Sharpe and gives her the letter her dad wrote, I got emotional because we know Courtney's dad not being there for her is a wound she'll carry with her forever, and if she has the power to make sure somebody else knew their dad cared about them, she's gonna do everything in her power to make sure that happens. And I could go on, but I think you get the point. It doesn't matter how big the character's name is as long as you're able to make them a real character who thinks, feels and develops. Those are the characters that are going to resonate most with your audience. And despite a few underwritten characters like Jakeem, Jennie and Todd, I am certain these characters are going to stick with me for a long time to come!

There's two things that every story needs in order to be truly great. Firstly, you need to write a good story. You need to write good characters, have a well-constructed plot, all the typical writing stuff. But secondly, and arguably more importantly, you need to make your audience care. You need your audience to want to learn more about the characters and their stories. You need the audience to be fully invested in the plot. You need to make a show people don't just appreciate, but that they *love*! There are dozens of good shows out there like "Arcane: League of Legends" for example, and I really liked that show, but I didn't *love* it. You need more than just good writing, you need a little something extra that makes people truly *love* your show! And Stargirl has both of those qualities in spades!

And purely from a writing standpoint, this episode has everything you could want in it too! From the first scene of the episode, it's made very clear that Jordan is going through with Project: New America one way or another, and that he had a backup plan should the ISA fail. It was probably the reason for recruiting Dragon King to the ISA in the first place to be honest. He had an idea to bring Starman back from the grave because Starman is the hero of heroes. If he couldn't change everyone's minds by force, he'd have to rely on choice, and when Starman speaks, people *choose* to listen. Just goes to show you the depths that Jordan's willing to go to to ensure Project: New America succeeds. And when he says "Don't make me do what Brain Wave did to his son!", it's very chilling and telling of his morality at this point. What's really interesting about Icicle is that Project: New America is about removing the evil in humanity, but I'd argue that he's gone way off the deep end from that goal and has become a truly evil villain! He's become the evil he sought to rid the world from, and just by the proxy of making him a continually interesting character, I stand by that Icicle is this series' best villain!

Though I will say, I had not considered burning him alive would be the way to kill him for good. How long do you think Artemis kept that secret during the ten year timeskip before Yolanda found out? I'm just saying, their situations are not dissimilar!

On the topic of Yolanda though, I will say that her saying "I didn't do it!" when the car fell on Cameron's grandmother was... In poor taste considering the character. Yolanda's core wound was her murder of Brainwave, so that line coming from her was just... I dunno, man. That didn't sit right with me.

But what did sit right with me was all the easter eggs and little references in this finale! For example, going back to that Yolanda moment, do you know how Lily Mahkent died? A car fell on her while she was trying to hit Yolanda. A car fell on her *by accident*. And do you know my favorite thing to bring up in Stargirl reviews aside from their immaculate attention to detail? The parallels of how Icicle killed Joey Zarrick, and his own death. In season 1, Icicle made it so Joey, a kid, got hit by a car, and framed it as an accident. His resulting death was when he also got hit by a kid, Mike, in a car, which we later found out was an accident. And here in this finale, Icicle's mom that's *almost* as crazy as he is was hit by a car that fell on her by accident! Gosh dangit the cycle continues!

And that's not the only thing I noticed either. When Courtney and Pat are talking about what she said to Not Starman, Pat said he heard every word, and the phrasing of that is important because it directly parallels and calls back to a very similar moment in "Stars and S. T. R. I. P. E. Part Two". Plus in the JSA museum, not only do we see exhibits for most of the major characters (with those exhibits being displayed with the promotional images of those characters from season 1, yes I was crazy enough to notice that), they also recreated an iconic shot of Jakeem Thunder and the Thunderbolt standing back to back, with the lightning coming from Jakeem's eyes. And I could go on, but I think you get the point by now. This show cares about every little detail, and if there was ever a time for that level of detail to *finally* be appreciated, it would be the series finale!

