Summer School: Chapter Eight

## Episode Guide

**Summer School: Chapter Eight** is the eighth episode of the second season of *Stargirl*, and the twenty-first episode overall. This episode aired on September 28, 2021, on The CW.

## Synopsis

**SECOND CHANCES —** With his world crashing down around him, Rick focuses his attention on protecting Solomon Grundy after learning hunters are after a bear in the woods. Meanwhile, Beth becomes the target of Eclipso’s latest plan.

## Plot

*July 4th*
Miss Woods drives to the Harris farm, parks and get out. She knocks at the farmhouse and Rick answers. Woods says that she has some college brochures so he can go and start over, and says that she did. Matt comes out and yells at Woods, who drives off. He tells Rick that he'll end up in jail before he ends up in college tosses the brochures away, and goes inside. Rick pick up the scattered pages.

Rick goes out into the forest with a bag of food, sets it down, and yells that he's tired of everything and getting nothing back. He breaks into tears and sits on an overturned tree. Grundy comes up and stares at Rick, who looks back.

At the Whitmore house, the rest of the family is eating breakfast when Courtney prepares to go out. Barbara asks where Courtney is going, and Courtney says that she's going to talk to Yolanda. Pat tells his stepdaughter that it's not her fault that Yolanda quit, and that she should give Yolanda time. Mike disagrees, and tells Courtney that she should help Yolanda by kick Eclipso's ass, figuring it was the demon's fault.

The doorbell rings and Courtney goes to answer it. She finds a duffle bag on the doorstep and the Wildcat costume inside, but there's no sign of Yolanda.

Beth is at home working on her laptop, accessing confidential files. Dr. McNider calls on the goggles, and Beth puts them on and introduces herself. McNider asks what Beth is doing with his goggles, and Beth claims that she found them. He confirms that he's alive, and the pair of goggles that he's wearing and his original goggles that Beth are wearing are linked. Beth insists that she's trustworthy, and McNider starts to say that he's in the Shadowlands and they've seen him, and has to keep moving. The signal cuts out,

Grundy is in the forest eating, as Rick watches him. Rick talks about how family used to have a pit bull, and one day Rick took the dog to someplace else where it could be trained to be friendly, because people cares about him. The teenager figures that Grundy just needs someone to be kind to him. Rick figures that Grundy doesn't understand what he's talking about, and Grundy puts his hand on Rick's shoulder and then gives Rick an apple. The teenager smiles and eats it.

Courtney takes the Wildcat costume down to the basement, puts it away, and talks to the depowered Staff. It flickers briefly when Courtney says that it's her friend.

Bridget and James tell Beth that they decide they should talk to her about the divorce. They talk about how Beth was born, they decided to focus on raising her and lost sight of each other and grew apart because of Beth. The sandwich they served Beth sprouts maggots and she tosses it away. Her parents don't see the hallucination that Eclipso caused.

Rick goes back to his car, and a truck with hunters drive by to hunt the "bear". The teenager gets out of his car and runs back into the woods.

At the garage, Pat work on repairing STRIPE. Courtney comes in and says that they have to do something about the Staff, which she's named "Cosmo". She tells her stepfather that they can't sit around and hope things just fix themselves. Pat points out that he's fixing STRIPE and Cosmos was designed to fix itself. He tells Courtney that they have to be patient, and Courtney admits that she feel useless. She wonders where Courtney is, and Pat suggests that they regroup with Rick and Beth.

Rick calls Pat and tells him that Grundy needs their help. Courtney and Pat head out to the forest, and Courtney figures that Cosmo only has a couple of shots left. She wonders why Rick has been feeding Grundy for weeks, and wonders why he'd keep the secret from them.

Beth goes to the Whitmore home but finds it empty. Bruce is there and greets Beth, and introduces himself. Beth points out that it isn't Beth's house, and says that she's a liar and a thief. Bruce holds up the goggles and says that Beth stole them, and that "you people" steal things. The boy dares Beth to come get them if she wants, and runs upstairs.

Beth goes after Bruce and enters Courtney's room. She hears Bruce giggling from the closet, and yells at him to come out. Nothing happens, and Beth goes over and opens the door. Bruce isn't inside, and appears behind Beth and says that she's not very smart and she shouldn't have the goggles. He tells Beth that the others were chosen, but no one chose Beth because she's no fighter. Bruce snarls at Beth, and he telekinetically knocks Beth into the closet and closes the door on her.

Rick runs back to where Grundy was, but finds no sign of him. The two hunters find Rick, one was wounded, and says that a local 10-year-old has disappeared. Rick insists Grundy wouldn't hurt the girl and runs off to find her.

