**This article contains spoilers for the season two premire of Stargirl**
Stargirl is back again for its sophomore season bringing us back to Blue Valley and reuniting us with Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl and the Justice Society of America. This premiere episode kicks off with a flashback in Melody Hills, Indiana, decades in the past. Here we meet Rebecca McNider and her mother and a young boy named Bruce. Rebecca is upset with her mother because she is not allowing her to attend the birthday party across the street. As she sits outside to blow off some steam, she encounters Bruce. A mysterious young boy who is much more than meets the eye.
Bruce slowly convinces Rebecca to go against her mother’s wishes and attends the party anyway. After things go awry, we learn that the little boy [Bruce] is in fact Eclipso, as he kills Rebecca. How does the death of Rebecca McNider (the daughter of Doctor Charles McNider) play into Eclipso’s history with the previous incarnation of the Justice Society of America remains to be seen?
Now in the present, Stargirl and the rest of the JSA are on patrol but are not getting any action. Bummed by the lack of villainy in Blue Valley, the rest of the team decide to call it night and return home, although Stargirl wants to keep patrolling a bit longer. Back at her home, Courtney is going through some old JSA records that contained information on former members of the Injustice Society of America.
Whose files was Courtney looking at specifically? We got you covered! First up was Per Dagaton who was banished to an alternate timeline by The Flash (Jay Garrick), next up is Blackbriar Thorn who was defeated by Alan Scott/Green Lantern back in 1988. While no real context was given on how Baron Blitzkrieg, The Thinker, and Gentlemen Ghost were defeated, Courtney does name-drop them so they serve as fun little nods to some classic JSA villains from the comics.
Meanwhile, Pat is trying his best to convince Courtney to spend more time focusing on school and her grades instead of being Stargirl. Now that Icicle has been defeated and Project New America has been stopped, Courtney and the JSA have some breathing room and she should enjoy it. Pat reveals that he planned a family vacation to Yellowstone Park to further cement this break from being a superhero. Mike and Courtney are not game for this family vacation as she wants to keep patrolling Blue Valley and Mike wants more information on the JSA so he can become a member.
While not much is going on with Rick Tyler, he has been scouting the area for Solomon Grundy since he has a hunch that Grundy is still around but in hiding. Later in this episode, his hunch is confirmed as he leaves food out for Grundy and the food is eaten. Not entirely sure where the series plans to go with this plot thread but we shall see what happens as the season progresses.
As for our new Doctor Mid-Nite, Beth Chapel, she is dealing with some issues as she learns about her parents filing for divorce without telling her. She is also dealing with trying to bring Chuck back and when she does, Chuck doesn’t recognize her which brings her down a bit. Even Yolanda is dealing with some heavy stuff as she is still dealing with the death of Brainwave. Dealing with her grief, Yolanda feels like she isn’t worthy of being Wildcat because she feels that Ted Grant wouldn’t have taken a life.
Back to Courtney, she now has to attend summer school because she has failed a few classes due to fighting crime as Stargirl. If Courtney wants to proceed to her junior year of high school she’ll need to attend these classes. In turn, the family vacation is canceled but that’s not without Pat and Barbara giving Courtney a mouthful.
We take a brief moment to see that Starman is still looking for Pat as he arrives at the diner that Pat’s former wife works at. Icicle’s son Cameron is now back in Blue Valley and his grandparents have spotted him speaking with Courtney. Knowing Courtney’s secret (that she is Stargirl), his grandmother feels like he needs to be informed of who Courtney truly is, while his grandfather is more content with leaving him alone and essentially keeping him in the dark since he seems happy about speaking with Courtney.
Earlier in the episode, we saw Pat leave his workshop in the hands of Zeek as they were planning to go on vacation. As he returns to inform Zeek that plans have now been canceled, Pat finds Zeek fiddling around with his robot S.T.R.I.P.E… Zeek takes it upon himself to bring Pat a flamethrower he made to attach to S.T.R.I.P.E. to make it that much more useful.
Later that night, we get the introduction of Jennifer-Lynn Hayden or Jenny for short, aka Jade. The daughter of Golden Age Green Lantern and former Justice Society of America, Alan Scott. Who is now in a one-on-one battle with Courtney as she tries to retrieve the Green Lantern battery? After their scuffle, they are greeted by Courtney’s parents as they seemingly destroy the kitchen.
Closing out this week’s episode is the return of Cindy Burman aka Shiv, who returns to the Injustice Society’s hideout in Blue Valley High School. Here’s we learn that Cindy Burman is trying to recruit an Injustice Society of her own known as Injustice Unlimited, and who she will try to recruit. Who is she trying to recruit? First is Artemis Cook, Isaac Bowin, Cameron Mahkent, and Mike Dugan. We already know that she has control of the Black Diamond which is housing Eclipso so we know that he’ll also be a member to some degree.
Overall, the premiere episode of Stargirl Season 2 is solid and lays the groundwork for what we can expect this season. The introduction of Jade early one paves the way to see how much she knows about her father being the Green Lantern, where she has been all of this time, and how she came in possession of the Green Lantern ring. Meg DeLacy’s Cindy Burman is always a joy to see on screen as she simply captivates as the series antagonist, most importantly, we get to see a glimpse of how menacing and powerful Eclipso will be in this show.
Anyone worried about the quality, look, writing, and feel of the show now that it’s become a permanent CW show truly has nothing to worry about. Everything looks and feels the same and nothing has really diminished in terms of overall quality as of yet. If you enjoyed season one of Stargirl, you’re in for a treat with this season premiere.
Stargirl Season 2 airs every Tuesday night at 8:00 PM on The CW and streams free the next day on The CW App.
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