And the action, as per usual, was top notch. I wish the sequence where Courtney and Not Starman were fighting over the Cosmic Staff went on for at least another two minutes, but that's a very minor gripe in an episode full of highs.

But when it came down to the ultimate ending, that final scene at the JSA museum... It almost feels too perfect for me. Don't get me wrong, seeing the Shade of all people as a tour guide to tell people about the greatest heroes to ever live (not to mention telling the audience who made the final cut of the team) is incredible, and seeing all the easter eggs like Excalibur of all things ending up in the museum (though unfortunately we don't get a Janitor Justin cameo), it feels like they wrapped up too much. Off-screen Courtney and co. Not only find Dragon King's? Hidden lab where they stored Starman's brain and resurrected him, but they also reunited the Seven Soldiers of Victory (which means that Green Arrow exists in this world now, thus bringing the Arrowverse full circle in another way), they saved Jay Garrick from the timestream, and they did all these other awesome things. And for me, it just didn't land like it was supposed to. It just felt too hamfisted for me because they knew that the show got canceled and they *really* wanted to wrap everything up as best as they could. But for me, that decision totally backfired.

But hey, small silver lining, the show had enough money left at the end for us to see Jay Garrick run! Though this time, with *red* lightning! Congrats Stargirl, you're off the hook for that glorified publicity stunt that was casting John Wesley Shipp as your Jay Garrick! He showed up out of nowhere with no promotional material saying he was showing up, we got to see him run (a singular time for maybe a second, but I'll take it), we got to see him in the suit, he destroyed the JSA meeting table which didn't sit right with me considering the frankly unhealthy amount of respect this show typically shows for its legacy characters, and they lowkey hinted that Jonathan Cake is gonna be on The Flash in season 9! Eric Wallace promised cameos, and we did see Jay Garrick running out of a really nice looking portal, a "breach" maybe, and definitely implied that Jay's time on Stargirl's Earth was where he'd been before he came to Earth Prime after Crisis. I know the chance of Jay and the Shade showing up on the Flash is extremely low, but in my mind it's a non-zero chance, and that's something I'm gonna pray for!

DC's Stargirl is a show that's very special to me. If The Flash's first season was what got me back into superheroes, Stargirl's first season is what showed me just how much I could care about a tv show. And for that reason, I will always hold this show near and dear to my heart, even that garbage second season!

Thank you, Geoff Johns. Thank you for making this truly fantastic series!

The season finale of Stargirl is a moment by moment page turner! Each character, each battle, each reveal is worth watching. Like a good comic series, you want to turn back the pages and relook at the panels and see what you missed.

One strength of this episode is that it goes through many emotional moments where characters realize what other people mean to them. All the loose threads, all the threads between the different characters lives come together. One of my favorites is when an arrow hits Icicle. I expected to see Artemis, but it turns out to be Courtney's mom. It is a poignant moment because the person who trained her was none other than Artemis' mom, Tigress who was killed by Icicle. (Oh and no matter what you cannot miss Artemis' appearance!)

The strings really come together in the end thanks to Courtney and her mom. Her belief in herself turns the tide of the battle. Her belief in others changes each of the characters lives. Perhaps one of the most touching scenes is when Courtney gives the Gambler's daughter her dad's letter and expresses to her how much he loved her. The artists who created this scene made a splashpage of this scene that is so full of details it makes you to look at it over and over and even hang it on the fridge.

Kudos should also go to costumers who have really hit on how superheroes personalities are reflected in there secret identy's wardrobe, from Beth's kooky crafty homespun wear to Pat's man who works with his hands guy.

Music in this episode was spot on!

The only drawback I find in this episode is that it has cancelled. Though I'm sure that if I adapted Stargirl's attitude I could see a positive in it being cancelled. Yes there is one. Like the Sci-Fi show Firefly, it will only leave its fans saying, "It was so good. Why do the networks always have to cancel the really good ones?"

