DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW 6.14

 

RECAP - DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW  6.14:  "There Will Be Brood"

The penultimate episode of this season's DC's Legends of Tomorrow left us with some questions--and some worry--as we head into the season finale.  Bishop is carefully maneuvering around the chessboard, and he seems to have stumped the team, as he tries to stay one step ahead of them.  And he's brought John in tow, as John's darker half seems to have taken root for the time being.  And what of Mick's eggs?  What will the little buggers look like when they hatch?  All this and more, as we gear up for the end of Season 6...

John's dark side took control this episode, and completely blew off Zari, who thought he wanted to start a new life without magic, but we all knew THAT wasn't going to be.  The team burst into his house, and wanted to know what Bishop was up to, and John said that Bishop promised him a way to obtain the magic from the Fountain of Imperium.  And, of course, they got tricked, because John was astral projecting, as he and Bishop were on the ship, taking off to a place in time to where the fountain could be found easily.  Meanwhile, Astra and Spooner are on the ship, and Astra uses her own magic to hide them from John and Bishop, until they hear of the plan.  They have to trail John and Bishop to find out how to stop them.   Meanwhile, the team is stuck at John's, having to figure out a way to catch up to Bishop and Constantine before all hell breaks loose.   It's then that Gary says that there IS a way to get to Bishop---but that means communicating with Kayla, because she has a ship fast enough to catch up to the Waverider.  So, Gary uses some alien looking disc to send a message to Kayla, using Mick as the messenger.  Mick tells her about the eggs, and that they need her help...and that he loves her.  

While they put THAT plan into work, Astra and Spooner have arrived in 1925 Texas, to an oil drilling operation.  They see a man get hurt on a rig, and a middle aged woman named Gloria comes to assist him. But Spooner believes her to be her mother.  Despite Astra's misgivings, Spooner accompanies her mother to her house, especially after being faced by the boss of the oil operation, who's been buying up everyone's land, and Gloria is the only holdout.  They quiz Gloria about the Fountain, but she knows nothing about it.  Meanwhile, John and Bishop come across a plethora of mushrooms in the woods, and John isn't happy that the fountain isn't there.  But, Bishop says that the mushrooms are actually aliens, and that they hold the key to be able to raise the fountain, and get John his magic back.  But John has to be deemed worthy.  As he strolls the woods, he comes across a young girl collecting the mushrooms for herbs named Esperanza.  This interests John, as he asks her about the fountain, but she knows nothing about it.  As she gives him a flower, he gets a rush of memories, and realizes who the little girl is.  He heads back to her cabin, where they meet her mother---and Astra and Spooner.  

Gary manages to get ahold of Kayla, and she arrives, pissed off that she had to return to Earth.  Mick tells her he had the eggs, and she wonders how he's still alive.  Sara tells her that Bishop acted as a midwife and delivered them.  But they're aboard the ship, and the ship is gone with Bishop.  She agrees to take them along, especially when Mick says that he never stopped thinking about her.  She just wants to get her babies.  

John knocks out everyone in the room, except Spooner, and shows her the truth about what really happened to her.  Her mother was killed by the oil baron for her land, and she fled into the woods, where her blood activated the mushrooms, and they took her away to the future.  As it turns out, John manages to get some of Spooner's blood, and she has a chance to save her mom.  Astra tells her that she can't do that---because she'd be changing history, and throw the universe out of whack...and Astra would lose her friend.  Spooner can't bear the thought of being without her mother, and confesses to Gloria as to who she is.  She says she will not lose her again, but her mother tells her that she is proud of who she has become, and that destiny brought them back.  She needs to let history play out.  Spooner wants to shoot the men who kill her mother, but she won't allow any violence.  Spooner orders Astra to take her younger self out to the forest where the fountain is.  Once there, Astra tells the younger Esperanza that everything will be okay, and that they'll meet again.  She also holds Esperanza back a bit to protect her from John and Bishop.

Speaking of those two, Bishop had concocted a serum for John with Spooner's blood in it, so that he would be deemed pure, and be able to harness the power of the fountain.  They end up watching Esperanza be taken by the mushrooms, and she's deemed safe.  John grabs the serum from Bishop and takes it....however, Bishop planned for the double cross by putting a poison in it.  John is now dying, and it was by design.  Bishop wanted the fountain to be exposed and destroyed, because it protected Earth from alien attack.  Bishop wanted to find the fountain to shut it down, so that he can let the alien attack begin.  He tried saving the Earth twice, but he was pushed back every time...now, there will be not stopping the invasion.  He takes off to leave John to die.  Astra catches up to him, as does Zari...and he apologizes to them both, as his body has a cocoon form around him, and he dies...disappearing into nothing. 

While in the ship, Bishop also put in a contingency plan for when the team caught the ship.  He set a bomb to go off in less than a minute once the doors to the lab opened, only giving the team so much time to save as many as the babies as they can.  The team works feverishly, but seem to get all of them.  But Gary notices an egg on the floor, and Mick goes back to grab it....but at that time, the bomb goes off....taking Mick with it. 

