STARGIRL 2.1

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.1:  "Summer School - Chapter One"  

Welcome back to Blue Valley!  It's been a bit of a spell since we visited our new friends of the JSA and the Dugan family.  They got done taking down the Injustice Society of America, and now look ahead to new threats and adventures...and school.  As we peek in on our little Nebraska town, it's a little bit later down the road, but there ARE new threats on the horizon....the team just doesn't know it yet. 

Before we get to the current stuff, we have to step back a few decades, when we see the town, and a young girl named Rebecca, whom has gotten in trouble with her mother, and thus, cannot attend the birthday party across the street.  But....she is visited by a strange boy named Bruce.  Bruce has an unusual gift, and encourages Rebecca to disobey her mother, by going across the street. Bruce further goads Rebecca into stealing one of the gifts...thinking their might be a doll inside one of them.  Rebecca is spurred by this, and commits the theft of a big gift.  She then opens it up, only to see a very meancing looking doll.  She's a little scared, but then blinks her eyes, and the doll is normal.  We then see Bruce behind her...his face darkened in a crescent moon looking manner, and says she's a bad girl, and proceeds to use his super powers on her.  We can't see what happens, but he disappears, and Rebecca's mother comes out looking for her.  Once she realizes she snuck off to the party, she goes over, only to look onto the lawn and find her daughter...she screams as they pull back...and we see the name on their mailbox:  McNider. 

The JSA is out on patrol...but all is quiet on the Midwest Front.  Not a peep of a super villain anywhere.  Stargirl feels they need to stay on the alert, because evil can sprout at any point in time.  However, the rest of the team is done, and they feel that they can suit up when there's actually a threat.  They take off, and call it a night.  Stargirl, however, isn't done.  Once at home, Courtney continues to pour over old JSA files for potential villains that they could possibly encounter.  Pat comes down to the basement, and tells her that she needs to learn to balance her life as Stargirl AND as Courtney Whitmore as well.  She needs to focus on her finals for school.  As he orders her to bed, and as they leave the basement, Green Lantern's power battery begins to glow. 

Other members of the team seem to be struggling with life outside their JSA work.  After the fall of the ISA, there's been no villains, and there really isn't anything to do.  Rick seems to have been caring for SOMETHING out in the woods, because he makes a couple of trips out there this episode, and finds the giant footprints, and also leaves food out for this creature, whom radio news reports call a "bear" or something.  More than likely, it's Solomon Grundy.  He too, had to deal with school issues, as he went to get the results of his finals, and the teacher blatantly calls him out for cheating on the test, even though he actually buckled down and studied.  She feels he cheated, and wants him to take the test right there and then.  He gets pissed off enough at her, that he just gives up and tells her to fail him.  He's done with school.  

Beth...whose only friends are her teammates, has had troubles as well in the wake of the final battle with the ISA, as she spends this episode trying to get Chuck back online after the goggles were damaged in the fight with the ISA.  On top of trying to revive Chuck...and actually have someone to talk to...she has to deal with the fact that her parents are so busy, they continue to NOT have time for her.  The real blow for Beth comes when she finds divorce papers on a table, and she realizes her parents are splitting up.  She tries to make her parents a romantic dinner in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, but her Mom calls, and says she's busy, and can't come home.  Beth is left sullen, but gets a little glimmer of hope when she hears Chuck's voice form the goggles.  She tries to communicate with him, but--sadly--Chuck has NO idea who she is, and shuts off.  

Yolanda seems to be the one taking it the hardest, as she keeps recalling the battle, and what she did to Brainwave, as well as remembering that Henry died saving their lives.  Yolanda is going through some serious PTSD, and she goes to church, hoping to try and quell her nightmares by going to confessional.  However, she's unable to say a word, and ends up leaving in a panic.  She also seems to act as if someone is following her.   

