• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 18, 2020

A petite teen girl suddenly acquires super powers, clobbers a trio of jock bullies and then blows up a vintage Mustang owned by one of the bully’s fathers with a well-aimed fireball.

In this scene, which appears in the premiere episode of The CW’s new teen superhero show, “DC's Stargirl” (premiering Tuesday), revenge is a dish served red-hot.

Not surprisingly, the scene is deeply satisfying. Everyone loves to see a group of bullies get their comeuppances -- except, of course, other bullies.

Welcome to another chapter in The CW's ongoing efforts to define and portray the horrors of high school.

In the new “Stargirl,” as in numerous other CW series, high school is a balkanized region of walled-off cliques.

As always, the most conspicuous of these are the ones populated by the rich, beautiful and athletic who zealously guard their members-only exclusivity.

Into this suburban social minefield strides a nervous newcomer named Courtney (played by Brec Bissinger, pictured above).

She is another archetype of the CW's dramas -- the out-of-towner whose family forces her to move from the hometown she loves (and where she knew the social territory) to this new community where the rich girls force her to eat lunch at a table of outcasts. Ugh!

In “Stargirl,” Courtney and her family have moved from southern California to a smallish town in Nebraska. And yet, the Nebraska mean girls act as if this cow town they live in is Beverly Hills.

Soon after the family's move, Courtney discovers a series of secrets about her stepfather. It seems he has a past life in which he hobnobbed with, and did errands for, a once-famous group of superheroes.

Basically, plucky Courtney finds a powerful futuristic weapon in Stepdad's luggage and discovers that it comes in handy when attacked by three bullies for no apparent reason.

This magic spear belonged to a superhero named Starman who unfortunately met his demise 10 years before the onset of this “Stargirl” TV show. Thus, Courtney morphs into “Stargirl.”

And presumably, CW audiences will eat it up, as they do all of the other CW shows about high schoolers and/or superheroes.

Like so many other CW shows, “Stargirl” would seem to have so much promise that it even corralled a handful of A-list stars to play supporting roles.

Among others, Luke Wilson plays Courtney's well-meaning stepfather and Joel McHale plays the ill-fated Starman. Amy Smart plays her mother.

“DC's Stargirl” premieres Tuesday (May 19) at 8 p.m. Eastern on The CW.