And while all this is happening, Spooner and her mother confront the oil baron and his men.  As they're about ready to kill them both, Spooner's powers activate, and she uses them to make the men feel her pain.  They end up taking off in fear of her, but then, as John dies, and the lab explodes, Spooner collapses , and her mother tries to revive her.  

Well...what more can be said about this episode that I didn't squeeze into this recap?  We NOW finally have the truth as to what REALLY happened to Spooner as a child:  she's ORIGINALLY from 1925, and SHE was the one taken into the future by aliens----or rather---alien mushrooms.  Turns out, mushrooms pack more of a punch than we thought---and Bishop, of all people, KNEW that.  And, once again, he's been a step or two ahead of The Legends.  And he made sure he played EVERYONE...and that included John.  John was just the latest victim of Bishops deviousness, and he is the one that pays the price DEARLY for his arrogance and desire to regain his magic, that he ends up playing into Bishop's hands, and he makes the ultimate sacrifice---and now Zari is without her man.  On top of that, this team may have just lost Mick Rory, as he tried to save one last egg of his children, only to have Bishop's bomb go off in the lab on the Waverider.  And with Spooner?  Who knows?  She altered history by saving her mother, and with Bishop destroying the fountain, and thus opening up the Earth to alien attack, and invasion is imminent, and the times look VERY bleak for our team.  How they get out of it...and still have a wedding for Sara and Ava?  We'll find out in a week.  But I will say that the last few episodes have been BETTER.  And with John dying here, and with Mick supposedly dying in the explosion...is this how they write off these two characters?  For JOHN....I can see it....it makes SENSE to me.  But for Mick?  Nah....I think Rory deserves a better sendoff than this.  But that's just me.

What about YOU, kids?  What did YOU think of this week's next-to-last episode of the season?  Subscribe below, and lemme know what's on YOUR mind!

Until the season finale....Time is on our side!

SERIES REVIEW: WANDAVISION

SERIES REVIEW:  WANDAVISION  

Something I know I did NOT get a chance to do when the show initially aired, but what with Spider-Man:  Far From Home and eventually Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness fast approaching, I thought I'd revisit the first of the Marvel Studios TV shows that aired on Disney Plus, and get some more insight as to what we can expect when these two movies finally drop.  Plus...we'll see just what big of a role Wanda Maximoff will play in either movie...which we know she'll be in Dr. Strange's movie.  But, let's take a peek back at one of the most unusual shows we've seen in recent memory for the MCU:  WandaVision. 

This series started out in an extremely unusual fashion:  We see Wanda and Vision as newlyweds moving into the tiny New Jersey town of Westview---but it's set back in the 1950's, and the entire story takes place in black-and-white.  While Vision IS an android, and Wanda has telekinetic reality warping powers, they do their best to blend in.  They notice a heart on their calendar, but can't figure out what it means.  Wanda thinks it means it's their anniversary, but Vision...who has no idea what his company he works for actually does, thinks it means they're supposed to entertain his boss for dinner.  The confusion and calamity ensues as Wanda is set for a night of romance, but Vision brings his boss and his wife home for dinner.  Thanks to their new neighbor, Agnes, however...they manage to get dinner prepped and ready. Vision ends up saving his boss from choking to death.  A happy ending ensues, and we find out that this is all part of a sitcom someone is watching called WandaVision.

In the 2nd episode, we get a time jump, as we head to the 1960's, and they're a part of a talent show, where Vision will be the magician, and Wanda, his assistant.  Here, we meet Geraldine, and Agnes introduces Wanda to the rest of the group of ladies led by Dottie.  Vision attends a neighborhood watch meeting, accidently eats some gum, and it proceeds to mess up his inner workings, causing him to come off as drunk.  Wanda starts noticing things differently, as she finds a red and yellow toy helicopter in her black-and-white world, and there's a voice on the radio that sounds like it's attempting to connect with her.  Vision begins using his powers in their magic act, but Wanda ensures that the magic act seems very simple.  She then removes the gum from his inner workings, and he returns to normal. When they return home, she is visibly pregnant.  Out in front of the house, she sees a weird beekeeper coming out of the manhole in the street.  She resets reality to before the figure appears.  Everything then changes...with chlothes and setting...they're now in a colorized 1970's world.  And, again, someone is watching from a TV.  

Things get weirder in Episode 3 as Wanda is getting more visibly pregnant, and she and Vision are painting the nursery for the impending childbirth.  Their doctor, Dr. Nelson, takes off for a vaction, and tells her to take it easy.  Vision notices that their neighbor, Herb, is cutting through their fence for some reason.  During this time, Wanda's pregnancy elevates to six months.  She then begins contractions, as her pregnancy continues to fast track, and Geraldine shows up after the power gets shut out in the town, because Wanda's powers are fluxuating during her labor, thus causing things to move around and appear.  Geraldine then helps Wanda deliver her twin boys, Tommy and Billy.  While this is happening, Vision notices Agness and Herb gossiping outside about Geraldine, who just arrived in town and has no home or family with her.  Geraldine then reveals that she knows that Ultron killed her twin brother, Pietro.  This unsettles Wanda, who then whisks Geraldine away, when she discovers that Geraldine has a pendant with a sword emblem on it.  Wanda restores things as her and Vision celebrate the birth of their children...meanwhile, Geraldine is discovered in a field beyond a wall of static, and surrounded by S.W.O.R.D. agents.

