Stargirl Season 1, Episode 9: Brainwave

This week on Stargirl the action takes a backseat as we get another character-building episode. And you know what? I'm fine with that! I love how the show takes its sweet time to introduce the various players, allowing us to get to know them and actually care what happens to them.

We also get the secret origin of Brainwave in this episode, as we find out he was once a timid, ineffectual nebbish until he experimented on himself and developed superpowers. Which come at a price, of course— namely headaches that can only be calmed by killing! Ouch!

Henry Jr. also fully realizes his potential this week, thanks to his father's video journals. I'm still hopeful he'll follow the comic version of Brainwave Jr., and reject his father's violent way as he becomes a superhero.

Surprisingly, this week we find out that the Justice Society wasn't Dugan's first superhero rodeo! Just like his comic book namesake, he was part of an earlier team called the Seven Soldiers Of Victory! That's awesome! If you'd have told me five years ago there'd someday be a TV show featuring the Seven Soldiers, I'd have thought you were crazy.

On the home front, Barb and Jordan continue to grow closer, much to Dugan's annoyance. And in the final moments of the episode, Barb discovers the truth about her husband and daughter— namely that they're both superheroes! Expect lots of arguments and family drama next week!

There's lots more going on in this episode, but that's enough for now. On with the review!

SPOILERS!

The Plot:
We begin with a flashback to "Decades Ago." Well, that's suitably vague! Dr. Henry King leaves his lab late at night and walks to his car. As he does so, he "hears" a voice in his head. Suddenly he's stopped by a mugger, who points a gun at him and demands his car keys. Henry kneels and begs the man not to kill him. Just then the mugger's gun flies out of his hand, seemingly by magic. He lunges at Henry, but is suddenly frozen in place. As Henry glares at him, the mugger clutches at his head. He falls to the ground, goes into convulsions and dies.

Henry calmly walks back into the lab, where he records a video diary. He says he thinks he just killed a man.

Present Day.

Henry King Jr. opens the secret closet in his father's study. He looks at his dad's Brainwave costume hanging up, as well as the photo of his late mother on the wall. He sees the stacks and stacks of videotapes in the closet, takes one labeled "Day 1" and puts it in a VCR.

He watches as his father says he thinks he just killed a man— with his mind. Henry Sr. says his experiments in cerebral expansion were defunded for being too extreme, so he continued them in private. He performed a trial test on himself, and ever since he's been having intense headaches and hearing voices in his mind. He says he's sure he caused the mugger to have a seizure, and that his headache stopped the second the man died.

Cut to the Dugan's basement. Courtney tells Dugan she could hear Henry Jr.'s thoughts in her head, and says he was scared and confused. She tells him Henry Jr.'s not like his father or Cindy, and says they could use his telepathic powers to find out who else is in the Injustice Society. She wants to ask Henry Jr. to join their team.

Dugan says he thought that after the ISA killed the Justice Society, they came to Blue Valley to hide. Now he's not so sure, and believes they're working with Doctor Ito, aka Dragon King, and are planning something big. Courtney points out that Doctor Ito died decades ago. Dugan says he's not so sure Ito CAN be killed.

He says before they were part of the JSA, he and the Star-Spangled Kid were members of another team— the Seven Soldiers Of Victory. They fought Ito on many occasions, and even saved the world once. He says he lost contact with the Soldiers years ago and has no idea where they are now. He reluctantly agrees that they need all the help they can get, and agrees Courtney should talk to Henry Jr.

At Blue Valley High, Justin The Janitor's mopping the floors as usual. He holds his head in pain, then looks at his mop. Suddenly it transforms into the Cosmic Staff, causing him to drop it. When he picks it up again, it's a plain old mop. OK, that was weird.

Meanwhile, Beth scans Cindy Burman's house with her goggles. Chuck confirms the place is empty, and that records show Cindy and her stepmother Bobbie have moved overseas. Beth doesn't believe it. 

At that very moment, we see Cindy's locked in a cell below the town, demanding her father Dragon King release her immediately.

Dragon King ignores her, and Cindy hisses that she'll kill him just like she did her real mother. He walks over to her cell and calmly closes the small window in the door. Cindy roars with anger, and Dragon King orders his minions to activate the knockout gas and "make her take a nap." Dragon King then looks at the plans of his machine, and says he can use Henry Jr. to power it.

