STARGIRL 2.11

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.11:  "Summer School - Chapter Eleven"

Things just go from bad to worse for the JSA.  With the team splintered, and the threat of Eclipso continuing to loom large, the team just got dealt it's biggest blow:  Courtney has been sucked into the Shadowlands.  Thanks to their last encounter with Eclipso, Jenny Lynn Haden - Green Lantern's daughter - is now down for the count, Courtney's gone, and Pat is left with Cosmo...and the guilt of his failures, as now his step-daughter...the one who continued to have hope that they can stop Eclipso is now gone.  It doesn't look good for the denizens of Blue Valley...

Pat and Jenny arrive back home, with Cosmo in hand, as a forlorn Barbara and Mike look on, as they realize Courtney is gone.  The family gathers around as they mourn the loss of their Stargirl.

But, we all know Courtney is not gone.  She has been transported elsewhere...into a black and white version of Blue Valley, where everything seems to move a little slower.  She wanders into the diner, to see the Wizard and his family together.  William Zarek introduces himself, his wife, and their son Joey, whom he's teaching to be a magician.  He says he left a troubled life behind.  Joey asks her to pick a card, and she starts flashing back to when he asked her to do that card trick.  She feels something is VERY off.  And when they start to realize it, they start to approach her.  She makes a beeline for the door, and winds up at the school.  She sees all the students move about, only to find Isaac Bowen and his mother.  They see her as trouble and blast her back.  As they go to approach her, she's shoved through another door, and she winds up meeting Shiv.  They fight a little, and Shiv cuts her, because Courtney doesn't have her staff.  Cindy wonders how she got here, and sees that she's real.  She pushes Courtney through another door, and they're in Courtney's room.  There, Cindy and her bicker a little about how they wound up there, and point fingers at each other.  Cindy tells her that this is the Shadowlands.  Was created by Eclipso.  It feeds of the fear and guilt of those trapped in here.  Courtney asks for the way out, but Cindy says there is none.  Courtney refuses to believe that, as Cindy starts hearing her mother's voice.  While Cindy tries to fight off her demons, Courtney says she's going home, and walks through the door into another place---her old home at Christmastime....before her mother had met Pat.  Courtney was a baby, and her mother, getting ready for another shift at a diner, thinks this Courtney is a babysitter.  She tries to tell this version of Barbara that it's her, but this Barbara lays the guilt on about not being able finish college because of Courtney, and if she had never had her, her life would be better.  Before Courtney can defend herself, she's yanked back to the room by Cindy.  Courtney wonders how the doors work.  Cindy informs her that there is darkness in everyone....including Courtney.  Cindy says that the souls of this realm will eventually be consumed.  They bicker more, and then Cindy proclaims she has no fear here...but then her mother's voice arises once again, and she can't handle it.  She then sees her mother, who's begging her not to kill her again.  Cindy tells her to scram, but eventually, Cindy gets nabbed by her father, Dragon King, and Courtney chases her into the darkness to rescue her...only to lose her. 

When Courtney reaches her next destination, it's at the old JSA garage that Pat and Starman worked at.  There, she meets the real Dr. Mid-Nite.  He lets her use the goggles to see what the Shadowlands are really like.  Everything around them is an illusion.  He keeps them on to see the truth.  He tells her to never give up, and to keep fighting.  And, thanks to the goggles Beth has, he's been able to keep in contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, Beth is scanning Courtney's room, and looking at all the mementos.  She tells Jenny her goggles are full of tears, but afraid to take them off.  Jenny blames herself for failing.  Suddenly, Beth's goggles activate, and Dr. McNider tells her that he's in the shadowlands with Courtney.  McNider informs Beth that the Shade is the key for getting them out.  They race to tell Pat and Barb that Courtney is alive in the Shadowlands with Dr. McNider.  And they need to find the Shade to get them out.  Jenny can use her light powers to try and track the Shade, so Barb hands her his business card, and they manage to locate the Shade in two different places.  But they eventually find him in the theatre downtown.  

Courtney and McNider discuss the Shade, and McNider says that he's complicated.  He recalls a night where he showed up at McNider's house, feeling guilty about Eclipso getting loose, and not being able to stop him.  They both shared a drink, and McNider says that it was Shade that drew him into the Shadowlands to protect him from the ISA.  When Pat and Barb see Shade, he looks weak, and he's not using his powers so he can recharge.  But Barbara desperately pleads with him to help them get Courtney back.  He threatened to kill them, but Barbara didn't care...she can't live without her daughter.  He acquiesces, and uses his power at the movie screen....he then opens up the portal between the Shadowlands and Earth.  There, they see Courtney and Dr. Mid-Nite.  Shade can't hold the portal open long, and they must pass through the screen in order to return to Earth.  But, Courtney won't leave without Cindy.  So, she goes with Dr. Mid-Nite to find her.  But, in the process, the two heroes get separated.  Courtney winds up at Yolanda's, where Eclipso tries to draw out her guilt about Yolanda becoming Wildcat, and killing Brainwave.  Courtney won't play the game, and then she runs off, only to wind up at the jail, where he again tries to guilt trip her when we see Rick in the cell...telling her "who's the monster now?", and laying the blame at her feet.  Again, she bolts, and then winds up back at her home.  Here, he tells her that everything is HIS fault...he created it all, and he's enjoying all the pain and misery, because it makes him stronger.  He asks Courtney if he hates her....she says he does.  Suddenly, everything around her vanishes.  She and Mid-Nite then find Cindy, about to be experimented on by her father, while seeing her younger self killing her mother.  Courtney frees her and says that nothing around her is real, and they have to go.  They have a way out.  Courtney makes her way out, and is reunited with her family, while Dr. Mid-Nite makes it through, and is back in the real world.  Finally, Cindy gets through, as the movie screen returns to normal.  She apologizes and says goodbye to her mother.  Everyone heads to the Shade, who is now weak, and says that he'd like everyone to remember that he left this world doing something heroic....and he vanishes in a black mist.  As they all reunite...Cindy finally speaks up....and asks who wants to kill Eclipso.

Once again, another solid episode, with some great drama, getting more backstory of the Shadowlands, and finally seeing the original Dr. Mid-Nite in the flesh.  We also discover what Cindy's been up to since HER disappearance----killing and re-killing her dad, her mother, and Courtney.  But the fact is---that young woman is haunted by the death of her mother---and has been ever since she started toying around with Eclipso.  But she WAS right---everyone has a dark side.  Mid-Nite gave into his when he decided to kill Bruce Gordon...and the guilt of not being there to save his daughter.  And Courtney---while she still carries some baggage about her biological dad....she finally admitted her hatred of Eclipso.  But, no matter what he tried, Courtney did not stray from the light, and stood her ground.  And I have to wonder about TWO things:  1.  Will the original Dr. Mid-Nite pass the torch to Beth?  And 2.  We saw Shades signature in TWO places on Jenny's makeshift map---does that mean he's still alive?  We've got two more episodes to see how it all plays out, and I'm real curious to see what happens.  And will the team reunite?  And does this mean Cindy will put aside rivalries for the sake of killing Eclipso?  We've got a lot to answer before it's said and done.

What did YOU all think of this week's episode?  Drop me a line with your thoughts/comments/theories.

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