We start to get some serious backstory in Episode 4, as we find out that Geraldine is actually S.W.O.R.D. agent Monica Rambeau---daughter of Maria Rambeau, who was best friends with Carol Danvers...Captain Marvel.  She returns from the Blip, only to find out that her mother died of cancer.  A few weeks later, she returns to work, and is assigned a missing persons case by her boss, Tyler Heyward, that is being ivestigated by FBI agent Jimmy Woo.  They head to Westfield, NJ, and they find a hexogonal CMBR field.  Monica then gets sucked into the static field.  Within 24 hours, S.W.O.R.D. establishes a base here, and around the town.  They also send in drones and an agent to try and investigate what's going on.  They also bring in Dr. Darcy Lewis, and she discovers the static phenomena is giving off a signal for the tv show WandaVision.  Darcy taps the broadcast signals to watch the show, as the townsfolk are being used as members of the "cast" and that indcludes Captain Rambeau as "Geraldine".  Agent Woo and Lewis try to communicate with Wanda, but they fail in the endeavor.  They do see that once Monica mentions Ultron, Wanda banishes her out of town.  Wanda then sees Vision as he was when he died, before she resets everything in her sitcom life.

Episode 5 sees us move into an 80's/90's setting, as Wanda is struggling to get the boys to stop crying.  Agnes offers to help, but Vision questions her behavior.  Next thing we see, the boys are 5 years old, and they want to keep a dog they had found.  Agnes suggests the name Sparky.  Wanda and Vision aren't quite sure the boys are ready to care for a dog.  Wanda almost reveals her powers to Agnes, which concerns Vision.  Next thing we know, the boys are now 10 years old.  At work , Vision sees an email from S.W.O.R.D. about the happenings in Westfield.  He breaks through a real resident of the town, and finds out that Wanda is controlling everything.  S.W.O.R.D. sends a drone from the 80's in, and Sparky runs off.  Heyward orders the drone to kill Wanda, but she emerges from the field to drop off the drone, ordering Heyward to leave her alone.  Back in town, Agnes finds Sparky dead.  Vision later confronts Wanda about what's going on, and they're about to get physical with their powers when they settle down.  The door knocks, and Wanda finds out that it's her brother Pietro.  Watching the broadcast, Darcy notes that Pietro has been "recast".  

Things get real intense as Halloween arrives in Episode 6, with Wanda and Vision are dressed up in versions of their comic book costumes, as well as "Pietro".  We are now in late 1990's/2000's timewise, and Vision is going out to patrol the streets.  Pietro takes the boys out to trick-or-treat, and they're not to go beyond a certain street, they get into some fun with their Uncle Pietro.  Turns out, Tommy inherited super speed from his uncle, while Billy is believed to have his mother's powers.  Vision ventures out beyond their home, and finds many residents just frozen in place.  He finds Agnes frozen in place, and communicates with her.  She says that he is really dead, and none of this is real.  While outside of Westview, Heyward orders Lewis, Woo, and Rambeau away from the base for disagreeing with his orders to kill Wanda.  They sneak back in, and hack into the computer systems, to find out he's been tracking Visions vibranium signautre.  When Vision ventures beyond the static, he begins to fall apart.  The kids warn their mother that their dad is in trouble.  Wanda senses this, and begins to expand the wall.  Having been captured, Lewis, Vision, and several S.W.O.R.D.  agents are enveloped by it.

Wanda needs a personal day in Episode 7, as she feels exhausted from having to keep all this reality together.  We're now in the mid-2000's, and we see Wanda, Vision, the kids, and Agnes all talking to the audience via the fourth wall.  As Agnes agrees to babysit the kids, Vision wakes up, and finds that the S.W.O.R.D. agents are now part of a circus, as well as Darcy Lewis.  He breaks the spell on her, and she informs him about how he died, and how the current scenario occurred.  Outside of Westview, Woo and Rambeau get some people loyal to Monica to help them breach the barrier.  The vehicle Monica uses doesn't work, and she escapes it.  But she then pushes through on her own....struggling as she does, but she makes it to the otherside, but with what appears to be heightened vision.  As Vision and Darcy are trying to get back to Wanda, Monica confronts Wanda, to try and help her, but Agnes comes in and stops Monica from saying more.  She asks her to leave, and then Wanda goes to look for the boys, and winds up in Agnes' basement.  She discovers a strange lair, and Agnes admits to Wanda that her name is actually Agatha Harkness, and she admits SHE is the one who has disrupted Wanda's life.  As Monica discovers something strange from Agatha's basement, "Pietro" attacks her from behind and knocks her out, as he is an imposter....and Agatha killed the dog. 

Episode 8 is a trip down memory lane, as we see how Agatha, in 1693 Salem, was going to be banned from the coven of witches, which included her mother, but she drains all their powers.  She then forces Wanda to rewatch moments from her actual life in Sakovia.  Agatha discovers that Wanda's powers eminate from when she was a child, but apmlified by the Mind Stone, enjoys sitcoms.  After the Blip, Wanda went to S.W.O.R.D. to get Vision's body, but Heyward refused, saying Vision was government property.  Unable to feel any trace of Vision, she leaves for Westview.  Distraught she ended up using her reality warping powers to shape the Westview world she now resides in...with Vision as her husband and the kids.  Agatha says that Wanda has something called "chaos magic" , and calls her a "Scarlet Witch".  We then see WHY Heyward NEVER let Wanda have Vision's body---he was reactivating Vision for his own means....to destroy Wanda. 

