"Summer School: Chapter Eleven"
This week’s episode of Stargirl was one that I was very much looking forward to ever since we had that episode cliffhanger revealing Dr. Mid-Nite’s current whereabouts. An episode that heavily features the Shadowlands exploring its depths and mythos. With the perspective of Courtney, after Eclipso transported her there much like Cindy’s fate, we get to wander through this new and interesting setting and I must say…I really dug it.
First off, and I know this is a really minor detail, but if you guys followed my Legion and Gotham episode reviews, you know that I’m an absolute sucker for alternate opening title designs that fits the theme of an episode or specific storyline. Here we see the typically colorful and vibrant Stargirl logo being turned to white and black setting us up for the bleak and eerie character journey ahead. Prior to the title reveal, we get this great bit of visual storytelling with Pat and Jennie finally returning home only to be wielding the cosmic staff without Courtney. Without saying much, this nicely conveyed Courtney’s loss much like a superhero sidekick returning to base with the hero’s iconic item in distraught.
So getting into the Shadowlands stuff, the entire opening scene where Courtney first wakes up and starts wandering through a colorless Blue Valley was right up my alley as a horror fan. Not necessarily in that the show was trying to deliver any scares here by any means, but the eerie atmosphere of it all. Obviously there’s the lack of color which contrasts Stargirl’s traditional vibrancy, but also the overall tone surrounding Courtney’s constant fearful expression, the lack of dialogue with only suspenseful music filling the audio, and a few details like the kid grinning when he walks by Courtney. It felt like a modern day Twilight Zone episode bleeding through a Stargirl episode and I really admired it for that.
That feeling becomes much more prominent when character who were established as being dead in previous episodes start popping up. We get the Zarick family just casually eating at the diner only to then start creeping out Courtney with drops of guilt. Joey starts doing the same card trick that Courtney lied about during Season 1 regarding his success which he starts confronting her about. This is our first tease of what the Shadowlands is and how Eclipso plays into it all. I loved the detail here with Joey’s card showing a picture of him with the shaded out face, the letter “E” (for Eclipso assumably?) and eclipsed moon image. Things like this always catch my eye when shows or films go the extra mile at crafting an interesting image despite appearing for just a few seconds.
Courtney then gets transported to her school where the Bowins briefly show up to continue the character assassination train. Now this one didn’t do much for me but I suppose Principal Bowin’s line about “new students always causing trouble” was a way to build up guilt in Courtney as being sort of a plague to Blue Valley just by moving there. Maybe? If that’s the case, I think they could’ve offered up just a few more lines from her and Isaac hitting on that. Instead, Isaac just says "I miss my tuba" in a questionably comedic fashion (really wasn't sure what the direction there was honestly).
Either way, here’s where Cindy comes in ambushing and attacking Courtney like some wild animal giving us this episode’s one fight scene (brief but entertaining with how Courtney immediately grabs the closest thing to her staff with a mop stick). This confrontation leads to Cindy cutting Courtney’s arms revealing color to her blood causing her to stop attacking. We learn through Cindy that people in the Shadowlands apparently don’t bleed (interesting detail) which is her way of identifying who’s actually real much like how Mid-Nite’s googles works as a truth seer but on a much more smaller scale and...well brutal manner considering. It's actually kind of fitting that Cindy would figure this out through means of violence.
I do love how Cindy’s reaction to Courtney actually being there isn’t one of immediate revenge and murder but of surprise and frustration. This where they begin to build an uneasy alliance of sorts (after Dragon King’s first appearance teasing Cindy) as she shares some very crucial information about the Shadowlands. We learn that its the place of Eclipso’s birth as well as a purgatory formed by the darkness in humanity filled with fear, rage, and guilt to which Eclipso feeds on. Cindy mentions that she learned all of this on Diablo Island (a scene that we never got to see but I’m happy the writers got it in there in somehow). This whole concept for the Shadowlands is one that I really got into with the idea of there being this dimension where all of humanity's sins are contained festering in a soul tearing prison unique to the individual to which an entity like Eclipso exploits. This is the type of intriguing mythology building that I’ve always admired from this show in the past so it’s nice to see the Shadowlands also being given the lore expanding treatment.
