Stargirl – Frenemies – Chapter Five: The Thief review S3 E5
Frenemies has already proven to be a fun season arc. Quickly establishing a murder mystery and keeping a viable amount of suspects will do that. The bigger surprise has been the characters who might not be the murderer but are also acting suspiciously shady. It’s made for an intriguing and unpredictable season.
The Thief makes some noticeable progression on the various key subplots.
It seems like all the evidence is in place to confirm Cindy is the killer. She seemingly shived Gambler and stole his laptop while also intentionally misleading the JSA. Still, that seems a little too easy and Cindy never had that much power unless the concoctions she’s whipped up have dramatically enhanced her strength.
Sylvester leads Hourman and Wildcat into the ISA headquarters just before Cindy rolls out. Sylvester is losing it seeing the painting of his archenemies and friend killers. Maybe he needs to shift to decaf? At least his anger is justified.
In a nice moment that connects two characters that haven’t interacted too much this season, Barb helps Sylvester out after he’s disappointed for losing it in front of Rick and Yolanda. Attempting to pay it forward, Sylvester tries to encourage Mike and even mentions Wotan and Crimson Avenger(!)
Cindy’s actions keep seeming suspicious. She helps Mike and Jakeem out in dealing with bullies before gently turning down their request for her to join their team. But as usual, she still seems to thrive on messiness.
As soon as Courtney tells her about Cameron, Cindy tries to rile him up. She explains it to Courtney that she was testing to see if he had powers like his family and she doesn’t want Courtney to get hurt. I kinda want to believe her, but Cindy has been super shady all season.
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Courtney isn’t as dialed in on JSA business or sharing the staff with Sylvester. She’s in deep with her budding romance with Cameron. A nice perk of not bogging Courtney down with romantic relationships is that her divided attention feels earned. Why can’t Courtney have a little quiet time getting to date the guy she’s crushed on for two years?
During the daily lunch meeting, the team is frustrated Courtney is distracted and Rick immediately gets on the offensive when Cameron comes over to speak. While Rick is taking it to the extreme, Beth and Yolanda aren’t real sure what to make of Cameron either. Courtney isn’t thrilled with this verbal beat down from her friends and ditches them. It’s nice to see Courtney have an edge every so often and this time it’s understandable.
While they’re getting in some “alone” time, Cameron’s grandparents are creeping on him and Courtney. I love how the show’s supporting characters all have a purpose. Whether that gets revealed in one season or not, their storylines are percolating.
The team — minus Courtney — talks to Sylvester, who says they were hard on her. He cautions that when his JSA had a big philosophical difference, it split the team apart. That’s a nice callback to the Eclipso arc and using it as a warning for the modern team.
Beth’s goggles are reading Sylvester’s mood as she chats with her folks. That can’t be a coincidence. Sylvester encourages Beth to keep her family out of her super heroic activities to avoid the fate that happened to his sister.
Sylvester also gives Rick some insight on the hourglass that would remove its limitations. On the surface, these don’t sound like the words of a bad guy, but it also doesn’t feel like Sylvester has the best perspective on things.
Yolanda decides to a little investigating of her own and breaks into Cindy’s room. Not so shockingly she finds The Gambler’s laptop.
I love how there’s so much playing out this season without feeling too cluttered. Just enough is happening so the majority of the cast has something going on. The murder mystery still has enough unsettled to roll out at its current pace and not feel like it’s treading water. Next week’s episode is titled The Betrayal so I’m expecting some big twist for what’s already been a very enjoyable season.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW
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