In the finale, Agatha is looking to take the chaos magic from Wanda, and uses the kids as leverage.  The new Vision interrupts things, as he tries to kill Wanda.  However, her Vision appears in time to save her.  As the boys help protect the townsfolk, she goes after Agatha, while both Visions do battle.  Harkness frees the townsfolk to disrupt Wanda, and when Vision and the boys nearly die, she uses her magic to keep the illusion up.  Meanwhile, Monica manages to escape "Pietro's" house, only to find out that he's just an actor named Ralph Bohner.  She manages to get into the town square where she saves the boys from Heyward  by helping stop the bullets he's meant for the kids.  She finds out she has super powers from the result of the static barrier Wanda had constructed.  Heyward tries to escape but he's ran into by Darcy Lewis, who finally made it to town.  Both Visions wind up in a library, where the "old" Vision restores the memories of the new one---who then flies off to find himself.  Agatha has Wanda exhaust her powers by absorbing them.  In a previous conversation, Agatha admits to Wanda about casting runes, meaning that the one who cast them were the only ones allowed to use their magic.  Unbeknownst to Agatha....Wanda DID cast runes of her own, and becomes the liviing embodiment of the Scarlet Witch.  She takes down Agatha, and says that she will punish her by keeping her in town.  Agatha says that she'll need her, and Wanda says she'll know where to find her, as she transforms her back to her Agnes pesona.  She then says goodbye to Vision and the kids, before she removes the Hex, thus returning the town to normal.  Wanda bids farewell to Monica, and takes off for parts unknown.  Heyward is arrested, and Monica is informed by a Skrull that a friend of her Mom's wants to see her, pointing towards the stars.  

We later see in the other post credits scene, that Wanda is in an isolated area somewhere in a cabin, relaxing, while also studying the Book of the Darkhold in her astral form.  It's there that she can hear her boys crying for help. 

This first series by Marvel started out unusual...keeping the mystery of who whas watching this "show" that Wanda had constructed for a few episodes until it was revealed to be Darcy Lewis...whom we all remember worked with Jane Foster from the Thor movies. We also finally found out that Wanda had created this reality using her reality warping powers to find some peace and happiness in an imaginary world.  This appears to have taken its cues from Marvel's mini-series House of M, where Wanda reshaped reality after a tragedy.  We finally get the scope of Wanda's full potential in this show, and her ties to the Book of the Darkhold, as Agatha Harnkess (excellently played by Kathryn Hahn), predicted that she would become a "Scarlet Witch", which we all as fans had awaited for to be dubbed.  Her new outfit was revealed here as well (which looked exceptional).  We also got the boys Tommy and Billy, and an appearance by Evan Peters, who played Pietro Maximoff in the X-Men movies.  Peters was brilliant in his role, even as the fake Pietro.  We got glimpses into Wanda's life before Baron Strucker and HYDRA got ahold of her and her brother.  The chemistry between Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany is amazing, as usual.  They truly bring out the best in each other's performances, and Bettany again gave us a stellar performance as Vision...including the new version of him...also taken from the comics, as a pure while android.  With the Vision recreacted, he's out to who knows where to find himself again.  Wether or not he meets up with any Avengers will be interesting, or whether or not he will meet up with Wanda again.  Her studying the Darkhold can only mean bad news, as we witnessed in the extra credits scene.

It appears Wanda will play  a big role in the new Dr. Strange movie, which will take cues from Strange's adventures with Spidey in the wall-crawler's upcoming film, which will put all this multiverse madness into motion---along with the events of Loki---will make for some really great stories coming up in the MCU. 

Teyonah Parris was a great choice for Monica Rambeau, and she really FELT like a superhero during this show.  As curious as her mother, and every bit as heroic, Monica's journey from just coming back from The Blip, to having kown her mother died of cancer, to trying to help Wanda, to end up having super powers of her own was a good story.  Now, we get to see what HER adventures will be like as she travels to the stars to reunite with Carol Danvers in The Marvels. 

We got to see that S.W.O.R.D. has taken over as the SHIELD alternate in this series, of which Rambeau was a member of.  We see how corrupt Heyward is, in that he wanted to recreate Vision in his own way to be able to take down the scattered Avengers  And we were all too excited for the return of Darcy Lewis to the MCU.  Kat Dennings once again provides tremendous comic genius in this role, and one of more substance in this series.  Also, throwing in Jimmy Woo, the goofy FBI agent we saw in both Ant-Man movies, and you had a trio of great heroes between Woo, Lewis, and Rambeau.  And the instant chemistry Woo and Darcy had during this series gave us serious shipping vibes, and we would LOVE to see these two on a show of their own.  