Overall, an excellent but too-soon end to the show.

So-so spots first. The choreography in the junkyard scene was good, but... rather poorly lit and filmed. I wish we had seen more of what was going on. When you could make out what was going on, it was very good. Like the Starman vs. STRIPE fight. Not only was it very... super-powered, but it had the personal stakes going for it. Even when Pat was in the cockpit of STRIPE punching buttons, you could tell that there was some anguish going on.

The Shiv vs. Ultra-Humanite battle was okay. I'm not sure the writers really built up the whole "Jakeem is in love with Cindy" thing, and we never got a resolution to it. He declared his love for her and then... nothing.

I also wasn't clear: why was Rick apologizing to Beth's parents? Did I miss the part where he snapped at them? The bit with him welcoming Grundy's resurrection was also weak sauce. Grundy's "death" was barely a footnote in the third season, and was pretty much lost in the back half. So Grundy coming back to life didn't really have much impact.

They didn't really "save" Sylvester, and his ending being stuck in a jar, reliving the last moments of his "life", was a bit of a downer. I know the coda said he was saved, but it was an example I touch on below of telling instead of showing. Yes, I know they couldn't have done anything else with the show's relatively abrupt cancellation. But it still stuck out like a sore thumb.

And finally, although it was unavoidable and as I noted above, the last few scenes had that "Oops, we just got told we were cancelled vibe to it." Like the ending as the JSA Museum. Let's bring in Jonathan Cake in a set we probably had sitting around gathering dust since season 1. It was a _good_ scene, don't get me wrong. Cake was always a MVP on the show when they could get him on, and he perfectly captured the smirky anti-hero charm of the characters from the latter comic books. I just would have rather seen the ten years later JSA, then hear someone talking about them. But needs be as the devil must, I suppose.

So much for the mediocre stuff. The good stuff was... well, everything else. From Joel McHale's villain turn, to Pat fighting for his life and to avenge his fallen partner, to Courtney coming to everyone's rescue, it was all good. I liked Sofus and Lily kicking butt, showing that even senior citizens had some mad fighting skills. And we briefly had three generations of Mahkents fighting the JSA. Even if Lily's villainous turn wasn't very well supported.

The Mike/biological mother resolution was nice, but it seemed to come out of nowhere. How did they get her to Blue Valley? I take it Alicia Witt wasn't the actress who played the same character when Sylvester was going around the country and met her. They were the same character, right?

Amy Smart was another MVP, both with her scene when Mike calls her "Mom", and earlier when she avenged her friend Paula. It was almost worth having the Crock parents killed off both to give Barbara her chance to avenge Paula, and later when Artemis killed her parents' killer in particularly gruesome fashion. Although Sportsmaster had flammable hockey pucks?!?

Beth got to do the pacifist superhero bit. Yolanda got to tell the truth to her mother. Only Rick seemed underserved as a character. Brec Barrenger and Luke Wilson were the strongest characters, and had a lot going on. Not only with their father/daughter relationship, which always seemed "real", but with their personal issue. Pat with his old partner's relationship, and Courtney dealing with the collapse and then rebuilding of her team and her life.

And Courtney got her boyfriend back, and got to deliver Gambler's letter to his daughter. The former seemed to me very YAF, and another example of how the ending got rushed by the cancellation. One scene Cameron is leaving, but then a couple of scenes later, he's back. Having her find Becky also seemed very rushed.

We'll never get to see how Helix, and Keith David as Mr. Bones, panned out. Oh well, at least we get Mr. David on 'Leverage: Redemption' this week.

And the 10 years later ending was... well, perfect in the moment. Yes, it seemed tacked on, but what could they do? Having Cake give the wrap-up, and then Shipp showing up as Flash pays tribute to the 90s Flash, the soon-to-be-gone modern Flash, and Shipp's previous appearance on 'Stargirl'. It had little Geoff Johns moments, like the mentions of Sand, Damage, and Icicle. Another cute moment when Flash accidentally cuts the table in half and Shade's exasperated response. And finally, Shade saying the adventures are never over as he's called into action as a JSA member. Overall, a fitting conclusion to the series.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?