Elsewhere, Henry Jr.'s apparently given up on school as he spends the day watching his dad's tapes. He sees Henry Sr. exercising his newfound powers, telekinetically lifting various objects. Henry Jr. does the same, and causes a letter opener to fly across the room and stick into the wall.

At school, Courtney tries to convince Rick, Yolanda and Beth that they should ask Henry Jr. to join their team. Yolanda flat out refuses, reminding her of what Henry did to her. Courtney says people can change, pointing out that the four of them have done so since banding together. Yolanda says she refuses to be part of any team that Henry's on and storms out. Rick leaves too, but Beth agrees with Courtney and stays.

Henry Jr. watches more tapes of his father, who says he always felt powerless until he gained his mental abilities. Henry Sr. talks of riding the subway and hearing the disturbing thoughts of a man near him. He says he rendered the man blind, then gave him a gentle telekinetic shove into an oncoming train— which again, abated his headaches. Henry Sr. says his powers made him realize that People Are Monsters and he hates them all.

Just then Mercedes, the King family's maid, enters and tells Henry Jr. a lawyer called to talk with him about his father. Henry "hears" Mercedes thinking it'd be better if his father died, and he yells at her to shut up. Suddenly he hears his father calling his name and rushes out of the house.

Deep below Blue Valley, the ISA meets in their board room. Dragon King enters, much to the others' discomfort. He assures them he's their ally, and says they no longer have to wait for Brainwave to wake up, as they can use Henry Jr.'s considerable powers.

Sometime later, Jordan's in his office at The American Dream. He looks through a folder filled with photos of various men he's recently killed, who he feels were responsible for the death of his wife. He quickly hides the folder as Barb enters the room. She apologizes for having to leave suddenly during their business trip to Oakville. Jordan says she had a good excuse, as her daughter Courtney had been in an "auto accident." She asks if Jordan's OK, and he says he just finished a long project (killing everyone in the folder) and thought he'd feel better once it was done. Barb feels sorry for him, so she invites Jordan and his family to dinner.

Henry Jr. goes to Brainwave's hospital room and says he heard him calling his name. He concentrates and tries to wake his father. An orderly enters and checks Brainwave's stats. Henry Jr. hears the man thinking that Henry Sr. should be taken off life support to make room for other patients. He realizes his father was right, and that People Are Monsters.

Dugan calls Rick & Beth to the garage. He says Courtney claims there are tunnels under the high school and the entire town, and he wants the two of them to go through the records and see if she's right. Beth's excited to help, but Rick's upset that Dugan called them just to look at a bunch of old books. Dugan says being a superhero isn't all fun & games, and sometimes you have to plan and study. He leaves, saying he has to take care of "family business." Rick tells Beth she's on her own, and tries to figure out his father's coded journal.

Courtney enters Brainwave's hospital room, and Henry Jr. snaps at her, asking what she's doing there. She says she doesn't want to hurt him, then involuntary thinks, "the way I hurt your father." Henry realizes his dad didn't have a seizure, and Courtney that attacked him. She says she did so in self defense, as he was trying to kill her.

Henry Jr. reads Courtney's mind and instantly knows all she does about the ISA. She says the ISA killed Joey Zarick and his family, as well as her own father. Henry says maybe they all deserved it. Courtney asks if he really thinks Joey deserved to die, and Henry admits he didn't. She says things aren't black & white, and people can act badly but still be good deep down. Henry refuses to believe that. Courtney says she thinks he just wants to be loved, and points out that he's constantly at his father's side as proof.

Henry Jr.'s headaches return, and everything in the room begins shaking. He tells Courtney to get out. Before she does, she says she knows he wants to do the right thing, and tells him to come and talk when he's ready.

Dugan comes home to find Barb hurriedly trying to cook a meal. He tells her that can wait, and sits her down to tell her the truth about he and Courtney being superheroes. Just then Courtney enters and stops him. Luckily the doorbell rings, and Barb asks Courtney to answer it.

Courtney opens the door and is greeted by Jordan, his son Cameron and parents Sofus and Lily. Courtney— who went to the Homecoming Dance with Cameron— is obviously blindsided by his appearance in her home, and nervously invites them in.

