Frenemies Chapter 1: The Murder
This one starts with a creepy voice-over by the Gambler about a tale of mystery and murder, then immediately pivots to an upbeat montage of life in Blue Valley. We see Beth’s parents are still driving her nuts with their enthusiasm over
her superhero career, Rick is digging up and reburying Grundy (and has gotten the hourglass to give him 33 minutes of super-strength), Cindy is trying to change her attitude (even helping an old lady with her groceries), the Crocks are exercising together, and Sylvester is building something in Pat’s basement. We also see that the Gambler is back in town.
Courtney and her family went to Yellowstone Park for the summer, but 
according to various newspaper headlines she apparently was busy using the Staff to help people. When they get home, they find that not only has Sylvester fixed the kitchen, he’s turned the basement into a nice little space for himself and built a display case for the Staff. Sylvester isn’t sure how he came back from the dead, but he speculates that Courtney activating the Staff’s powers somehow brought him back (and forced him to dig his way out of his own grave). Courtney’s a bit worried that Sylvester might want the Staff back, but he says he’s finished being Starman and the Staff belongs to her now. Courtney talks to
Pat about it and he urges her to take advantage of Sylvester’s knowledge of the Staff to up her game as Stargirl. After seeing the Crocks, they disagree on whether or not they should keep the door locked during the day, with Courtney saying that if they treat the Crocks as friends, they might actually become better people. Her rosy view of ex-villains is put to the test when Gambler shows up at the door.
Gambler says he’s back to make amends to the people he’s wronged, but 
even Courtney’s not inclined to trust him since he took off instead of helping against Eclipso. But when Gambler mentions that he has a daughter he’s never met and wants to let her know how much he loves her, that gets Courtney’s sympathy. As he’s talking, we see some kind of camera watching Gambler from inside Courtney’s house. The next morning, Pat is surprised to find Crusher in the kitchen mixing up some horrible health drink. Crusher warns Pat about trusting Gambler. At the café, Shade is still disappointed with what passes for a cup of tea. Gambler comes in to make amends to Shade, but he’s not interested,
scaring him off with one of his dark looks. After Gambler leaves, Shade pulls some dark matter out of his own eye and looks surprised as it dissipates on his finger. At school, Beth is still going nuts from her parents’ over-involvement in her life and Rick is frustrated because he’s reburied Grundy several times and hasn’t managed to resurrect him. Cindy joins them and we soon see that Yolanda and Rick aren’t ready to accept her as a JSA member yet (nor Artemis for that matter).
At the garage, Sylvester marvels at the STRIPE armour and convinces him to 
show off its capabilities … which means Sylvester has to use the Staff to keep up. Pat still can’t say no, especially when Sylvester gets all mushy with him about his family. Paula goes to see Barbara at work, telling her Artemis really wants to join the JSA and is willing to prove herself. Gambler does sincerely seem to be reforming, even throwing away his Derringer as he initiates a computer search for his daughter, Becky. We see someone is outside his trailer, watching him. When Pat and Sylvester get home from their jaunt, Courtney is upset that
Sylvester took the Staff … and that Pat let him. Courtney talks to Sylvester and he admits he came back to claim the Staff, since being Starman is pretty much all he has. Courtney proposes they share the Staff: Sylvester can use it while she’s in school during the day, and she’ll take it at night. Sylvester agrees and says he will train her to use the Staff more effectively.
Courtney gets a call from Beth about some trouble and the JSA (including 
Cindy) assembles. It turns out to be some goofy-looking villains robbing a warehouse, but before the JSA can jump into action, Artemis shows up and kicks the shit out of the entire gang herself. Later, Beth finds out the No Limit Gang (yeah, that’s what they’re called) used to work with the Gambler, so Rick figures he’s behind the robbery. Cindy gets bored and takes off while Beth is trying to locate
Gambler. At home, Sylvester tells Pat he doesn’t trust the Crocks, Shade, Cindy, or the Gambler, but Pat points out that Courtney does and her intuition is pretty good. Sylvester also seems to want to go back to the old “superhero-sidekick” days, which Pat isn’t too thrilled about. Gambler has been writing a heartfelt letter to his daughter and finally gets the info on where she is. His computers also warn him that someone has been spying on him, as well as numerous other sites in Blue Valley (all of which are 
connected with JSA members). When he goes outside to find the camera trained on his trailer, he’s attacked by someone … or something. When the JSA go to see Gambler, they hear what sounds like a gunshot and find his trailer totalled and Cindy standing over his body with a (literal) smoking gun. Of course, she says she didn’t kill him, but I don’t think most of them will believe her.
This is a pretty good episode to start the season with. Courtney seems to be the only one who really believes the bad guys can change their attitudes, and from what we see of them, she’s right. Cindy helping the old lady,
Gambler writing to his daughter, and Paula asking Barbara for help getting Artemis into the JSA all seem to indicate that they are at least trying to change. I can’t help wondering if the No Limit Gang’s robbery was a set-up, maybe by Crusher and Paula; it’s pretty convenient for Artemis to show up there, and Paula did say she was willing to prove herself. I’m a little wary of Sylvester too … I can’t tell if his heartfelt speeches are genuine or if he’s just doing it manipulate people. He seems to have convinced both Pat and Courtney to give him exactly what he wants, while pushing right past their objections. But obviously the main event is Gambler’s murder and I assume most of the season will be taken up with 
figuring out who the killer is. Cindy is too obvious, but I imagine everyone will automatically blame her. Courtney will probably be the only one who believes her and that’ll put her at odds with the rest of the JSA. Other candidates are the Crocks and Shade, but again I think they’re too obvious. My money’s on Mr. Bones and Helix, who nobody in Blue Valley even knows about yet. I’m wondering if we’ll get to see Gambler’s daughter, Becky; in the comics, she was called Hazard and was seeking vengeance for Gambler’s murder (although I think he was her grandfather in the comics), so maybe she’ll show up in the same capacity here.
Favourite Quotes:
- “What list?” Pat’s family when he tells Sylvester that fixing the kitchen was on his list of things to do.
- “We gotta start locking the doors … right?” Pat after Crusher’s unexpected early morning visit.