[Jordan breathing heavily]
[heart monitor beeping]
[speaking foreign language] It's time, my son.
[Jordan] Ja. Ja.
[Christine softly] Come here, baby.
It's okay.
What do we have here?
[Young Cameron] It's a flower from your garden.
[Christine] Oh.
I love it.
[inhales sharply]
You are such a special boy.
You keep drawing, hmm?
I love you.
Never, ever forget that.
[heart monitor beeping rapidly]
Mommy. Mommy.
-Mommy. Mom. -It's okay. It's okay.
[grunts]
[heart monitor slows down]
I'm gonna make the world pay for what it's done to you.
I swear it.
No, Jordan.
You continue your mission.
Fix this country.
Make it safe for our boy.
-Promise me. -I promise.
I promise.
What is it?
If anyone tries to stop you...
[breathing heavily]
...destroy them.
[heart monitor flatlines]
Christine?
[sobbing]
[sniffles]
[panting]
[Jordan grunting]
[yelling]
♪ She can't help it, The girl can't help it ♪
♪ If she walks by The men folks get engrossed ♪
♪ She can't help it The girl can't help it ♪
♪ If she winks an eye The bread slice turn to toast ♪
♪ She can't help it, The girl can't help it ♪
♪ If she got a lot of What they call the most ♪
♪ She can't help it The girl can't help it ♪
-[song continues on radio] -I'm loving this
Blue Valley oldie station, right?
[Mike] Please, God, make it stop.
Yeah, it's pretty good. This DJ is a hoot, huh?
Can you change the radio station?
They play the same ten songs
over and over, and they're all fossilized garbage.
You know what? You want a little public radio,
you got it. Straight outta Lincoln.
Let me know. [groans]
Oh, hey, a friendly reminder.
Family dinner is tonight at 6:30.
I'm thinking I'll make fish,
maybe some salmon or a nice tilapia.
-[program playing on radio] -How about some fish sticks?
-No, Mike, because fish sticks-- -Are awesome.
You can't even taste the fish.
All right, shotgun.
[Pat] You know, I've never seen him
eat a piece of fruit. Seriously.
You ready to go?
Don't drive me to school.
What? Why not?
Because we have to find
the rest of the Injustice Society.
They've probably assumed new identities
in Blue Valley like Brainwave did.
Okay, weren't you even a little scared of Brainwave?
I mean, we both could have been killed.
But we weren't,
and as crazy and insane as it was,
it was the first time since we moved
to Blue Valley that I
felt like I was in the right place.
Like, I finally know who I really am.
Starman's daughter.
Stargirl.
Okay, Court.
Even if there are other members of the ISA here,
we need to proceed carefully. Lay low, make a plan.
I have a three-point plan.
Find them, surprise them, kick their asses.
We're Stargirl and STRIPE.
Okay, being a superhero is not being one most of the time.
-[sighs] -I need to find out if Brainwave was alone or not
and I need for you to go to school
and just act like a normal teenager.
-That's boring. -It's safe.
Text,
tweet, do your homework,
whatever, just...
-Will you do that? -Okay. Fine.
Thank you. Thanks.
Keep working on STRIPE,
and if Brainwave wakes up, come get me from class.
Do you ever listen to anything that I say to you? Ever?
Everything.
Keep your eyes open. Remember, they could be anywhere or anyone.
-[scrapes] -[gasps]
[female receptionist] Dr. Barnes, dial 182, please.
Dr. Forest, please dial 118.
[cell phone vibrating]
[sighs]
[Joey grunts]
[Joey] Oh, oh, hey, Dad.
Dad, check out my rising card trick.
Let's see it.
[chuckles] Very good, Joey.
I'm thinking I can close
-my act with it. -Yeah, yeah.
-Mind if I give you a pointer for your show? -Yeah, sure.
[William] You see, a magician's greatest tool
isn't just his hands. It's distraction.
Keep smiling, keep them talking,
always look them in the eye.
You do that...[snaps fingers]
-They won't see what's right in front of them. -[chuckles]
-Cool. -[chuckles]
[Denise] Honey, wait, don't forget your hat.
A magician always needs his hat.
-You look great. -Thanks.
