STARGIRL 2.4

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.4:  "Summer School:  Chapter Four"  

Business is picking up in Blue Valley.  The JSA is now finding out that things are going to get a little hairy, because The Shade is in town, and who knows what no good he'll be up to---he's not revealed ANYTHING as yet.  On top of that...Cindy Burman is in possession of the black diamond of Eclipso, and she is ready to recruit for a new version of the ISA:  Injustice, Unlimited.  And Beth finds out through the goggles about Eclipso from Chuck, and a sense of even MORE imminent danger on the horizon.  So, let's pay another visit to our small little Nebraska town, and see what happened THIS week.  

The main focus of this week's story was that of Artemis Crock.  The exceptional female athlete of Blue Valley High has college scouts checking her out this week, and she is wishing her parents were there to cheer her on.  We get to see her talking to her parents in prison this week, still upset they're incarcerated, and truly believes they were framed for the crimes they were convicted of committing.  They do what they can to encourage her, and she hates the foster parent that she's with, and it looks as though the foster parent can care less about her, and won't take care of her as a parent should. This doesn't sit well with Crusher and Paula, as they plan on finding a way there to see their daughter's tryout.  In order to see their daughter perform at her tryout, they break out of prison.  They sneak into town, and of all the people who happen to run into them....it's Mike Dugan.  Pat is out for a drive, when he gets a call from Mike to head back to the shop.  Once there, he meets up with the Crocks, and they want Pat to help them lay low long enough to watch Artemis' tryout....or, they'll kill Mike.  Pat caves in, and they wind back up at the Dugan house, where Barb is uncomfortable with them being there....considering they tried to kill her not that long ago, but Pat is doing this to protect the family.  They have some uncomfortable conversation, but it looks as if both couples can come to an understanding about their kids.  As for Artemis, she's struggling to get focused, because she isn't eating properly, because the foster parent could care less about her diet, and then at school, Courtney and Yolanda try to make peace with Artemis, with Court handing her an apple, only for Artemis to crush it before taking off.  

Before we get to more of Artemis, we need to check in on Cindy Burman, who's feeling sad about having had Eclipso kill her stepmother, which she didn't want.  However, Eclipso says that it was necessary, because she was going to kill Cindy.  Cindy says that it's time to start recruiting, and her first stop is Isaac Bowen.  Cindy sweet talks him, and says she wants to make new friends.  She then takes him down to the ISA headquarters, and she shows him that that her father used to be known as the Fiddler, and she brings out the fiddle her father used in his career.  He says he doesn't know how to play it, but Cindy assures him he will learn.  She then looks at the picture of her and the other kids she's looking to recruit...including Mike.  She then heads out to the football field where she sees Artemis practicing for her tryout.  She uses the diamond to have Eclipso mess with her head.  

As Artemis is going for her tryout, she was not as focused, as Pat finally brought the Crocks to the school, where he told them to lay low and just watch.  They see her fail a couple of times, but start cheering her on.  When she actually DOES see them, she ends up performing MUCH better, and actually impresses the coaches. It's around this time, however, that Cindy shows up at the football field, and manipulates Artemis' mind, so that she'll experience her worst fear, and act out.  Cindy sees Courtney arrive at the field to talk to Pat, and she uses that as an opportunity to have Artemis go crazy.  Artemis looks at her parents, and sees them about to be captured, and she attacks...beating on Courtney, thinking she was an armed officer.  When she recovers, she has no idea what happened.  Pat, Court, and even her parents are surprised.  Not too long after, her parents admit to her that they are truly guilty of the crimes they committed.  She wishes they'd been honest with her, but they didn't want to ruin her future.  So, they say their goodbyes and head off back to the prison, living up to their word they made with Pat. For Artemis, things don't improve, when she gets a call from the coaches saying that, because of her temper, they don't want her on the team.  Ticked off she got shafted, she closes her locker, only to find Cindy there, offering her to join her team. 

This episode also saw the kids pull together to do research into the black diamond and Eclipso.  They're taking a look at the map, and then get some background on an explorer named Bruce Gordon, who travelled to this island they got a map of, and according to the legend, Gordon came back from this island that saw many dead people, and survived the experience.  But not much more is known.  Courtney heads to  the used book store to try and gather more intel, and she runs into The Shade.  She thinks that he wants the diamond so that he an Eclipso can take over the world.  The Shade has no such interest, and that he only wants the diamond in order to dispatch it into the deepest depths of the ocean.  She also reminds him that he killed Dr. Mid-Nite, and he says that her perspective is skewered...and asks whether or not Pat has told her the whole story. All through the episode, Pat has done his best to shield Courtney and the kids from really learning about the true levels of evil that Eclipso is...and that Eclipso had murdered Rebecca McNider.  Barb has been all in on keeping this secret, even though they had promised the family would be honest with each other.  Later on, at the football field (and after Courtney was attacked by Artemis), she presses Pat about the whole story....but Pat continues to stonewall.  

We got to see Yolanda begin work as a waitress in the diner this week, and Beth is still continuing to struggle with opening up to her parents about her knowing about the divorce papers.  She tries to coax her mother to go out on a date with her father and go to miniature golf like they did when they met, and before the place closed down.  But Beth says it reopened, and they should go---but her mother says that her father is too busy, as is she, and that she should go with her friends.  Beth still tries to get ahold of Chuck, and when she does, it's very garbled, and static like.  He still has no idea who she is, and keeps warning her that they're all in danger.  She then surmises that she's actually got the REAL Dr. Charles McNider, and that he's alive.  And as we see, Dr. Mid-Nite IS still alive...somewhere in a shadow realm, trying to connect with Beth.  This is a big surprise, as we had seen in the series pilot that he had been supposedly killed by The Shade.  Now, I am beginning to wonder if Shade sucked him into a shadow world to protect him from Eclipso.  The old ISA certainly were NOT friends with each other, and sounds like they were only part of a team for the sake of a payday or something.  But they obviously have no love lost with each other, and The Shade apparently wants to destroy Eclipso before he really cuts loose.

Cindy certainly worked her mojo overtime in this episode in order to begin recruiting her new super-villain team.  Isaac has felt like the perpetual emo loner since the death of his mother, and Cindy made sure she played on that fear...using Eclipso as a way to stir up the angst in Isaac's mind.  And becoming "friends" with him...just to recruit him, was her stroke of genius.  Artemis needed a little pushing, so, she used the power of Eclipso on her as well, to stir up Artemis' worst fears.  And when Artemis didn't get the position on the team, it played right into Cindy's hands.  I'm REAL curious at how she's going to recruit Mike.  I wonder if she will play on his fears or just his sense of abandonment and not feeling like part of the team...feeling left out.  She's still got some work to do, and we're not completely sure what her intentions are, other than destroying the JSA, but getting Mike would certainly stick it to the Dugans...and to Courtney specifically.  But I truly believe that Cindy has no real honest clue about what power she has at her disposal, and just how much SHE is being manipulated by said power.  She WILL find out the hard way.

The Shade is the wild card here, and very curious as to what he will do.  It was cool to see Tigress and Sportsmaster again---and the awkwardness between the two married couples.  It provided a little light humor for a show that's telling a very dark story right now.  But it still has a nice balance to it.

This show continues to amaze, and does its part to slowly peel away layers.  Everyone does a fantastic job in their roles, and really embrace the characters they're portraying.  The writing continues to be stellar, and the show gives great drama, but doesn't burden the show with it. 

What have YOU guys thought of this season thus far?  Gimme your thoughts below by leaving a comment...AFTER you subscribe, of course!

Until next time....Keep your eyes on the stars.