Stargirl review: “Summer School: Chapter Nine”

Stargirl takes a trip down memory lane in this week’s episode, and it’s not as rosy as we’d like. Eclipso (Nick E. Tarabay) is taking over Blue Valley and has manages to wreak havoc on not just the weather, but the entire Whitmore/Dugan family.

An impending storm threatens to demolish Blue Valley, and in the midst of it, Courtney (Brec Bassinger), Pat (Luke Wilson), Barb (Amy Smart) and Mike (Trae Romano) all contend with Eclipso’s meddling. This is one of Stargirl’s darker, broodier episodes, and it really sets the tone for how this season has been progressing. There hasn’t been much to celebrate at all between the JSA falling apart, Eclipso showing up, and now this week’s revelations. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, and I fear that it is far from over.

We’ve got a lot to discuss from this week’s episode of Stargirl, so let’s get right to it! SPOILERS ahead!

Stargirl reveals Bruce Gordon’s past

The trip down memory lane begins with a flashback to “decades ago” where an adult Bruce Gordon is dealing with the repercussions of discovering Eclipso. As we’ve seen happen earlier this season, Eclipso takes over Bruce’s body and settles into his new host.

There is a horror element to this season thanks to Eclipso. Whenever he takes over a host body, there’s a lot of screaming and frightening transformation. Watching Bruce Gordon go through it is horrifying.

Eclipso hits Blue Valley

Eclipso takes over Blue Valley this episode, and it starts with a storm. In fact, the storm is so bad that the Dugan/Whitmore family plans on camping out in the basement until it settles down. At this point, I’m not sure if the storm is real or just a figment of everyone’s imagination, but either way, it’s happening.

Courtney isn’t keen on sitting still during the storm, especially since Rick (Cameron Gellman) is in jail for attacking his uncle, who he thought was Solomon Grundy. She and Beth (Anjelika Washington) plan to do something about it, and strangely enough, Pat lets her wander off into the storm.

Mike and Pat are the first to experience Eclipso’s mind control. Pat takes a not-so-pleasant trip down memory lane (more on that below) while Mike imagines Cameron (Hunter Sansone) showing up at the house. It’s very suspicious when Cameron begins harassing Mike about killing his father and then proceeds to kill the dog. The whole scene is very jarring. He doesn’t snap out of it until he imagines that Cameron is about to murder him. Mike is awoken by the bright light of Courtney’s staff which pulls him out of that horrendous nightmare. If I was Mike, I’d be scarred for life!

Barb has her own delusional nightmare when she imagines Jordan Mahkent (Neil Jackson) sitting in the car with her. Her car stops working and suddenly the entire car turns to ice while everything else around it is unaffected. It’s thanks to Eclipso, of course, but the interaction between her and Jordan feels all too real.

I had forgotten how great Jackson is at playing Jordan, and how he delivers those chilling lines of dialogue. Seeing Jordan’s anger over Barb rejecting him was quite a scene. It’s thanks to Shade’s help that Barb eventually gets out of the hallucination, but boy, it even felt too convincing to me.

A blast from the past

A get a glimpse of Pat’s time working alongside the JSA during young Rebecca McNider’s funeral. The entire JSA is in shambles over the death of a young girl, and it appears Eclipso is the one behind it. But we don’t learn that until a bit later after Sylvester (Joel McHale) speaks to the Shade (Jonathan Cake), who fills him in on Eclipso.

This flashback is sad because it shows us just how undervalued Pat was in the JSA. In fact, the only person who gave him any respect at all was the Flash (John Wesley Shipp). Apart from Jay Garrick, no one else considered Pat a part of the JSA; it’s heartbreaking. Seeing how he was treated makes me wonder why he even decided to stick around at all. Even Sylvester didn’t pay him any attention, even when he made solid points. Pat and Jay Garrick were the only ones who voted not to kill Bruce Gordon just because he was the host for Eclipso, and Pat only got a vote because Jay demanded it. The JSA really wasn’t as great as I was hoping (at least not always).

Ultimately, the decision to kill Bruce Gordon is made with the majority of the JSA voting to get rid of him to get rid of Eclipso. Despite constantly being told that he’s not a member, Pat fights hard to convince Sylvester not to kill Bruce Gorgon. But kill him he does.

This is the point where we learn that this has been the secret Pat and Barb have been keeping from Courtney. I think another twist would have been cooler, but this is still devastating for her to learn. She thinks of the JSA as the good guys; that’s what inspired her to bring the organization back. To learn that they murdered an innocent man just because of Eclipso is a horrifying revelation and one that is going to hurt for a really long time.

That much is clear at the end of the episode when the Whitmore/Dugan family is fighting and at each other’s throats. We can blame Eclipso for this mess — he’s watching from outside the house in the body of his host, the young Bruce Gordon (Milo Stein). I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the kid manically giggling in every episode as the scene cuts to black. It is creepy.

Okay, I’m so here for this season of Stargirl. It’s gotten better with every passing episode, and I am hooked beyond belief. It is much darker this time around, which we can attribute to Eclipso being a part of the storyline. His presence has really thrown a wrench into the small-town vibe of the series, and I’m here for every second of it.

It was great to see John Wesley Shipp stop by the series for an episode, especially because this version of Jay Garrick was a part of the JSA. I always love seeing Shipp return in any capacity. His presence as Jay was much needed this week.

We’re about three episodes away from the season wrapping up, and it seems like Eclipso’s hold over Blue Valley is only getting stronger. Will the JSA have to resort to killing an innocent human host just as the old JSA once did? Or will they find another way out of this hot mess?

Tune in to find out!

Grade: A-

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