At the hospital, Henry leaves his father's room to get some water. Suddenly Wildcat grabs him and shoves him into an empty room. He scans her mind and realizes she's Yolanda. She tells him Courtney thinks his soul's worth saving, but she knows better. She says she'll kill him if he ever comes near her or any of her friends. Henry tries to tell her something, but she leaps out the window before he can.

At the garage, Beth and Chuck discover that Blue Valley was settled in 1875 by a group of Freemasons who called themselves "The Other Founding Fathers." They started up Blue Valley to be free of outside interference, and built the tunnels the ISA's using.

At the Dugans, everyone sits down for dinner. Jordan and his parents say a special Norwegian grace. Jordan asks Dugan what he does for a living and why he moved to Blue Valley. He says he likes the pace and the people, plus Barb grew up there. Jordan says Blue Valley represents the American Dream, and soon the entire country will follow their lead. Courtney says Blue Valley's not so perfect, but Jordan says it will be. He and Barb then share a smile and a laugh, as Dugan gives them the side eye. Lily leans over and speaks to Sofus in Norwegian, saying she likes Barb, but Courtney worries her.

Courtney goes to the kitchen to get more dumplings. Without thinking, she reaches into the oven and burns her hand on the casserole dish. She puts an oven mitt on and takes it back to the dining room. She sets the dish down. and Jordan picks it up with his bare hands— completely oblivious to the heat. Courtney gasps and asks Dugan to help her with something in the kitchen.

Courtney tells Dugan that Jordan is Icicle. Dugan's not convinced of course, and Courtney wonders if Cameron has powers as well.

Sometime later the party breaks up, and the Mahkents leave. Cameron senses something's bothering Courtney and asks her if everything's OK. She brushes it off and says she's fine. He suggests they go om a date soon and hugs her before leaving.

As soon as they're gone, Courtney marches down to the basement and grabs the Cosmic Staff. Dugan follows and asks what she's doing, and she says if the Staff sees Jordan, maybe it can confirm he's Icicle. As the two are arguing, Barb wanders downstairs, sees the Staff and asks what the hell's going on. The Staff shuts off its light and falls to the floor. Barb screams as Dugan tries to explain.

Cut the the hospital, where Henry Jr.'s still at his father's bedside. Just then Brainwave's attorney Mr. Green enters. He explains that Henry Sr. left very specific instructions that he wasn't to remain on life support forever, and Green says it's time to pull the plug.

Henry Jr. reads Green's mind, and discovers he faked the papers in an effort to take Henry Sr.'s money. He glares at Green, causing him to have a massive seizure. Green falls to the floor dead. Just then Brainwave wakes up and asks his son what's going on. Holy Cow!

Thoughts:
• This episode begins with a flashback to "Decades Ago." So... just how many decades are we talking about here? Brainwave's a doctor or research scientist, so he's obviously gotta be well into his late twenties. Probably more like like early thirties. He looks like he's in his fifties in the present day, so this flashback couldn't have happened much more than twenty years ago.

So why didn't they just say "Twenty Years Ago?" Why obscure the timeline?

Earlier in the season we found out that Doctor Mid-Night was in his nineties when he died (even though he looked fifty) and last week we discovered Dragon King is a young 119!

Maybe Brainwave's much, much older than he appears to be as well, and the flashback really did take place "decades ago!"

• Visual Shorthand Alert! As Brainwave, Henry King Sr. wears a green leather costume. To make sure the audience understands they're seeing a much younger version of the character in the opening flashback, the director makes sure that pretty much EVERYTHING is green.

Henry Sr. wears a green shirt, green tie and a green sweater. He drives a green car as well. Heck, even the lighting in the scene is green! And when he goes back to his lab to record his video diary, the room has a green door and a green chair as well. In fact it looks like they digitally graded the footage in post to give the entire flashback a green tint. Get it? This is Brainwave we're looking at. Everything about him's green. GET IT? DO YOU GET IT YET?

• Young Henry King Sr. looks amazingly like Doogie Howser, MD. (ask your parents who that was, kids).

• At the end of Pilot, Brainwave opened his secret closet, revealing his costume, a photo of his wife and stacks and stacks of videotapes. In my review of that episode I said, 

"This is obviously some more setup for a future plotline. I'm guessing the woman in the photo's Brainwave's wife, who's likely dead. And I'm assuming the tapes are a record of her degeneration? Maybe? It's even possible that Starman accidentally caused her death."

