S03.E02: Frenemies – Chapter Two: The Suspects

[tessaray]

Air Date:  September 7, 2022

After stumbling upon a suspicious murder in Blue Valley, the JSA begins looking at potential suspects. A tense run-in with The Shade (guest star Jonathan Cake) makes Courtney and Pat realize that Sylvester's old ways could land them in hot water. Finally, Barbara steps in to help Paula, whose attempt at fitting in has not gone so well. 

[AnimeMania]

[cambridgeguy]

What does Barbara actually do at work?  Does she just have some nebulous public works role?

Ep 1, Sylvester goes AWOL with Pat, gets them in trouble. Ep 2, Sylvester goes AWOL with Courtney, gets them in trouble.  Ep 3, he needs to convince Barbara or Mike to go do something reckless. 

Nice to see the citizens continue to be oblivious, as evidenced by Courtney just walking around with a glowing staff without a care in the world and everyone buying that a "tornado" materialized out of nowhere just to kill one person. 

And come back soon Shade, the show is better with you skulking about and teaching people how to brew a proper cup of tea.

Edited September 8, 2022 by cambridgeguy

[Frozendiva]

Talk about local weather! Some stormchaser would have easily gotten footage of the 'tornado' that killed The Gambler.

Nice to see the Evil Norwegians again.

I didn't quite get the message left in the bathroom.

So the staff turns Star-person into a sort of Stargate Go'auld with glowing eyes? Why? Turns you in to some sort of shooting star? Why? Explain why and not just a cool effect.

I enjoyed Mrs. Crock trying to bake a cake. She was right - just buy one.

Yeah, unlikely Cindy would be the suspect. Dumb to pick up the gun.

The cafe needs to buy a tea kettle that is programmed for black, white, green, etc. teas, like the one I have. Hope the Shade doesn't stay away long. He likes the little town.

Sylvester? Tone it down a little.

[Jediknight]

"So do us all a favor, and give her the staff and go."

Shade just straight up killed Sylvester with his words.  Shade likes Pat and the kids, he can't stand Sylvester.  And there is something massively sus about Sylvester.  I feel like having Shade just go off on him like that adds more to him not being right.

The Crocks had nothing to do with the murder, but they're afraid of the JSA finding out that they hired the gang for Artemis's audition.  Speaking of the Crocks, we need more Paula and Barb friendship scenes.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Nice to see the citizens continue to be oblivious, as evidenced by Courtney just walking around with a glowing staff without a care in the world and everyone buying that a "tornado" materialized out of nowhere just to kill one person. 

And nobody in the Trailer Park came out to see what was happening when they heard a gunshot. I wonder if anybody in town knows there are superheroes there and do they just ignore that they are patrolling the streets.

[Snapdragon]

So much mystery and intrigue!  I agree that the Crocks hired the Gambler's old team so that Artemis could stop them and that's what they're worried about (either that or Paula did just end up giving the rotary club a store bought cake and now they're waiting for the other shoe to drop!).  I doubt Cindy killed the Gambler but I'm wondering what she wanted his laptop for.  I would assume it's more than just general nosey-ness.  I wonder if there's a villian we haven't met yet who can reanimate and control the dead?  Because something seems really off about Starman and the Gambler's murder did seem very Grundy-esque, so maybe there's someone else pulling the strings there?

[tennisgurl]

The citizens of Blue Valley are truly in Sunnyvale levels of denial. Just a small localized tornado that killed one guy, nothing to see here. Pretty much all of the possibly reformed villains have stuff to hide, but I feel pretty confident its not any of them, even the evil ice grandparents. Did Cindy steal the laptop to solve the mystery on her own to prove herself? Did the Crocks hire the Gamblers old gang to use them as a try out for Artimus to get into the JSA? Is Grundy somehow involved, as it looks like the trailer being turned over could be him? How does Mr. Bones factor into this? 

You would think the daughter of a supervillain would know better than to grab a gun that was clearly just used for a murder. Come on Cindy, step your game up.

I hope that Shade comes back soon, Blue Valley is always a more fun, more snarky place when he's around. He absolutely destroyed Sylvester with that "give it back to her, no one wants you here" burn. Shade has come to genuinely become fond of Courtney and the gang while he clearly has nothing but disdain for Sylvester, it makes for an interesting dynamic considering how Courtney has felt like she's being pushed to the side now in favor of the original Starman. Hopefully Shade is back soon, he only just now helped Maria make that perfect cup of tea. 

