Stargirl Season 2 - Discussion ( Spoiler Warning)

[LaxScrutiny]

I hate the implication that Pat tortured Rick's uncle into dropping the charges. I'm so damn sick of fiction looking for excuses to justify torture.

Torture is not part of Pat's characterization in any way at all, so I take what we saw as a red herring. He mentioned having plenty of experience with bullies, with no indication he tortured them.

Bullies are cowards at heart. I'm sure Pat threatened Matt (the uncle) and threatened to expose his ongoing abuse. I'm sure he came across as very aggressive but the purpose of not showing what happened was to keep it a mystery. I don't believe he tortured Matt, since Matt obviously has no reluctance to file charges for assault. It's more in character for Pat to have Matt exposed somehow. He closed the blinds and door so they wouldn't be interrupted. That would have kinda ruin threat to reveal something.

ETA: I loved the opening scene with Buddy, especially the first shot from behind where you can see his balls dangling to "I'm too sexy."

 

[Commander Troi]

Good to know Right Said Fred still makes money off that song.

Did Beth lose a bet and was forced to wear that outfit?

I was surprised to see the kitchen still scorched.

Did Cindy always have dramatic entrance and ninja exit powers? Batman is jealous.

I enjoyed the opening with the dog. I needed the laugh.

ALL of Beth's clothes are horrible.

I was *not* surprised - I've never seen "cleans scorch marks well" on a product.

Cindy's dad put his Mad Scientist settings to "ninja" that day.

I hate the implication that Pat tortured Rick's uncle into dropping the charges. I'm so damn sick of fiction looking for excuses to justify torture.

I agree completely, which is why I hope @LaxScrutiny is right. I'm guessing that Uncle Asshat is getting money from the Tyler estate (wasn't Rex an inventor?) to care for Rick. That could easily disappear with an abuse investigation.

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy... again, DeLacy does so much with this character! I could feel her discomfort watching Barbara hugging Courtney - she was what, 4 to 6 when she "killed" her mom? (I put it in quotes because she was so young *and* I think her father manipulated whatever happened.) It's easy to forget that she is how she is due to a lack of love and guidance. Yes, I think Eclipso still has her figured into his plans. I don't know if she'll ever be "good", but as she said, there are degrees of bad. I also thought her admitting she made a mistake with Eclipso - even if it took a little work to get there! - was an important step for her. I liked her reverse psychology with Yolanda. Who did she call to join the fight? I think Artemis is the only one left from her ISA.

Then there's Jade... oof! Was the reading at the school a trap or just opportunity? Either way, Eclipso wants that other source of light (or Light) out of the way!

I was pleased to see I was wrong about McNider and his day-blindness seems intact. Nice for Beth to finally get to meet him! He didn't seem creepy to me, just reserved.

 

[Christopher]

He didn't seem creepy to me, just reserved.

It's the actor's delivery that's the problem for me. He speaks in kind of a slow, stilted, overdramatic way.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

It's the actor's delivery that's the problem for me. He speaks in kind of a slow, stilted, overdramatic way.

As did a lot of my profs in university.

 

[Commander Troi]

Ditto.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I agree completely, which is why I hope @LaxScrutiny is right. I'm guessing that Uncle Asshat is getting money from the Tyler estate (wasn't Rex an inventor?) to care for Rick. That could easily disappear with an abuse investigation.

In the comics Rex was a chemist who later bought the company he worked for and renamed in "Tyler Chemicals". In later stories the company seemed to have branched out into other areas of science and technology.

 

[Guy Gardener]

As did a lot of my profs in university.

That's what you said.

This is what I read...

I did a lot of my profs in university.

 

[Guy Gardener]

ALL of Beth's clothes are horrible.

Beth is probably a sexy twenty something in real life.

They have to hide that.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Torture is not part of Pat's characterization in any way at all, so I take what we saw as a red herring. He mentioned having plenty of experience with bullies, with no indication he tortured them.

I think Pat pulled out a copy of The Watchtower and watched him cry uncle.

Or is that still torture?

