Review: DC’s ‘Stargirl’ Finally Sheds Some Light on the Shade’s Plans for Eclipso

DC's Stargirl season 2 is setting up for what is likely to be a big fight between Courtney's Justice Society Of America and Cindy’s Injustice Society of America.

As fans know, Cindy is working hard to recruit members of her villain team, and Courtney's team are all dealing with issues of their own, but they are still determined to figure out why The Shade is in Blue Valley and what he wants with the Black Diamond. Stargirl Season 2 Episode 4 finally sheds some light on The Shade's plans, but also on Eclipso's past with the JSA.

DC’s Stargirl Finally Sheds Some Light On The Shade’s Plans For Eclipso

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 4 starts off with Artemis Crock visiting her parents in jail. It cuts back and forth between conversations with them both as she talks about how bad her foster family is. She also mentions that a recruiter is coming to Blue Valley to watch her football practice, which causes them to break out of prison so that they can watch their daughter play and support her in her time of need. This goes to show that even though they are villains, they are good parents.

Speaking of good parents, Barbara and Pat are talking in the kitchen before Courtney comes in about Eclipso. Pat has filled her in on everything he knows, but they are debating on telling Mike and Courtney as well. The last thing they want to do is scare the kids. Courtney then walks in and overhears the name Eclipso. She says she doesn’t know much about him, only that the goggles warned Beth about him. She says it is time to do some old-fashioned research, at the library.

The first time we see Beth in this episode, she is yet again trying to get her goggles to work. She briefly talks to her mom, urging her to go on a date with her dad to Blue Valley Putt-Putt, where they used to go when they were first dating. Her mother says they are both very busy with work, but that Beth should go with her friends. They are still avoiding the divorce subject, but it is likely this is going to all come out at some point this season.

Atermis' parents don't know where else to turn once they break out, so they go to Pat. They get his attention by forcing Mike to go with them to the garage and having him call Pat to come there. They threaten to tell everyone about S.T.R.I.P.E. unless he helps them lay low until they can watch Artemis' practice. He reluctantly agrees, and takes them to his home. Barbara is, of course, not too happy either considering the last time she saw them they tried to kill her.

Surprisingly, Barbara and Paula bond over their frustrations with raising teenage girls who refuse to listen to them. Even Pat and Crusher have a decent conversation as well. It seems they really never did like being a part of the ISA. Pat probes Crusher about The Shade, but it is very obvious he is not a fan of his either. Guess they really did only break out so that they could watch their daughter play sports.

The JSA learns a little bit about Eclipso, but not much. They discover he is from Diablo Island. When explorers stopped returning from there, the island was wiped off the maps. An explorer did rediscover the island, and was the only one to come back from it, however not much is known about him after his return. He just…disappeared. This is certain to come up later in the season.

Eager to learn more about the Black Diamond, Courtney goes into an old bookstore where she is met by The Shade. He explains to her that he is not looking for the diamond so he can team up with Eclipso, but rather so he can throw it into the darkest part of the ocean where no one will ever find it.

He also tells her that Eclipso killed the 10-year-old daughter of Charles McNider, AKA Dr. Mid-Nite. Viewers actually saw this happen in a flashback already. It turns out that Pat knew all about this and Courtney is quite upset with him for not telling her. She asks him what else he knows, and he says nothing, however it is obvious he is keeping more from her. Because of this, at the end of the episode, she flies off to meet with The Shade, to see if he will tell her.

Meanwhile, Cindy successfully recruits Isaac to her ISA team, telling him that his parents were once a part of it as well. She takes him to the ISA liar and gives him the fiddle, telling him that he will learn to play it over time.

At Artemis' practice, she is being watched by a recruiter and is not doing well at all until she spots her parents in the stand. This makes her gain her confidence back, and she ends up really impressing him, until Cindy shows up with the Black Diamond.

Earlier in the episode, viewers learn that Eclipso can cause people to see things that aren't there – and this is exactly what he does to Artemis. He causes her to believe that Courtney, as well as a football player, are SWAT team officers there to take her parents back to jail. Because of this she has an outburst and attacks them both.

Before her parents head back to jail, they confess to Artemis that they are guilty. They also let her know that they do not want to stand in the way of her greatness, and are extremely proud of her. Because of her temper, the recruiter tells her they cannot have her representing their school. She crushes her phone in anger just as Cindy comes to her with an offer of another team she can join — the ISA.

While there was certainly some light shed on what The Shade is going in Blue Valley, it stands to reason that Eclipso might have hurt someone close to him. There has to be a bigger reason why The Shade wants him gone so badly.

Pat and Barbara keeping secrets is causing Courtney not to trust them anymore, but is also having a negative effect on Mike. He is already on Cindy's recruitment list, and this is certainly one way to push him to her team. He so badly wants to be a part of the JSA and yet they all keep pushing him away. The ISA is the next best thing.

As per the norm for this season, this episode jumps all over the place, going back and forth between characters. It drops a big reveal/cliffhanger at the end though, that sucks viewers back in right when they are about to lose them. What cliffhanger? The final moments of the episode reveal that the voice talking to Beth through the goggles is not Chuck, but the real Charles McNider who has been trapped in the shadow realm all this time.

The Stargirl airs weekly on The CW. Watch on the CW App!