When Beth manages to break down the closet door, she finds herself in the JSA's old headquarters. Starman, Wildcat, and Hourman are there, and says that she doesn't belong there. Bruce is there, and says that Beth is the wrong age, gender, and color. He runs off, giggling, and Beth chases after him.

Pat and Courtney go through the forest and wonder why they haven't seen anyone.

Rick hears gunshots and screams, and figures Grundy is attacking the hunters. He takes out his hourglass and follows the noise. Courtney and Pat hear him yelling, and run after Rick. Meanwhile, Rick finds Grundy standing by the river. Rick asks the monster if he's okay, and Grundy turns and looks at the dead girl dead in the water.

Angry, Rick asks if Grundy killer her. He calls Grundy a monster, and Grundy turns and leaps off. Rick goes after Grundy, while Pat and Courtney arrive. They see the girl's body and Pat examines it. The girl, Rebecca McNider, opens her eyes, giggles, and disappears, and Courtney figures that it was Eclipso.

Rick chases Grundy to his farm, and asks why Grundy killed the girl. He enhances his strength and fights Grundy, and fireworks from the town's celebration go off overhead.

Beth runs through the house and hears Bruce laugh. He tells her that she can pretend to be brave but she isn't, and knows everything about him. Bruce says that she's been hiding behind her "stupid smile" all her life, and she's just a scared little girl. Beth asks why Bruce is hiding and asks what he's afraid of. Eclipso emerges from the shadow sand says that he isn't afraid of anything.

As Rick beats Grundy, Pat and Courtney arrive and he tells them to stay out of it.

Eclipso tells Beth that she's nothing. The demon grabs her wrist.

Pat and Courtney tell Rick that it isn't Grundy, and Courtney blasts Rick way. When he recovers, he discovers that Eclipso made him see Matt as Grundy. Pat checks on Matt and confirms that he's in critical condition. Rick yanks the hourglass off of his neck and throws it on the ground, breaking it.

Eclipso tells Beth to admit her envy, fear, and anger. He says that no one wants her and no one chose her, and Beth figures that Eclipso wants her to give into her worst fear. She says that she chose herself to be Dr. Mid-Nite, and her lack of fear breaks Eclipso's grip. She puts on the goggles, and they reveal that Eclipso is an illusion that disappear as she discovers that she's in her own house.

The police arrive at the farm and take Rick into custody for attacking his uncle. They drive him away, and all Pat and Courtney can do is watch. Nearby, Grundy emerges from hiding and remember his friend, Rick.

Beth scans the house to confirm that it's her own, and McNider tells her that she never left. He says that she should never take off the goggles, and they let her see through Eclipso's illusion. Beth accepts that she's the new Dr. Mid-Nite, and McNider's voice fades away. Bridget calls to Beth, and Beth goes to her room. Her parents come in and says that they haven't been there all day. Beth realizes that the entire thing was Eclipso's illusion, and says that sometimes she's trying to be something she can't be. Bridget tells her that she was the first black doctor in Blue Valley, and the people didn't know what to make of her when she started. She did her job the best she knew how, and eventually she won Blue Valley over. Bridget tells Beth that she can be anything she wants to be, because their family works hard and she shouldn't let anyone tell her what she can be. Beth's mother asks about the goggles Beth is wearing, and Beth claims that they're swim goggles.

At the Whitmore house, Barbara tells Mike what happened. Mike wonders what they can do, and Barbara says that they can be there for Pat and Courtney when they come back from visiting Rick at the police station. As they hug, ice forms on the outside of the house.

## Cast

### Starring

* Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore
* Anjelika Washington as Beth Chapel
* Cameron Gellman as Rick Tyler
* Trae Romano as Mike Dugan
* Nick Tarabay as Eclipso
* Amy Smart as Barbara Whitmore
* Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan

### Guest Starring

* Joel McHale as Sylvester Pemberton/Starman
* Milo Stein as Eclipso/Young Bruce Gordon
* Lou Ferrigno Jr. as Rex Tyler/Hourman
* Alex Collins as Charles McNider (Voice)
* Brian Stapf as Ted Grant/Wildcat
* Adam Alderks as Matt Harris
* Olive Abercrombie as Rebecca McNider

### Co-Starring

* Deborah Bowman as Miss. Woods
* Kron Moore as Bridget Chapel
* Gilbert Glenn Brown as James Chapel
* Bill Southwork as Farmer Frank
* Craig Galloway as Officer Hardy

