Stargirl - Summer School: Chapter Three

Stargirl follows up the introduction of Green Lantern's daughter (who is nowhere to be found in this episode), with the introduction of a new villain and pulling a plot thread left dangling since early in the show's First Season by having Mike (Trae Romano) become the new master of the mad genie Thunderbolt (Jim Gaffigan). Both stories offer twists as Mike's short-run as a potential member of the JSA disappears (along with the pen) when he wishers Thunderbolt to someone more worthy, and for all the darkness coming out of the Shade (Jonathan Cake) he does actually little harm to the new generation of heroes as he seems primarily interested in the Black Diamond and the havoc it is about to unleash on Blue Valley.

The episode opens with a look back on Pat's (Luke Wilson) sidekick days which offers a nice parallel to what Mike has been feeling while being left out of the family business. It was obvious that Thunderbolt was going to end up in Mike's hands at some point, but Mike giving away the power (and a potential ticket to what he has been wishing for) is a bit of a surprise. However, having Thunderbolt disappear, like Jennie, at least for the short-term, does save some costs for the series introducing two heavy CGI characters back-to-back. Having the Shade be more than just another classic villain out for vengeance or power is also a nice surprise while the scenes with Cindy (Meg DeLacy), and those to close out the episode, highlight the real threat to the town which is finally given a name: Eclipso.