A lack of trust tosses the JSA into tumult on a crowded Stargirl
Secrets and lies have set Courtney up for a deep, dark fall in season two.
TV Reviews Stargirl
It’s one of the reasons Stargirl has soared while other Arrowverse shows have stuttered: Heroes tell each other the truth, no matter how painful it might be. Open honesty from starring characters means that superhero series have to mine drama from other sources, and Stargirl has proven that this makes pretty compelling television. (See also: Superman & Lois.)
In season one, Barbara Whitmore was denied the truth about her daughter Courtney’s ascent to superherodom by her husband, Pat. Naturally that truth nearly destroyed their family, but when the Injustice Society came bearing down on them and threatened to take away everything they ever held dear, that truth ultimately made them stronger. And they promised never to keep secrets from each other ever again! What a family.
Only that hasn’t continued to be the case, as we discovered during the final moments of last week’s stirring episode. Pat Dugan, formerly Stripesy of the JSA, has been keeping a whopper of a secret hidden underneath the hood of his cherry 1956 Buick Roadmaster: Courtney’s legendary heroes—Wildcat, Hourman, The Flash, and Starman—were complicit in the murder of the last possessed vessel for Eclipso, Bruce Gordon. (Killing Eclipso’s human host, it seems, is one of the only ways to defeat the villain.) Pat kept this secret from Courtney and, as we found out this week, so did Barbara.
It’s not just a secret that changes the way Courtney looks at Pat—it does, which isn’t great for the chemistry between the two best characters on the show—it changes the way she looks at the storied legacy of the Justice Society Of America.
With Beth continuing her search for the lost Dr. McNider (and putting her wishy-washy parents on notice: “Why don’t you figure out your own lives? Let me know when you do!”) and Rick cooling his heels in jail after a cruel, brutal ruse courtesy of Eclipso, Courtney’s shaken trust in Pat has all but put the kibosh on this neo-JSA. This week, wracked with feelings of betrayal and guilt (respectively), Courtney and Pat take an awkward road trip to Civic City, the location of the original JSA’s headquarters and the location of Pat’s sleek superhero garage hangout. (On the radio? Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry”.)
This is where the JSA’s fateful decision to whack Gordon took place; it’s also where Pat and his own personal hero, Starman, got a chance to clear the air soon afterwards. (Joel McHale, it should be noted, is surprisingly deft at handling the heavy melodrama of this show.) Starman calls what the JSA did to Bruce Gordon murder—which is good, because it is—and they toast a brewski (“to chosen families”), attempting to move on as a team even though we find out later that the Justice Society would never be the same again. Looks like history is repeating itself.
Pat and Courtney’s sojourn to Civic City is prompted by the return of Jonathan Cake’s utterly delightful heavy, The Shade, who falls right in the middle of the great Whitmore-Dugan dustup burdened with serious injuries (delivered by Eclipso, we’re led to believe) and crucial information about Eclipso’s few weaknesses: turns out the shattered black diamond, which broke into pieces when the blue-raspberried villain made his lethal debut in episode six, can be fused back together and used to ensnare him all over again. All it will take is an intense use of light energy—and since Cosmo, Court’s burnt-out cosmic staff, isn’t up to the task, the Green Lantern ring that belongs to Jennie-Lynn Scott (Ysa Penarejo) becomes the JSA’s only hope.
The Civic City visit also takes us to the Helix Institute For Youth Rehabilitation, which is not only where Jennie’s brother Todd should be, it opens up a big ol’ can of worms as far as deep DC lore goes (see Stray Observations). It’s at Helix where Pat and Courtney find Jennie, who’s had a hell of a time keeping her green-flamed fury at bay during her futile search for her brother (she burns down her former orphanage home offscreen), and after a bit of forgiveness and understanding on the part of Pat and Courtney (funny, that), Jennie puts her Green Lantern ring to work. Things would be going to plan, if not for the cunning of The Shade.
