Things get trippy in a Wildcat-centered episode of Stargirl
After a seismic defeat, Stargirl dives headlong into surreal mind-benders and twisted torments
TV Reviews Wildcat
Eclipso isn’t your garden-variety supervillain. He doesn’t lust for riches or power, he doesn’t aspire to world domination. Eclipso is hatred, vengeance, evil, once calcified into a glittering gem, now loosed upon Blue Valley to wreak all kinds of havoc. Eclipso is elemental, a demon, exactly the kind of supernatural nemesis this neophyte Justice Society has never faced before. Naturally, he’s the perfect foil for someone as perpetually upbeat as Courtney Whitmore, and even more so pitted against someone as spiritual and steadfast as Yolanda Montez, who, up until the events of “Summer School: Chapter Seven,” was the taloned Wildcat, a formidable fighter and a founding member of JSA 2.0.
After last week’s seismic plot twist, where Cindy Burman’s Stargirl Revenge Squad was laid low by Eclipso’s betrayal and subsequent rebirth, Courtney’s Justice Society has been shaken to its core. Death may be no stranger to Courtney, or her stepfather Pat, or even her increasingly not-so-little step brother Mikey, who once smashed last season’s primary baddie, The Icicle, into a million shards with a truck and a smile. (“It was an accident,” he told his family before the credits ran this week. Sure, Mikey.) Juggling grief in the face of adversity is just part of that superhero life; Pat Dugan, formerly the JSA sidekick Stripsey, has imparted this wisdom onto Courtney, who often puts her best face forward as Stargirl. But what about Beth, the neo-Dr. Mid-Nite, or Rick, aka Hourman II—or, most crucially this week, Yolanda, Ted Grant’s successor to the Wildcat mantle? How does someone completely new to the superhero game endure the inevitable tragedies that come with it?
“Chapter Seven” is a stress test for Yolanda, more than the rest of the JSA or even Courtney, who has taken her first substantial defeat at the hands of Eclipso and turned it into an opportunity to indulge in a bit of civilian me-time instead of tackling her superhero duties. (It’s okay; her cosmic staff has been temporarily shorted out.) Courtney decorates the main drag of Blue Valley with her would-be beau, Cameron (son of the now-departed Icicle) for the upcoming Fourth of July celebration, even as her Nebraskan burg undergoes unseasonably cold weather. The leaves have left the trees just as July is kicking into gear—surely this is the work of Eclipso? Probably, but Courtney’s got a Cameron-shaped hole in her heart. For now, Eclipso will keep. (Only he doesn’t, but more on that in a moment.)
It’s striking how “Chapter Seven,” directed by Sheelin Choksey and written by Robbie Hyne, brazenly pits itself against the dreary Arrowverse formula and largely comes out on top. Stargirl is notable in how it often breaks from that CW/DC formula in subtle ways (chief amongst them: how characters learn not to lie to each other, and then keep at it), steering away from filler episodes and keeping its central melodramas laser-focused on reaching a thrilling and satisfying climax. This week, populated by surreal mind-benders and twisted torments, Stargirl steps up to standard Arrowverse fare and subverts it: this is that episode in the middle of a season, that big exhale where the central cast recovers after some major calamity is wrought by some big bad before the season picks up steam once more and barrels towards its finale. “Chapter Seven” even sports the Arrowverse’s memetic hallway pep talk scene, where Courtney attempts to talk Yolanda down after a severe fright, but then the episode swerves away from formula in the scene’s final moments and sends Yolanda careening towards tragedy.
It’s Yolanda’s guilt over Brainwave’s violent death last season that makes her a perfect target for Eclipso, who’s morphed back into the cherubic form of young Bruce, the little boy who likely murdered the original Dr. Mid-Nite’s daughter years and years ago. Without realizing it, Yolanda is made witness to Eclipso’s latest exercise in demented play: he infiltrates Yolanda’s diner job and silently corrupts a fellow waitress into pouring hot coffee on an abusive customer. Then comes the deeply unsettling twist: he receives a sucker from Yolanda for his troubles. (The flavor? Blue raspberry.) Eclipso’s grip over Blue Valley has only grown over the course of this season, and now it appears his hold over Yolanda has become absolute. Penitence seems to be Eclipso’s preferred appetizer before he finally moves in for the main course.