Welp, that future plotline is here. I was right that his wife is dead, but so far we don't know the cause. I was way off about the content of the tapes though. Instead of chronicling his wife's deterioration, they're a record of how he got and developed his psychic powers. Eh, it was a good, if wrong, guess.

This week Henry Jr. opens the secret closet and starts watching his father's video journals. I'm honestly kind of surprised that Henry Jr. knows how to work a VCR!

• Dugan tells Courtney that before the Justice Society, he was a member of an earlier team— the Seven Soldiers Of Victory. Several things here:

Looks like the show's following comic history. The Seven Soldiers first appeared wayyyyy back in 1941, in Leading Comics #1. The team consisted of Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, Vigilante, Shining Knight, Green Arrow, Speedy, Crimson Avenger and his sidekick Wing.

As Courtney points out, that makes eight members, and Dugan says they always fought about the team's name. In the comics, Wing fought with the team, but was never made an official member, hence the "Seven" moniker.

Dugan shows Courtney a photo of the Seven Soldiers. Oddly enough, the pic looks like it came from the 1940s, just like the comic team did. It's even in black & white, like it was taken during WWII. Who even has a black & white camera these days?

Once again, the show takes eighty year old characters and tries to update them to the present day, with mixed results.

So what's the timeline here? Just when was Dugan a member of the Seven Soldiers Of Victory? Has he lived long enough to be a member of two superhero teams? Actor Luke Wilson is currently forty eight, so I'm assuming Dugan's probably the same age as well. The JSA members were killed ten years ago in 2010, when Dugan was thirty eight. He had to have some history with the team, so let's say he joined them ten years prior, in 2000— when he was twenty eight.

Dugan told Courtney that he was hired as the Pemberton family's mechanic when he was twenty. He befriended the Pemberton's fifteen year old son, Sylvester, and long story short, the two began fighting crime together as the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. 

That leaves eight years in which Dugan (and the Star-Spangled Kid) could have been members of the Seven Soldiers. So the timeline works out— but only barely! Dugan better not announce he was a member of an even EARLIER team, or I'm gonna plotz!

Lastly, as Courtney looks at the photo of the Seven Soldiers Of Victory, she says, "There's Robin Hood, and a knight. And you had a cowboy? Like The Village People?

I am VERY surprised that Courtney knows who The Village People are!

• Justin The Janitor (who apparently works at Blue Valley High twenty four hours a day) has a vision in which his trusty mop turns into the Cosmic Staff.

OK, at this point we all know that Justin is really Sir Justin, the Shining Knight. In this episode we learn that he was a member of the Seven Soldiers Of Victory, not the JSA. So how would he know about the Cosmic Staff? Did the Seven Soldiers have a crossover with the JSA? Or did Justin see the Staff in action at the end of Shiv Part One and is just remembering it here?

Prediction: At some point this season, the Cosmic Staff is gonna zap Justin in the head and make him remember his former life as the Shining Knight!

• In his father's study, Henry Jr. practices his telekinesis by lifting pop can off the desk. You've gotta look reeeeeeeeeeeeally closely to see it, but the can's labeled "Soder Cola." Soder's a soft drink brand that pops up quite often in DC Comics.

• Dragon King gets fed up with his daughter Cindy and locks her up in a cell in his dungeon. Check out this scene in which the two are conversing through the cell door. Is... is Cindy standing on a box here? Or is Dragon King really only five feet tall?

• Apropos of nothing, a couple days ago I saw a clip from the 1949 Batman And Robin serial. My, hasn't movie costume technology come a long way?

Imagine my surprise when I saw the villain in the serial! Looks pretty familiar, eh? Even more interesting, he was called "The Wizard (!)"

• Last week it was implied that Doctor Ito was NOT a member of the Injustice Society, and had only recently started working with them. It appeared that both he AND the ISA have been secretly operating in Blue Valley for the past ten years, completely independent of one another. That seemed extremely unlikely to me.

Regardless of that, this week we find out it's true. Ito's not an ISA member. In fact there even seems to be some animosity between them, as Principal Bowin seems repulsed by Ito, and moves her chair away from him when he sits down. Ito himself even says, "I know we've had our conflicts in the past, but be assured, I am your ally in Project: New America."

So there you go. A seemingly immortal warlord and a supervillain team both operating independently beneath a tiny town in Nebraska. What are the odd?
• Dragon King meets with the ISA to discuss their joint venture, Project: New America. A few things here.

