Beware of spoilers for the episode in the article. Please do not continue reading if you haven’t watched the episode yet and you are not okay with being spoiled.
Introduction :
From the very first scene battle lines were drawn as we opened the episode with ice Grandma Mahkent freezing Cameron's picture of Courtney.
Pat and Barbs :
I'm glad Pat and Barbara had a discussion about his trip to the Shadowlands. That's what a healthy relationship should be like. It's good Pat feels comfortable telling Barbara how he feels about his Dad (which she already seemed to know ) but he also talked with her for the first time about Mike's mum. Pat is a great person with a lot of childhood trauma.
Pat had to step up overnight to be a father to Mike and he has done the best he can with what he knows. It does bring up an interesting discussion regarding how much parents can actually protect their kids from the trauma of life ( it's impossible) , Pat couldn't make Maggie want to be Mike's mum if she didn’t want to. Pat and Barbara really were meant for each other. We haven't seen Mike's mother yet and I feel she will probably be just as bad as Courtney's Dad if we ever get to meet her.
Pat and Crusher :
Pat has found his people , for what it's worth Crusher is actually a good friend for Pat, overbearing at times with his health juices but he definitely does care about Pat as a friend. I think it's great that the show has actually spent some time developing and showing us as audiences what healthy relationships are supposed to be like ( and most of all showing us that people are capable of being better if they actually try to change - which is a message that has been very important this season ).
Paula and Barbs :
Paula training Barbs is something that I hoped the writers would do, if for no other reason than for us to get more scenes with the two new besties. I'm kind of mad at the CW because we won't get to see their friendship progress beyond this season. Paula considering how to shatter a man's spleen basic fight training is so very Paula. I loved how Paula told Barbara that with a serial killer on the loose in Blue Valley you need to be ready , to be honest most people in Blue Valley should be lining up to take self defense lessons at this point in time just in case they end up coming across an unreformed supervillain or two.
I hope Barbara eventually changes her mind (rather her perspective) and takes Paula's offer to train her because it's simply not safe for her not to learn how to defend herself, I'm sure a supervillain will want to come after her to get to Courtney at some point. I'm glad Barbara called Paula her friend , their friendship is so sweet. Their friendship is probably one of the biggest developments of the show from the first season when both Paula and Crusher tried to kill Pat and Barbara , to now being friends with their former targets.
Yolanda :
Courtney making up with Yolanda was great ( I don’t like my favorite besties fighting ), I'm glad they didn't drag that storyline out. Yolanda couldn't tell her parents her secret because it's not just her secret alone to tell either and considering how crazy overprotective her parents have been ( to the point where they are toxic ). I'm glad Yolanda didn't tell them, I'm okay with not seeing her parents for the rest of the season.
Courtney :
Courtney apologizing to Rick and Beth was all good until Courtney told them she wanted to tell Cameron the truth about “everything”. That played out about as well as I expected it to , at least initially. Beth wasn’t sure about Courtney's decision but she was calm as usual , Yolanda supported Courtney's decision because she realized she may have been a little wrong about Cindy too and Rick flat out said no.
Rick really hates Cameron , that "that kid" was personal. Rick saying he had everyone's back because the JSA is his family was sad, it's easy to forget the team is the closest thing Rick has to a family. Watching him break down at the lunch table was sad and took me back to the first season before the JSA were friends. Even though Rick didn't agree with Courtney's decision to tell Cameron "everything", I'm glad he still decided to stand with her as any real family member would do. The JSA is Rick's family and I hope he lets them help him, he needs his family more than ever now.
Rick :
Rick is definitely experiencing the side effects of using the hour-glass without a time limit. Beth noticed that something was off with Rick due to his powers before this episode so it made sense that her initial reaction was to ask if Rick's headache was due to the hour-glass ( she is worried about him). Beth's goggles even picked up on his levels of agitation.
JSA vs The Mahkents :
Beth's goggles gave her a new lead on the surveillance cameras spying on the JSA, The Mahkent house ( which gave us a memorable fight scene ). In true television fashion Courtney got interrupted by Ice Grandma before she could explain anything to Cameron. I never thought about Beth's suit actually having hand to hand combat abilities but then again Beth basically stole the Docs goggles in Season One and she never got an instruction manual to show her how to use the goggles full capabilities beyond relying on her A.I Chuck. It makes sense that there is a lot of information that she doesn’t actually know about the suit.
I'm glad it was Beth's dad that actually told her about those combat abilities (Beth’s parents have really stepped up this season). Beth has pushed away her parents all season but it actually turned out that she actually needs her parents help. I'd forgotten about Artemis wanting to join the JSA until she swooped in to save Beth ( Another storyline I would have liked to see continue beyond season 3 ). Courtney is a great fighter but without her cosmic staff she was utterly helpless to stop Rick and Cameron from almost killing each other.
Elsewhere Yolanda and Ice Grandma had an insane hand to hand ice combat fight. Ice Grandma might be old but she does have moves and she won that fight against Yolanda ( this is the woman who scared Cindy in season two ). Rick and Cameron nearly killed each other trying to protect Courtney. Rick actually hurt Courtney using his powers, his powers definitely need to be controlled. Cameron was definitely going to kill Rick during the climactic moment of his fight with Rick after his Grandmother told him the JSA killed his Dad.
Ice Grandpa only attacked because he thought his family was in danger, his first instinct was to run from the fight with Ice Grandma. Grandpa cares about his family and their happiness and he is fed up with the supervillainy. He is definitely a better person than his wife for sure. Grandpa saved Rick's life by stopping Cameron from killing Rick. I'm starting to think Ice Grandma was probably the reason Icicle was so messed up (she literally killed that poor teacher for trying to help her grandson ). I'm glad Beth was able to save Ice Grandpa from his heart attack, if he had died that would have only made things so much worse between the JSA and the Mahkents.
Mike and Jakeem :
The All Stars actually trying to find Cindy was great because the JSA didn't make it a priority. I’m still convinced Cindy should consider joining the All Stars when all is said and done. Mike and Jakeems mission to find Cindy led them to Ultra-Humanite. My initial thought after seeing him was that Solomon Grundy is probably going to come back at the end of the season to help the JSA take him on. If the series finale is as insane as I think it might be, maybe we might have the Helix institute joining in the battle too ( the writers and producers of this show love outdoing themselves every season ).
Who is Ultra-Humanite? :
Ultra-humanite is a scientific genius and the first supervillain faced by Superman in DC Comics , for a long while was considered to be Superman's arch nemesis until Lex Luthor was introduced. He is also amongst the first supervillains of the Golden Age of Comics having first appeared in DC comics then called Action Comics in June 1939.
Additional Notes :
1. It's truly unfortunate that such a great show like this has been canceled way too soon even though it has a very loyal fanbase who would be glad to see the show continue. The show also still has so many more stories to tell. I truly hope HBO Max somehow saves it for season 4 and beyond.
2. Did anyone else spot the Strangers on a train , Giant and Dial M for murder classic movie posters in Mike and Jakeems dinner scene ?
3. Rest in peace Mr Deisinger, you truly were a great teacher.
4. The award for MVP of this episode goes to Ice Grandpa Mahkent and Beth Chapel.
5. The award for best fight has to be Rick vs Cameron even though Yolanda vs Ice Grandma comes in a very close second.
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