-You'll be wonderful, honey. -See you.
-Okay. -Good luck.
[cell phone vibrating]
[Denise] Everything okay?
[chuckles softly]
[laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
[upbeat song playing]
[school bell rings]
Hi!
Hey. You're new, right?
-What was your name again? -Uh, I'm Courtney Whitmore.
Joey Zarick, but my stage name is Zarick The Great.
Go ahead and pick a card, any card.
[laughs] Okay. Uh...
[Joey] All right, take a look at it.
Don't let me see it.
Remember it, though. Okay?
-[Joey] You got it? -[Courtney] Got it.
[Joey] All right, put it anywhere back in the deck.
Boom.
All right.
Thanks for letting me practice on you, by the way.
Today is the Regional Talent Competition.
Cindy and Jenny always win, though.
It's Nebraska, so twerking still packs a punch.
Anyway, uh, now for the aforementioned mind-blowing.
Courtney from California...
Is this your card?
[girl] Is that the card?
Yes. The seven of hearts.
Oh, my gosh. How did you do that?
[laughs]
-You can keep that for good luck. -[Courtney] Oh, thanks.
Do you have any nail polish remover?
I... I bet we could clean this right off.
[school bell rings]
[indistinct announcement over PA]
Can I help you?
Oh, hi. Uh, yeah, I'm just an old friend
of Dr. King's. Henry and I...
Yeah, well, I heard about what happened.
Seizure. It's horrible.
[sighs]
Henry's the cornerstone of this institution.
-I'm sure that he is. -Mmm.
Well, where did they find him?
Just outside the emergency entrance.
Right.
So, what did he have on?
His lab coat.
Right. 'Course. Yeah.
Well... [clears throat]
Here's hoping he gets well soon.
[man] Excuse me. Dr. Chapel, do you have a moment?
[Dr. Chapel] Excuse me.
He's not alone.
[William humming]
Brainwave is in a coma.
He came to see me.
His son was attacked by someone using Starman's staff.
He told me he called you.
He did.
Why didn't you?
I didn't see the need.
Take a seat, William.
What did Brainwave tell you about this new
Starman?
It was a girl.
That he'd take care of her.
You were the one who was supposed
-to handle things in my absence. -Well, he was insistent.
And you were hesitant.
You always have been.
Brainwave has never been a team player like me.
I was the one who cleaned everything up.
Got him to the hospital,
took care of the costume, came up with a story.
William...
[sighs deeply]
...you stumbled into your powers...
you killed your master
before his lessons were complete,
and it shows.
That wand of yours, it's capable of so much more,
but instead of thinking big,
you just continue to think small.
Even now you're still performing the same old tired show.
You've just changed one stage for another.
You spend your days making promises to people,
but much like every politician, you don't keep them,
in the same way you didn't keep your promise to me.
-Jordan, that is-- -You seem to think that power
comes from other people's perception of you.
From recognition or applause, but...
That's not true power.
Now, William, true power doesn't need to be seen.
I've traveled across this country.
I've hunted down everybody
who played a part in Christine's death.
Everybody who exposed her to the toxin
that led her to get sick.
And I did this
because I, too, made a promise, William,
to my wife as she lay dying
in my bed
that I would combat injustice
for our son,
for everyone's children.
There's nothing more important to me than mine.
Good.
It's the way it should be.
Project: New America is my destiny.
I want it to be yours, too.
But I'm back in charge now...
and I'll take care of this Stargirl.
[drill whirring]
[phone ringing]
Comin'. Comin'.
Yeah?
Yes, I'm Mike Dugan's father.
He what?
No, Mike, I think they have enough evidence on you.
What am I supposed to do in my room without my games?
You know, I was in the middle of real important work, Mike,
and when I was your age, we weren't playing games in class.
Yeah, back in your day,
-you didn't have any video-- -You see,
that's where you're wrong.
It was actually the golden age of video games
and I was down at the arcade
playing Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug,
Defender, Spy Hunter, you name it.
But my personal favorite
was made by the Rolls-Royce of video game manufacturers.
Atari.
-A what? -The game was called Paperboy, Mike,
and I used to play it all day,
every day,
until one afternoon my father came to me and he said--
You were adopted.
