The Week of 10/19/22
So, Nailed It is back, it’s a kind of Halloween themed series, but I gotta say I love the fact that this show has managed to hang in there this long. Netflix shows, even the quickie half-hour things like this are generally one to three seasons and done, but somehow, nailed it just keeps coming back. It’s an absolute delight for all of us in my family, and I hope this thing keeps going for many many years to come.
Then there’s Stargirl. We finally get to see Jade’s brother Obsidian… and he’s gay. It’s vitally important that you understand he’s gay. It’s terribly, terribly essential that they show you that he’s gay, and they have to do it within seconds of meeting him! It doesn’t actually have anything to do with the story, it never comes up again, and doesn’t drive the character thematically. In fact, now that I think about it, you could just as easily, (perhaps even more easily) have introduced him as a solo runaway before the rent-a-cops pick him up and deliver him to the Infinity Inc. g
uys, but no, it’s essential that we make sure you know he’s gay!
It’s one of the things that bothers me because Stargirl has, thus far, mostly been above this sort of ham-fisted virtue signaling. We got a little hint of social justice during summer school with Eclipso’s temptation of Beth, but it was mild, and organic to the story. This is just shoved in for no reason, very “in your face” and it pulls me out of the story. That kind of stuff is also the first sign of a CW show getting ready to jump the shark. Supergirl took a hard left turn into social justice first, and story as an afterthought. So did Legends, and Batwoman was basically defined by it from the word go. One of the things I’ve been enjoying about Stargirl (and for that matter Superman and Lois) is that they’ve been largely free of this sort of thing, and when it does show up, it’s nuanced and generally background… And organic part of a story. Perhaps I’m overreacting, but 
I’ve been enjoying Stargirl so much that it would be a real shame to see it go the way of a lot of the hyper politicized shows that the superhero genre seems to be plagued with. The rest of the episode is solid. We get some good green lantern action with Jade, and green lantern stuff is always welcome. There’s still some struggle as Courtney tries to regain her friends trust and we get a fairly shocking development with Yolanda right at the end of the episode. It’s super hero soap opera to be sure, but I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
Got to close out by mentioning that The Food that Built America is back as well, although the format seems to have changed. It feels like they’re matching multiple episodes together… Building on The stories they’ve already told us. It’s very much a second season kind of feel to it… A continuation with some continuity to it. Interesting and unexpected for a documentary series like this. Still, I’m riveted, and it makes for good Sunday night viewing. It’s still a high recommend, if you haven’t seen this show, you should check it out.
As for me, I think it’s about time I pull out my copy of the great pumpkin!
Argo City Comics 