Naturally, The Shade is lying to get what he wants. And it’s strange that amid their own family row brought about by mistrust Courtney and Barbara are willing to give The Shade—of all people—the benefit of the doubt. (Pat’s not so trusting, and neither is Mikey; he leaves the family’s English bulldog, Buddy, on watch.) It’s here where an overstuffed episode rides the line between info-dumping and solid character work: as The Shade convalesces on the Whitmore’s couch, Beth’s tinkering has strengthened her connection with Dr. Charles McNider, trapped in what he calls “the shadowlands.”
Chuck gives Beth the skinny on The Shade’s dubious origins as a charlatan centuries in the making, and barely 15 feet away the sly devil awakens in a fevered state and makes like Barbara is his long lost sister, Emily. (Cake’s performance during this scene, however, especially in the delivery of the line “I lied… and cheated my way to oblivion,” is terrific.) So Courtney and Pat, standing precisely where the JSA truly lost its way, discover that they’ve been rooked; when Jennie fuses the black diamond together, it’s not hope that they feel—it’s betrayal. And fear.
The second season of Stargirl has been a particularly dark outing, rife with deceit and death and long stretches of quiet where Courtney Whitmore and her Justice Society have had ample time to truly weigh the gravity of despair. Eclipso has been loosed upon Blue Valley, and first on the ancient demon’s docket is dismantling Courtney’s new JSA into tiny, trembling pieces. His plan has been working like a charm, largely because the fissures that have long existed in the lives of the JSA are finally ready for total collapse. All Eclipso had to do was push. This week he did just that; now Courtney is lost to the Shadowlands.
Stray observations
- Hello! Caroline Siede has trusted me with Stargirl once again. I’m back, with even more useless comic book trivia than before! Let’s get to it.
- “You’re my brother,” Starman tells Stripesy, which likely means that Sylvester doesn’t have any children or spouses hanging around in the series’ periphery.
- “Hop Harrigan,” as anachronistic a name as has ever been uttered on Stargirl, is a deep, deep DC cut. Hop was a biplane pilot and first appeared in 1939’s All-American Comics #1. And from all accounts, Hop wasn’t marauding around, snatching young boys’ wristwatches.
- Mikey calls The Shade “Benedict Cumberbatch,” when The Shade is clearly more of a Ralph Fiennes. Maybe it’s a generational thing.
- Beth’s POV shot of her parents, seen through her refurbished Mid-Nite goggles, showed them looking askance instead of directly at their daughter.
- Solomon Grundy might have been born on a Monday, but he knows how to return a favor when it’s appropriate: he tosses Rick some apples while he awaits his fate in the Blue Valley jail. Aw.
- Civic City, the comics-accurate location of the JSA’s headquarters, is actually located in Pennsylvania. Did… Pat… drive from Nebraska to Pennsylvania?
- I like how Courtney’s kitchen is still burnt up after her scrape with Jessie earlier this season. Fam’s been too busy to retile, folks.
- Among the framed headlines in Stripesy’s garage: “Green Arrow And Speedy Stop The Spider”; “The Vigilante Retires!”; “The Shining Knight Defeats Deathbolt”; “The Star-Spangled Kid Has Grown Up—Enter Starman!”; “Where Are The Seven Soldiers Of Victory?”.
- Mikey, working on S.T.R.I.P.E.: “I thought robots would be more like Legos; I guess not.” Later, he puts on the robot’s radio and hears a report about pink lightning. Quite the coincidence, that.
- Todd Rice is indeed Jennie’s brother (her twin brother!), known in the comics as the hero Obsidian. Todd made his debut in All-Star Squadron #25 in 1983, the same debut year as *cough* me.
- This also isn’t Todd’s first Arrowverse rodeo (Arrodeo?): Lance Henriksen portrayed the hero in the second season of Legends Of Tomorrow.
- So what’s up with the Helix Institute for Youth Rehabilitation? Well, we know it’s run by one Mr. Bones, who—if Stargirl maintains its dedication for comics detail—will have an actual skull head and may also inevitably end up leading the sinister supervillain team, Helix, which are the notorious adversaries of the superheroic Infinity, Inc. Included in Infinity’s comic book ranks: Jennie, Todd—and Stripesy.
- Dunno if they used the wrong wide shot of that scene with Jennie at the Helix institute, but Luke Wilson was looking rather fidgety: he scratched his arm, put his hands behind his back, then shoved them in his pockets. I don’t know why I zero in on these kind of things, but I do.