 

[Commander Troi]

I would say yes on that.

 

[theenglish]

Torture is not part of Pat's characterization in any way at all, so I take what we saw as a red herring. He mentioned having plenty of experience with bullies, with no indication he tortured them.

I agree completely--in fact, I'm thinking that there is going to be some kind of punchline there. Pat knows something that Rick doesn't want people to know about. There is no way Pat actually tortured him, and I don't think he threatened him either because Rick would have simply called the police and pressed charges regardless if they would actually be prosecutable.

ETA: I loved the opening scene with Buddy, especially the first shot from behind where you can see his balls dangling to "I'm too sexy."

I laughed out loud at Buddy's entire scene.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

Who did she call to join the fight? I think Artemis is the only one left from her ISA.

I just rewatched that episode. You're right, just Artemis, but I noticed something. When Violin-Player Lad got killed/eaten, it was the same scorch mark where Beth and Jennie found that glop of black phlegm. I'm wondering if some residue of Isaac is in Jennie's ring, and if the ring is magical enough to do something with it. Or my other wild theory, the phlegm was just shadow stuff but it plays a part, either getting Shade back, or maybe powering up Obsidian next season?

Which doesn't answer our question about who "All of you" are. Well, we know Tigress and Sportsmaster can get out of prison at will. Cindy would be meaning Artemis and her mum and dad, 'cause who else does Artemis know?

 

[Commander Troi]

Which doesn't answer our question about who "All of you" are. Well, we know Tigress and Sportsmaster can get out of prison at will. Cindy would be meaning Artemis and her mum and dad, 'cause who else does Artemis know?

That's what I'm thinking.

As to the Shadow goop: I don't think it's Isaac - it looked to me like Eclipso ate him (ew) - but your 2nd idea... hmm...

 

[thribs]

Stargirl: Frenemies in 2022.
I was wondering who Keith David was playing. I still don’t know so I’ll just call him Spawn for now.
How can Artemis parent buy the next door house if they’re fugitives. People know them from that town.

 

[Caretaker]

I kept thinking "Is Eclipso controlling the La Brea rifts?"

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I let out a belly laugh at Stargirl Frenemies. Interesting episode, lots of fertile ground for the future but the denouement with Eclipso didn’t quite hit a home run for me. A lot of moving pieces but less than the sum of its parts. Eclipso seemed to be defeated by sheer volume.

 

[Corran Horn]

I agree completely, which is why I hope @LaxScrutiny is right. I'm guessing that Uncle Asshat is getting money from the Tyler estate (wasn't Rex an inventor?) to care for Rick. That could easily disappear with an abuse investigation.

He made a show of closing the blinds so he could bribe him?

 

[Commander Troi]

He made a show of closing the blinds so he could bribe him?

No, he threatened him. The question is, with what?

 

[The Habs Fan]

I loved this episode and it might be my favourite of the series so far. Excited for season 3 with Mister Bones and the, slightly worrisome, large cast it seems it will have. I’m confident Geoff Johns will make it all work, since Stargirl is very important to him.

 

[Christopher]

Rather underwhelming, cluttered finale. The title character was barely a presence in the climactic battle. She just suddenly showed up after a bunch of stuff with other characters, then we were told that taking her over had been the point of everything all along, and then she defeated him with some superficial sap about the power of love, plus Starman randomly showing up after a whole season spent wondering when the hell he was going to show up, what, was he walking to Blue Valley? And for all the setup they gave Jennie/Jade, her participation in the climactic battle couldn't have been more superficial. Really clumsy storytelling, with the pieces not meshed together well at all, in large part because there were just so damn many of them tossed in that none of them was given the attention it merited.

I really, really did not like this season. It didn't work for me at all. It wasted far too much time on slow, moody, '80s-horror-movie creepiness that would've been better spent on fleshing out the character arcs more. The show seems more in love with showing off how much DC lore it can reference than with actually telling a good story in its own right. Continuity nods should be a means to the end of telling the story; instead, it too often feels like the story is just a framework for hanging continuity nods on.