But not only does this episode act as a great insight into the Shadowlands and of Courtney’s darkness (more on that later), it also nicely builds on Cindy’s character a bit more.Cindy explains that despite the Shadowlands being hellish in nature, she’s still able to find delight there via murdering both her father and Courtney countless of times. Yikes!!! Since the Shadowlands feeds on someone’s dark truths as a means to bring them down to submission before ultimately destroying them, she managed to embrace this side of her as a countermeasure for survival. This is actually a pretty awesome detail conveying her deeply disturbed mind yet cleverly adaptable sensibilities. The writers on the show honestly continue to positively surprise me with how much depth they give to Cindy's character starting off as a generic “school bully cheerleader type” to a full on super villain with an intriguing layered history.
This is also a pivotal seed being planted regarding what Eclipso’s big attack on Courtney really sums up to. Since Stargirl is supposed to be this beacon of light both literally speaking with the cosmic staff and emotionally speaking regarding her heroic actions, the Shadowlands is the last place that she needs to be as it can potentially "snuff out her light". Feeding on her guilt again, Courtney experiences another illusion showing Barbara during the time that Pat wasn’t in the picture yet speaking about how all of her dreams were crushed due to Courtney’s birth. Again…YIKES!!! Scenes like this really shows how boldly effective Eclipso can be as a psychological threat attacking the heroes in emotionally intimate ways that one never would expect. This is why I think Season 2's villain arc is uniquely different from Season 1 in a fantastic way as it hits on deep character storytelling for the heroes whereas Season 1 focused on more entertaining spectacle and surprisingly layered villains.
Speaking of which, there's a great moment here with Cindy after she boldly tries to tell Eclipso that his effort to break her is useless due to her enjoyment of murdering her father, where her mother appears. I love how Cindy's expression changes from in-control confidence to sheer fear and anger as her mother says "please don't hurt me again" hitting on Cindy's sensitive past. There's a cool shot here of her running to her mother yelling for her to go away to which Dragon King's minions emerge from the shadows kidnapping her. This episode has several great uses of visual storytelling with the Shadowlands setting but I think this particular moment might've been my favorite.
Courtney chases after her only to end up in what is revealed to be the true visage of the Shadowlands and where we saw Dr. Mid-Nite before. This shadowy abyss of endless waves of darkness flowing around like a giant hurricane (it's a pretty cool aesthetic actually). Speaking of Mid-Nite, Charles shows up and takes Courtney out of it and into an illusion of the JSA's Starman hideout. It's so awesome finally getting to see another original JSA member in present day since most of what we've seen of this group is done through a few flashbacks. First off, it's great actually seeing how the suit design should fit someone (no offense Beth) giving a bit more of an idea of how the JSA would've looked in action back in the day. Mid-Nite talks to Courtney about how his goggles allowed him to consistently see the Shadowlands in its purest form keeping the illusions at bay which is what kept him alive. Another interesting contrast to Cindy who embraced her darkness thinking that she won only to be swallowed by it more whereas Charles pursued seeking the truth and light between the lies.
I think this iteration of McNider is quite possibly one of the most interesting members of the JSA considering the story we're given here. This is a guy who, instead of getting taken out by the ISA like many of his partners, was saved by a questionably aligned antagonist like the Shade by being trapped in a purgatory abyss that he's navigated for years. I've said it once and I'll say it again, this show does an absolutely amazing job at building up these compelling character stories and lore. There's a great moment where where Charles gives Courtney the goggles so that she can see the truth that he sees with them, but while he has it off, you can subtly hear the sounds of his daughter calling out to him blaming him for her death before he puts it back on. Much like how Cindy's parents calls out to her which she directly confronts, Charles fights it back by leaning on truth. It's such an awesome detail to define the type of resilient hero that Dr. Mid-Nite is and his warning to Courtney about following that lead is also a pretty great motivational hero speech giving us this "wise veteran hero" feel that I liked.