Marvel/Disney hit it out of the park with this show, and the unusual format led for a great way to unfold Wanda & Vision's take over the course of 9 episodes.  I was enthralled from the beginnig and I ESPECIALLY loved all the commercial product tie-ins:  The Stark Industries Toaster 2000, Strucker Watches, HYDRA Soak Batch Powder, Lagos Paper Towels, Yo-Magic Yogurt, and Nexus antidepressants.  A great tongue-and-cheek way for Marvel to incorporate other aspects of the MCU into the show.  This, and the other shows produced by Marvel and airing on Disney Plus...are more direct tie-ins to the main movies, than was Agents of SHIELD, and all the Netflix Marvel shows:  Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher were not as much...only passingly mentioning things going on in the "main" MCU. Not even The Inhumans has as much of a tie-in. All of these shows will directly affect what happens in the upcoming movies, having helped set the stage.  

What did YOU all think of this show?  Subscribe and let me know what YOU liked or disliked about it, any OTHER easter eggs you might've found, or something we just flat out missed.

Next time:  The Falcon & The Winter Soldier

SUPERGIRL 6.8

 

RECAP - SUPERGIRL  6.8:  "Welcome Back, Kara"  

Welcome back to National City!  It's been a LOOOOOONG wait for us to see the fallout from The Girl of Steel's time in the Phantom Zone, and how she readjusts to life after having been trapped in there for an undisclosed period of time.  We come back to see what new adventures await Supergirl and the rest of the Superfriends, as we pick back up on The Last Daughter of Krypton's Final Flight.  So, what happened as Kara Zor-El returns home to Earth?  Let's talk about it...

We jump back into National City, as Brainy deftly dodges people to make his way back to The Watchtower, where Supergirl is resting after having been rescued by The Superfriends from the Phantom Zone, with her father, Zor-El, in tow.  They're throwing a welcome home party for her, but Kara is still suffering some PTSD from her exposure to the Phantoms in the Phantom Zone, having been stricken by one of them while there.  She sleeps restlessly, but her sister Alex is by her side.  Kara still has some resonating fear within her, but what she needs is her family at this point in time.  She then is welcomed home by her family, as J'onn, Briany, Nia, and Lena all hug her...happy to have her home.  Lena and her have a moment before they hug, with Kara thanking her for helping her get home.  

Kara thus has to get back into the swing of things, and that means showing up to work at Catco, and face Andrea with her so-called "story" that she was supposedly "undercover" with Cat Grant for (I, for one, will NOT be happy until we get Calista Flockhart back as Cat Grant before this series signs off).  However, upon chatting with Andrea, she admits she doesn't have a story, so Andrea gives her one:  Talk to all the victims of the Phantom attacks, and how they all managed to get saved from it by Supergirl and the other heroes.  This is news to Kara, since she wasn't around WHEN these attacks happened.  Nia fills her in on what happened, and now she's got to face her fears about the Phantoms, and she really isn't ready to.  She bumps into William, and they catch up, with him admitting that he's seeing someone now, and she sees that he moved on when she was gone.  Nia and Kara had brought her father to her job, to give him insight as to what Kara does in her life, and he's there as her "Uncle Archie".  But they have to keep tabs on him, because he's just getting used to the powers he's gained having now been exposed to Earth's yellow sun.  

He and Nia talk on the balcony, when he discusses getting used to these powers, and then uses his x-ray vision to spot a falling satellite in the sky.  Nia tells him to suit up, because now he'll get to experience his daughter's OTHER job as Supergirl.  Supergirl and her father manage to handle the satellite, and Zor-El puts out a fire that broke out in the ocean.  Supergirl realizes that the trash pile in the waters were courtesy of Lexcorp and the DEO. Kara brings up the issue with Andrea, who then assigns this story to William, who does have Lexcorp connections, but Kara wanted to do the story since SHE brought it up.  But Andrea wants her on the Phantoms story---which she's trying to avoid altogether.  When she gets back to the Watchtower, she learns from her father that because  of the pollution and dumping into Earth's oceans, the planet is doomed to suffer the same fate as Krypton, because that's how Krypton's problems started.  Kara says that it's a little more complicated to resolve this issue, but Zor-El thinks he has a way of resolving the issue, but he needs information from the ship she came to Earth in.  She does him one better---by taking him to the Fortress of Solitude.  She tells him how Kal-El tried to bring her here for a long while, but she thought it would make her homesick, but it didn't.  Zor-El gets access to some info, but also finds the solution when he sees Kelex, thus spawning an idea as to how to rectify Earth's pollution problem.

Nia wanted to get ahold of Kara, since Andrea's looking for her story, but Lena says that she's up north with her father.  Nia says it's good for Kara and her dad to reconnect.  This has both Lena AND Nia think about their mothers.  They talk about how they fought their nightmares about their mothers, and Nia asks how Lena did it, and Lena said she just learned to accept that the death of her mother was NOT her fault.  She asks Nia if she was okay, and how she got through hers, but Nia didn't.  But Nia promises to be there for Lena if she needs to talk. 

