Shiv Part One

## Episode Guide

"**Shiv Part One**" is the seventh episode of the first season of *Stargirl*.

The episode aired on June 29, 2020, on DC Universe and June 30, 2020, on The CW.

## Synopsis

*"LEA THOMPSON (“BACK TO THE FUTURE”) DIRECTS THE EPISODE — As Pat teaches Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick the importance of teamwork, the ISA converge to figure out who is trying to take them down. Elsewhere, as the school prepares for homecoming, Cindy lashes out against her father’s strict rules, while Barbara accepts an offer from Jordan."*

## Summary

On a bright and early morning, Court greets her Cosmic Staff, while Rick etches Hourman’s logo into the tree where his parents died. Yolanda for her part is working out out in the gym and Beth is performing some bathroom karaoke with Chuck. Back at Courtney's house, she and Pat arrive back home and they are overheard talking about some training by Mike, which inevitably leads the two to concoct an elaborate lie about Pat teaching Courtney how to drive, which in turn irks Barbara, who is feeling a bit left out. This leads Pat to tell Barbara how he really should tell her everything, and appears to be quite apologetic towards his wife.

Over at the hospital, Cindy finds Henry brooding at his father’s bedside. She’s looking to lock down homecoming dance plans, but Henry is in no mood for the dance. Cindy takes out her frustrations on Jenny at school. This prompts Jenny to ask Cindy why she is such a bitch. As a result, she tells Cindy that she's glad the other girl won't be at the homecoming dance because she needs a break from her. Cindy ends up hissing at the bearded janitor. Courtney darts over to help him and he in turn thanks her and greets by saying “m’lady.” Afterward, we see that in the janitor’s closet is a chalice and an ornate sword.

On her way into school, following her own brusque encounter with Cindy, Courtney learned from Beth that Cindy’s mother died years ago, and her father has remarried twice since then. Almost overnight, Cindy apparently became the scariest fourth grader according to Beth. Rick points out however, that is still no excuse for how Cindy treats other people. That in the end, Cindy is just a horrible person. Later in chemistry class, Courtney convinces Cindy to be lab partners with her. She uses that time to share that she too lost a parent. Eventually a rather annoyed Cindy asks Courtney what she's staring at. Amazed, Courtney answers that she hasn't seen Cindy look at the directions for the experiment once. Thus proving quite proficient at chemistry. Cindy explains that as a kid, she and her scientist dad did “experiments for fun”. As the girls ace their assignment for the day, Cindy invites Courtney to hang out with her Saturday night, instead of going to the “lame” homecoming dance. Courtney gladly accepts.

After school, Pat brings Courtney, Yolanda, Rick and Beth to The Pit Stop. Once inside, he has set up a lo-fi training course, with mop buckets and the like representing members of the ISA. He then gives them the 411 on the known local villains, touting Sportsmaster’s fighting skills, the “sadistic” tendencies of Tigress, the portly but “cunning” The Gambler. Impatient for some actual training, Court and the Cosmic Staff make quick work of the mop bucket enemies, wrecking the course before any of her frustrated teammates get a crack at it.

When Cindy returns home after school, Bobbie Burman, her latest stepmom greets her and asks how her day went. She comes across as desperate to please Cindy to the point that, despite orders from husband Dr. Ito, she fetches her teenage stepdaughter some pinot noir. Cindy proceeds to visit her father unannounced by entering his lab via keypad, and then descending a series of staircases to the Injustice Society of America Headquarters, scoffing at Solomon Grundy along the way. Cindy overhears Sportsmaster giving the others a play-by-play of his and Paula’s face off with Stargirl & co. Paula wants to get their respective kids involved in the investigation into this junior-size JSA, but Jordan nips that notion in the bud.