## Notes and Trivia

* Anjelika Washington helped write this episode, according to Milo Stein on Instagram, though she is not given a writers credit.
* Chapter Eight is the first episode of the series not to feature Yvette Monreal as Yolanda Montez.
* This episode marks the return of Rick's uncle, Matt Harris, who was last seen in the Season 1 episode, "*Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite*".
* Chapter Eight marks the second consecutive episode in which a member of the JSA quits the team. Rick Tyler is manipulated by Eclipso into breaking the hourglass prior to his arrest.
	+ "*Summer School: Chapter Seven*" featured Yolanda Montez's exit from the team, with her returning the Wildcat Suit in this episode.
	+ Moreover, the characters leave the JSA in the order in which they were recruited. Yolanda was the first recruited by Courtney and the first to quit, followed by Rick, who was technically Courtney's second recruit. Because Beth chose herself to be Dr. Mid-Nite, she isn't part of Courtney's recruits.
* Chapter Eight takes place over the Fourth of July, one-day after the events of the previous episode, "*Summer School: Chapter Seven*".
* Mike calls Barbara "mom" for the first time, which parallels calling Mike her son in "*Summer School: Chapter Six*".
* Courtney gives the Cosmic Staff an official name, Cosmo.
	+ In the DC comics, "Cosmo" is a British phantom of disguise who operates under the moniker of "gentleman detective".
* Beth's hallucination of the golden age JSA members Starman, Hourman, and Wildcat, sets up their flashback appearances in Chapter Nine where they are heavily featured.
* Milo Stein did his first ever stunt while filming this episode, and was able to do the scene in one take.
* Milo had a hard time having to say the mean and racist things that Bruce says, but when he got to set, Anjelika told him it would be better to inspire people to not want to be an evil monster demon. She told him not to do the same things that the evil monster demon does.
* Milo only received the parts of the script that he was in and has been excited to see how the episodes unfold.
* Anj wants people to walk away from the episode with enlightenment, empathy, and compassion for people who are different than them. She wants people to have the courage to stand up in real life for others because they see Beth standing up for herself against enemies. She wants people to be their own superheroes in their regular lives.
* Charles teases that the "shadow barrier" is broken which is why the two goggles can communicate.
* According to Shawn during episode eight's *Stargirl Aftershow* podcast episode, Andi Armaganian was the one who named the staff, Cosmo, however, she revealed it during her interview earlier in the season and Shawn had to edit it out to avoid spoilers, despite Brec calling the staff Cosmo on social media several times.
* Cameron really connected with Rick's line of saying "I'm so tired" as it takes so much energy to be defensive. There's rage and pain behind that moment, as he understands how to feel more than just anger now.
* The moment Rick shared with Grundy on the log in the woods is an actual moment and not something that as placed by Eclipso, according to Cameron Gellman. He thinks that because the vision ended Grundy appeared with an apple which shadows the log conversation.
* Cameron got to set the pace for the days in the woods with Grundy, as he was on-set virtually alone as he didn't have a real scene partner. He loved the locations and peacefulness of the woods.
* Cameron teased that he and Hunter Sansone will share a lot more scenes this season.
* Most of Anj's dialogue is done at night when everyone else has left for the day. In Season 1, she did four episodes worth of Chuck-stuff in one night.
* The maggots were not CGI or animatronics, instead, the real insects used in the scene.
* Milo Stein's parents talked to him about the racist dialogue used in this episode. In the process, it was learned that Milo wasn't meant to be a guest star as he was supposed to be in only the Pilot. He was brought in for a larger role as Eclipso's host. They got the script for 2x08 while they were traveling, and were unsure if they wanted Milo to be in the show any further. Milo was scared about the lines, so Anjelika sat down with him to talk to him about the impact the words have on Beth and herself. She talked him through what the lines meant to her as a black woman and why they were important to say. Milo's parents and Anjelika worked together to ensure his comfort.
* Anj helped write the scenes and dialog for Eclipso scenes, using moments from her own experiences to make the scenes more realistic. The things said to Beth had been said to Anj in real life before. It needed to be harsh and awful to make Beth stand up for herself, because she's so used to people being mean to her.

## Gallery

### Screenshots

All Screenshots are courtesy of Screencapped.net. For a complete image set, see their gallery.

## References

1. ↑ https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/dcs-stargirl-season-two-ratings/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 https://www.instagram.com/p/CUYlsgdBUqW/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 https://stargirlaftershow.com/2021/10/01/stargirl-208/
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/AnjelikaW/status/1443011275789905924