Yolanda is tortured by the guilt over her killing of Brainwave but finds herself feeling increasingly alone as she tries to find someone to reach out to.

Stargirl has mostly been a show that has done right by its characters, and the one bum note it hit in its maiden season related to Yolanda, specifically her humiliation at the hands of Henry, which had led to her downfall from top student and beloved daughter to outcast. Here though, I’m happy to say that the episode handles the character, and the challenges she faces with a much more deft hand.

The character’s faith has been referenced a lot this season and becomes central again here. Yolanda is especially troubled by Eclipso because he represents the Devil as she would understand the term. Already constantly riven by guilt at having murdered a man – however evil – Yolanda finds herself contemplating an impossible choice: will she be able to kill again if she needs to, and is she justified in doing so if what she kills is evil in the truest, rawest sense? One senses that underlying that last question is the desperate need to absolve herself of Brainwave’s death too.

It’s refreshing to see a show which references faith entirely sincerely like this, and also which portrays a priest as a genuine spiritual adviser, there to try to help. A scene between Yolanda, her mother and this priest emphasises his genuine concern for his parishioner, and his steadfast belief that judgement is not in his domain. You rarely see faith (especially Catholicism) in genre where it isn’t being portrayed as a negative, suffocating force and/or a punchline.

But the real complexity comes when Yolanda is convinced by a mostly absent Courtney (who is flattered by the attentions of Cameron) to confess her dark secret to the rest of the JSA and help lighten the load. Plagued by increasingly strong and horrific visions which may be real or the product of Eclipso’s foul schemes, Yolanda feels she has no choice if she is to try to make sense of it all.

This is a fascinating scene to watch play out and doesn’t go at all how you might expect. Where Rick attempts comfort without sincerity, Beth is left lost for words. Most remarkable of all is Yolanda’s reaction, as she sees that her fellows not only judge her but may well leave her in the position of having to make such a stark choice again. The choice she makes instead is a shattering one, both for her and her friends, and I hope that the writers exercise the same sensitivity and nuance with the rest of her journey as they do here. Yvette Monreal deserves all the plaudits though – this is mainly her episode and she doesn’t just carry it but absolutely soars.

As if there weren’t enough surprises already, the person who offers the best insight to Yolanda’s feelings is Mike, who’s spent most of the episode being bored with menial work in his ‘training’. Mike’s confession to everyone that his killing of Icicle was purely accidental is a powerful statement, even if we’ve already heard it once, and serves to emphasise to the audience and hopefully to Yolanda’s friends that hard choices made in the moment sometimes aren’t choices at all. Who’d have guessed you’d get that from the little brother comic relief?

Verdict: Deep, slow and incredibly powerful. Plaudits to all concerned. 10/10

Greg D. Smith