Last week on DC’s Stargirl, Courtney found her first recruit — and friend — in Yolanda Montez who is now the new Wildcat. But she needs more heroes to be part of her Justice Society of America and there are still more artifacts to pair to recruits. Now it’s just a matter of finding the right fit and as the title of the episode suggests, her next recruits may just be a new Hourman and a new Doctor Mid-Nite. But while teaming up with Yolanda may have been relatively easy, Courtney may just have a few challenges expanding her team. Want to find out how it all comes together? read on for our spoiler-filled recap blow.
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Warning: spoilers for the fifth episode of Stargirl‘s first season, “Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite”, below.
The episode opens in Blue Valley nine years ago. Rex Tyler is frantically writing in his notebook and packing a box that he sends to Pat before gathering up his wife, Wendy, and loading the truck. The Tyler’s leave their son Rick behind with his uncle who is unhappy about being there. It’s not safe and they’ve left paperwork declaring Rick his, some money. After tearful goodbyes, the Tylers drive off and are attacked by Solomon Grundy and killed when their car crashes into a tree.
Present day. Rick is working on his yellow Mustang but finds a piece missing. His uncle, who is neglectful and abusive, sold it. Rick walks to school, passing by the tree where his parents died, punching it. At the Dugan/Whitmore house, preparations for Halloween are in progress and Courtney is running late for school. The gets into the closet and nearly exposes her costume, prompting Courtney to take the JSA artifacts to school with her, though she accidentally leaves Doctor Mid-Nite’s goggles behind. Pat realizes that William Zarick was The Wizard, Courtney tells him that she thinks her principal is The Fiddler.
At school, Beth follows Courtney and Yolanda as they try to figure out who else to recruit. Justin the Janitor warns Beth that there are dragons in the water when she slips on a wet floor. In a theater, Steven Sharpe covertly meets with someone about the transportation of a broadcasting dish. Sharpe pays him, and then gives him a tip in the form of a fancy chocolate coin.
Later, when Pat and Courtney have car trouble, Rick walks past them. As Pat and Rick talk about cars, Courtney notices that the hourglass in her JSA bag lights up and then goes dark when he leaves. Courtney follows him and confronts him with the hourglass, but it doesn’t light up this time and he dismisses her. At Courtney’s house, Beth shows up. She sees the family dog chewing on the goggles and ends up following the dog up the stairs, getting the goggles from him before sneaking into Courtney’s room. When she puts the goggles on, though, they work for her and she’s bombarded with all kinds of information as well as the voice of Dr. Charles McNider. She calls him Chuck.
Courtney finds Beth in the room with the goggles, which have told her all about the JSA, and Beth confronts her about being Stargirl. Before Courtney can dismiss her, Beth reveals that Rick is actually Rick Tyler and that his father was Hourman. That night, Beth, Yolanda, and Courtney go out to track down Rick who is at Cindy Burman’s house for a Halloween party. At the party, Henry is struggling with the noise of the and has a disagreement with Cindy, prompting him to leave and, briefly, hear Yolanda’s thoughts. Courtney finds Rick by the pool and confronts him with knowledge about his family. She gives him the hourglass. Beth tells him how it works — it’s tied to his DNA and gives him superpowers for one hour a day. This time, when Rick turns the hourglass over, it works. He’s not interested in being part of a team though. Courtney and Yolanda go to suit up to try to convince him, but they reject Beth.
Alone, a sad Beth chats with Chuck. Chuck ends up showing her the truth about Rick’s parents’ death. Stargirl and Wildcat track Rick down try to recruit him. Rick is full of pain and anger over his parents’ death. He takes down the tree and looks like he might fight Stargirl when Beth shows up. Using the goggles, she is able to show them what really happened, and Rick watches his parents die. Stargirl explains that she’s trying to get justice for the JSA, including Rick’s dad. He agrees to join up, but makes it clear he wants revenge for the murder of his parents, not justice.
The episode closes with the truck carrying the broadcasting dish being stopped on the road coming into town. Principal Bowen starts to play, her music controlling one of the drivers but the other isn’t controlled by the music. Sharpe shows up and kills him. In a hotel room elsewhere, the man Sharpe met with earlier lies dead on the floor having eaten the chocolate coin. It was poison. Pat discovers that Courtney has the JSA artifacts when he sees the Green Lantern lighting up in her closet.
Stargirl airs Tuesdays at 8/7 on The CW. New episodes debut Mondays on DC Universe.
