Brainwave Jr. – Director: Andi Armaganian/Writer: James Dale Robinson
This one starts two years ago with Pat and Barbara’s first meeting. They were both in the diner late and ended up sharing a banana split and talking a lot. Unfortunately, Pat lied to her about why he was in Blue Valley and he’s been
lying ever since, which Barbara has just realized, having seen the Cosmic Staff in the basement (as we saw at the end of last episode). Courtney tries to bluff at first, then goes with the truth … except she leads with her belief that Starman was her father and Jordan (Barbara’s boss) killed him. Pat decides to take over and tell Barbara everything.
Barbara’s pretty pissed off and blames Pat for dragging Courtney into his bullshit. When Courtney tries to explain, Barbara sends her to her room and gives Pat shit for lying. When he admits Courtney’s injuries weren’t from a car accident, Barbara tells him to get the hell out of the house. At the 
hospital, Brainwave seems to have forgotten the last ten years of his life, but thinks his memory will return. He doesn’t even remember his wife dying, so Henry Jr. has to tell him. Apparently, Henry’s mom (Merry) drowned accidentally and was ice cold when Brainwave found her, which would seem to indicate that Icicle might’ve had something to do with her death. But if that was the case, why did Brainwave work with Icicle all these years? Brainwave is happy to find out that Henry has inherited his mind powers. Pat can’t explain to Mike what happened, but Mike offers to go with him to stay at the garage overnight. At the hospital, Brainwave dreams about his wife’s death and Icicle does seem to be involved somehow. Speaking of which, Icicle shows
up to visit Brainwave. At the King house, Henry finds the videotape where his dad talks about Merry’s death and finds out his mom was a superhero … and Starman’s sister. Apparently, Merry’s innate goodness made Brainwave wonder about the Injustice Society’s grand plan. At home, the Staff tries to get Courtney to go out as Stargirl, but she refuses since her mom is already pretty pissed off.
But the Staff decides to go after Icicle itself and attacks him and Brainwave at the hospital. Unfortunately, it’s not such a good fighter without Courtney 
to guide it and ends up getting captured. Henry arrives, sees his dad with Icicle, and assumes Icicle is manipulating his father. Henry hides while Icicle and Brainwave leave with the Staff. At home, Courtney worries when she can’t find the Staff, but Barbara tells her to pack because they’re leaving Blue Valley right away. Courtney goes to the garage, but Pat doesn’t know where the Staff is either. When he hears about Barbara’s plans, he agrees that she and Courtney should leave town to be safe, but doesn’t want Barbara going to work since Icicle is her boss. Mike is pissed off that nobody (including Courtney) will tell him what’s going on. Courtney leaves and runs into Henry, who uses telepathy to fill
her in on everything he’s seen and heard. When she realizes Henry’s mom was Starman’s sister, she’s thrilled to have Henry as a cousin. She’s not so thrilled that Jordan has the Staff and Henry figures his dad’s amnesia is a blessing, since it might turn him against the Injustice Society. But that puts him in danger from Icicle, so Courtney suggests they get the rest of the JSA to help.
At the American Dream, Barbara does a web search for Starman and 
wonders if Courtney’s crazy idea about him being her father is possible. It doesn’t seem that way, since she emails Courtney’s dad (Sam Kurtis) and obviously expects to get an answer. At school, Yolanda and Rick want nothing to do with Henry, although Beth is willing to make peace with him to save the town. Rick and Henry get a little rough with each other, but Yolanda finally agrees to cooperate, mainly to keep Courtney from going off alone with Henry. But she tells Courtney they’re not friends anymore because she chose Henry over her. At American Dream, Pat tells Barbara to get Courtney and leave town, but they’re interrupted when Icicle and his parents show up. Since
Courtney can’t get hold of Pat, she and the others head into the tunnels under Cindy’s house. They split up, with Rick and Beth heading one way, while the other three go a different direction. Henry tries to apologize to Yolanda, but she’s not too receptive. At American Dream, Barbara records Icicle’s parents conversation in Norwegian so she can translate it later.
Rick and Beth find Solomon Grundy’s cell and Rick is ready to ignore the mission to kill Grundy and avenge his parents. The other three find Dragon King’s lab, where he’s trying to unlock Brainwave’s memories and restore 
his full power. The Staff is locked in a power-dampener but before Courtney can grab it, Cindy yells from her cell and gives them away. Dragon King sends his minions after them and a big fight ensues. Courtney ends up duelling with Dragon King and is about to be killed when Wildcat retrieves the Staff and gets it to her just in time. (We also get a look at Dragon King’s real face and let’s just say he’s … aptly named.) Courtney blasts him and Henry tries to help his father, but Brainwave has reverted to his evil ways and comes after them. Rick is forced to forget his revenge to take out some minions and Beth convinces him to leave Grundy so they can go help the others. They meet up and head for the surface, with
Brainwave right behind them. At the diner, Barbara’s recording of the Mahkents mentions a machine, which confirms Pat’s suspicions about the Injustice Society planning something big. At her office, we see that she’s gotten a reply to her email to Sam Kurtis, which suggests that Starman isn’t Courtney’s father. Beneath the streets, the JSA find their way blocked by some bars, but Hourman and Henry open it to get through. Brainwave catches up to them and Henry forces Courtney through the bars, closing them behind her. As the other 
frantically try to get through the bars to help, Henry confronts his father in a mental duel and learns that Brainwave is the one who killed Merry for trying to interfere in the Society’s plans, not Icicle. Henry attacks his father but can’t match his years of practice and ends up getting buried as Brainwave brings the ceiling down on his head. The JSA are pretty freaked out, but still have to deal with Brainwave … next episode.
This is a really good episode, that gives Henry a great redemption, with him standing up to his father and dying to protect the others. Right before he dies, he apologizes to Yolanda again and this time she knows he’s sincere. He also tells Courtney she was right about people having more good than
evil in their hearts. It’s cool to see Yolanda and Rick (who were dead set against working with Henry at all) going crazy trying to get through the barrier to save his life. I think Henry might’ve been using his telekinesis to reinforce the bars so they couldn’t break through. That could explain why he couldn’t go all out against his father. The revelation about Brainwave killing Merry makes sense, given what we know about him, and the stuff about Merry being Sylvester’s sister is straight out of the comics. I never believed Sylvester was Courtney’s father 
and the return email from Sam Kurtis seems to confirm that. In the comics, Sam Kurtis was a low-level member of the Royal Flush Gang and there’s an email on Barbara’s computer that mentions Royal Flush, so I’m thinking he’s going to be the same character here. The big fight was great, we finally saw Dragon King’s face, and it seems like Barbara is coming around. So things aren’t all bad … except for the JSA having to deal with a homicidal maniac who’s already killed his wife and son without an ounce of remorse.
Favourite Quotes:
- “Oh, that … that’s a broom from Sharper Image.” Courtney bullshitting her mom about the Staff.
- “Oh, now? You go by STRIPE now?” Barbara showing her annoyance at Pat when he tries to tell her the truth
- “No worries, just ignore us like you usually do.” Beth to the students in the cafeteria after Henry and Rick’s fight.