STARGIRL 2.9

 

RECAP - STARGIRL  2.9:  "Summer School - Chapter Nine"  

I think it's safe to say that...for the Dugan family...the chickens have come home to roost.  This week, Eclipso finally gets to play his favorite game of nightmare and torture against our titular family of Blue Valley.  We saw Yolanda bow out as Wildcat in the wake of her PTSD, and her inability to work past killing Brainwave.  Rick thought he was getting justice for a girl that was supposedly killed by Grundy, only to find out he pounded his abusive uncle into hamburger, and he's on life support.  Beth had to face Eclipso head on, and deal with his mind games about being worthless and unworthy...only to have her fight back against him, and use the Dr. Mid-Nite goggles to discover she can see through his gimmicks.  But now....now it's Courtney's turn...it's time for the Dugan family to finally get a taste of some of that old Eclipso magic...

Now...before we get on with the Eclipso festivities, we gotta backtrack in time a little bit...and we see a castle somewhere.  And within that castle, is Bruce Gordon, who just arrived from the island with Eclipso in the black diamond.  Eclipso is taunting Bruce about how it was Bruce's idea to bring him back.  Bruce tries to fight him off, and says that he'll get rid of him, and it's his fault he lost his team.  Bruce plans on committing suicide, but Eclipso continues to manipulate him.  He says he can fix everything if he just let's him have control.  He taunts Bruce with a woman he loves, but is married to another.  Bruce can't seem to stave him off, and Eclipso consumes him and takes him over.  We move forward to current time, where Pat and Mike are preparing to have the family weather the current storm.  Courtney comes in, and says that they cancelled Rick's hearing due to the storm, and she's tired of trying to figure out what Eclipso's next move is.  She knows the storm won't end until Eclipso is stopped.  She goes to confer with Beth about what plan of action they can take, using the goggles and Cosmo in order to stop Eclipso once and for all.  She just wonders if they'll ever be ready ENOUGH in order to make Pat happy.  Pat then notices a flower on the counter, and he begins to daydream about the past.  In his dream, we see the funeral of Rebecca McNider---the poor gal that stole the doll at the party at the beginning of the year, whom little Brucie Gordon lured into doing...then killed her while calling her a thief.  Mrs. McNider is breaking down, blaming her husband, Charles, who is Dr. Mid-Nite, for not being there for their daughter.  They walk away as he tries to reason with her.  Meanwhile, Pat is with the JSA as Jay Garrick comes up to greet the team.  Pat wonders what the next move is, as Jay describes just who Eclipso is. He talks about Bruce Gordon's excursion, and what he brought back.  Members of the team tend to dismiss Pat's opinions or thoughts, because he isn't an official member of the team.  But they all agree they need to find a way to stop this new menace.

Barbara and her co-workers are sent home early to get out of the storm.  Her one co-worker orders her to be careful as she leaves. She knows the storm is getting worse as she continues to drive....but then things get worse as the rain just pours down, and the car just stalls...and she can't get it started. Her nightmare is just beginning...because she now has the car around her begin to get colder, and when she looks in the rearview mirror, she sees Icicle in the backseat.  She knows in her head and  heart that it's Eclipso's doing, but Icicle says it's all him, and he said that he was in love with her, and that he thought she shared his vision of reshaping the world.  But since he's dead, he's going to make her life miserable.  She continues to try and fight off the visions, but they are getting stronger, as Icicle freezes the car, taunting her, and trying to get her to break.  However, the Shade....with as much of him as can be....enters the car, and urges Barbara to fight through the vision, and start the car.  She manages to hear him, and then the vision vanishes---and it's just her in the car in the pouring rain.  She starts the car, and heads for home.

Mike's nightmare starts with him going upstairs to get the sleeping bags for the family to hunker down, and he overhears Courtney and Beth talking about what they could possibly do to take down Eclipso.  He then moves down the hallway, but the house seems to get colder.  He grabs a coat, and checks the thermostat, and it's at freezing temperature.  He then looks around the house for his dad, but can't find him.  He hears a knock at the door, and it's Cameron Mahkent, who says he's trying to escape the storm, and wanted to come in, and Mike let's him in.  He asks where Court and Pat are, and Mike says Court is upstairs, and he can't figure out where his dad went.  Cam asks about Barbara, and Mike says she's on her way home.  Cam knows, and says his dad is with her.  He then mocks and taunts Mike about how lucky he is to have his dad, while Cameron's father was killed by him.  Mike says it was an accident.  Cameron says that his dad is going to take care of Barbara, and then he starts freezing the air in Mike's lungs, choking him.  Saying he is going to kill Pat like Mike killed his dad...he only feels it's fair.  The family dog tries to attack Cam, but he kills her.  Mike is about to meet his end when he hears Courtney, who helps him with the assistance of Cosmo to break Eclipso's spell.  Mike says that Cam is there to kill them, and she can't see him.  She calms Mike down and let's him know he's okay.  She then asks where Pat is, and Mike doesn't know.  Courtney then heads towards the basement, but the door is locked, and she can't break in. 