- Jennie: “Are there ghosts?” Courtney: “There is, in fact, a Gentleman Ghost.” And there is! James Craddock, aka Gentleman Ghost, first appeared in 1947’s Flash Comics #88. He has a top hat and a floating monocle (his body is invisible but you can make out his phosphorescent tuxedo), and he’s kinda cool.
- So what do you think, group? What awaits Courtney in the Shadowlands? Will we finally meet the original Dr. Mid-Nite (possibly in his season one Henry Thomas form)? Will it be as much a cursed-Pleasantville kinda deal like it looks in the promos? And who asked Thunderbolt for that gingerbread house? Speculate away in the comments below.
68 Comments
That was a nice bit at the start of the episode with Pat and Sylvester. Nice to see that Sylvester didn’t always treat Pat terribly.I can’t say I blame everyone for trusting The Sahde seeing as he’s been pretty up front about what he’s been after until now. I don’t know why he didn’t disclose about what would happen to with the Diamond. Also I’m pretty sure the Shade’s wound was from his fight with Eclipso.Nice of Grundy to bring Rick apples. I wonder if he’ll break Rick out by accident.
Not sure how Grundy is able to just walk up to the police station without being seen, unless that cell directly abuts the forest. Didn’t look like it in the establishing shot.
He has a good pitching arm and impeccable aim.
Grundy doesn’t need to get that close to the prison, he can probably toss those apples from a mile away. I’m just glad he has such good aim.
He found a giant Cardboard box and Solid Snaked his way over there.
The Shade was as honest as Obi-wan Kenobi was. “From a certain point of view” putting the black diamond back together re-traps Eclipso, just by way of restoring The Shade’s powers.
Interesting side note: apparently the Blue Valley jail budget doesn’t extend to actual windows in the cells. Bet that makes winters uncomfortable.
Yep, the shade seems to be the type who is set up as the classic guy who really has his own agenda always and will never be a “good” guy or truly “bad”. He is the Sawyer from ”Lost” type.
Pat’s car has a rocket engine, so he probably did drive all the way. What confused me was that he had a car to drive while Mike still had the robot at home to repair. Weren’t the car and the robot one and the same?
Nope, the Car is not a Transformer.
Heart. Broken. :’’(
The Milwaukee map in Todd’s room makes me think the Civic City is in Wisconsin. Who’s been feeding Hooty?
Dr. Mid-Night has been recast.
The Shade falling through the ruined kitchen ceiling during an argument is actually one of his better entrances.
How much mechanical aptitude does Mike actually have?
When’s Shining Knight returning with The Seven Soldiers Of Victory?
So Stargirl’s season 3 baddies will be Helix, Johnny Sorrow, & Gentleman Ghost?
I’m pretty sure Season 1 implied that Civic City was on the West Coast, but it’s been a while since I watched those episodes.
– This interaction between Sylvester and Pat is very different from all of their other ones.
– Chosen family. That obviously has to do with Pat and Courtney, but doesn’t also have to do with Pat and Mike? I’ve seen a lot of speculation that Pat adopted Mike.
– I’m liking how much more confidant Beth is. I was hoping that she’d throw her parents actions back in their faces, and she did.
– “It’s okay, Cosmo. We need Jennie and the ring, but I still like you better.”
– 50’s song.
– Yolanda reference coming from Courtney. I hope that Courntey manages to tell Yolanda about this.
– This, “They shouldn’t have killed someone,” is starting to feel a little high and mighty to me.
– Rick’s cell has a window open to the elements?
– When Pat said, “There’s only one place I’d go,” I immediately thought the YMCA.
– Now, did Emily have any children? Is she Barbara’s ancestor?
– For having been empty for a decade, that place is surprisingly dust free. Maybe Jennie dusted. She does give off that vibe.
– Why was Jennie staying down in the garage?
– I’m guessing that the Helix Institute was experimenting on Todd.
– Does anybody know who Louise Love is? I know who Mister Bones is, but not her.
– Mike’s hat has a picture of Buddy.
– WELL THAT WAS A LEFT TURN!
– Mister Bones and the Helix Institute seems like a set-up for next season.