Zor-El and Kara return, and Zor-El has converted Kelex into Oscar (his reference from having watched Sesame Street, and relating the famous Muppet to the situation at hand), and has made Oscar into a machine that can absorb the garbage from the pile Lexcorp and the DEO left, and make it into energy.  Oscar goes to work, and they monitor his progress.  For awhile, Zor-El's plan seems to be working, but something goes awry, and Oscar stops absorbing energy, and just starts drawing the garbage to himself....building himself up more and more until he starts becoming a giant garbage being going on a rampage.  The Superfriends see the imminent threat, and need to shut Oscar down.  Zor-El is hesitant, and thinks he can salvage the situation, but it's becoming more dire, and people's lives are at stake.  Zor-El is adamant he can fix Oscar, and won't let Krypton die---as he says.  He then realizes his error, and Alex tells him that while things are complicated about solving this issue, they need to save lives, and he either helps, or get out of the way.  

Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Dreamer, and Sentinel arrive at the scene to stop Oscar from becoming larger and more dangerous.  Brainy and Zor-El came up with a device to be able to stop Oscar, but Oscar has used what alien technology that was in the garbage.  Supergirl tries to attack Oscar, but he blasts her.  Dreamer protects her, as her battle suit takes damage.  Brainy then goads Oscar to absorb him in order to implant the virus he and Zor-El created in order to shut him down and end the threat.  Oscar has had enough, and absorbs Briany.  There's a bit of a scuffle with him, as the Superfriends look on.  But eventually, Brainy implants the virus, and the giant garbage being falls.  Brainy then manages to pull Kelex from the wreckage.  The threat is ended, and the Superfriends save the day.  

While the Superfriends have been battling the garbage monster, Andrea got a story back from William on the garbage pile in question, but she isn't thrilled with the story he wrote, because it doesn't directly point to Lex as the culprit, and having done anything completely illegal.  So, she uses her powers to sneak into Lex's office to find some evidence of some wrongdoing.  In the end...she realizes she's got nothing on Lex at this time, and that she's been desperate to get Catco's views up, because they've been slipping.  She realizes the story ISN'T Lex...or the environmental issue---it's the heroes that go out and save the day.  She tells William that the new story is Supergirl and the Superfriends...as they're officially dubbed...and she wants them synonymous with Catco, as Supergirl has been since she first appeared.  

Zor-El and Kara talk, and he apologizes for going overboard, and for his hubris, thinking he could solve Earth's problems like he wasn't able to with Krypton.  He has felt like a failure, and didn't think he could face his wife, Alura.  But now he knows he has to be able to go home to Argo, and be with her again.  So, Kara and Zor-El hug, and he says for the 40  years of life he's had---his greatest achievement was Kara.  Brainy then lets him know that he's ready to take him to Argo.  

Lena calls Nia, and thanks her for listening to her, and for helping her get through her trauma of her mother's death.  She's now heading home to find out more about her mother and to heal.  Meanwhile, at home, Kara opens up to Alex about her fears while being in the Phantom Zone.  Alex had her fears about Kara slipping away, and they both promise to be there for each other.  Kara will also take a cue from Iris West-Allen about her own story (Iris was trapped in the Mirrorverse and suffered her OWN PTSD, until she found a support group to talk about it, and thus wrote her own story about her experiences). 

The episode ends with Nia waking up, calling out Nixly's name.  

Welcome back, Supergirl!  It's been a long time since we've seen the Last Daughter of Krypton in all her glory!  We just went through an emotional rollercoaster with her cousin Kal-El in his series (which was excellent, and I encourage you to watch), and now we're back in National City to catch the last flight of the Girl of Steel and the Superfriends.  Grateful to the showrunners to make sure they did a recap of events to catch us up on what's transpired up to this point, and then they jumped right in.  We see that, while Kara is back on Earth, she's carrying the nightmares that came with being in the Phantom Zone.  So, we have Supergirl with PTSD, and we see how it affects her, as she does NOT want to write the story about the Phantom attacks on National City...which she herself was NOT here for to deal with, but is forced by Andrea to write...even when she presented Andrea with the whole garbage dumping story.  Andrea passed that along to William.  As we see by the end of the episode...Kara has avoided her fear as much as possible, but now she has to face it.  The nice nod is the fact that the story she's got to write will come from her own personal experience, and she's going to take a cue from Iris West-Allen, and what SHE just went through, having been trapped in the mirror universe, and the PTSD Iris suffered through after being rescued by Barry, and the fallout of having been apart from her husband AND having watched a mirror duplicate of her play on Barry while she was trapped.  I like that they tied into Kara and Iris' friendship, as well as giving us something of a timeline as to where Supergirl is compared to The Flash.   So it appears that THIS part of Kara's story is taking place not too long after the events that happened in Central City regarding Mirror Monarch.  

It also looks like Lena is changing a little, as she's now on a quest to know more about her mother, and making peace with her death.  More growth for Lena Luthor, as they steer her away more from the Luthor past, and forging her own destiny.  It's interesting that we see Lena and Nia bonding over the loss of a parent---specifically mothers.  And while Lena was able to conquer her demons of her past, and is working on closing that chapter of her life.  However, we KNOW that Nia has NOT.  Nia still continues to struggle with her changing powers, and her ability to be the hero we KNOW Dreamer can be, because she feels she can't harness her power the right way without her mother there to guide her.  So, hoping we're able to see her overcome her doubts and insecurities, and take that next step.  

