- Someone murdered The Gambler.
- The fact is, it wasn't until The Gambler
came back to Blue Valley
that he was murdered,
making the former villains
all suspects,
including Cindy Burman.
- The Gambler's laptop is missing.
Whoever has it, that's who killed him.
[cell phone dings]
I really have to go.
- You did this to me last year, Courtney.
You always leave.
- I don't think The Shade killed The Gambler.
- It's only a matter of time before they find out.
- I know. - [exhales heavily]
[tense music]
[indistinct chatter]
[The Summit's "One Way Highway"]
♪
- ♪ Lately things have gotten somewhat crazy ♪
♪ Tough to get around, but maybe ♪
♪ Something came alive today
- Good morning. - Hey.
- ♪ And, baby
♪ What's on my mind is kind of hazy ♪
- Hi, neighbor. - Hey.
- Hey, how's it going?
[laughter]
[pig snorting]
♪
- ♪ I have been a fool for love ♪
♪ Everything I'm dreaming of
- Hi.
What can I get for you, sir?
- I'll take your best cup of coffee.
- Sure. Coming right up. - Great.
- Here you are. - Thanks. Here you go.
- Thank you. - [head thuds] Ow. I'm okay.
- ♪ Riding down a one-way highway ♪
♪ Ooh, started way down low and brokenhearted ♪
♪ Maybe that I finally got it ♪
- Anywhere you like. - Okay.
- ♪ I'm gonna take you all the way ♪
- Everything here is quaint.
Wow.
[soft music]
[slurps]
♪
Wow.
This tea is remarkably good.
- Best in America, I'm told.
♪
- Hmm.
- Hi. - Hey.
- Is breakfast okay?
- Oh, yeah. The eggs are overdone.
The toast is burnt. It's good.
I mean, who wants crispy hash browns?
Soggy is the way to go... Yolanda.
- Yeah. Yolanda Montez.
- Wildcat.
- I know I'm no Ted Grant.
- Oh. [chuckles]
well, Ted was a real piece of work.
- You were his friend.
- Mm.
- What would he have thought about me?
- You? He would have thought you were a badass.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
Yeah, Ted was tough on everyone.
So are you. That's good.
He saw people for who they were
and didn't let them slide
just 'cause it was the polite thing to do.
And the way you don't let Dragon King's kid off the hook,
it's very Ted.
It's good judgment.
- Thanks. - Mm.
I got a question for you. - Yeah, sure.
- This town, Blue Valley.
When you're not going after the ISA or fighting Eclipso,
what is it you actually do around here?
- There's school, church, work.
- Well, look, I'm way past school.
Church was never my thing.
But work, that's an idea.
- Courtney's been telling you to find balance, hasn't she?
- Well, she's right.
I can't be Starman 24-7 anymore,
especially in this town.
It's not like there's danger around every corner.
- Yolanda, table six.
♪
[tense music]
♪
[birds chirping, dog barking]
- [sighs]
[soft footsteps]
- Oh! [gasps]
- Morning.
- Court, what's the special occasion?
- No special occasion.
Yeah, she got caught ditching school,
and she's still kissing up.
- Like I said, no special occasion.
- Hey, it looks great, Court. Thank you.
- Yeah. - Hey, I learned from the best.
[laughs] - Mmm.
- So back to what's important.
We know The Shade was at the diner
when The Gambler was killed,
which puts us back at square one.
But what else do we know?
One, the killer had incredible strength.
Two, The Gambler was stabbed in the heart with something,
which was why there was so much blood.
- This is a little too much murder talk than I'd like
to hear in the morning at breakfast, thanks.
- It doesn't bother me.
- Where's Sylvester? Is he coming up?
- He went on a walk to find balance.
- He said he actually wanted to spend the day
getting to know the real Blue Valley.
- Wow, is he gonna be disappointed.
