Stargirl – Summer School: Chapter Two S2 E2
This is the sweet spot for DC Comics fans with the three best DC shows — Superman & Lois, Titans and Stargirl all on for at least two weeks together. Summer School is already shaping up to be a fun arc for Stargirl and the JSA, who might have a new addition in their ranks…eventually.
Six days ago, Jenny (Ysa Penarejo) got aged out of the Ordway Home for Children. That’s a nice nod to Jerry Ordway, the longtime DC penciller/inker who crafted a lot of iconic Superman, Shazam and All-Star Squadron issues over the years in addition to inking the second half of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Ordway also was the artist for the Infinity Inc. comic, which featured many of the characters in Stargirl.
As she leaves, Jenny asks about any information on her brother. While she doesn’t get any details on that front, the caretaker does give her a box with a toy car belonging to her brother, Todd, and her father’s classic Green Lantern ring. Once Jenny gets it on the ring whisks her away presumably taking the very scenic route to Blue Valley and Pat’s basement.
Naturally this first impression doesn’t sit well with Courtney, who’s probably rightfully suspicious. But Jenny quickly charms the rest of the family with multiple apologies, repairing some of the damage she caused and making some killer pancakes for breakfast. It’s nice that Stargirl isn’t afraid of leaning in harder on characters actually just being incredibly nice.
There was a great bit when Jenny learns Pat was Stripesy and calls him a legend to the shock of everyone, including Pat. Jenny asks for his help in training her how to use the lantern and Courtney is green with jealousy.
Since it would be somewhat false advertising without it, we do get some summer school scenes. Yolanda is forced to attend by her parents to keep her out of trouble. This also gives Courtney her BFF to compare notes including this Green Llama girl. Stargirl is just really charming with its portrayal of teen characters.
It’s so refreshing and it’s the feel good antithesis to Titans, which admittedly does it dark and gloomy approach very well. It’s nice that DC fans have options based on their moods for what shows to watch.
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Pat does help train Jenny and with his insight on focusing her emotions, she’s able to create a car. Hey, it beats a laser blast. The JSA take an immediate liking to her, which makes Courtney feel further threatened until a pep talk that would make Joe West proud from Pat gets her back on track. The Courtney/Pat dynamic feels different than most of the hero/father figure characters because Courtney does still have to follow Pat’s rules for the house, but in a lot of cases he’s also acting as her concerned and caring mentor.
A man named Richard Swift (Jonathan Cake, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) pops up looking for The Wizard’s magical items in holding at Barbara’s job. Barbara immediately understands this dude is super…shady and calls Pat to meet him. This encounter at the diner doesn’t last long as Pat spots the JSA sprinting outside with Jenny’s sparking lantern.
Despite her cheery demeanor, Jenny desperately wants to find her brother and her one moment of anger has sent the lantern ticking.
Courtney encourages Jenny to absorb the energy before it explodes. Jenny’s bathed in the green light so it’s hard to tell if this impacted her skin and hair, but this was a solid way to bring Jade into the fold. Obsidian clearly has to be arriving soon, but will we get a Silver Scarab, Fury, Northwind and Nuklon arriving this season as well?
Either way, Jade will be a great addition to this era of the Justice Society/Infinity Inc. team. It would have been nice to have a scene where Jenny says goodbye before looking for her brother and seemed out of character for the super considerate Jenny to just leave in the middle of the night.
Pat digs up the old JSA files and recognizes The Shade’s watch as the same one Richard wore. While Courtney pledges to put Stargirl on the backburner until needed, she fangirls out after Pat tells her one final member of the ISA was unaccounted for, but The Shade has arrived. That was another cute moment.
For some weird reason, Cindy’s stepmom was destroying things in the house when Cindy arrived and flashed the black diamond at her. Eclipso appears to have made some connection with the stepmom that’s now allowing him to corrupt her. Just long enough to bring enough of her hatred out to try and kill Cindy.
With this aggressively evil act, Eclipso has her primed and ready for consumption after possessing Cindy to steal her stepmother’s essence. Cindy has made the same mistake as too many characters in thinking she’s the one in control of Eclipso. Hopefully as the season plays out, the audio fine tunes Eclipso’s voice as it sounds too distorted making his dialogue hard to make out.
Summer School is shaping up to be just as strong an arc as Stargirl’s debut season. With new heroes and two major villains entering the fray, this looks to be appointment TV for The CW all season.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: The CW