We also got some quick closure for Zor-El, as he faced his own issues, by coming to terms with the failures he felt he committed in attempting to save Krypton.  He tried to apply the same knowledge to solve this episodes' issue, but found he could not.  Good thing is, he's going to Argo to be reunited with Alura, and it'll be good for Kara to have her parents alive and well...and safe...where she can see them once in awhile.  But we needed to get Zor-El out of the way, so that we can finally focus on Kara and the team.

Speaking of the team, Andrea is now making them the #1 of Catco - and William gets to be the lucky guy to write the story.  Of course this means he's going to look into the story of these heroes---whom Andra OFFICIALLY dubbed "Superfriends", and it makes you wonder how close he'll get to finding out who Supergirl is...and everyone ELSE for that matter.   That fun begins next week.

Overall, not a bad show.  It gave us a recap, and helped set us up for what comes up in the future.  Not sure what the next threat is, we just hope it's a good story, and something befitting Supergirl's exit from the Arrowverse and the CW.  How did YOU guys feel about our Girl of Steel's return to TV?  Lemme know by subscribing and leaving your comments below.

Until next time...Up, up, and away!

STARGIRL 2.3

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.3:  "Summer School - Chapter Three"  

The Shade has arrived in Blue Valley, and it spells bad news for the new Justice Society of America.  He's after something in the William Zarek collection, and whatever The Wizard had, it was important enough to bring him to town.  This has now caught the attention of the team, and they will do whatever they can to stop them.  Meanwhile, the team also has to deal with its own issues.  Jenny Lynn Hayden has taken off, now imbued with the power of the Green Lantern, she's on a quest to find her brother, Todd.  So, with no idea when SHE will return. Plus...there's the threat of Cindy Burman out there looking for new members for her re-incarnated ISA into Injustice, Unlimited.  But this week, we see just what it is the Shade is looking forward to, and what will the team do when they confront him? 

This week, we saw what happened 11 years ago, when Pat and Johnny Thunder were hanging out at JSA Headquarters, not involved in the final battle between the JSA and ISA.  Johnny laments to Pat about the fact that the Thunderbolt, which was his entry into the JSA, is more powerful than Green Lantern and The Flash combined....but the fact is, he's riding the bench along with Pat.  Pat tries to make the best of it, and they promised to have some egg nog in order to take their mind off the fact they're not involved in the battle.  It's Christmastime, so Johnny agrees until Wildcat shows up, says they have Grundy, and need Johnny's help.  Johnny says they'll have that drink when he gets back----but we know he never does. 

This episode focused a lot on Mike Dugan...who spent the episode getting pushed around by bullies who make waves throughout the neighborhood.  He's also bummed because he feels left out of JSA business, because he wants to be a part of the team and be a superhero badly.  So, when Pat and Courtney are discussing the issue with The Shade being back in town.  Barbara thinks that Pat should take S.T.R.I.P.E. with them, but Courtney says that they need stealth in this manner.  Mike wants to get involved, but Pat and Court tell him that it's official JSA business, and not to get involved.  Mike's dejected, and gets a call from his boss about another route, finding the pen that the Thunderbolt was in, and wrote down the information.  As he is on his route, he ends up wrecking on his bike.  As he tries to collect the papers, they all say "so cool" on the front page, and he speaks it, and thus Thunderbolt appears to Mike.  He says that Mike is his new master.  He explains that his last master was Johnny Thunder of the JSA.  He tells Mike that he can make any wish he wants---but he HAS to be specific.

The team congregates at the shop, and they discuss ways to stop The Shade.  Pat says that he can make shadows, and disappear...very dangerous powers.  Pat says that he parted ways with the ISA after the JSA battle, and was responsible for killing Dr. Mid-Nite.  Beth says they must avenge Chuck's death.  They also think that perhaps the Cosmic Staff might be able to stop him.  While they're discussing plans against The Shade, Barbara is at the warehouse, going through the Zarek inventory when Swift suddenly appears.  He wants to help Barb go through the belongings of Zarek, but she isn't sure about it.  He says he'd know what he's looking for when he sees it.  But she feels he needs to leave, he's trespassing.  Swift says he had HOPED they'd do this the easy way, but then blacks out the room, leaving Barb startled.  Shade grabs the box, and makes off with it.  Barb then discovers that her phone is dead. 

Yolanda and Court are in class, and Yolanda is still suffering headaches, and going through the PTSD, and Courtney wants to make sure she's okay.  Yolanda is worried about doing again what she did to Brainwave in their last big battle.  Courtney assures her that they'll capture Shade, and not do anything more than that.  Meanwhile, Isaac Bown is eavesdropping on their entire conversation.

