Stargirl season finale review: “Summer School: Chapter Thirteen”

Stargirl season 2 came to an end last night, and wow, it was just…wow. I don’t know what it is about this show that makes it so special, but whatever their recipe is, it is working magnificently.

The entire second season of Stargirl has been riveting and engaging; I don’t believe there has been a single dull moment. Some of it can be credited with the introduction of this season’s big bad, Eclipso (Nick E. Tarabay). He had the visual presence of the OG Power Rangers villain Ivan Ooze and the creepy vibe of the Insidious villain The Red Face Demon. If you can bring those two together, you’ve got Eclipso.

Anyway, the season 2 finale brought Team JSA (plus some extras) together to take down Eclipso. It was a glorious fight scene, and watching heroes and villains come together to take down a common enemy was everything we could have asked for from the finale.

Check out how it all went down in our Stargirl Season 2 finale review below, and remember: SPOILERS ahead!

Team Stargirl attempts to take down Eclipso

The first attempt at taking down Eclipso doesn’t pan out as well as Team JSA would have hoped, but A for effort, guys! A fight breaks out down Main Street where Team JSA has gathered to stop Eclipso. Well, some of them anyway. Even though they have Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) back as Wildcat and Cindy (Meg Delacy) putting aside her evil ways to help the cause, there are still a few people missing.

Rick (Cameron Gellman) is still trying to fix his hourglass, Jennie (Ysa Penarejo) is having nightmares about Eclipso taking over Courtney’s (Brec Bassinger) body, Thunderbolt (Jim Gaffigan) is out trying to find authentic Chinese food, and STRIPE is out of commission in the shop. That’s a lot of people to be down when you’re facing an evil giant like Eclipso, but these guys try anyway.

Rick shows up sans hourglass but with Solomon Grundy as backup. Sadly, Eclipso puts a giant hole right through Grundy’s body, putting an end to him right then and there. I don’t think this is going to be the last we see of him, but for now, R.I.P. dear Grundy.

Last week, Mike (Trae Romano) recruited Thunderbolt’s current owner Jakeem (Alkoya Brunson)  to help in the fight against Eclipso. After Thunderbolt finally comes back from a trip to China to get food, they ask him to provide the missing auto parts needed to make STRIPE functional again.

With STRIPE up and running, Mike takes off with him to join the fight. All season long, we’ve been waiting to see Mike in his element, and it was awesome to see him take charge without anyone’s permission. Sure it backfired and Eclipso struck STRIPE down, but I loved seeing him taking charge anyway.

The battle against Eclipso rages on

Meanwhile back at the American Dream, aka the ISA Headquarters, Eclipso works his magic to conjure up doppelganger visions for members of the JSA to fight against. They essentially each face a crappy version of themselves — Yolanda against the original Wildcat, Cindy against her younger self, and Pat against a very mean version of himself. It’s a genius scene.

Elsewhere, Courtney is busy trying to stop Eclipso with her staff’s blasts, but it’s not doing much damage. In fact, the JSA showing up at the American Dream was exactly what Eclipso wanted; he intends to take in all of humanity with one big blow and make himself a God.

It takes Dr. McNider (Alex Collins) to remind our heroes that they’re fighting illusions. As Courtney and Cindy try to stop Eclipso, they get thrown out the window.

At this point, Eclipso tries to claim victory atop the clock tower roof only to be pushed down by STRIPE. This is when the fight down Main Street really heats up as all the members of the JSA come together to eliminate Eclipso once and for all.

The final showdown

While all this is happening, Barb (Amy Smart) and Jennie are back at the house. Jennie awakens in a sweaty mess from her nightmare just as a surprise guest shows up: you have one guess who it could be.

Yup, that’s right: STARMAN (Joel McHale). It’s about dang time, I say. We saw him in the season 1 finale in the present day and then didn’t see him again outside of flashbacks. I was waiting for this moment, and it finally happened!

And just in time too, because back out there, Eclipso is hurting Pat just to get Courtney to say she hates him. All Eclipso wants is for Courtney to reveal the hatred within her, and she walks right into his trap.

As Courtney embraces the darkness within her, Eclipso takes advantage and makes her his new host. Her face turns that freaky shade of purple, just like we saw from Jennie’s nightmare.

Luckily, Starman shows up just in time. What could be better than two Star-folk yielding the staff?! He immediately gets to work trying to get through to a possessed Courtney as Eclipso tries to tell her that she was unloved by her father. It’s with Pat’s encouragement that the possession breaks as Courtney is overwhelmed with happy memories of her life with family and friends.

Eclipso is thrown out of Courtney’s body, and this is when the real fun begins! Team JSA is joined by the Crock family (this is who Cindy was calling in the last episode), along with the Shade (Jonathan Cake) — yes, he’s alive! Barb and Jennie join the fight as well, along with Jakeem and Thunderbolt. It’s an epic moment to see everyone come together, and thanks to a wish made by Jakeem, Eclipso is toast. And I mean that literally; he becomes a piece of burnt toast. Jennie’s Green Lantern blast along with the combined power of the Star-folk help too.

Final notes on Stargirl Season 2

As the Stargirl season 2 finale comes to a close, a few things happen that set the stage for season 3. We see Rick burying Grundy only for the Shade to show up and say that Grundy finds his way back if he’s buried in the right place at the right time. Also, the Shade is sticking around in Blue Valley.

As for the JSA? Yolanda is officially back, and apparently Cindy wants to be given a pass so she can join too. I know she helped out with this battle and all, but I’m not sure she can be trusted.

With Starman’s return, Courtney feels nervous that he will want his staff back, but it’s the opposite: Hh’s there to help her discover all the staff can actually do, so yay, that’s good!

Dr. McNider gets ready to leave Blue Valley to find his wife, but Beth (Anjelika Washington) has already done that for him. And she also breaks the news that he will be going home to a 10-year-old son. I think this reunion might be a bit difficult given how much time has passed, but I’m sending out good vibes for the guy!

We finally find out what’s going on with Cameron (Hunter Sansone), who finally finished the mural he began at the start of the season. There isn’t much of an update on his end except that his grandparents revealed their icy powers. I’m sure this will play into the storyline of season 3, or at least I hope so! We simply didn’t get enough of Cameron this season.

And if all this wasn’t enough to get you excited, it looks like the Dugan/Whitmore family have some new neighbors in the form of the Crocks! Cue the storyline for season 3 with its new title card: Stargirl: Frenemies. This is going to be amazing, folks!

Okay, one more thing. In a post-credit scene, we are shown Nurse Louise Love at the Helix Institute for Youth Rehabilitation. She’s talking to someone about Green Lantern’s daughter Jennie returning to look for her brother, and she mentions all the heroes and villains living in Blue Valley.

When the camera pans over to the person she’s talking to, it’s revealed that it’s none other than Mister Bones! And it looks like he’s headed to Blue Valley next season. I don’t know much about this guy, but he has a skeleton face. I don’t think it’s an actual skeleton face but rather see-through skin. In any case, he looks pretty darn cool, and I can’t wait to learn more about him in season 3!

Until next season, folks!

Grade: A

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