That demented diner sequence isn’t near the end of Yolanda’s troubles. After admitting her guilt over Brainwave’s death (she calls it murder) to the JSA, Yolanda discovers that her fellow junior superheroes might not have it in them to put the kibosh on Eclipso when the time comes. It’s here where things take an even darker turn, somehow: Yolanda tries on a martyr complex for size and ditches her teammates, set in the belief that killing Eclipso is her sole responsibility, another burden that she will bear for the rest of her days. Once Eclipso’s Brainwave gambit takes demonic form in the episode’s disturbing church finale, Yolanda has given up—on Courtney, on her team, on her future as Wildcat. “I quit,” says the person who outright refused to give up her mantle just a few episodes ago. Eclipso doesn’t simply shatter her confidence, he dismantles her very sense of self.
It’s all there in Yolanda’s hallucination, which at its most pitched bleeds into Courtney’s mind and brings both heroes to their knees. (Could Courtney’s concern for her friends be manipulated by Eclipso the same way Yolanda’s guilt was? It’s possible.) What makes the conclusion to “Chapter Seven” even more diabolical is how it places enough doubt in our own minds as to whether or not it’s actually Eclipso’s fault that the JSA has, for now, lost its bravest fighter. Christopher James Baker, who played Brainwave in season one, makes a cameo appearance here, as does Brainwave Jr. (Jake Austin Walker). Is this an elaborate ruse by the braintrust behind Stargirl to make the audience doubt their own instincts? It’s starting to work on me. (“You’ve been drowning your own self-loathing,” Brainwave tells Yolanda, which he says has given him strength as he’s hidden inside her mind. Sounds like some Eclipso subterfuge to me.)
With Yolanda out of the picture for the moment, Eclipso has moved on to his next target: Beth Chapel, arguably the most good-natured of the JSA (it’s stiff competition, I know), who is presently grappling with the imminent divorce of her neglectful parents and has been searching for the artificial intelligence of the original Dr. Mid-Nite, one of her dearest friends. Outside Beth’s home stands Bruce, enjoying the last of Yolanda’s blue raspberry sucker with an evil look about him. It’s time for a new victim. The devil is real, and he’s in Blue Valley.
Stray observations
- Hello! As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now I am not, in fact, Caroline Siede. Caroline trusted the Stargirl beat to me this week, and I hope I did right by her/you.
- Can we take a moment and heap some praise on Yvette Monreal, who plays Yolanda/Wildcat, and has been absolutely terrific these past two seasons? “Summer School: Chapter Seven” was an especially challenging episode for her character, and Yvette met it head-on. (The way she loses her breath when she admits her crime to the JSA: “I used my claw—,” she begins, then stops.)
- Of course, the one Stargirl episode I recap doesn’t feature Jonathan Cake’s terrific Richard Swift, a.k.a. The Shade. I could see Swift settling in Stargirl as the series’ own resident Harrison Wells, I really could.
- Pat and Mikey notice the severed S.T.R.I.P.E. hand is rocking devil horns. “Did you do that, or did they?” Wild moment, so good.
- Speaking of Pat, and to pay tribute to Caroline, this week’s Luke Wilson Scene I Could Watch For An Hour: Pat helping Mike piece together the stripped and otherwise busted S.T.R.I.P.E. armor suit. “Wax on, wax off,” he tried to impart on Gen-Z Mikey, who breezed right by his Karate Kid reference as though it never happened.
- Interesting wrinkle this week: Mike feels called to the shards of the Eclipso gem. It’s felt like the show has been setting him up for a villainous turn, so now that Eclipso’s on the loose and Thunderbolt is in the wind, is this back on the docket? “Cool,” he says, playing with the gem. No, not cool, Mike.
- Mrs. Montez tells Courtney to stop calling Yolanda at the end of the episode, and she uses the word “corrupted” in her demands. Has Eclipso eclipsed Yolanda’s mother, as well?
- So what do you think? Is Eclipso solely responsible for Yolanda’s fall from grace, or is Brainwave set up for a comeback? Has Rick been keeping up with Solomon Grundy’s feeding schedule? Is Sylvester still waiting on a coffee refill from Alicia Witt? Sound off in the comments below.