Before she can hear anymore, Cindy is grabbed from her eavesdropping perch, and brought to her father’s lab down the hall. She makes it clear that she is bored with teen life, and to prove her point and skills, she produces a blade from her shirt cuff and nonchalantly slashes one of her Dad’s carefully cultivated assistants. Noting that Cindy has learned “nothing” from her mother’s death, Dr. Ito reminds her that he gave her powers to protect herself, not to “enhance her tantrums”. When Cindy takes a liking to the suit on display, her dad implores her to stay focused on Henry, whom she apparently was tasked with monitoring, in case he exhibits the same powers as his father, Brainwave.

Cameron enters his house, and ignores Jordan's greetings, as he is deep in thought. Jordan calls Cameron's name slightly more sternly, and Cameron turns around. Jordan asks his son what's going on, and Cameron shyly admits that he wants to ask a girl to the homecoming dance, but is too nervous to, and doesn't know how. Jordan tells Cameron that he went through the same thing when he wanted to ask Christine out, telling his son that Christine was just waiting for Jordan to ask her out. He tells Cameron that love is the reason they were placed on Earth, and says that maybe the girl Cameron wants to ask to the dance is just waiting for him to ask her. Cameron walks off, but not before telling Jordan that Christine would want him to be happy. Jordan replies by saying that he is happy.

With Barbara off on a business trip to Oakville (accompanying Jordan for American Dream’s purchase of an old sewing machine factory. Meanwhile, Courtney attends the homecoming game with Pat and Mike. When Pat goes to fetch some food after another conspicuously coded exchange with Courtney, Mike tears into his stepsister a bit, by saying that Pat is his dad, not hers. He notes that Courtney doesn’t see Mike at her mom’s hip 24/7, and that he and Pat have been through a lot, more than she could ever know.

Eventually, Cameron Mahkent greets Courtney at the game, and awkwardly sits next to her, fidgeting with his hands, and finally working up the courage to ask her to the dance. She stammers her giddy response of acceptance, but not before she explains that she had plans with Cindy that she will simply reschedule. Unfortunately, nothing is simple with Cindy. She does not take kindly to the change in plans and declares that they're done forever Courtney then heads back to the stands, but sees Principal Bowin acting suspiciously, so she follows her to her office. She covertly observes as Bowin grabs her violin and slips behind a secret door. After suiting up, Court uses the Cosmic Staff to pop open the secret door, behind which she descends a series of steps, unwittingly triggering a motion sensor along the way. Cindy, in her dad’s lab, spots Stargirl on the CCTV and puts on the Shiv suit she eyeballed earlier. Just as Stargirl emerges from the tunnel outside school lockers, Shiv shows up to start whaling on her.

Taking their scuffle to the gym where the dance is to be held, the gals slug it out, trading staff zaps and fiery scepter blasts. At one point, Stagirl’s staff seriously burns Cindy’s face. Courtney is horrified, but in a matter of seconds, her injuries miraculously heal and Cindy smirks. Cindy eventually gains the upper hand is about to do deliver a finishing blow, when Janitor Justin shows up and blocks her strike with his sword. Cindy scampers away, while the Cosmic Staff darts off to find Pat and bring him to the KO’d Courtney. As Pat tends to a brutally banged-up Stargirl, the mysterious janitor is hiding in the shadows and remarks to himself, “Stripesy…?”

## Cast

### Starring

* Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore
* Yvette Monreal as Yolanda Montez
* Anjelika Washington as Beth Chapel
* Cameron Gellman as Rick Tyler
* Trae Romano as Mike Dugan
* Jake Austin Walker as Henry King Jr.
* Hunter Sansone as Cameron Mahkent
* Meg DeLacy as Cindy Burman
* Neil Jackson as Jordan Mahkent
* Christopher James Baker as Dr. Henry King Sr.
* Amy Smart as Barbara Whitmore
* Luke Wilson as Pat Dugan

### Guest Starring

* Nelson Lee as Dr. Ito/Dragon King
* Mark Ashworth as Justin
* Neil Hopkins as Larry Crock
* Joy Osmanski as Paula Brooks
* Hina Khan as Principal Anaya Bowin
* Eric Goins as Steve Sharpe