Mike is testing out Thunderbolt's abilities by having him go after the bullies who picked on him, and are now trying to extort money and steal Girl Scout cookies from a Girl Scout.  Thunderbolt then uses stop signs to try and stop the kids, because Mike wished for them to stop.  Courtney and Yolanda bump into Mike and find out that he's got the Thunderbolt.  Pat gets wind of this, and isn't happy about it.  He warns Mike how dangerous the Thunderbolt is, and how unpredictable it is.  Pat wants the pen, but it won't leave Mike, because it chose Mike, and Mike wants to be in the JSA.  Pat talks to the Thunderbolt, and the mystical being tells Pat that Johnny's last wish was to find a new friend like him....alone.  As it turns out, the team thinks that Thunderbolt MAY be the key to defeating The Shade.  Courtney comes out to talk to Mike, and he wants to be a part of the team, and hates being left out.  Courtney says that she's not sure they should disobey Pat.  However, the rest of the team vote him in.  Pat reluctantly agrees, and they then go over a very detailed plan on how to defeat The Shade.  Pat is still ensuring that Mike rides the bench for his own safety, and not to use The Thunderbolt unless necessary.  He then informs Barb of what they plan to do to handle Shade, and the team meets at the old Zarek House.  Stargirl assures Wildcat that there will be no killing involved.  They enter the home, and they find the Shade there, who wants them to sit and have tea.  They're reluctant, and they want to fight, but Pat keeps the kids in check.  They want to know why he's there, and he says it's better if they don't know, and that he has little to no interest in ruling the world, much like the members of the ISA.  He would also rather not fight with them, either.  However, Mike had burst into the house, and gave out detailed directions for Thunderbolt, and it attacks...only to be subdued by the Shade, and then the battle is on.  However, he easily defeats them, and warns them to stay out of his way.  He then takes off, nowhere to be found.

Back at home, Mike apologizes for screwing up the mission...he just wanted to belong.  But he also knows he's irresponsible with the power.  Yolanda said that when he nailed the Icicle, did he feel bad.  Mike said he did at first, but then realized it was just an accident.  He says though that he wishes the pen be in better hands, and the pen disappears.  We then see it appear on a desk of a nerdy kid playing videogames....he's shocked when he sees it.  Barb and Pat talk, and they both realize they've neglected them.  Barb says that both she AND Mike are a part of the team...thought they don't have powers, costumes, or code names.  They both know they need to do a better job with the kids.  She also says that she went through the inventory, and says that Shade took a black box, and there was a diamond in it.  Pat tells her that it's EXTREMELY bad news about the black box. 

Beth and Rick talk about Shade, and she still feels down because of what's going on in her life, and Rick goads he to tell him what's going on.  She talks about her parents' impending divorce, and he says she's got to start opening up to them.  Chuck spurts to life, and gives them a warning that they're in danger, and manages to get out "Eclipso" before he sputters out again.  One top of one of the tallest buildings in town, Shade opens the black box, and finds out that the black diamond of Eclipso is missing....and now he knows that the kids are in deep danger, and they're going to be killed.  

This, once again, was another solid show, as we finally see the Shade make his move, and find out just what it was he was looking for:  Eclipso.  But now that it is in the hands of Cindy Burman, he's going to have to work on finding Cindy AND the diamond before she lets it get out of her control.  I can honestly tell you that Eclipso has his OWN plans, and Cindy is only a pawn in his game.  So, while she's trying to recruit her new team of villains to battle the JSA, the Shade is out for Eclipso---but for what reason?  We still don't know what the Shade has plans for in regards to it, we just know he was looking for the diamond.  But he DOES know that with Eclipso out there in someone's hands---the JSA is in deep trouble.  

As for the JSA itself...it looks as if they were outmatched once again by a more powerful being.  Pat is doing what he can to guide these kids, but Courtney is still a little too gung ho in wanting to just smash the bad guys.  These ARE kids, and they're still impatient, and have much to learn, but they will---sadly, it's going to be the hard way, because they will continue to stumble and fall until they finally get it right.  But they are spirited and good, and now they understand the threat at had with The Shade.  Of course, things will only get worse when they have to face the challenge of Eclipso.  

Outside of the actual threats that are present and ones that are coming, we've also got Mike trying to do what he can to fit in, and not feel like the outcast of the team.  Barbara has also been in that boat.  But Mike, so desperate to fit in, finds a kindred soul in the mystical Thunderbolt.  Johnny Thunder was something of a misfit himself as the more nerdy member of the JSA...only used when absolutely needed, but pretty much  a bench warmer for the most part.  And while this makes Mike feel included, he finds out the hard way in wanting to help the team that even the best intentions don't work out well.  When he had the Thunderbolt attack The Shade, he didn't listen to Pat, and it cost the team.  Mike, however, showed great maturity, and made the decision to give up the Thunderbolt...but in doing so, ended up wishing it to another lonely, outcast kid.  I think we'll end up knowing THAT young man a little more down the road.  Yolanda is still suffering PTSD from the whole Brainwave issue, and if she doesn't manage to work through this issue, she's going to be VERY ineffective as a superhero, and a liability to the team.  And we got to hear from Chuck again, and he was online just long enough to warn Beth and Rick about Eclipso.  There's another thing---Rick is reaching out to Beth to get her to open up about her personal issues, and trying to get her to finally speak up to her parents.  Maybe this will get Beth to come out of that shell of hers, and finally confront her parents about their apparent negligence in regards to her....and be honest about their own relationship with each other.

What did YOU guys like or dislike about this week's installment?  Subscribe and comment your thoughts/opinions/theories below.

Until next time...keep your eyes on the stars!