Pat, who's lost in his memories with the JSA, flashes back yet again, as he talks to Sylvester about Eclipso, and Sylvester tells him to go back to the garage once The Shade shows up.  Sylvester leaves to talk to him, and when Pat goes to follow, he can't find them.  Back at the garage, he's working on the car when Sylvester shows up.  Sylvester tells Pat that The Shade informed him that Eclipso is a spiritual parasite...it will show you what you want to see, play on your fears, and consume you....and it's got Bruce Gordon.  Shade called Eclipso "real evil".  And Shade told him that the only way to stop it....is to kill the host.  Pat is dismayed at this, because he believes there's another way, and doesn't think the JSA needs to kill in order to stop this menace.  Not too long after, the team shows up, and they decide that the only way to stop Eclipso, is to kill Bruce Gordon.  Pat still thinks this is the wrong way, but Wildcat shuts him down, and says he doesn't have a say, and the team needs to put it to a vote.  Flash is out, and votes no, as does Dr. Mid-Nite.  Wildcat and Hourman both agree that they need to put Eclipso down once and for all.  Flash sticks up for Pat, and says that he gets a vote...and Pat obviously votes no.  That leaves Sylvester....who...after a pause...agrees that it must be done.  Pat refuses to help them out in this endeavor, as Flash also wanted no part of it.  We later see Pat sitting in the car as Starman goes to help put Eclipso down.  After a few minutes, Starman comes back...sullen.  He says it's done, and then orders Pat to drive, as he shows him the black box with the black diamond, and says they need to store the box away.  

Pat comes back to reality, and Bruce Gordon is in the basement, and says that Pat made a choice and damned his family.  He then starts to shoot at Pat, who ducks and hides to avoid gunfire.  Courtney manages to break in and save him, and Eclipso disappears.  Courtney's had enough of Pat's ducking of the truth, and wants the whole truth.  So, Pat retells the story about how the JSA really stopped Eclipso---by killing Bruce Gordon.  And when they did...it tore the team apart.  They ended up disbanding after that until the ISA came back.  And the only reason the ISA beat them, was because they didn't have it in them to fight...Eclipso had already beaten them.  Courtney is upset that Pat hid the truth from her.  She wonders what her mother would say when she finds out.  Pat admits to her that Barbara knows, and this just upsets Courtney even more.  She feels she can't trust her family, and as her mother arrives home, the entire family gets into an argument about what transpired----and the lack of transparency.  Outside....little Brucie Gordon...having his last laugh...having destroyed the family from within. 

This episode was dark, dramatic, and it gave us a HELLUVA lot of exposition leading up to what's going on.  We FINALLY get some reasoning as to what the hell happened to the JSA, and why they were easy pickings for the ISA.  It was AWESOME to see John Wesley Shipp back as the Jay Garrick Flash.  Now...not sure if this is the SAME Flash from Earth-Prime where our boy Barry Allen lives, but it was STILL an awesome sight to see---stoic as always, and brought a lot of brevity to the episode.  His Flash never wavered in the code of the JSA, and seemed to treat Pat with some dignity, and not some cheap sidekick, like Wildcat, Hourman, and even Starman did to some extent.  But Pat has also never wavered in his beliefs, and it's what makes him a good man, not just a great father.  But even HE makes mistakes.  And his refusal (and Barbara's...who'd preached "complete transparency" to the kids and Pat), in regards to what REALLY happened with how they stopped Eclipso the first time comes home to roost...as we can see the family dynamic falling apart before Brucie Gordon's eyes.  They were the last to fall, and it wasn't as individuals---Courtney never suffered the nightmares that Pat, Barbara, and Mike did....her nightmare has been losing Yolanda, Rick, and now her trust and belief in her parents...which is worse.  

I like that we got the background on Bruce Gordon, and how HE struggled with Eclipso before giving in.  If anyone had noticed among the things they showed at the opening of the show that were on his desk, was a book called MY GREATEST ADVENTURE.  That is an easter egg nice put in there by Geoff Johns, to pay homage to the past of DC.  My Greatest Adventure was a comic published by DC that ran 85 issues from January 1955 - February 1964.  The comic is most known for being the first appearance of The Doom Patrol.  Overall, the episode was solid, as this series continues to be the best superhero show on TV.  They've built the drama and danger in this season nicely.  We're reaching close to the end with this season, so now that we're at this low point for the new JSA, it will be VERY interesting to see how they bounce back.  I'm engaged, and everyone is just killing it with their performances.  

What did YOU all think of this episode?  Did you enjoy Jay Garrick's brief foray into Stargirl's world?  Subscribe and give me the skinny from YOUR perspective.  

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