Ma Hunkel is probably cleaning the place
I was fully expecting Pat to at least name-drop Ma Hunkel! Sad that he didn’t, that fully seemed like something Geoff Johns would do.
I feel like if Emily had children, Shade would have kept track of them and their descendants.I wish Courtney would realize her high and mighty stance against killing is what helped drive Yolanda away.
He probably did at first, but after seven or eight generations it’s easy to lose them.
Shouldn’t be that many. The Shade appears to be late Victorian, 1880s or 90s. Three of my grandparents were born in the 1890s and one in 1905. I’m not old enough to be Amy Smart’s mother, but my oldest siblings are, so let’s put her in the next generation from me. That’s four, not too tricky to keep an eye on. I don’t imagine him hanging around much, just dropping some money or jewels from the shadows to keep them taken care of.
Dr. Love was the scientist behind Helix in the comics.
Louise Love is named for Dr. Love, the scientist whose experiments led to the birth of the children who would become Helix and who raised them.
Shade’s soft spot for Barbara seems sincere, and it would suggest that the story about his sister is genuine as well, but who knows?
I’m sure it is. But the man is also pretty self serving it seems outside of wanting Eclipso dealt with.
It’s getting a little icky the way the bad guys keep fixating on Barbara to have their vulnerable moments with. She needs more to do on this show.
Mr. Bones appears to have a skull head. All his soft tissue is invisible, so he appears to be a skeleton if naked. He also has a cyanide touch. A reformed Mr. Bones eventually went on to lead the DEO in the comics and I was always hoping for an appearance in Supergirl because of that.
Meanwhile…Mr. Bones is also the name of a minstrel show character, so, odd decision to remind us of the name.
In the comics, the character was eventually revealed ton be black and Helix were some odd kids.
As was I, we’re finally getting him…On a different show.
The swerve with the Shade was nice. It’s good that they’re not making him a full-blown mysterious good guy. So at some point Shade’s powers got linked to the actual Black Diamond.Curious if they’d show McNider again. We already saw his face last episode, why not just show it again when he’s talking to Beth?The credits lists Kristen Lee as Sonia Sato, aka the second Judomaster who was part of the late-generation JSA. But I’m not sure which one she’s supposed to be in the episode. I think it’s the girl who touched the gumdrops and said “gumdrops?”, but that seemed like such a random bystander role to put an actual character name to.
When Eclipso went up against Shade in the cafeteria, he mentioned that Shade’s power came from his realm.
Yeah, they reiterated that when Chuck showed(?) Beth Shade’s origins, but they didn’t reveal that his powers is linked to the real Diamond that Eclipso was trapped in until the twist.
Mr. Bones better have his damn skull head. Pat left his workshop behind, as well as all those perfectly usable tools. What a shame.Just to note, the dog’s offical name is Max. Buddy is Mike’s nickname for him.
He had a sticker of him on the back of his helmet!!! <3
The shot of Courtney taking in Pat’s workshop at the JSA felt like it was supposed to be this grand majestic thing with the spinning camera move and swelling music, but all that was totally undercut by how absolutely boring the actual space was. Bare concrete walls are not inspiring…unless you’re really into Brutalism I guess.I don’t know, the entire “oooh, the JSA *killed* a man” feels very Identity Crisis to me, and I don’t mean that in a good way. The the Gold/Silver Age heroes be what they were on the page, you don’t need to gritty them up (though if you want to Gritty them up by adding in Flyers mascot and agent of chaos Gritty, by all means go right ahead). Then again, this is a Geoff Johns joint so what else should you expect?
the PROBLEM is that the JSA are “dead” and so the reveal rings hollow- imagine them being confronted by the kid cohort of today about what they’d done. Flash insisting that he warned them against doing what they did.I totally agree re: the grand reveal. I was hoping we’d get a new shot of the meeting room as well but alas, just the garage.
and the one member who is still (sort of) alive, when confronted by a kid, already said that he did not take part in the killing and never would have.
But are we sure they are all dead? After all, we were led to believe that Starman was dead.
Agree that IC had some terrible stuff. However, James Robinson did a similar concept to the current story in Starman that was better.