So before they put Ultra-Humanite in Starman's body they brought Starman back to life? This means they have the technology to bring back to life anyone, wow so no explanation about that? Loved watching Pat going against Starman, not so tough without the staff huh? I knew that Cameron would do the right thing in the end. Also gotta love grandpa Icicle. Glad to see Mike reconnecting with his mother. Courtney giving The Gambler's letter to his daughter was beautiful. Three months later after the events Icicle's face is still deformed, I though his healing powers work fast? The way Icicle died was poetic and brutal. Nice to see that Grundy is back and also Shade coming back for the finale, I really appreciate that. The cameo of the Flash (Jay Garrick) was so unexpected and epic. So this episode had it all, epic fight scenes, cameos and closure for our characters. This show should continue, im sad its over, it had such amazing characters. My rating for the finale is 9/10.

The season 3 finale titled "The Reckoning" is an action packed, exhilarating, uplifting, and not to mention satisfying hour of television. Stargirl managed to maintain its amazing quality and fight choreography all the way to the end. Stargirl always nails its season finales and manages to up the ante every season. I am heartbroken that the series was cut short and taken from viewers too soon. Although, the season 3 finale was intended to be a series finale, it still lacked emotion and pathos. As a season finale, I enjoyed every second, and thought that the writers did an excellent job with wrapping up the remaining loose ends of the season and the series as a whole. I have been watching Stargirl since it first premiered in May 2020 and hoped the series finale would evoke more of an emotional reaction in me. I have seen these characters grow and develop throughout three seasons. And become closely connected to them. The JSA is sort of my TV family. I will miss them dearly.

Jonathan Cake's portrayal of Richard Swift aka the Shade is phenomenal. His natural charisma and instant chemistry with the cast makes him one of the few villains/antiheroes that I actually root for.

I would have wanted to see Stargirl transition into Starwoman through snippets of her life after they defeated the Ultra-Humanite, Icicle, and Dragon King. However, the flash-forward takes place ten years after the JSA defeated the restored ISA, and mentions Courtney's transition into Starwoman, Rick and Beth's wedding, and hints at John Wesley Shipp's Jay Garrick and Jonathan Cake's the Shade joining the JSA. Heck, it even briefly mentions Jennie and Todd Rice's whereabouts. The series finale definitely had that finality feeling to it.

I think it was quite poetic how Artemis decided to enact her revenge on Icicle. It mirrors how her parents died at the hands of Icicle. I was sort of disappointed by how much screentime Artemis Crock received this season. I expected her to have a bigger role, and to see more interactions between her and the JSA.

To conclude, the series finale of Stargirl is a bittersweet and satisfying end to one of the best live-action comic book shows. Brec Bassinger's iteration of Courtney Whitmore aka Stargirl will always be my favourite and the best live-action portrayal of the character. When it comes to Stargirl, it is difficult to pick a favourite season. For me, the three seasons of Stargirl sort of blend together, due mostly for its close timespan. Stargirl will always have a special place in my heart. As the caption at the end stipulated, it is NEVER THE END, and the adventure continues for these beloved characters.

Final verdict: 10/10.

And in its own way, since not many shows use the big action scene in a finale as a setup for the stuff that matters most. But that is the norm here, and I love it. But it's also great that Johns and his team got to tie up all the arcs from this season AND to add that delightful coda with everyone's favorite reformed villain and the ever more legendary John Wesley Shipp. I will miss this show, and the Arrowverse.

Special kudos as we say goodbye to Luke Wilson, the show's MVP, Joel McHale, and Amy Smart, and to Neil Jackson for bringing the bad. The young cast was good, but the adults stole the show.