2x07 Pop's Girlfriend

[7.8/10] So let’s get this out of the way. Royce and the ultra-bugs are pretty lame plot devices here. The episode isn’t really about him, and so his presence as a foil to Static feels pretty perfunctory. His only real purpose is to be the “bad kid” contrast to Virgil’s “good kid” and to provide a foe for Static to do battle with in the final act. He gets pretty thin characterization as a hoodlum, and that’s about it. Likewise, the superbugs are little more than perfunctory second act action fodder.

But the rest of the episode was great. I’ve said before that I often process Static through the lens of Spider-Man. This episode takes Spidey’s “hardship in balancing life as a normal high-schooler versus a superhero” premise to impressive new areas.

For one, it takes seriously the challenges of a parent dating again after losing a spouse. Apart from the complications of Virgil’s run-in with the police, one of whom turns out to be his dad’s new sweetheart, the episode taps into the awkwardness and discomfort on a pure family level from that. Sharon gives Trina the cold shoulder. Virgil obviously isn’t happy. Trina herself nearly bows out due to it being too complicated.

With all that going on, you see some real emotion from Mr. Hawkins. He’s surely had a hard time of this too, and for once, he shows it. It’s really compelling to see him not only call his kids out for their hypocrisy, but assert that he’s still going to live his life. You can understand everybody’s perspective, and nobody’s really in the wrong, even though their wants and feelings conflict, which is the sign of good storytelling.

You also get the angle of things between Virgil and Trina. Maybe it’s just watching things through the lens of 2020, where protests have raised awareness about the black community’s relationship to the police, but it seems entirely plausible now that Virgil wouldn’t want to show the police his backpack and run away in fear, separate and apart from preserving his secret identity. To be frank, some of the good kid/bad kid dynamic doesn’t play that well given that backdrop, but there’s at least some added realness to the proceedings in Virgil protesting why Trina doubts his innocence. His frustration is palpable, especially when he’s trying to do the right thing and be part of the solution.

Those conflicts all add an extra emotional contingent to this episode. Virgil has to take chances with the police lest he expose his secret identity and put his family at risk. But given the coincidence that the officer on the scene is also his dad’s new girlfriend, running away also damages his relationship with his family. The tangle between real life and superhero life puts Virgil in a bind, as a hero, as a high schooler, and as his father’s son. That’s the stuff that good drama is made of.

Of course, it turns out alright in the end. Virgil alerts Trina to the location of the bang baby formula once he discovers it and Royce, and helps save the day as static, even saving Trina’s life. It’s the right kind of detente, and the fact that he’s still grounded in the aftermath makes the parental punishment angle feel real and relatable.
Overall, there’s some sharp character writing here which wins the day. The episode just loses points because the superhero conflict plays as tacked on by comparison.