Charles manages to get in touch with Beth telling her that they need the Shade to open a breach to the Shadowlands allowing their escape. This is where we get Jennie back into the action as her green lantern ring allows her to sense dark energies making her the perfect bloodhound to find the Shade. I think it's cool that they use his contact card set up earlier on in the season to find him but also that we get to see more Green Lantern powers in action. I'm still not entirely sure what the show is building up with this character in the long run, but that's not a bad thing at all. I think it's actually kind of exciting to have this powerful hero in the making that the audience can have fun speculating on whether she becomes a part of the team or ends up going her own route. Perhaps the Arrowverse's John Diggle and Stargirl's Jennie can somehow meet up and join forces in a larger Green Lantern multiversal story? Just a cool thought since both universes seem to be in the process of setting their lantern heroes up simultaneously.
Following this is another great scene with Dr. Mid-Nite speaking to Courtney about his history in the Shadowlands and with the Shade. They answer a question during this scene that I myself have been curious about which is how Charles is able to reach the real world and what his life has been like during this whole situation. We learn that the goggles allows him to only somewhat breach the real world seeing certain aspects like the news but it's only until Beth activated his goggles in the real world that he was able to connect a little more directly. Now it still doesn't fully explain how the goggles is technically doing all of this, but I do like the idea of this trapped hero somewhat living in two worlds at the same time trying not to lose his mind in the process. Like I said before, Dr. Mid-Nite may just have the most compelling story out of all the heroes on the show.
He also explains how the Shade is complicated and actually does care for others in his own way. The story that he tells about Shade visiting his home at night drunk off of absinthe following Rebecca's funeral had a mature tone that I dug. Every now and then Stargirl would dip into something that feels more adult orientated which they somehow miraculously would fit into the family friendly charm of everything else. This is one of those scenes. Charles mentions that the Shade blamed himself for not dealing with Eclipso in the past while feeling guilty over Rebecca's death causing the two to bond finishing the rest of the bottle together. He also shed some light on how the Shade snatching him away during the ISA battle was him rescuing him which sheds an interesting new light on that scene. It's these types of dramatically rich stories that makes me wish that we could have a full on JSA prequel series, but I think the writers have done an excellent job at weaving them in through the current JSA story.
Speaking of Shade, once our heroes in the real world tracks him down to a theater, I loved the visual detail that the Shade was there watching an old classic film from the 40's, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". The movie is about a vain man who sold his soul for eternal youth which of course has a dark poetic connection to Shade's very own history. Pat and Barbara confronts him about letting their daughter get trapped just for his selfish lust for power only to find out that he's barely hanging onto it due to Eclipso destroying the diamond. However, due to Barbara's emotional plea regarding him reducing her daughter, and her reminding him of his sister Emily, he finally decides to help. This scene could have easily felt like a forced villain change of heart in the wrong hands, but thanks to the show's incredible storytelling and establishing of pivotal character elements, Shade's turn here felt well earned.
I loved the idea of him using the theater screen as a means to open up the portal to the Shadowlands allowing Pat and Barbara to communicate with Courtney. It's a cool concept just for the aesthetic of using a classic film projected theater screen image to do something supernatural (again being sort of a nod to the Shade's character in nature) but also the visuals of having one beam of light shining on one section of a dark room. It's the perfect setting to convey everything that's taking place without the need of creating some new mystical environment which is one of the very rare moments in television where I can say "they brilliantly used less for more".
Here's where we get our spotlight reminder of why Courtney is the show's beacon of light considering that she decides not to escape through the portal without going back to save Cindy. Now yes, admittedly, I was yelling at the screen for her to jump out due to the Shade barely holding it open, but I think the character choice was natural and it lead to something very interesting in the long run. Instead of just easily finding Cindy and escaping with her, Courtney starts to unintentionally venture further into Eclipso's assault on her heart and mind. First with visiting Yolanda's bedroom with a silent and saddened Yolanda sulking by her bed side (loved the visual storytelling detail of the cross outside the room setting up the religion driven guilt behind Yolanda's distress). Eclipso, in his child disguise, shows up directly attacking Courtney's guilt over Yolanda leaving the group followed by Courtney being transported to Rick's prison cell to which Eclipso calls him a monster in a cage feeding more on her regret.