[chuckles] No.
He said, "Son,
you need to stop feeding quarters into that machine
and go make some money of your own.
You like this game Paperboy,
how about you try the real thing?"
So, he got me a paper route.
Does this story ever end
-or does it just keep going on forever? -It continues.
It doesn't have an ending
because you, Mike Dugan,
are gonna take up that great family tradition.
You're getting a paper route.
Yeah.
Hmm. [chuckles]
Good morning, everyone.
[all] Good morning.
Welcome back, sir.
[Jordan] It is good to be back, James.
[clicks tongue] And for those of you who are new here,
my name is Jordan Mahkent.
I made a promise once,
a promise to someone very special to me
that I would help make this country
a better, safer place to raise our children.
I've dedicated my life to that.
Like many immigrants, my parents came to this
great country in the hope of finding a better future to raise their children.
But this past year
I have traveled across America
from town to town
and I have seen factories that are abandoned.
I've met people in need,
In Littleville, Colorado.
In Hatton Corners, Indiana.
And so many other forgotten communities.
And we're gonna help them...
just like we've helped Blue Valley.
[all murmuring]
We're gonna rebuild America.
One factory
and one town at a time.
But...
as we expand the vision
we call The American Dream across this great land,
we'll also continue the revitalization of downtown,
which will include
a food co-op at 27 Spring Street,
a brand new retail space at 308 Main Street,
-a-- -Oh.
Is there a problem?
-No, I'm sorry. -No, please, what were you gonna say?
It's, um...
I grew up here, in Blue Valley.
I just moved back
and what you've done to our town is amazing,
it's remarkable, and it's inspiring,
and it's why I wanted
to work here,
but back when I was a kid...
308 Main Street was a theater.
Every weekend we'd watch plays
put on by our neighbors and our friends.
The theater has operated at a loss for years.
I'm sure it's not very lucrative,
but it brought the community together.
I'm sorry, I said too much.
You know what?
That would be great for the community. Let's do that instead.
-But we have already-- -As brilliant as you are,
I'm sure you can find a way to make that work. Right, Stephen?
Of course.
Uh, Miss...
-I'm... I'm sorry, what was your name? -Barbara. [chuckles]
Barbara.
[teacher over PA] Reminder, students,
the bus for the talent show leaves today at 2:45.
[Cindy] Yolanda?
I'm talking to you.
Who painted that? Was it you?
No.
You should have never dated Henry
once you knew that I liked him.
You are a nobody.
I am somebody, and I'm never gonna let you forget that.
Even your own family knows what you really are.
Slut.
[Courtney] I have to say,
slut-shaming is really damaging.
-[boy] Look, over there. -Not to mention,
it sets women back, like, 50 years.
Okay, well, nobody cares what you think, new girl.
-Okay, but, really, I don't understand-- -Stop it.
-What? -Don't you get it?
You're only going to make things worse for the both of us.
[school bell ringing]
[Mr. Levine] You might be asking yourself,
"When am I ever gonna use proper and improper fractions?"
Well... the answer is,
a fraction of every day.
[students groan]
[Mr. Levine] Tough crowd.
All right. So, mathematicians use three categories
to describe fractions.
Proper,
improper
and mixed.
Fractions that are greater than zero
but less than one...
You were the one that painted Yolanda's locker.
Maybe.
[Mr. Levine] In proper fractions...
I'm Courtney.
-Cameron. -I know.
Uh, I mean,
I'm new here, so...
So, I'm trying to learn everyone's name
and since ours both started with a C
it was easy to remember. [chuckles]
Welcome to Blue Valley, Courtney.
[Mr. Levine] This is algebra,
-not The Dating Game. -[students exclaim]
[Jenny] What's The Dating Game?
[knocking on door]
Is now a good time? Oh! Wow, I'm sorry.
Let me help you with that.
[Barbara] Shoot.
Oh, is that your daughter?
Yes, that's... that's Courtney, my daughter,
uh, and that's my stepson, Mike,
and my husband, Pat.
You have a lovely family.
Thank you.
Well, Barbara, I just wanted to say--
If you've changed your mind about the theater, I understand.
Oh, no. No, no, no, quite the opposite.