47 Comments
Admittedly, “telepathic character transplants their mind when they die” is hardly a new thing. And Brainwave certainly had AMPLE time to pull that off.Could go either way, really.
I think Brainwave and Icicle will both be back. They were too good in season 1. Ice just needs to reconstitute his blown-apart melted shards – easy, right? – (seriously though, it would be fun if he came back all grotted up with road-salt and sewage). I’m on board with Brainwave pulling a “Spock” and planting himself in Yolanda’s brain, it feels like a set-up for season 3, and Eclipso, if involved, only had to pick at that particular scab. Don’t know how he would take physical form… though after Jordan in Superman & Lois, I’m not real keen on another possessed teenager. Still, if that’s the road Stargirl must go down, then hopefully it’ll translate. They’re operating at a pretty high level so far.
Wildcat wants to dethrone Daredevil in the Catholic guilt department. Unlike Artemis, Yolanda may be better off not being raised by her birth parents. She should move in with her cousin, Carcharo! https://comicvine.gamespot.com/carcharo/4005-51648/
Can Cameron unlock his Icicle powers & hook up with Artemis already?
– Yolanda is expressing what she’s experienced through her religion. Her own worldview.
– Wonder who is looking for Isaac.
– That guy is sitting in Yolanda’s section again? I feel that he likes to harass her. The waitress should have poured the coffee on his head.
– Metal. *Guitar Noises*
– Courtney has some moves.
– Yolanda looked so pained that when she needed Courtney, she was with Cameron.
– Wow, stabbed in the back by the priest, and her mom is still a…
– The show makes a “Wax on, wax off” joke as I age into dust.
– Has Eclipso rubbed off on the Diamond, or did it always cause that sort of reaction?
– Wow, this series just has so much more emotional depth than the other Arrowverse shows.
– Yolanda couldn’t stop “Brainwave” to save herself, but when he threatened Courtney, she couldn’t stand-by.
– This episode has cemented in my mind that the most important person in Yolanda’s life is Courtney, and I don’t think that she’ll give up on Yolanda.
I think you’re right on Yolanda and Courtney’s relationship. Courtney pulled her from the brink once; it’s gonna be up to her to do it again.
The sad truth is that much of Yolanda’s problems wouldn’t be as bad if her own freaking parents would just be supportive and not act incapable of forgiveness or love. Like NOW they claim to be looking out for her interests because she got a friend in Courtney? I swear Eclipso doesn’t even have to try to make Yolanda’s mom act on her worst instincts.
Yolanda’a mom: Yo-mom-da.
Yolanda’s parents are shit. Full stop.
They’re awful. I’m sure that the priest thought he was being helpful, but reaching out to Yolanda’s mother without talking to her about it first was not a good idea.
To be fair, he thought that Yolanda might be about to hurt someone because of a mental illness. Can’t blame him for thinking that he had to act as quickly as possible.
I did like how the priest shut down her mum’s poisonous attitude straight away. Please don’t kill or corrupt him, show!
Man this episode was one giant breakdown for Yolanda. Ending the episode with her broken and back under her shitty families control.I don’t know if Eclipso or Brainwave (or her guilt) is behind Yolanda’s breakdown, it could go either way.
If they were to keep one of the Brainwaves alive, Junior is the better choice IMO.
We know from last season that in some sense Brainwave absorbed Henry when he killed him, and given that they make a point of always showing both of them, I do wonder if it’s possible that Henry’s mind is also inside Yolanda and might help her boot him out.
Henry Jr is the more narratively interesting choice, certainly. On the other hand, Henry Sr is a much better character, and a more compelling actor, so…
I’m not sure where there is left to go with Henry Sr. after last season.
– This was such a damn good episode, but throughout the entire episode I was practically chanting “PLEASE somebody get this poor girl to Sara Lance ASAP.”- I don’t think Eclipso manipulated as much as you think. Like Yolanda said, she’s been having the headaches even before all this started. Brainwave likely IS inside her mind in some way, though Eclipso might be enhancing his power. – The shot of Stargirl also being affected was an illusion. When Courtney calms Yolanda down with the staff, she is in her civilian outfit, not her hero costume. – Do they really make comically oversized wrenches like that?- Yolanda’s mom continues to be the worst. I’m glad she doesn’t get much screen time. – I wonder how much the writers would love to write out STRIPE completely, but they can’t because the robot was so central to the comic book version?