I love Barbara and Paula as awkward friends. I need Pat/Barbara and Paul/Crusher to go on a double date.

Sylvester's bull in a china shop approach is clearly not working, especially now that the various Blue Valley factions are either underground or have formed a tentative truce, and Pat isn't falling so quickly into his old sidekick role these days either. Things are still really off with him but I am still not sure if he's just sorting through a lot of stuff and will adjust to the new status quo, or if something more sinister will happen.

Is Cameron a meta with ice powers, or are they actually ice trolls or something? I hope that they're ice trolls. 

[thuganomics85]

Definitely hoping that The Shade won't be gone for too long.  He has by far been what one of the best "antagonist turned shades of grey ally" in quite sometime.  They've really done a good job establishing that he does care about Courtney and the rest of the JSA in his own odd way.  Plus, they finally got the tea right!  Hopefully he and his awesome top hat (yeah, I sad it, Sylvester!) will be back soon!

Right now, I'm thinking Sylvester isn't flat-out nefarious or anything, but it seems like being resurrected or whatever has made him more impulsive and hot-headed, which is a dangerous combination.  His actions have definitely been questionable at best: even the Cosmic Staff knows that Courtney is the better choice right now.  Curious to see where this goes.  I do think Courtney has a good idea that maybe him finding something to do besides just being Starman can help.

Barbara more or less trying to teach Paula how not to be a complete sociopath is hilarious!

Mike and Jakeem are so going to put themselves in danger by doing their own investigation.

Glad the art teacher is looking a little better.  But what I'm really hoping is that Randy Havens will get to reprise Mr. Clarke again for the final season of Stranger Things.  Hawkins needs him!

Cameron's new powers are clearly doing a number on him.

Pretty sure all of the main suspects will end up being red herrings.  Cindy does have The Gambler's laptop after-all, but I think it will be a case of her trying to solve it on her own so that she can prove that she is worthy of being in the JSA.  The Crocks are now acting shady, but I like the theory that they were actually behind the heist last week in order to make Artemis look good for the JSA.  And no one else is really standing out right now.  Hell, we might not have even met the killer yet!

[Cthulhudrew]

I wonder if Cameron is actually going to get to interact with the rest of the cast this season and not just a single scene or two with Courtney and his grandparents (and the one scene he had with Cindy).

In any event, as far as suspects go, I could see where a puncture wound caused by something that melts away later (like an icicle?) would be a great murder weapon. Wouldn't explain the state of the RV, though.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Cthulhudrew

[Cryonix]

Why do they have to constantly have songs playing during the scenes, it's very annoying & distracting from what is going on 😬

[Lantern7]

Good episode. Sylvester continues to act sketchy, Shade takes himself off the board because he'd solve the murder within five episodes of unknown circumstances, and Cindy still can't grasp the superhero concept. Yeah, Yolanda and Rick are one-note, but in their defense, Cindy is a horrible person. Yolanda would be within her rights to rip Cindy's throat out. Of course, she probably still has guilt for killing Brainwave, so that won't happen.

Cameron's grandparents: "[speak in evil Norwegian]" And that's Cameron's story so far this season.

On 9/8/2022 at 2:43 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Barbara more or less trying to teach Paula how not to be a complete sociopath is hilarious!

"Paula, when the recipe says to beat the eggs, it doesn't mean you start punching them." I'm convinced that was in the script at some point. Related question: how hard is it to make a Kringle?

Oh, Gambler. I think he peaked when he was hacking with "It's Goin' Down" in the background, but the guy is actually getting some growth. Pity someone murdered him before he could really achieve it. I like Shade dropping in to making amends. I also like Sylvester trying to imagine that, followed by Shade aghast that's he play full-on villain.

Just remembered Sylvester referred to Shade as "Hufflepuff." Apparently, Harry Potter was a thing when he died. I'm also amazed Shade didn't take offense to that.

Jakeem and Mike trying to bypass the mystery? Meh. Guys, we're getting 2-3 murder movie posters per episode. You can't just solve the puzzle in the second episode. Credit to Mike for trying to come up with the best wording possible for Jakeem to make the wish.

[Trini]

I don't want Sylvester to be involved with the murder, but I think he might be. In any case, he's mighty sketchy at the moment.

So how about Jakeem and Mike wish for a list of the killer's names?