- Well, see, that's where I disagree with you, Mike,
because I think Blue Valley, it's the perfect place
to hit the ole reset button,
'cause if you can't find balance here
in the heartland,
I don't think you can find it anywhere.
- What, do you work for the chamber of commerce?
- Oh, I agree, Pat.
Balance is important,
starting with a balanced breakfast.
This stuff'll kill you.
- Hey! - Morning, Whitmore.
- Quinoa and tofu bowls.
You'll love it, Barbara.
- Pull up a chair, gang.
Whole family's on the program now.
[laughs] - [laughs nervously]
- Dig in.
Dig in.
- You still don't know who killed The Gambler?
- Mom.
- Let me conference in your dad.
He's gonna want to hear this.
- Is this about The Gambler?
This is about The Gambler, isn't it?
I cannot...
- I've gotta run now, okay?
Have a good day.
- There was something about this guy.
- Sorry about that. - I don't know.
I think your parents being so into you
being Doctor Mid-Nite is kind of cool.
- I guess.
Does your uncle ever get in the way of--
you know, of the Hourman thing?
- Matt's gone.
- Where'd he go?
- I don't know.
And I sure as hell don't care.
[somber music]
♪
What is it?
- I'm not sure.
I've never heard the goggles make this sound before.
[electronic chirping]
Someone's forwarding me a bunch of documents.
I think The Gambler was blackmailing someone.
- Who sent that to you?
- It doesn't say.
[dramatic music]
♪
[alarm blares] - Oh!
I'm sorry to say that's the wrong password.
Try again!
[laughs]
- [sighs]
[alarm blares] Try again!
[laughs]
[alarm blares] Oh! Sorry.
Try again! [laughs]
- [sighs]
[indistinct chatter]
- [sighs]
Cindy.
Hi. - Hi, new girl.
So any updates on the JSA front?
- Yes, actually.
Apparently The Gambler's been blackmailing someone,
but we don't know who yet.
- Huh.
You don't seem surprised.
- Birds fly. Fish swim.
Blackmailers blackmail.
- Yeah.
- What?
- [sighs]
I just really thought The Gambler
was trying to be a better person
for his daughter.
- Look, lots of bad fathers talk the talk.
Doesn't mean anything unless they actually follow through.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
What about Starman? What does he think?
- He--Starman's taking the day off.
- He's taking the day off?
- Yeah, he needs to find balance.
- Okay, but what about you?
- What about me?
- Are you going to find balance too?
- [scoffs] I'm balanced.
I made breakfast this morning. Waffles.
- Waffles? Wow.
How far you've come finding a life outside of Stargirl.
- Mm.
Beth's tracking the accounts.
We'll hopefully have an update soon.
I'll see you at lunch.
- Okay.
- Cameron, hey.
Hi.
♪
[bicycle bell rings]
[indistinct chatter]
- Paula?
- We've got a situation on our hands.
- We do? - Mm-hmm.
The German chocolate cake was a big hit
at the Women's Rotary Club.
- Oh. That's great, right?
- It is a nightmare, Barbara!
They want me to give an initiation speech
at tomorrow's meeting.
I don't know how to do that. What do I talk about?
- Well, just talk about how much you're looking forward
to doing whatever it is the Women's Rotary Club does.
What do they do?
♪
- I don't know. - Well, you joined because...
you want to be part of Blue Valley, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- So tell them how much the community is important to you.
- Oh, Ms. Whitmore.
Hey, Barbara.
- Yeah? - Read the new proposal.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
Oh, slipping.
No.
[laughs]
Maybe next time. [laughs]
- [scoffs]
- Who's that geek?
- [sighs] He's my new manager, Tim.
He's the reason I will be staying up late
doing this proposal again.
I'm sorry, I really-- I have to get back to work.
- Mm. Of course. - [sighs]
- Good luck, Barbara. - Yeah. You too.
♪
[power tool whirring]
- Pat! Pat!
here's another one. Farmhand.
Actually, that does sound promising.
"Experience in cow milking, egg gathering, horseshoeing.
