TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Stargirl Season 2 Episode 7

Last week, Eclipso was freed and was able to roam the Earth outside of the Black Diamond. The question for this episode of “Summer School” was…what happens now? Well…not as much as you might have expected…not that this was completely a bad thing.

Because as I was hoping for, this episode focused on Yolanda and her PTSD that had been building ever since she killed Brainwave in the season finale last season. This was a deep dive into the grief and guilt one can feel when taking a life, and then you add the superhero/supervillain element and it was compelling…mostly.

For example, I like how Yolanda was questioning everything about whether she honestly did a good thing or not, even asking her priest if killing “true evil” could be forgiven in the eyes of God. It also was good to see Courtney being the friend that she needed to be (and sometimes forgets to be) in order to help Yolanda through part of her struggle. Including coming clean to her friends.

The problem though was two-fold. One was follow-through, and the second was in terms of actual answers.

In regards to problem one, there were many parts of the episode that stood out in a bad way as cheesy storytelling and bad acting. Such as with the return of her mom. Whom we haven’t seen since last season and yet she hasn’t changed a bit, even berating Yolanda in front of a priest for “dragging him into” her situation. Thinking she was just talking about the photos incident.

Yes, we know from last season that her parents still don’t support her, but even a terrible parent like her should’ve realized if she was going to a priest…? Something was seriously wrong. But she didn’t give her the time of day. And then when things got worse, she blamed Courtney for her “corruptive influence” (which makes no sense) and basically cut off all the parts of Yolanda’s life that made her strong.

That’s one of the other “follow-through” elements that fell apart here. As much as I don’t like how Courtney acts, and I maintain that Yolanda isn’t a true Wildcat because of how she uses her “powers” and suit, the reason she became Wildcat at Courtney’s behest was obvious. Courtney saw someone who needed help, and needed to find a new purpose in life, and she got it. And despite what she said in the episode, she loved it. She went from a shut-in to saving the world. So even under duress, it was weak to hear her blame Courtney as well as say “I’m never putting on that suit again” when we all know she will.

It also didn’t help that while Rick was understanding of Yolanda’s plight, Beth was anything but supportive. Seriously, it was lame. She should’ve at least said that she trusted Yolanda’s judgment even though she wasn’t there, but instead she acted like Yolanda was going to go and kill her next. Lame.

The second part, the “answers” section, was another big turn-off. Because as Courtney noted…we don’t know what the truth was. Was it Brainwave? Was it Eclipso? And why did Courtney’s staff (which she apparently brought to the church in broad daylight…) stop whatever was going on there? It may play out later, but after dedicating a whole episode to this “mental battle”, it would’ve been good to hear what really happened. Especially since next week will be a new fight entirely.

Speaking of which…boy Mike is annoying, isn’t he? He wants to get to the “good stuff” without any of the work, and he keeps making the worst decisions possible whenever he’s presented with them. Touching the black diamond just because it could move on its own, really? Also, negative points for not knowing Karate Kid!!!!

That’s not to say there wasn’t other good elements here. Seeing the return of Brainwave and Henry to haunt Yolanda was well-played for the most part. Courtney FINALLY embracing her ACTUAL life and connecting with Cameron more was good fun too. The Shade tease is also something to look out for going forward.

I do wish we got more of Eclipso though, especially after his big reveal last week. But we still have time…for now.

In the end, this episode focused mostly on one characters’ struggles and it worked out for the most part. Hopefully this doesn’t become a repeat pattern in terms of “losing members” because that will get old quick.

4/5