### Co-Starring

* Ashley Winfrey as Jenny Williams
* Christian Adam as Josh Hamman
* Lesa Wilson as Bobbie Burman
* Kron Moore as Dr. Bridget Chapel
* Gilbert Glenn Brown as James Chapel
* Max Frantz as Isaac Bowin
* Matt Burke as Mr. Sullivan
* Michael Hyland Cole as Mr. Paris
* Unknown as The Fiddler

## Notes and Trivia

* This is the first episode to split into two parts, *Shiv Part One* and "*Shiv Part Two*".
* *Shiv Part One* focused primarily on Cindy Burman, serving as an origin story for the character.
* One of Stargirl's biggest comic book foes, Shiv, was introduced in this episode.
* Justin's medieval memorabilia and artifacts, along with his fighting ability, parallel that of a popular comic book hero, Shining Knight.
* Lea Thompson directed this episode. She previously starred in the classic film, *Back to the Future*. To honor that, the crew built a replica of *Roy's Records* one of the shops seen in the classic Robert Zemeckis film.
* The episode has some parallels to the comic book, *Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.* #7. Both stories featured a Hill Valley High football game, which Courtney had to leave early to fight Shiv for the first time.
* The city Barbara says she's going to visit is Oakville, a city first mentioned in *All-American Comics* #1. During the Golden Age, DC ran a feature called *Red, White, and Blue*, which was about three military operatives named Red Dugan, Whitey Smith, and Blooey Blue. There is no direct connection between Pat Dugan and Red Dugan.
* When Henry King Jr. is looking at his math test, there is an equation 3X2(9YZ)4A. That formula was first seen in *More Fun Comics* #71 where it was used by Johnny Quick to tap into superspeed powers. “*I’m doing a math test, so I’m putting the Speed Formula in here! So it’s in there at number 3 on the test, as part of a longer question*” graphic designer Shawn McBee explained on the Stargirl Aftershow Podcast.
* While Pat is leading the Justice Society to his bargain-basement training simulator, a familiar green car can be seen in the background. The vehicle is a dead ringer for the one Superman is holding on the cover of *Action Comics* #1, and next to the Batmobile, it’s probably the most famous car in the *DC Universe*.
* The name of the team BVHS plays against, the "*Civic City Atoms*" is an allusion to the Atom, a founding member of the Justice Society. In fact, Al Pratt’s name can be seen on a jersey worn by one of the Civic City Atoms.
	+ One of the pep rally posters calls upon the Prairie Dogs to “smash those Atoms!” This is an homage to Atom Smasher, godson to the original Atom.
	+ Some of the jerseys from the game have the names of Stargirl crew members, including Beeman, named after executive producer Greg Beeman.
* Janitor Justin was Stargirl’s knight in shining armor during her showdown with Shiv, and more of his story can be seen in the comics, specifically, *Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.* #10.
* Several scenes from "Shiv Part One" can be seen in the comic series, as the crew took inspiration from how those fight sequences or everyday scenes unfolded.
* For an exclusive interview with Meg DeLacy and a breakdown of the episode, along with some incredible Easter eggs and behind the scenes information, click here.

## Gallery

### Promotional

* Photos
* Videos

Meg DeLacy IG Takeover

DC's Stargirl 1x07 Promo "Shiv Part One" (HD) Brec Bassinger Superhero series

## References

1. ↑ https://tvline.com/2020/07/01/ratings-stargirl-season-1-episode-7/
2. ↑ https://thegww.com/exclusive-dcs-stargirl-episode-titles-confirm-the-brainwaves-icicle-writers-room-includes-comics-veteran-james-dale-robinson-melissa-carter-taylo/
3. ↑ https://community.dcuniverse.com/t/coming-soon-last-chance-june-2020/1016312
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 https://www.dcuniverse.com/news/all-easter-eggs-stargirl-episode-7-shiv-part-one/