‘Stargirl’ Returns Strong In Third Season Debut

One of the most difficult things for a show to do is to remain fresh across multiple seasons. The first season of Stargirl did not have this issue as it was the opening act. The second season focused on summer as a main theme. Smartly, this third season, entitled “Frenemies,” seeks to reconcile the heroes’ new lives as several villains try to rehabilitate themselves in Blue Valley. Many shows have done something like this before, where a villain tries to become chummy with the heroes. Rather than having it be a single plot line, the entire season will seeming revolve around this theme. There are multiple villains trying to redeem themselves, not all of which the heroes welcome with open arms.

Instead of introducing a new villain right from the start, Stargirl’s (Brec Bassinger) tension is with the reemergence of Starman (Joel McHale). The staff seems to work for both of them, so Stargirl has to come to terms with this new reality while also giving the redeemed villains around her a second chance. Unfortunately, her teammates are more skeptical. Since it’s the first episode, the overall direction of the season hasn’t been revealed yet. Instead, this episode focused mainly on introducing the themes rather than any immediate threats the heroes have to face.

As far as opening episodes go, Stargirl‘s season premiere was a solid one. It introduced a new and intriguing status quo while not giving too much away. There are also plenty of hints to some of the characters arcs, such as what is going on with the Shade (Jonathan Cake) as well as the Gambler’s (Eric Goins) sudden return. There is still so much more to explore over the course of the season, but if the show is on an upward trajectory from this episode, it stands to reason that the episodes to come can be just exciting as seasons’ past.

Stargirl airs Wednesdays on The CW.