Pig-breeding skills a plus." They always are.
- You know, my second cousin Melvin has a pig farm
outside of Mason County.
- Shocker.
- I can give him a buzz and put in a good word.
- Thank you. - How is this difficult, Pat?
I'm at least as employable as the other JSA members, right?
- Well, Doctor Mid-Nite, he was a surgeon.
- That sounds icky.
- Hourman was a chemist.
- Lab nerd. No, thanks.
- And the Green Lantern ran a broadcasting company.
- Entertainment business, that's a lot of headaches.
- What's your family history?
See, myself, my granddad raised me in his salvage yard,
and all I ever wanted to do was take broken stuff
and make it work again.
- True story. - Well, all my parents
ever gave me was a chip on my shoulder.
They treated my sister and I like props
to show off to their snooty friends.
I mean, that's why I love being Starman.
I'm not a prop. I serve a purpose.
I'm somebody important.
Without that...
I'm nobody, really.
- Whoa, whoa. - Don't say that.
- Can you believe what you're hearing from this guy?
- Nope. - Hey, you're not nobody,
Sylvester, all right?
You're Starman.
- That's right. You're Starman.
Let me tell you a little story.
I went to live with my grandparents
after I was born.
My mother dropped me off one day,
and she told them,
"He cries too loud."
- Cried too loud.
- Never saw her again.
Anyhoo, my granddad passed along a thing or two.
One thing he taught me was...
how quick someone will write off a good thing.
If something doesn't work the way they want it to,
they just toss it away.
They think it's "junk," but it's not, mm-mm.
You see, junk is junk.
Salvage-- salvage is an opportunity,
an opportunity to turn it into something new.
- Yeah.
- Sorry. Sometimes I get self-absorbed.
Were you still talking about car parts,
or was it a metaphor about me?
- What's it matter for?
I don't have the foggiest.
You figure it out.
- Hey.
Most important thing here: we're gonna get you
on a good career path, okay?
We're gonna find you a great job,
so don't worry about it.
Just gotta keep a good attitude.
- Oh, yeah, picking a career. How hard can it be?
- It's gonna be great.
♪
[indistinct chatter, laughter]
- So what'd you find out about those documents?
- That the deposits made to The Gambler
came via wire transfer from an Irwin Hasen.
- Irwin Hasen? Who the hell is that?
- It's an alias... for Lawrence Crock.
- Wait. What? Like, the Crocks?
- Are you serious?
That's who The Gambler's been blackmailing?
- So what do we do now? - We can't tell Sylvester.
- Why not?
- Because he'll want to rush right in, like--
- Like you. - Like he did with The Shade.
- If the Crocks are guilty, Court, we should all rush in.
- We have to wait. - Wait for what, dear leader?
Beth has solid evidence for a motive for murder.
- Just because The Gambler was blackmailing the Crocks
doesn't mean they killed him.
- Yo, man, what's up?
[tense music]
[laughter] - Yeah!
- Hey. [laughter]
- If we're going to take Artemis' parents
away from her again, we've got to be sure.
We'll regroup with Pat, come up with a plan.
Until then, nobody say a word to Sylvester.
Agreed?
♪
- Yeah.
- [sighs]
[school bell rings]
[soft dramatic music]
♪
- Mr. Mahkent, do you have a moment?
I spoke with Mr. Deisinger this morning,
and he said that you haven't been painting.
And you didn't turn in your assignment to me today.
That's not like you.
- [sighs] - Is everything all right?
- Yeah. Everything's fine.
I've just been a little bit preoccupied.
Can I do the assignment tonight?
- Don't worry about this one.
I know I'm considered
the strictest teacher at Blue Valley.
Even my coworkers avoid me at the lounge at lunch.
But...
I only put up a wall because I dealt with things, too,
in school that I've carried.
So if there's anything you'd like to talk about,
I'm happy to listen.
- I said I'm fine, so leave me alone.
- Hey.