At school, the girls meet up, but Rick isn't around, and they talk about summer, and being able to go on patrol.  The girls just want to scale it back a bit....they don't want to give up being Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite, but they want to only suit up when there's an actual threat.  Courtney is talking to them about time paradoxes, and the fact that she's going on a summer trip to Yellowstone with the family that Pat has been planning for awhile.  No Stargirl, no superhero stuff, just relaxation AWAY from Blue Valley.  Her and Mike are less than enthused, since Mike wants to learn how to operate Stripsey.  The kids are outvoted (thanks to the dog), and Pat puts the trip into motion.  As the girls are in the cafeteria talking about summer, they overhear Artemis and her friends come in, talking about her parents, and how they were busted for a crime from years ago, and that she feels they were set up.  Accidently, Courtney gets it in her head that Artemis is about to attack her with a hockey stick, and they tangle for a bit.  Artemis wonders what the hell is happening, as she was just handing the stick back to her teammate.  Courtney is then taken to the Principal's Office, where the parental units show up, and she says her tangle with Artemis was a misunderstanding.  She then finds out that the history test she SHOULD'VE studied for (but didn't because she was pouring over JSA files), she failed, as well as English, so now she's remanded to Summer School if she wants to get into her Junior year.  Pat and her mother are disappointed, because the summer trip was ruined because of her.  And her mother questions her actions, and whether or not being Stargirl is worth losing herself and her future for. 

Pat, before the incident at school with Courtney, had set up a man named Zeke with the task of care of his garage while he's gone, and Zeke is curious as to what is behind the door of the garage, that has Pat saying "do not enter" on it.  Pat tries to inform him that it's just extra junk, and that he needs to clean it up, it's just extra junk.  However, as the family trip got cancelled due to Courtney's faux pas, Pat decides to head back to the garage to call off the deal with Zeke, only to find out that Zeke broke into the storage room where Pat keeps Stripsey, and Zeks uncovers his secret.  However, what Zeke DOESN'T know is Stripsey's capabilities.  He just thinks he's a robot that Pat's building, and thinks he can modify him a little.  And...try as he might, Pat can't convince him to stop.  

Courtney...now remanded to Summer School, feels that she can now pick up where she left off with the super hero gig.  She starts going through the yearbook looking at Cindy, who's not been found at all, and Cameron Mahkent, with whom she's had an interaction with earlier on, and it was calm, but uneasy.  He's just trying to do something good by giving the mirual on the wall in town a new coat of paint.  His grandparents, however, are keeping eyes on him, still don't trust Courtney at all.  As she's perusing the yearbook, the staff wakes up, and she follows the disturbance it senses downstairs.  Soon, a dark figure appears holding GL's power battery.  The two girls begin to fight, and it rages over the house, causing damage downstairs.  When Courtney asks who she was, the strange girl says she's Green Lantern's daughter, as the rest of the Dugan Family comes downstairs and sees the new surprise awaiting them.  

As for Cindy....well....we finally catch up with her, as she roams the halls of the high school, until she reaches the set of lockers that moves open as the entrance to the ISA lair...she has a file with her.  She opens it, and starts to take out pictures of fellow students.  Henry's she tears up...since he's dead.  And she then pulls out pictures of Jordan Mahkent, Artemis Crock...and Mike Dugan.  She asks Eclipso if he's ready to do some recruiting....for the new group, Injustice, Unlimited.  

Well!  That was a lot to intake for an hour episode!  Welcome back from the break in quite a spectacular fashion.   We pretty much spend this episode seeing how everyone is dealing with the aftermath of the battle with the Injustice Society.  Some take it well.....some don't.  Courtney....for all the good she wants to do....is suffering from a bout of overzealousness.  Having gong through her initial trial as Stargirl, and come out the otherside tested and ready, she is now keeping a bit more alert than she needs to be.  She is ready for the next challenge, and feels that THIS is her ultimate destiny....to just BE Stargirl.  But as Pat, her mother, and the other members of the new JSA try to tell her---that's not all there IS to life.  Regardless of whether or not the staff CHOSE her...she's still JUST Courtney Whitmore.  And Courtney Whitmore has to do more in life than just be a superhero....superheroing doesn't pay the bills or provide you a college education, a career, or much else.  Courtney, I feel, is going to continue to learn these lessons the hard way.  And as much as Pat and her mother try to explain it to her---she's a teenager, and she's still got MUCH growing to do.  

Yolanda has a BAAAAD case of PTSD.  And, sadly, she has NO ONE to talk to about it, outside of the team....and possibly Pat.  She can't turn to her family, and she can't go to confessional at church, either.  Having killed Brainwave has left a HUGE weight on her, and she can't shake it.  The ramifications of taking another person's life...supervillain or not...at so young an age is frightening, and she's going to suffer through this trauma alone until she confronts it head on, and just TALKS about it...and DEALS with it.  Until then, her ability to be Wildcat will be compromised...especially if she can't fight, because she fears she'll kill again. 

