STARGIRL 2.7

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.7:  "Summer School - Chapter Seven"  

Things have taken a very dark turn in Blue Valley.  Eclipso is loose, and ready to corrupt and spread his evil all over the town...and nourish off the souls of the townsfolk.  And the JSA is reeling from what happened with their battle against Shiv, Artemis, and Fiddler.  With the Shade also having tasted defeat against Eclipso, the team must now try to regroup, and figure out how to stop Eclipso before he grows more powerful, and nearly unstoppable. 

This episode pretty much spent the focus on Yolanda, and her continued headaches and nightmares involving the death of Brainwave.  We first see her in confessional at the church asking the priest if the devil is real.  If he is, isn't it their duty to stop him.  She does believe the devil resides in Blue Valley.  

The town is gearing up for the annual 4th of July celebration, and the weather is all out of sorts, since Eclipso has affected things since his return to the earthly realm.  As Courtney talks to Beth, she's hoping Beth has gotten more info from Chuck, or even the actual Dr. McNider, but Beth says it's all quiet, and not a peep.  Courtney tells her to keep her updated.  She then sees a shop that has a picture of Isaac Bowen on it, a missing poster.  Courtney knows all too well what happened to him, and there's nothing she can do about it.  Cameron sneaks up on her, and she freaks, but relaxes, as he comments how he and his dad would help put up the decorations for the town's Independence Day celebration.  He asks her if she can help, and she would like to.  She gets buzzed by Yolanda, who wants to talk, but Courtney puts her phone away, as Cam wonders if she needs to leave again...and he'd understand.  She actually stays and helps him, as Yolanda looks on.  

Yolanda's day doesn't get any easier, as she can't focus on her work at the diner, so her co-worker takes her usual customer, who's rude all the time.  And her co-worker, no possessed by Eclipso, pours hot coffee in the man's lap, burning him.  She apologizes, not knowing what came over her, and she's sent home, as Yolanda wonders what happened.  She then sees a little blonde boy in the diner, and she goes to him, and gives him a sucker.  She turns away from him to notice the coffee incident, then turns back, and he's gone.  It was Bruce Gordon.  

Pat and Mike are at the Pit Stop, and they have to begin re-assembling S.T.R.I.P.E., and Pat tells him that they have to start by screwing in all the parts once again.  Not a job Mike is thrilled about, but this is what Pat refers to as "JSA 101".  Pat goes outside to wait for parts from Zeke, and Mike is in the shop trying to work on S.T.R.I.P.E..  MIke then takes a break from work, to notice a rag on the bench, and when he uncovers it, he sees the pieces of the black diamond.  He starts touching it, and messing with it, and it moves across the table.  Enamored with it, he plays with it more, until it latches into his arm, and starts seeping into his body.  He starts freaking out until he's snapped out of it by Pat.  He wonders what happened, and Pat tells him not to mess with the black diamond.  When Mike asks why he still has it, Pat says that he's hoping that the diamond, which Eclipso is weak against, would be the very thing to stop him.  

Mike's not the only one having hallucinations and dreams, it continues for Yolanda as well.  At first, she heads back to the church, where the priest had called her mother, and her mother began to chastise her, but the priest interrupts her, and says that now is not the time for harsh words.  They're there to help Yolanda.  But she sees a minute figure in the church, and goes to follow it, but it disappears when she opens the church doors.  Later on, as they're back in class with a new teacher, she sees Henry in the hallway, and chases after him.  When she catches up with him, he says he's in a bad place because he never forgave her.  She tells him she forgives him, but he says that his father never will. Brainwave says that he is with Yolanda forever.  Courtney wakes her up from her nightmare...and she's still in class.  Yolanda leaves, and Courtney wants her to open up about what's wrong. She finally admits to Courtney as to what she's been seeing, and Courtney says she should tell the team, they'll support her.  Yolanda isn't sure, but she agrees to anyway.  When she does finally tell of how she killed Brainwave and watched him die, Rick is the first to speak, and supports Yolanda, and says he would've done the same thing.  Beth, however, is too in shock, and can't seem to be that supportive of Yolanda.  And when it comes to Eclipso, she feels that the only one who'll be able to deal the death blow will be her---she doesn't want anyone else to carry that burden.  So, she'll do it.

