CREDITS: Written by Len Uhley; directed by James Tucker.
REVIEW: And here I was worried about Frieda now that Daisy was on the scene. But no, it's Richie who feels neglected now that he has to share Virgil's time and attention. A common experience. You're getting close to someone with romantic potential, and your best friend starts to get jealous because you're not spending as much time with them, especially if that person doesn't have a significant other to fall back on. In this case, Static complicates things because it's their common "project", one of importance to the community, and Richie feels like his friend isn't taking it seriously enough (but really, not taking HIM seriously enough). As the two friends part ways in bitter resentment, both too proud to admit they still have a lot in common (as per the comic book store pilgrimage - note the Plant Man book, referencing "Child's Play" from two episodes ago), and ultimately causing problems on the battlefield as their team work falls apart.
To her credit, Daisy calls them on their macho posturing and makes it plain she likes both of them better as a unit. And so reconciliation must happen, and as this is a superhero show, it must happen during a superhero fight.
But while the teen drama is engaging, Static's superpowered opponent du jour is weak sauce. There's this big kid who is both a glutton and a bully (but not one others seem to fear) who already has a "code name" - Heavy G - but then gets these tornado powers (and you know how much I like tornado-related characters) and calls himself Slipstream. It might be a joke - the heavy guy becomes light enough to fly - but it's not clear this is anything but random. Throw in a Fat Albert voice and a complete lack of motivation - he's just about mayhem, really - and you have a poor excuse for a supervillain indeed. Not to say the action beats aren't good. Richie's mistake makes a whole water park fall on Static's head, Virgil is smart to control traffic while trying to bring down a crashing helicopter, the danger water represents is well shown when he shorts out the entire neighborhood like an EMP, and Richie's "zap caps" come in handy in an unexpected way. But I couldn't care less about Slipstream and his stupid makeshift costume.
IN THE COMICS: Slipstream does not appear in the comics.
SOUNDS LIKE: Slipstream/Heavy C is voiced by Bumper Robinson, who we last heard as D-Struct.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Good character bits, but the villain of the week is pretty lame.
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