I've actually set up a task group to focus solely
on the new community theater project.
Oh. That's great.
Our first meeting is at 6:30.
I just wondered if you would like to join us.
[chuckles softly]
Um, I would love to.
But...
My family and I are having dinner together
at 6:30.
I totally understand.
Um, maybe I can join the next meeting?
Again, I'm so sorry, Mr. Mahkent.
Oh, no, please, don't apologize.
Our country was built on values like yours.
It's just too bad things have changed.
Uh, great work, again,
today, Barbara,
and, please, call me Jordan.
[door closes]
[wind whistling]
[ice crackling]
Oh, my God.
Pat?
[Pat] In the kitchen.
[Courtney] I was walking home through Blue Valley Park
and you'll never guess what I saw.
-What? -I found
a frozen field.
-A what? -An iced-over field
and it was in the shape of a star.
It's a message. I know it.
It's Icicle. It has to be.
-Hold on, just tell me exactly-- -He killed my dad.
He killed Starman.
[scoffs] We have to go and find him.
And do what? Arrest him?
That's a start.
There are more of them here. I was right.
You have no idea how dangerous he is, all right?
The only thing I've ever seen hurt Icicle is the staff.
-That's great! -That's terrible.
-[Mike] Hey. -Mike.
[Pat] What are you doing down here?
I told you to wait in your room until dinner.
Yeah, well, my stomach says it's dinner.
Okay, well, I'm working on this vegan casserole.
Vegan casserole?
Big pass.
Did I interrupt something important?
No, I'm just
giving Court a couple of cooking tips.
Yep, I need 'em. Mmm.
[Pat] You know what, buddy,
why don't you take this,
ride your bike up to the store,
I'm gonna take these,
you get yourself whatever you want, okay?
Twenty bucks. Awesome. Anything?
You got it. Anything you want.
That's an advance on the paper route, okay?
-Be careful. -[door opens and closes]
We can't go after Icicle, all right?
If it is him,
then he clearly wants to be found.
This is a trap, Courtney.
-For him. -No.
Pat, we're talking about the man
who killed my father.
-[Cosmic Staff buzzes] -See?
The staff wants justice, too.
We're going with or without you.
The ice was here.
I swear.
-It melted. -Good.
-[switches click] -Maybe he's gone.
[wind howling]
[alarm beeping]
[Stargirl] Pat, are you okay?
[STRIPE] I'm okay, but I can't move.
I'm icing up. The controls are all locked.
Damn it, wait!
Courtney, come back.
Hi, I'm home.
Just in time for family dinner.
Hello?
Mike, where's everyone?
-[video game beeping] -No idea.
Did you eat dinner?
Okay, well, did anyone feed the dog?
[dog barks]
[gasps]
[Icicle] Hello.
[grunts]
And goodbye.
[panting]
[Beth] I think you should have one won first place, Joey.
I'm good with third, Beth.
I feel something.
Like, my magic's getting stronger.
[grunting]
-[alarm blaring] -Come on, baby. Come on.
He's on the bridge, Pat.
[STRIPE] Fifteen seconds, Court.
[driver] What the hell?
[tires screeching]
[all screaming]
Oh, my God!
The bus!
[STRIPE] I got it.
A kid's looking right at me.
Not for long.
[all screaming]
-[teacher] Is everyone okay? -[man] Watch your step, kids.
-[teacher] Stay behind the bus. -[man] All right, easy, one at a time.
What happened?
This was a mistake. We need to go.
[Stargirl] We need to find Icicle.
[panting]
[teacher talking indistinctly]
Joey!
[tires screech]
-[thud] -[students screaming]
[wind whistling]
-[news anchor speaking on TV] -I am trying not to panic.
He's just not answering his phone and I...
Okay, just call me if you hear anything, okay?
[news anchor] ...a mysterious bright light over...
Thanks. [sighs]
...all the other kids appear to be safe.
We'll have more on this late-breaking story coming up soon.
What?
What? What?
Oh, my God! What? What?
Oh, no.
[voice breaking] No!
Oh, no.
[inaudible]
William, what are you doing?
Where are you going?
Oh, God. No!
[crying softly]
Joey was so sweet.