[tense music]
Don't be a jerk.
She's only trying to help.
♪
- Sorry, Ms. Woods.
- That's quite all right.
♪
- Just because you are a spoiled rich kid
doesn't mean you can talk to people however you want.
- I said I was sorry.
♪
- Boys.
♪
- Talk to her like that again...
And you will be.
Cool?
- Yeah.
[scoffs]
Cool.
♪
- I know your heart's in the right place, Rick,
but calling Cameron names isn't going to help.
- Okay.
♪
[air hissing]
♪
[birds chirping, dog barking]
- Sub Shack. Sandwich artist wanted.
Oof, that takes years of training and dedication.
What the hell else am I gonna be besides Starman?
[doorbell rings]
[dramatic music]
- Oh, hi, Mr. Pemberton.
Is Courtney here?
- She's not back from school yet.
- Really? 'Cause I thought
we were supposed to meet here for a JSA meeting.
- A JSA meeting? About what?
- About how The Gambler's blackmailing the Crocks.
Didn't they tell you?
- Didn't tell me.
- Don't take it personally.
They leave me out of stuff too.
I have a good idea, Sylvester.
How about we go get the Crocks right now, you and me?
- Hey, that sounds terrible.
Work with Dragon King's demon spawn?
I don't trust you any more than I trust the Crocks,
The Shade, or I did The Gambler.
In fact, I trust you less.
- [chuckles]
I'm a member of the Justice Society of America now.
- [chuckles]
Why don't you go find someone
who's impressed by a dime-a-dozen cheerleader
in green Spandex with daddy issues?
I'm not your run-of-the-mill Blue Valley idiot.
I'm Starman.
Careful on the stairs with those shoes.
If you fall, it'd be like falling off an overpass.
♪
So the Crocks.
[whistles] [Staff whooshing]
Let's go get 'em.
♪
[crickets chirping]
- Attention, shoppers. Good evening.
Please make your way to the cashiers.
The store will be closing in five minutes.
Oink, oink.
[indistinct chatter]
- Put it back.
- Sorry. Habit.
- Plus, the sodium content of that steak sauce alone
will put you back in prison.
- Hey, everyone gets a cheat day, babe.
- Is that what you call it?
[Staff whooshing]
Did you kill The Gambler on a cheat day?
Day like "The Purge"?
I haven't seen it, but I read a summary online.
It's a day where there's no laws.
- We know what it is. We've seen 'em.
They're hilarious.
What are you doing bringing that Staff in here, Pemberton?
In public? Are you out of your mind?
- I know The Gambler was blackmailing you,
and I know you're the ones that killed him.
- You don't know your ass from your elbow.
- We're shopping.
- Store is closing.
Please bring your items to the cashier, thank you.
- The store is closing.
- Yeah, we heard.
- We don't want to fight.
- This is your last chance, guys.
- Why don't you go back to your basement...
and polish your little Staff?
[both laugh]
[tense music]
- Confess.
♪
- [growls]
- Final call.
♪
- Late, Rick.
- Had a flat.
So what's the plan?
We going after the Crocks?
- Pat and I are going to talk to them,
give them a chance to explain.
As soon as Cindy gets here, we can--
[cell phone ringing]
One sec.
Mike, what's up?
♪
[explosion, people screaming]
- Go, go, go! Go!
- I was getting bored anyways. - Me too.
- [grunts]
- [shouts]
[grunting]
- [grunts]
[all grunting]
[shouts]
- [grunts]
[exciting music]
♪
- Mm.
♪
[chuckles]
[shouts]
[grunts]
♪
[shouting and grunting]
- [grunting]
♪
- Hello, friend.
- Let go!
- Come on!
♪
- Batter up!
[shouts]
- [yells]
- [grunts]
♪
- You done?
- No.
Eat this!
♪
[all grunting]
♪
- [shouts]
♪
- [shouts]
♪
- Come on, tough guy!
- [shouts]
♪
- You. Come on.
