Stargirl season 2, episode 5 review: Summer School: Chapter Five

“The weather is just a prelude. You don’t want to see the finale.” Spoilers for Stargirl season 2, episode 5 follow.

As Eclipso’s influence grows, storms begin to cloud Blue Valley, Stargirl, and the rest of the JSA, both literally and figuratively.

In the midst of this influence, new villains are reluctantly born due to the unwanted influence of Eclipso’s machinations.

Stargirl season 2 gets dark in “Summer School: Chapter Five”.

Muses and paint

Who thought that an adaption of a character named Paintball would be terrifying? Yours truly was someone who enjoyed the ridiculously goofy character in the original Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. series, but oh man, were the changes made to character here perfect. This version of the character is genuinely haunting and channels the horror nature of this season incredibly well. Top that off with the character becoming incredibly sympathetic, as he’s desperately clinging to a lost love, it makes for an interesting villain, even if it seems that he’s just a one-off.

Once we get to the final act of the episode, this is where it all really begins to shine. The show quickly shifts gears from simply being “horror-influenced” to featuring a final act straight out of a horror film. Paintball’s ability to transfer (and basically become sentient paint) is incredibly nerve-wracking and unsettling. Combine that with Eclipso forcing the JSA, except for Stargirl, to see their fears and regrets, it’s enough to really get your heart racing.

Paintball isn’t the only one searching for his muse in this episode, though, as Cameron makes his first substantial appearance of the season and we get to see the continuation of his and Courtney’s flirtation from the first season. More than just seeing the pair’s sweet affection for each other, though, we see that Cameron is more than meets the eye when he confronts Cindy about her manipulations. It’s small, but it seems to be setting up a more heroic version of the character. Even if he is villainous, this suggests that he could end up fighting both the ISA and JSA. Either way, this episode added some much-needed depth to his character.

Stormy weather

One of the most interesting wrinkles this episode added into the mythos of Eclipso is how he corrupts the natural world, not just people. At first it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal for the weather to change with the entity, but it’s more than just than.

The evil that seeps out of the black diamond not only affects human desires and fears, it affects nature’s as well. And this is all within the confines of the black diamond, so who knows how powerful Eclipso will be once he escapes.

Shades of darkness in Stargirl season 2

As always with this season, even if Shade isn’t in more than one scene of an episode, he absolutely stands out as one of the best things about the show right now. He’s honestly to season 2 of Stargirl what Courtney and Pat were to the first season. When he’s not in a scene, it’s very noticeable, which is saying something because the rest of the show is by no means bad. It’s the opposite. The show is still great. The Shade is just that good in the show.

Just the one scene that he shares with Barbara in this episode is incredible. The dialogue is dynamic and constantly shifts expectations while hinting at The Shade’s long life. Plus, it helps that Jonathan Cake is incredible as the character and captures the nature of The Shade perfectly.

What did you think of Stargirl season 2, episode 5? Let us know in the comments below!