He was the first kid at school who was actually nice to me.
I'm going to find Icicle.
No. [sniffles]
We're going to find Icicle and...
[breath trembling] And...
I want to show you something.
[door lock beeping]
[door opens]
[Courtney] What is this place?
[Pat ] It's the headquarters of the Justice Society of America.
What is all of this?
Each of the JSA members had abilities
powers, tools, like your Cosmic Staff,
and they used them to protect the world against people like Icicle.
Who's that?
[Pat] Wildcat.
His real name was Ted Grant.
He was a heavyweight champion.
He gave me my Big Boy keychain.
It's the closest thing he could find
to a Stripesy action figure.
Said it was good luck.
I don't know.
[Courtney] Hourman...
[Pat] The Flash,
Dr. Fate,
they're all my friends.
My family, really.
Is this thing real?
Yeah.
It's Dr. Mid-Nite's owl.
[hoots]
There's something special about him. I don't know what,
but every time we'd come here,
that owl, he'd fly right to Dr. Mid-Nite and land on his arm.
He doesn't know Dr. Mid-Nite's dead.
[owl hoots]
[Pat] He's been waiting for him for years.
Dr. Mid-Nite's not coming back, Court.
None of them are.
Icicle and the Injustice Society
killed them all.
The truth is,
you and I don't stand a chance against them.
What if we had help?
I'm the new Starman,
so why couldn't there be a new Hourman,
or a new Dr. Mid-Nite?
[owl hooting]
No. No one can take their place.
That's what you said about Starman,
but then the staff picked me.
Court, these guys,
I mean, they were the best in the world.
[Courtney] Did they start out like that?
No. But still with years of experience
they couldn't defeat the Injustice Society,
do you understand that?
This stuff shouldn't be sitting here,
collecting dust.
It should be in the hands of possible heroes.
Don't touch the Thunderbolt!
That's the most dangerous thing in here.
A pink pen?
Hey, will you just listen to me for once?
Everything in this room is dangerous, all right?
This life is.
A kid died today.
A child.
That's why we can't go on.
A kid died today
and that's exactly why we have to, Pat.
[sighs]
This is our destiny, Pat.
You know, that's exactly what Starman said to me the night he died.
Come on, we're leaving,
and until I say so...
no more Stargirl and STRIPE.
Let's go.
[banging on door]
[man on TV] We're back with our reigning champion, Tina...
[banging continues]
[sighs]
[Jordan] William, I'm so sorry.
Tell me it was an accident.
A what?
Tell me you didn't mean to kill my son.
[grunts]
-Tell me! -William, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
I'm so sorry. Okay?
I truly am.
I know you loved your boy...
[wheezes]
...but I wish you understood
what I was doing was also for him.
[ice crackling]
[man continues on tv indistinctly]
[speaking Norwegian] It's too bad you had to see that.
[speaking Norwegian] We will clean it up.
[speaking Norwegian] You have work to do.
Ja. Ja.
[news anchor] The funerals for both Councilman William Zarick
and his son were held in private this morning.
Councilman Zarick, whose fatal heart attack
is believed to have been caused
after learning of the tragic accident that took his son's life.
Both were remembered by those in attendance today.
The American Dream has announced
that they'll be revitalizing the community theater
in the name of William Zarick and his son, Joey.
The Zarick theater project
is expected to begin as soon as next month.
[Jordan] I want to start by saying
thank you to all of you for staying so late.
Oh, Barbara, glad you could join us.
Uh, let's start by ascertaining
what we learned this week since our last meeting.
First up, good news.
Thanks to Barbara's report, we found out...
Hey, where is Barbara?
I thought this was family dinner
-and we all had to be home for it. -Mike, not tonight, okay?
[door opens and closes]
[Jordan] You're late. We were worried.
They had a memorial for Joey.
[Lily] Not before dinner.
[Jordan] You okay?
He was such a good kid, Dad.
Everyone liked him.
Yeah.
Come here.
[both chuckle]
[speaking Norwegian] Don't worry.
[speaking Norwegian] What you're doing will keep him safe.
[hoots]
[Courtney] Sorry, owl.
[laughing]
[Cosmic Staff buzzes]
Let's go do some recruiting.