♪
- That's enough!
Fight's over.
♪
Walk away, Sylvester.
♪
[soft dramatic music]
- The Gambler was blackmailing us.
That part is true. [bones crack]
Ah! But we didn't kill him.
- We wanted to, but we stayed strong.
- All right, so why was he blackmailing you?
- ISA crimes we didn't commit.
Stuff other members did without us.
They're dead now,
and we wouldn't have had a chance in hell
of proving our innocence.
- Not that you're all that innocent.
- Look, yes, I mean,
we're guilty of plenty of things.
[both chuckle]
Some of it, we even went to prison for,
and truth be told,
we wouldn't even be sitting here with our freedom
if it wasn't for a legal loophole.
- Well, some, like Sylvester,
they might call that just a little bit unfair.
- Who cares what he said? That guy is a freaking lunatic.
- Regardless, we couldn't risk going back to prison,
so we paid Sharpe.
- But the payments stopped two months ago.
How come?
- That putz stopped blackmailing us.
Didn't say why, and we thought he was playing a new angle.
- Then he paid us back right before he died.
Every cent.
- Here you go.
- Thank you. - Thanks.
- The Gambler really was trying to be better.
- Now, we didn't realize that until after he was killed.
- Well, as long as we're...
getting everything on the table,
I'll admit I did go pay him a visit
on the day he was murdered.
- What? - Look, he shows up
in Blue Valley, spouting off his,
"I'll, turn over a new leaf," jambalaya jive talk.
Well, I wasn't buying it.
Figured he came back to start blackmailing us again,
so I drove out to his trailer to have a little chat with him.
But I got too worked up,
and I left
before I did something stupid.
- So why didn't you tell us this before?
- I was just trying to protect us
from any unnecessary heat.
- I'm sorry, Barbara.
We should have been honest with you.
The last time we went to prison,
it nearly destroyed our family.
Not to mention the food.
So many carbs.
Please believe me.
We would never make the same mistake twice.
Whoever killed Sharpe, it wasn't us.
[door clicks open]
[tense music]
♪
- I'll be right back.
[door slams]
[sighs] Okay, I talked to the Crocks--
- How could you step in front of me like that, huh?
You chose to protect them over me.
- Sylvester-- - You're my sidekick,
not theirs.
You got that?
- I'm nobody's sidekick.
- Oh, is that so?
- I'm your friend, Sylvester,
and I always have been.
The Crocks, they didn't do it.
And even if they had,
this isn't the way to deal with things.
- Oh, and you know how to deal with things?
You let half the villains that killed our friends
move in next door!
Is that how you deal with things?
- You don't destroy everything around them.
It sends the wrong message.
- To who?
- To Courtney.
When the staff first lit up for Courtney,
she thought it was because you were her father.
- What? Me?
Why would she think that?
- Courtney's real father disappeared
the same Christmas Eve that the JSA died.
And for her to think that her father's a superhero
who sacrificed his life saving the world,
that was a hell of a lot easier than knowing
that it was just some guy that didn't love her
and hit the road.
Right?
[soft dramatic music]
- Jeez.
What happened to him?
- I don't know.
I mean, he showed up in Blue Valley last year.
He wanted to get this locket...
This locket that he'd given to her
when she was a little girl,
'cause it was worth some money.
Also happened to be the thing that she cared the most about.
So she gave it to him.
He took it, and he left.
- [sighs]
What did you do?
- I knocked him on his ass.
- Good.
- And I'm not proud of it.
But that pain?
It'll never leave her,
and that's why you and I--
that's why we gotta be there for her.
Sylvester,
you can't just be a friend to Courtney.
You have to be like a father.
All right?
She puts you on a pedestal,
and she has since she first picked up the Staff.
And whether you like it or not,
you have a responsibility to set an example
to Courtney and to all these kids
not just to be a better man
but to be the Starman that you set out to be.
- I don't know who I set out to be.