Eh, the robot and even Pat himself were phased out pretty quickly in the comics, even those written by Johns(who’s the showrunner here). Though if there was a desire to keep the robot, it might just be for sentimental reasons.
Yes, I don’t buy that Ms. Montez has been eclipsed. She has never needed any eclipsing to talk like that.
Yeah, when the picture scandal breaks in the first season, both of Wildcat’s parents wasted no time in being shitty to her. I did like the priest checking her.
I am ignorant on the Golden Age of Comics, but I’m wondering why they don’t ask Pat if any other JSA member was faced with killing someone, and how they dealt with it? There have been a ton of bad-guy flashbacks, maybe this could give us a good-guy flashback? Also, has Courtney asked him if the Staff has ever been de-powered before, and if there is a way to charge it?
Kids on CW shows try never to talk to adults. It’s part of the brand. Pretty Little Liars would have been less than a season, if the central characters had just told their parents and in Stargirl, they are always having meetings without Pat.
Was the JLA active in WW2 in this universe? Because there was a lot of killing of Axis soldiers then*. (*Spear of Destiny exception noted.)
I just wanna give Yolanda a hug; that poor girl has been through so much. Kudos to Yvette Monreal for playing the hell out of her.This Courtney and Cameron thing can’t end well, can it? I mean, he seems sweet enough, but it’s gotta end in disaster, right?Eclipso is hell-bent on dismantling the JSA, and I’m terrified at the concept.
Mike’s “It was an accident” re his Icicular manslaughter was odd. He wasn’t very believable, but I have no idea whether that was a limitation of Mike’s performance or of Trae Romano’s.
The preview for next week’s episode is so heavily focused on Grundy that I am beyond-excited. It’s amazing. This week was also solid. I really enjoyed blurring the lines between what was real and what wasn’t. Yvette Monreal has been amazing in how she’s played the grief of everything that’s happened to her the last two seasons, and seeing it go forward will be great. (I’ll also add that Blue Raspberry is my favorite flavor as well.)
Looking forward to a Rick-centered episode, it feels like he’s had less to do than the other JSA members for awhile.
I appreciate the concept of the episode… but it was just SO glacial (and this is from someone who voluntarily watched the whole of S5 of The Americans…). Particularly when the audience knows exactly what’s going to happen, and even what is happening, long before the characters (the ‘I don’t want to be the one who has to do all the killing’ bit was good, but the rest is just the same stuff we’ve already seen). I’m really hoping that they’re not going to have eclipso go through the team episode-by-episode like this…
I was personally surprised that, when Yolanda stabbed Brainwave, it didn’t turn out that she had stabbed the priest. It seems that absolutely everyone else in the history of hallucinations has done that.
Good point!
I am kind of pissed at Beth for not even trying to be supportive of Yolanda, though I get that she is kind of just overwhelmed. I more felt bad for Rick and Courtney, who both tried to support Yolanda, but didn’t really know what to say and just pissed her off instead. Yolanda like Wolverine just needs to accept the burden of having claws and being willing to use them. She is the best there is at what she does. And what she does is not very nice.
To be fair, Beth didn’t know how close Yolanda was too a complete breakdown.
It’s kind of what I expected from Beth- she’s consistently more innocent and pollyannish than everybody else. of course it’s harder for her to admit killing was Yolanda’s only option.
Beth possibly should be more like Felicity on Arrow or Chester on Flash, the tech support who doesn’t really go out in the field.
Given how useless she was last time – if you need Mike to rescue you, you’re not a great asset in a fight – I have to assume they’re moving in that direction? She may be useful in some recon missions, but she’s actively counterproductive in a fight situation.[and that should be OK! It’s OK if not everybody fights evil by personally punching criminals in the face! Unfortunately, superhero shows generally refuse to accept this…]
“how useless she was last time – if you need Mike to rescue you”Last time, she rescued Mike.
Rick’s line about his hour running out is weak even if true. The best response to why he didn’t kill Solomon Grundy is “It became obvious he was being used, by Icicle and by Brainwave. They even kept him in a cage. That’s what separates us from the Injustice League: We don’t kill just because we don’t like someone, but we will do anything defend those who need it, even if we don’t like them.” Though that’s really not a Rick-style soliloquy.