I should note that while all this is going down, Barbara is having a town business meeting, and they're looking to divert their assets elsewhere to support the town, instead of a business just outside of it.  Barbara says they should liquidate some assets they've been holding onto, and then use that to prop up the factory that the townsfolk work at.  They are all in favor of her plan and the meeting ends.  However, before Barb takes off...she sees black liquid on the ground, and looks up, and sees that the Shade is still having issues trying to gather himself.  

Yolanda returns to the church, and there, her nightmares become more reality, as she's face to face with Brainwave.  He tells her that has she was watching him die, he managed to mentally transfer his consciousness into her, and because her mind is weak, it won't be long before he takes over her mind, and he will live again through her.  Yolanda attacks him once again in her nightmare and again kills him...but then, he changes to Henry, and says that if he burns, she'll burn with him.  Courtney is there as Stargirl in her nightmare, but she can't stop Brainwave.  Courtney manages to wake Yolanda up, and Yolanda just can't deal anymore.  She asks Courtney why she chose her as Wildcat...she's not equipped for this.  She then tells Courtney to stay away from her....she quits.  Courtney tries later on at home to talk to Yolanda, but is met with resistance by her mother, who says it's Courtney's influence that has made Yolanda the way she is, and for her to leave them alone.  The waitress at the diner is also upset, because Yolanda isn't coming back to work, even though she says she'll have a job there if she decides to come back.  

The Dugans gather around the table at home to talk about Yolanda, and why she didn't tell them about Brainwave.  Courtney says it wasn't her secret to tell.  Mike admits that he killed the Icicle, and he feels it was an accident, trying to assure himself.  Barbara says she isn't sure what she saw...whether it was the Shade or not.  At the Chapel house, we see Beth trying to sleep, but then we gaze out the window into the yard...and there is Bruce Gordon...ready for his next victim. 

It was about time we got to the root of Yolanda's issue, and she just has had tremendous guilt over not only killing Brainwave...but watching him die.  Though her intentions at the time were altruistic, she has carried this burden, and now she can't deal with it.  She feels that SHE is the only one who can stop Eclipso...and to do that, he must die.  And she does NOT want that burden or guilt to fall upon her friends.  And while Rick would've killed Brainwave had he been in her position, she did put it to him that he had a chance to kill Grundy....but didn't.  So, Yolanda knows that, despite Rick's support, he wouldn't go that far.  Beth is just in total shock of it all.  At times, I think she looks like she's in WAAAY over her head.  As the one member of the team that doesn't quite have a weapon or abilities like the other 3, she's supposed to be the smart one.  However, she looks lost at times and overwhelmed.  She's now realizing that this hero business is extremely scary, hard, and full of consequences.  Beth has been somewhat sheltered, and she is now having the hardest time coping with the harsh realities of the world of the superhero.  At least Mike has seen it, confronted it, and respects it....as he fears it tremendously.  He wants to do more, and give more, but he's also scared to death at the evil that lurks outside the door.  

For Yolanda, the burden is too much, and thanks to not only Brainwave's influence, but Eclipso's as well, there's now one member of the Justice Society off the table.  The other issue that still lurks with Yolanda is her family---they're still loading the guilt from her one mistake with Henry, and they've never forgiven her about it.  And THEY feel they're in the right, and thus treat Yolanda like she's a blight on her family name.  That seems to hold more weight with them, than actually rallying around her and giving her love and support.   So, now she will isolate herself, and her family will blame everyone ELSE for Yolanda's issues, instead of blaming themselves for their part in her messed up psyche---it's what's making her easy pickings for Brainwave AND Eclipso.  So, whether or not she recovers is something we'll see before the season ends.  But she has to know that she doesn't HAVE to kill---it's a choice.  And it may not come to that.  But until then, Eclipso has one less person to worry about.   Now, he's got his next victim picked out....the weak link:  Beth.  And with her mind all in knots about Dr. McNider, her loneliness, and feelings of abandonment by her parents, and her lack of friends makes her a prime target.  Either way, the team is getting picked off one by one, and Courtney and the rest of the Dugan family will probably be last on the list---because they still hold out hope, and won't quit.

This was a good episode to do some serious character focus, and shows Eclipso's plan at work...taking down the JSA one member at a time.  So far, so good for the bad guy.  This season is most definitely darker than last season, and the stakes are higher.  Plus, it's now forcing these kids to grow up, and learn that this hero business is no game...and it NEVER gets easier.  

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