As a big storm gathers force over Blue Valley, darkness haunts the memories of Pat, Mikey and Barbara. Is it time for the real truth about Eclipso to emerge?

Stargirl has been getting progressively darker from episode to episode this season, and this episode is no exception. With Rick now in jail and Yolanda having quit, the New Justice Society of America’s ranks are thinning considerably, and having failed to beat down Beth, Eclipso decides to target the Dugan-Whitmore household.

For Pat, this is not so tricky. The man is already riven with guilt over so many things, and finds himself drifting back through memories of the last time the JSA faced off against Eclipso. That means confronting the choices that were made, the consequences of those choices, and more importantly, the fact that he has kept all these truths hidden from Courtney and her friends.

For Mikey, his struggle relates to the guilt he still feels for his role in the death of Icicle. The way in which Eclipso is able to use this against him is really quite awfully cruel, and emphasises again the level and type of monster with which the gang are dealing. As for Barbara, she is confronted with the spectres of the past too, though she does find assistance from an unexpected source.

The episode very much focuses on the Dugan-Whitmores, with nobody else really putting in appearance save for the various figures from Pat’s past in the flashback scenes. The emphasis here is on the fact that this isn’t an enemy they can defeat through sheer brute force. Eclipso is a darker and more insidious foe than they have faced before, and the ultimate choice barrelling towards them is the same one their forebears had to make, and they evidently chose poorly.

Verdict: Dark, tense and really leaving us in no doubt that our heroes won’t walk away from this unscathed. 9/10

Greg D. Smith