Perhaps Yolanda will never be Darth Vader material. Perhaps she is more fit to become a sort of Red Hood. (Think the Montez family will move to Gotham?) Courtney will be forced to conclude that Yolanda is her greatest failure, just like Batman views Jason Todd’s life and death as his:
Did she get that Infinity Trident thing from The Brotherhood of Neptune?
I’m confused about the vision in the church. Was the staff there at all? It seemed to still be there when the vision ended, but no lit up. Why would Courtney bring it in her civilian clothes if it was still dark? I guess kudos are in order for crafting a vision that so successfully confused me about what was real and what hallucination.I am leaning toward believing Brainwave but I’m not sure. Yolanda says these things started before Eclipso, but we know Cindy got the gem immediately after escaping the fight. It could have been working on Yolanda long before the JSA knew it existed. I’m going to keep watching to get the answers, so they’re doing something right, even though they deprived me of Shade for a week.
“Stargirl is notable in how it often breaks from that CW/DC formula”I couldn’t agree more, and it makes the show sooo good. If you let good writers off the leash, they can sometimes find a way.This ep was obv not as flashy as the last (which was amazeballs, I didnt comment on it because it was all said but DAMN), but I loved the quiet creepiness of this episode. Yer right, Monreal was putting it all in, and it worked, so, so well. She was tremendous.All the actors here are great. And the direction and writing hasn’t missed it yet. I’m… amazed that this is a CW show. It is that good.
I love how the creative team is leaning into horror* this season. I wouldn’t describe this as a horror show of course, but they’re borrowing so many elements from the genre that it all works remarkably well (props to the sound design this episode, with the near-constant drone and heightened everyday sounds like the steam in the diner and Eclipso’s loud crunching at the end).I like that Courtney voiced what I was thinking “Why isn’t Eclipso out in the world wreaking havoc?” I guess he intends to draw power from crushing the JSA first – I do get the impression he enjoys the ‘sport’ of corrupting people. *Tangentially, this also feeds into the desolate feel of Blue Valley thanks to Covid filming restrictions. The entire town should be out in force getting ready for Independence Day, but the fact that the streets still felt (and occasionally were) empty really fed into the idea that something is now deeply wrong with the place.
“I do get the impression he enjoys the ‘sport’ of corrupting people.”I noted last week that in the first round Eclipso only consumed ISA people. It may be that Eclipso needs them to be corrupted first.
I understand shows trying to future proof themselves by not showing our reality for the past 2 years, but using those restrictions to make a “not quite right” episode is a good use of our emotional space.
-It’s amazing that Yolanda continues to have the worst parents in town, considering she lives in a town where like half the kids have parents who were/are LITERAL SUPERVILLAINS. Artemis’s parents might be murderous psychopaths, but they would NEVER treat her the way Yolanda’s mother treats her.-I wish they would stop forcing the kid who plays Li’l Eclipso to try and do evil laughs. I don’t want to pick on a child actor, but it just sounds forced and goofy whenever he does it. Just have him stare at people and smile creepily, or something.-Why is Courtney the only JSA member with a decent-looking costume? Everyone looks like they’re wearing goofy Halloween costumes. Yolanda’s mask looks ridiculous and way too big, Rick’s padding is laughable, and Beth’s costume is just awful. Whenever she tries to run in it, she looks like she can barely move. And she doesn’t even really need a costume! She could literally just wear the goggles with jeans and a hoodie, and it would functionally be the same thing.
I really enjoyed the first season of Stargirl, but this season really feels as if the show is taking 15 minutes of story and stretching it out to 45… There are more “thoughtful” moments, quiet establishing shots, long moments focused on empty spaces, long takes of silent angsty faces, and basically more “dead air” than I can continue to put myself though. There is more plot in a literal comic book which takes minutes to read than there is in an entire episode of Stargirl this season… WTH is going on with this show, it has become a such a drag? I watched this episode with my finger on the ff button, just to fill myself in and move on. Am I really the only viewer that feels this way?!?
Even at 40 minutes, this episode really dragged. Although Yvette Monreal took everything they threw at her, she’s starting to make Brec Basinger look wooden and rote.