Those apples had better not be bruised, Grundy. LOL
As always, more Grundy is better. Shade is really fantastic, and the portrayal is delightful. He’s a better mix of villain and compelling than anyone from last season, and last season’s villains had that mix too.
Too bad they weren’t able to pull of a Supergirl/Stargirl crossover. Kara and Courtney are such rays of sunshine (as are Melissa Benoist & Brec Bassinger) that I wish they could meet. Plus Supergirl could bring the Totem of Hope which the JSA really needs at this point. Oh, nevermind.
That would have been great. I would also love a Stargirl-Legends of Tomorrow crossover, with Sara & Ava stepping in as new surrogate parents for the team kids
I think Cindy would be a great addition to the Legends team.
Cindy would definitely fit the Legends brand, misfits who are either semi-reformed villains or 2nd tier heroes
Looking forward to best frenemies Courtney and Cindy teaming up in the shadowlands (and maybe rescuing Dr McNider? Or maybe he will sacrifice himself for them). So the Shade was playing them! That charming rogue! We really should listen to PatWill be interesting to see how Mike handles knowing that Jaquim is now the new Johnny Thunder
I wonder how antagonistic Cindy is gonna be towards Courtney because I love how she’s played as a jerk with a (very tiny) heart of gold. Plus, I just think Meg DeLacy is a wonderful performer.The Shade swerve was delicious; so much…well…shade.
The last time Cindy saw Courtney she begged for her help & Courtney tried to pull her out of the shadow pit, so I feel like the potential is there for them to put their differences aside for now I love all of Cindy’s scenes, she is such a great antagonist but very sympathetic too (she was an abused child)
Definitely. Her sad reaction when Eclipso killed her mom is so chilling.
It’s probably not the emotion they were intending, but I got so happy when Courtney was getting sucked into the black hole because it meant she would meet back up with Cindy.
Me too. Courtney and Cindy teaming up and bickering but gradually becoming friends is about 90% of what I want from this show
Courtney wants to play the super hero but doesn’t want to get her hands dirty, see how the sausage truly gets made.
This was the first episode where Beth didn’t annoy me. It’s not the actor’s fault, the character is just written in such a one-dimensional way that it was hard to find much depth to her. With her putting her parents in their places and confidently going to protect Cort’s family, she finally got some much needed agency. It was refreshing when she cracked the diamond thing, albeit a moment too late.Hope to see more of competent Beth (albeit still with issues) and less of useless Beth (with nothing but issues).
I certainly didn’t dislike Beth’s character, but I was very pleased with her in this episode. (And as someone who’s read every JSA story in the original All-Star Comics, they had me at “Civic City.”)
“…Stargirl has soared while other Arrowverse shows have stuttered.”I can’t agree more. Every episode has been a winner this season.
The costuming of the Helix Institute staff, especially Nurse Love, was delightfully anachronistic, in the vintage of old-timey orphanage. I loved how Courtney and Pat didn’t even seem to notice.The Shade also gives off strong Penny Dreadful/Malcolm Murray vibes. Is it too much to ask for The Shade to yell about “CHICANERY!” before his time on the series is done. Just once?
I was laughing at how a nurse with black leather gloves was not somehow a major tipoff to Courtney and Pat that something nefarious was going on. That costume was great.
Kinda expect Rick & possibly Yolanda to both get transfered to Helix – maybe with some conniving from the institute itself. Rick as an alternative to juvy; Yo just cause she needs counseling. Heck, I could see them pulling in Cindy. With that I appreciate the show laying in groundwork for season 3 and beyond. I bet Joel McHale and Luke Wilson didn’t expect to have to do such heavy lifting (emotionally speaking) when they signed up for this, they’re both really great though. I’m in Luke’s age range so I really wince when he gets thrown around the room. Gonna need some Voltaren there bud.