Rex is actually the fairly most stable right now, despite getting jerked over by the teacher who thinks he didn't make the effort to study, and just cheated his way to a good grade.  But he's actually showing compassion for whatever's out in the woods that's had campers and some townsfolk a little scared.  They think it's some giant bear....but I'd harbor a good guess that he's caring for Solomon Grundy.  He may have ordered Grundy to leave....but at the same time, Rick showed compassion in their last battle.  So, it wouldn't surprise me that he's helping the dead zombie like guy out.  Not sure what happens after this, but at least we can say that Rick is fairly sane and level headed. 

I feel for Beth so badly----outside of Rick, Courtney, and Yolanda---Beth's world is a lonely one.  Especially when you have two working parents who put more into their jobs, and LESS time with their kid.  Beth has grown up to realize that she's alone....and having the goggles, being Dr. Mid-Nite, and talking to Chuck gave Beth a sense of belonging...and Chuck was as close to a best friend as she's had.  But with her parents on the verge of divorce, their constant ignoring of her, and with Chuck somewhat back, but NOT knowing who Beth is....her world has never felt more empty...and it's painful to watch.  And it'll only get worse when her parents split up.  And because she's so timid and shy....she doesn't speak up.  This is something that HAS to change for Beth to take a step forward. 

Poor Pat.  All the guy wanted was a family vacation.  And he almost had it----until Courtney messed it all up.  It's one thing to have been the partner of a crimefighter, but to now have the new generation all gung-ho, it's tough to get these youngsters to find a balance.  Not that he has to worry about Yolanda, Beth, or Rick...not his responsibility really.  But for Courtney...and now Mike, who wants in on the "family business", he's got to ensure that not only does he teach them the ropes to be better heroes....but to find that balance in life.  Barbara also wants that, but they face an uphill battle with teenage kids.  And now, Pat will have another kid to deal with now that Green Lantern's daughter has appeared.  On top of that...Zeke now knows about his robot.  And much like the Janitor last year, who proved to be the Shining Knight...I feel Zeke is someone of interest as well----just not sure who.  Pat's gonna have to keep an eye on him as well.

We see that Sylvester---least that's who we're LED to believe it is---has continued HIS journey to find out where Pat went, and managed to catch up with Pat's ex-wife, inquiring as to where he might be.  I wonder how much longer it'll be before he catches up to Pat in Blue Valley....and what's going to happen after that?  

We see that Cameron is back in town, and his grandparents are on watch, as always.  Cameron seems to just keep to himself, though he and Courtney have a moment in this episode....but will he be manipulated by Eclipso?  I guess we'll have to see.  

And Cindy makes her return after having found Eclipso...with whom we got real familiar with at the beginning of this episode.  Bruce Gordon is nowhere to be found, but Eclipso is in the diamond, and Cindy is looking forward to gathering a new team of baddies to take down the JSA for the end of the ISA.  With this new "Injustice, Unlimited" group, we see she's targeted Cameron, Artemis (who'll probably jump at the chance to take down the JSA for their part in her parents' incarceration)....and Mike Dugan.  I find it interesting that Cindy has set her sights on Courtney's brother.  But if you think about it---what a better way to strike a blow to Stargirl and the JSA....AND the Dugan family...than by turning Mike against his own family?  Cindy's that evil, and she's going to be fun to watch.  

Finally...we got to meet Jade---well, you don't know her name YET---but that's one Jenny-Lynn Hayden that we saw fight Courtney at the Dugan house.  Her story will be an interesting one as well.  And we'll see how she fits in with our new ragtag group of JSA'ers.   

It was a fabulous episode---and along with Superman & Lois...it's the best superhero show on TV right now (Flash & Legends have taken a step back last couple of seasons), and it still brings the warmth and lightheartedness and just the right balance of drama and danger.  And I am completely invested in what Geoff Johns and the other writers have in store for us as we launch into this season.  How about you?  What did YOU guys think of the season premiere?  Drop me a line by leaving a comment below....AFTER subscribing!

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