Stargirl 2x8 : Summer School : Chapter Eight review

 

            Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it.

Another week and yet another stellar episode of Stargirl. Beginning with Rick Tyler who gets a visit from his teacher who offers her apology to him for accusing him of cheating on his school work. She offers him advice about college but gets interrupted by Rick's uncle who tells her to get lost. He throws the flyers given to Rick into the air as he heads back inside drinking a beer. Rick picks up the flyers and heads deep into the woods with a bag of apples. Like we saw earlier this season Rick has been feeding something, or someone within the woods and it turns out to not surprisingly be Solomon Grundy. When he arrives Rick lets out a string of emotional words and comes across as extremely fed up with everything. He does everything but gets nothing in return he says as Grundy appears as the two share a moment together a bit later on. Back at the Whitmore home and after Yolanda quit the JSA last week Courtney is still upset about how to deal with the situation. There's a knock at the door within seconds and Court goes to answer it. What she finds isn't someone waiting rather a bag full of Yolanda's Wildcat gear. It looks like we won't be seeing Yolanda for quite some time as Wildcat is seemingly retired from here on out. 

At the end of last weeks episode we saw that Eclipso was set to attack Beth and this week it turns out to be so. First off we see Beth managing to get back in contact with the original Dr Mid-Nite. When she puts on the goggles she is seen talking to him where he says he is in the shadow realm. He also isn't exactly a fan of someone else wearing his goggles. Things take a dark turn for Beth soon after as her parents sit her down for a talk. They tell her that she is the reason for their breakup which of course is not true at all but Beth thinks it is in the moment. She runs out of the room and goes to Courtney's home where Eclipso in his kid form is waiting for her. Named Bruce he calls Beth a liar and claims how unworthy she is to wear the goggles. Courtney was chosen to be Stargirl, Rick's dad chose him to be Hourman who chose Beth?? Bruce also mentions how Beth isn't anything special in a fight and offers next to nothing else to the rest of the JSA. More on this in a bit however.

The episode draws to a close as after bonding with Grundy earlier Rick learns that he is being hunted in the woods. Rushing through the woods to find him Rick finally comes across him as Grundy stands over the body of a young girl who is in the water. Rick chases after Grundy as Courtney and Pat arrive to help. When they go to check on the girl she opens her eyes and disappears with the blink of an eye. They both come to one conclusion..Eclipso. When they catch up to Rick he is seen beating up Grundy. But is it Grundy?? it turns out not to be as this infact was Eclipso once again as he has been messing with Rick all episode. The person who he beat up here was his uncle who is in pretty rough shape. Rick who is overcome with emotion takes off his hourglass and smashes it onto the floor shattering it. Courtney's reaction to this was brilliantly done as the notion of not only Wildcat but now Hourman not being a part of the JSA hits her like a ton of bricks. Brilliant stuff indeed. Back with Beth now and she begs Bruce to show his true form as Eclipso and he grants her wish. He shows up behind her in the darkness and again berates her. It turns out that he has a weakness however and it's the goggles belonging to Dr Mid-Nite. While wearing them Beth can see through Eclipso's illusions. This could be the advantage needed for the JSA which as of now consists of Beth who is officially donned the new Dr Mid-Nite, Stargirl, Pat and Mike. Speaking of Mike the episode ends with him and Barbara hugging it out at home as icy begins to form and frost the window and the surrounding area outside of their home. The episode ends with that reveal as Icicle Jr is surely coming and very soon it seems. This episode was great and rather emotional at points. Rick's struggle with his uncle and Grundy was very gripping stuff. Beth's whole ordeal was great too with some great points and interests on show. Courtney's reaction to losing not only Wildcat but seemingly Hourman was brilliant like I said and overall this was just another great character driven episode of Stargirl and to be honest that's what this show does best. Fantastic character development throughout. I look forward to next week!

★★★★