I just feel like a crazy person now
who blows up grocery stores.
I don't even have my costume anymore.
- Costume doesn't make the man.
- Well, it's a start.
- Yeah.
It's a start.
♪
[indistinct chatter, bicycle bell rings]
- So the Crocks didn't kill The Gambler?
- No.
They said they paid him blackmail money,
but that was it.
- And you believe them?
- They seemed pretty sincere.
And if you really think about it,
the way The Gambler's trailer was left ripped apart,
that isn't really their style.
- If they didn't do it, who did?
- Well, we know it wasn't Grundy or The Shade.
- What about Cindy?
She did exactly what you said not to do, Courtney.
She went straight to Sylvester.
- Yes, because I didn't want
to just sit around and do nothing.
Look, the Crocks looked guilty,
and I wanted to take them down, and...
[sighs]
I wanted to prove myself.
And I thought that if the great Sylvester Pemberton
gave me his seal of approval,
you would all too.
And by the way, it turns out,
he's kind of an ass.
- Well...
if you do something like that again,
you're off the team.
- Okay. Got it.
♪
- [sighs]
♪
[applause]
[indistinct chatter]
♪
- [exhales sharply]
Hello, everyone.
[exhales heavily]
[door clicks open]
♪
- Hey.
- [sighs]
My name is Paula Brooks,
and I love Blue Valley...
and the people in it.
- [clapping]
[indistinct chatter]
- Hey.
- Hi.
- I'm really sorry I've been a jerk,
actually, to everyone
but, most importantly, to you.
♪
- Is everything okay?
- [chuckles]
Everyone keeps asking me that.
- Well...is it?
♪
- I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about it just yet.
I'm sorry.
- That's okay.
We don't have to talk about it, Cameron.
We can just...
go for a walk together, if you want.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- Hmm.
Well, we've turned up empty again, huh, Cosmo?
I just keep thinking...
There must be something at the crime scene that...
we all overlooked, right?
[Staff whooshing]
♪
We should go back.
[Staff whooshing]
No. Nope.
It's not my turn with you.
I gotta respect the rules,
be a better Starman.
[Staff whooshing]
[tender music]
♪
- I have to go.
I'm sorry.
- That's okay.
[dramatic music]
♪
[KC and the Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight"]
[both speaking Norwegian]
♪
- Wish me luck, buddy.
♪
- ♪ Baby, baby
♪ Let's get together
♪ Honey, honey
♪ Me and you
♪ And do the things
♪ Ah, do the things
♪ That we like to do
♪ Oh, do a little dance
♪ Make a little love
♪ Get down tonight
♪ Do a little dance - [whooshes]
- ♪ Make a little love
♪ Get down tonight
- Hi, Tim. - [yelps] God.
- We need to talk about a friend of mine.
- Is this about Sarah or Susan
or whatever her name is?
Tell her to let it go.
- Different friend,
one that you're gonna be a lot nicer to, hmm?
- [gulps]
- ♪ Oh, do a little dance
♪ Make a little love
♪ Get down tonight
♪ Whoo, get down tonight
[alarm blares]
- Try again! [laughs]
- ♪ Make a little love
♪ Get down tonight
♪ Get down tonight, baby
[alarm blares] - Try again!
[spring boings] [laughs]
♪
- ♪ Oh, do a little dance, make a little love ♪
- [growls]
- ♪ Get down tonight
♪ Whoo, get down tonight
♪ Hey, do a little dance
♪ Make a little love
♪ Get down tonight
♪ Whoo, get down tonight
♪ Baby
♪
♪ Get down, get down, get down, get down ♪
♪ Get down tonight, baby
♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh ♪
♪ Get down, get down, get down, get down ♪
♪ Get down tonight, baby
[sewing machine whirring]
♪ Get down, get down, get down, get down ♪
♪ Get down tonight, baby
[tense music]
♪
- [grunts]
♪
- [roars]
- Greg, move your head.
- Mad Ghost.