Both of these scenes are great in how they give us two characters and settings presenting two uniquely tragic and dark fallen hero stories without any of them needing to speak. I think, in the hands of another CW show, they would've went the unnecessary extra mile of having Rick and Yolanda yell at Courtney in some over the top fashion telling her that it's all her fault. Here, it's just an effective use of visual storytelling showing the characters sulking in their own mental prison of distress to perfectly hammer in the idea that Courtney ruined their lives by recruiting them. Kudos to the direction here for telling a lot without having to treat the audience like children. Courtney is then transported to her home where Eclipso tries to hammer in the final nail on the coffin attempting to break her spirit and heroic heart by stating that he's already destroyed her family and friends while trying to get her to show anger and hatred towards him. Bringing up her father's locket around her neck and putting all the blame for her experiences on himself was a great way to present Courtney with a new conflict...her own darkness.
What's interesting to note here is that after Eclipso gets Courtney to admit that she hates him, he smiles and vanishes as if he's won. However, he never shows up for the rest of the episode as everything plays out how Courtney hoped for (rescuing Cindy from the Dragon King illusion and escaping with her and Dr. Mid-Nite). So what exactly was his evil grin ensuing? Hmmm. I did like this scene with Dragon King showing him experimenting on Cindy while her mother helplessly watches. Dragon King was one of my favorite villains from Season 1 who I felt didn't get as much screen time as a standout threat, so seeing him here again in his element (creepy laboratory setting) while pulling out his sword to kill Courtney was fantastic. This season has gone quite a ways to bring back Season 1 villains in a way that’s intriguing for the Season 2 villain arc and I'm loving every bit of it. The way Charles tells Courtney to ignore Dragon King as he's merely an illusion leading to her walking through his sword attack was pretty awesome.
Once Courtney breaks Cindy out of her straps, we get Eclipso's final attack on Shiv being the guilt of killing her mother. It's something that we've been teased about in the past but now we get to see some visual form of the event itself. I know I've praised this episode's visual storytelling like a broken record by now, so consider this the last cool detail. There's a great shot of both Cindy and her younger self looking down at her dying mother both simultaneously apologizing to her. This is Cindy's most sensitive memory and what I believe to be our final crucial piece of backstory for the character. It's probably my favorite dramatic scene with her considering this is the most humanity that we've ever seen without any form of "confident super villain display" filtering. Thanks to the Shadowlands storyline, we get to see the true Cindy and what the character Shiv really boils down to at its core. A guilt ridden and tragically exploited child lashing out at the world in rage. This is where Shiv truly shines as one of the best villains of any CW DC comics series in my honest opinion.
After our characters finally escape through the portal once Courtney helps break Cindy out of her illusion, everyone reunites only for the Shade to be slowly dying as a result of using his powers up. Again, the show has done such a great job at building him up that seeing him slowly wither away before apologizing to Dr. Mid-Nite and asking to be remembered for doing the right thing actually had an impact on me. Now considering that he vanishes through a puff of shadowy mist, one can argue that he's not really dead and is just transported somewhere where he can recuperate (what was that second dark energy signature that Jennie's ring picked up?). Or, perhaps he has truly died now and becoming this mist was the show's way of saying that he's faded away into nothing via his powers. Hmmm.
The episode then ends with Cindy rallying everyone up asking them if they're ready to kill Eclipso which I'll be very curious to see followed up. Overall, this was a fantastic episode introducing some amazing new mythology and world building while diving deeper into a few characters' history in a visually compelling fashion. If the show keeps this up, Stargirl may just end up being in my top 5 favorite comic book TV shows of all time. Consider me excited to see what comes next with this season and the next.
Bonus Thoughts
1. A Classic Horror Influenced Shot?
This episode is filled with great visual direction but there's one particular shot that jumped out to me as being especially awesome. When Courtney gets transported into her house, we see her looking up the stairs to which a shadow of Eclipso's child form silhouettes on the wall. It kinda reminded me a little bit of the iconic Count Orlok silhouette shot from the 1922 silent horror classic, Nosferatu. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some inspiration considering this season's overall horror cinema influence.
Episode Rating: 9/10
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