In the comics, Yolanda was actually created with the other Helix kids. That does not appear to be the case in this series, but I could see her joining them
All I could think when Rick picked up the apple and started eating it was “EWW THAT WAS JUST ON THE FLOOR OF YOUR DIRTY ASS JAIL CELL, AT LEAST WASH IT OFF FIRST”
Oh Shade, you debonair bastard! I love that they’ve established Shade looks after himself first, but his recent actions have done a good job of suggesting otherwise, so for him to lie about the diamond, power up then vanish with “I’m sorry I deceived you, Barbara” was a perfect self-serving conman moment. I also love that this episode once again went places I didn’t expect: first The Shade’s diabolical fib, then Eclipso popping up and sending Courtney to the shadow realm. I also appreciated the drop-ins on Rick and Thunderbolt (sort of). But where oh where is Starman???
Man – this show is just so damn good. And unexpectedly so at that. I can’t think of another show that has surprised me as much as this one has.Also Jonathan Cake needs to be Shade in like everything. He’s as good in the role as Matt Ryan has been as Constantine.
“Included in Infinity’s comic book ranks: Jennie, Todd—and Stripesy.”Also Rick, Yolanda, and Beth, all of whom debuted as a second wave of Infinity Inc members during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. Not so much Stripesy, since his partnership with Sylvester had deteriorated in recent years.)Brainwave Jr also appeared as a member of Infinity, Inc, dating Jade for quite a while. Icicle, Artemis and Shade were all part of an iteration of the Injustice Society in that issue. Grundy played a role in Infinity Inc several times, as an enemy/ally of Jade. Mr. Bones was, of course, an enemy turned ally of the team, introduced alongside the rest of Helix. (I swear if they bring in most or all of Helix… BABY BOOM. and KRITTER. PLEEEEEASE.)At this rate, the only prominent Infinity Inc members we haven’t seen are Power Girl (a part time member), Huntress (ditto),Northwind (god-son of the Hawks), Fury (originally Wonder Woman’s daughter, later tied to the retconned-in Golden Age Fury and to Miss America) and Silver Scarab (son of the Hawks). And Nuklon/Atom-Smasher, god-son of the Atom. I figure that without establishing the Big Three, it would be too hard to bring in PG and Huntress, but there’s no reason not to introduce Northwind, Fury, Scarab and Nuklon down the road. The Hawks have already been name-dropped, and there’s certainly wiggle room for either Fury or -some- Amazon to have been heroing during the right period of time. This show really owes SO MUCH to Infinity, Inc–more than just the original Stargirl series or the JSA, which isn’t surprising given the influence of Geoff Johns and James Robinson.
All the bad boys are Chasing Amy.Did the Staff get pulled into the shadow realm with Courtney, or is it still on our side of realms?So I am going to read a lot into this episode: Was the announcement that McHale will be a regular in season 3 a red herring? Will we see him return and utilize the Staff to rescue Courtney (& Cindy, and perhaps OG Midnite), and sacrifice himself to defeat Eclipso to atone for the original murder?Actually I think it will be Shade who stops Eclipso, stepping up as the sacrifice he was originally meant to be, as described by McNider in his origin. Though I would prefer if he stayed on as a recurring character, occasionally popping up as a kind of Deus Exposition Machina with dubious information that may or may not be true.I view Rick’s scene as more of him recognizing that he may be a good guy after all with his apparent rehabilitation of Grundy. With Thunderbolt and GL discovered, I could see him returning to the team (and Beth dragging Yolanda back) to rescue Courtney (and Cindy, and OG Midnite).I believe a commenter last week mentioned that Courtney may have somehow been powering the Staff. Perhaps her original thought about her origin was correct, except her real father isn’t Starman, but some other powered bad boy who once Chased Amy? Another secret to be revealed?
I thought it was a little weird that we seemingly just got Supergirl back from the Phantom Zone, and now we’ve got Stargirl trapped in more or less the same situation. I’ve read too many comics to complain much about a recycled predicament, but still…
Nice touch: when Beth wears the goggles and looks around a room of her house, one of the messages reads that the handle on a cabinet is loose.
DECADES AGO(Luke Wilson looks exactly the same)Actually, this checks out.
HOW OLD IS PAT???He taught Starman how to drive.
I just re-read Infinity Inc not too long ago. It’s a Very Eighties Comic Book Series, but I am now desperately hoping for some screen time for the chain-smoking, corny-rhyming Mr. Bones. I don’t particularly care to see the rest of Helix, but Bones was by far the best.