First of all, Dragon King briefs the ISA members by saying, "We no longer need to wait for Brainwave to awaken. His son, Henry, is a telepath. The amplifier will be complete within the week. Once it is, we can funnel Henry's telepathic abilities through it, broadcasting them across six states, taking control of ever fully developed mind within them. Carving out a new America. Our America."

So... why the hell is Dragon King painstakingly explaining their own project to them? THEY'RE the ones who came up with the thing! They should already know all the details about it.

Obviously the only reason Dragon King's pointlessly describing the project is for the benefit of the audience. Surely there was a less clunky and obvious way to do so though?

Secondly, I've mentioned this before but it's worth a repeat— based on Dragon King's rundown on Project: New America sounds VERY similar to The Enlightenment over on The Flash. In Season 4 of that show, The Thinker took over one of STAR Labs' satellites, intending to use it to amplify and broadcast his psychic powers to control the minds of everyone on Earth. 

Sounds pretty familiar, eh? That was over on Earth-1 (now known as Earth-Prime), so I guess this is the Earth-2 version of that plan. Still... come up with a new idea already, supervillains!

Lastly, Dragon King says that Project: New America will control the minds of everyone in Nebraska and the six surrounding states: South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.

Wow, they'll control one of the emptiest regions in the country! If you add up the populations of those seven states, it totals a bit over 21 million— in a country of 328 million! Dream big there, Injustice Society! 

I suppose it's possible that once they have control of seven states, they'll find a way to increase their influence, but still... it just struck me as funny that their plan was so relatively modest.

• For a while now I've been wondering about the underground lairs of both the ISA and Dragon King. Who built these vast subterranean complexes? Did the handful of ISA members secretly hollow out the immense space below Blue Valley by themselves? Seems like quite a major undertaking for seven or eight people, especially when they've only been living in the town for ten years or less. 

Did Dragon King hire a congractor to excavate his complex? If so, how'd he keep such a massive project a secret? Did he kill everyone who worked on it when it was done, like the Pharaohs of old?

I said it seemed like the only way this underground network could possibly exist is if the Wizard magicked it into existence with his wand! It all seemed preposterous, even for a comic book show.

Apparently the writers thought so too, because this week we get an official explanation for the tunnels! Beth & Chuck look through the town records and find something:

Beth: Rick? I found something. Blue Valley was settled in 1876 by a group of Freemasons who called themselves 'The Other Founding Fathers.' They came here to build a community free of interference from the outside."

Rick: "You think some old separatist freaks built those tunnels?"

Beth: "It explains why the Injustice Society chose our town. They can do whatever they want in secret. Hidden. Right underneath Blue Valley!"

So there you go! An official explanation for the tunnels— that actually makes sense! The ISA and Doctor Ito didn't dig their lairs, they were already there when they moved to Blue Valley. Well done, writers! 

I love how things that may not initially make sense on this show are eventually explained in later episodes. It rewards the viewer for paying attention.

Now the big question is: Who were The Other Founding Fathers? Were they an early form of the ISA? Did the ISA absorb the Founding Father members? Were the Founding Fathers long dead when the ISA came to town? Or did the ISA arrive in Blue Valley, murder them all and take over their tunnels?

• At the hospital, Courtney confronts Henry Jr. and tries to convince him to join her. He refuses as he quotes his new mantra, "All people are monsters." Courtney then gives him a good old fashioned The CW Pep Talk®, saying:

"Life isn't that black and white, Henry. People can be bad, but people can be good, too. And kind, and compassionate. Maybe some of the thoughts you read, maybe some of them are bad. I mean, sometimes we're hurting or we're afraid, and we think awful, awful things. Have you tried looking a little deeper? I bet you'd find something better. Behind the pain and the fear, it's all about love. People want to love, and be loved. I think you do, too."

Holy cow! Now THAT was a Pep Talk! She covered all the standard bases too, mentioning feelings, looking deep inside people and of course, love. Luckily this series hasn't massivley overused the Pep Talks the way they have over on The Flash, so I'll allow this one. Just don't give us another for a few episodes, OK, writers?

• At one point Yolanda suits up as Wildcat and sneaks into the hospital, where she accuses Henry Jr. of betraying her and threatens to kill him (!) if he doesn't stay away from her friends.

