With Eclipso apparently inactive, the gang focus on their various other interests and issues – but is their nemesis really as absent as they might think?

If the narrative thrust of season 1 was the building of the new Justice Society the arc of season 2 seems all about testing it to destruction. Last time out, Yolanda quit the team and is showing no signs of wanting back in. Now, things seem to have quietened down, leaving everyone to focus on other things.

For Rick, who gets a decent share of this instalment, that involves facing the fact that he’s trying to shelter the literal monster who killed his parents. Given that he doesn’t really seem to have much else in his life worth living for, save his fellow heroes, this is not perhaps the greatest thing for his mental health. But reaching out to Grundy helps him to find peace of a sort, even as it threatens to harm him at the same time.

For Beth, it means continuing her attempts to get the goggles properly working while doing her best to stay in denial about the fact of her parents’ impending divorce. That’s not working out too well for her though – the goggles, when they do work, seem unimpressed by the fact they’re in the possession of a sixteen year old, and her parents don’t have the kindest of words for her. Anjelika Washington often has a thankless role in the part of Beth, the nerd so nerdy that even her scientist parents seem a little embarrassed on her behalf, but oh boy does she earn her paycheque and then some with this outing. Turns out that of all the new Society, Beth Chapel may well be the most worthy inheritor of her superhero mantle. Who could have seen that coming?

When things start to go a little sideways in town, Rick calls on Courtney and Pat to help out, but there may well be nothing that they can do. As Rick strives to protect his newfound friend Grundy against those who would do him harm, he loses sight of the bigger picture, with some tragic consequences

The clever thing about the episode is not that Eclipso is so obviously not dormant, but the ways in which the writers address this, leading the heroes and the viewer on a journey where the next turn is never quite obvious. We know that Eclipso works by manipulating his enemies, and that includes both direct manipulation as well as subtler methods. This really may be an enemy that the team can’t defeat alone, and I wonder what sort of alliances they may have to consider in order to emerge victorious.

Verdict: Dark, compelling and frequently clever. 9/10

Greg D. Smith