I may be totally off base here, but I still don't believe that Henry Jr.'s the one who ruined Yolanda's life. I covered this extensively back in Wildcat, so I won't rehash it all here. Cindy was clearly the one who sent Yolanda's photos to everyone in school, but for some reason Henry got all the blame. I'm betting at some point— possibly even next week— he's finally going to explain himself and tell Yolanda and the others it wasn't him.

• As Barb enters Jordan's office, he's looking through a folder filled with various photos of male executives. These are presumably the men he murdered because he believed them responsible for the untimely death of his wife Christine. In fact if you look closely, the man at the bottom right is Ed Reilly, who Jordan froze to death in his Oakville hotel room just last week in Shiv Part Two!

• Barb senses Jordan's sadness, so she decides to invite him and his family to her home for dinner.

This seems like something she should have discussed with Dugan beforehand, rather than just springing it on him at the last minute. In the previous episode, Barb was angry with Dugan for teaching Courtney to drive without consulting her first (even though that was a cover story to hide Stargirl's escapades from her). Is inviting Jordan to dinner Barb's way of paying back Dugan?

• I loved the Mahkent's hilariously over the top Norwegian grace! It sounded like something Thor would say in the MCU!

Pretty sure they made it up for the show though. I googled "Norwegian grace" and didn't find anything anywhere close to this. If it is real, it's too obscure for search engines.

• Trouble in paradise? During the dinner, Jordan & Barb share a look and a laugh— which doesn't go unnoticed by Dugan. Note the long, hard, suspicious glare he gives to Jordan at the end of the scene. Heck, even Courtney seems to be picking up on it!

• Barb mentions she and Courtney previously lived in Valley Village. Generally any and all city names on this show come from the comics. I checked, but I couldn't find any mention of a Valley Village in any DC Comic. Oddly enough it's an actual town in California here in the real world.

• Courtney sets a searing hot bowl of chicken & dumplings on the table, and gasps when Jordan nonchalantly picks it up with his bare hands. From this she makes the incredibly intuitive leap that he must secretly be Icicle. 

OK, so he really is Icicle, but I'm just not sure I'd come to the same conclusion if I were in her place.

So if he can pick up scalding hot objects and not feel any pain, that must mean his hands are really cold, right? So why doesn't Courtney notice this when she invites Jordan in and he takes her hand in his? Wouldn't she notice then his hands were frigid?

And if his hands are ice cold, wouldn't they... hiss or sizzle or something when he touched the hot dish?

• I totally called it! Just last week we saw that Courtney stores the Cosmic Staff in an unlocked wooden box, sitting in the middle of the basement floor. That seemed like a really bad hiding place to me, and I asked how long it'd be before Barb or Mike wondered down there, became curious, opened the crate and saw the Staff.

Sure enough, this week Barb discovers the Cosmic Staff! OK, so she caught Courtney & Dugan with it instead of finding it herself, but the result was the same.

I predict lots of fireworks in the Dugan marriage next week. Barb's gonna be furious with Dugan for keeping the fact that he's a superhero from her all these years, as well as allowing her daughter to fight crime with a giant magic swizzle stick. Dugan will then likely bring up Barb's sudden chumminess with Jordan. 

Hopefully these incidents won't lead to divorce and they'll be able to work it out.

Barb's world is also gonna come crashing down when she finds out her boss is a deadly supervillain!

• Brainwave's lawyer shows up a the hospital and tries to get Henry Jr. to sign papers allowing his father to be taken off life support. Yeah, I don't think so. Henry Jr.'s supposed to be around sixteen or seventeen, and as such a minor. There's no way in hell a kid that age could authorize euthanasia. Even in a comic book world!

• Holy Crap! Right after Henry Jr. telekinetically kills the lawyer, Brainwave suddenly regains consciousness! I gotta admit, I did NOT see that one coming!

Brainwave and Icicle are the two most powerful and dangerous members of the ISA. If Brainwave's fully recovered now, that's definitely bad news for Courtney and the new JSA! How the hell are they gonna defeat a villain who can give you a stroke just by looking at you funny?

So far I've been impressed by the fact that Stargirl likes to "subvert our expectations." What if next week we find out that even though Brainwave's conscious again, he's now powerless? What if Henry Jr. didn't inherit his father's psychic powers, but has actually been absorbing them from him? Now THAT would be a twist!