S02.E07: Summer School: Chapter Seven

[scarynikki12]

Quote

When the guilt over Brainwave's death becomes too much to handle, Yolanda is forced to make a heartbreaking decision.

 

 

[AimingforYoko]

Man, are Ca-, uh, people of a particular denomination good at self-flagellation. And Yolanda's parents are really no help.

[Terrafamilia]

Gee, Kid Eclipso was working that sucker for a good long time, wasn't he?

I'm thinking Brainwave put the whammy on Yolanda out of spite as he lay dying just to torment her.

No mention of the totally trashed lunchroom at school. Maybe they chalked it up to a Tik-Tok challenge.

[cambridgeguy]

Courtney really should have asked Pat to stop by for the group scene.  An experienced voice may have been able to keep things from spiraling out of control, especially if one of the original JSA or Seven Soldiers killed a baddie back in the day.   Plus while it may have been inappropriate, someone should have told Yolanda that she's vastly overestimating herself if she thinks she'll be in a position to kill Eclipso. 

And come on Rick, you can do better than that.  There's a difference between not killing Grundy, who you think of as just an animal, and Brainwave, a guy who killed his own son, was OK with murdering millions of people, and absolutely would have killed the JSA.

Edited September 22, 2021 by cambridgeguy

[Frozendiva]

I wondered if the episode was just one mindgame for little evil kid Eclipso.

Instead of going to the confessional, maybe go to the school counsellor and ask for a referral to a therapist.  The priest can't do much except to actually leave the booth and maybe counsel her and help her get the help she needs. It may not be from her faith. Pat isn't her dad, but he could be a quiet, sensible person who can talk to Yolanda and help her get the help she needs and maybe chats with her parents. No, she is not the person who can kill Eclipso, but she may come in to her own self and develop her own strength. The mom telling folks not to call, having her quit the job, etc. is wrong. What are they going to do? Move to a new town?

Don't know what Mike was touching that caused him to have that reaction.

[Lantern7]

Damn, you just want to hug Yolanda. Either she's getting jerked around by Eclipso, she's getting jerked around by Brainwave, or she's having a huge fuck-off breakdown. Also, her mother is the least sympathetic person in Blue Valley. Yolanda's parents might actually qualify for honorary ISA status.

2 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

And come on Rick, you can do better than that.  There's a difference between not killing Grundy, who you think of as just an animal, and Brainwave, a guy who killed his own son, was OK with murdering millions of people, and absolutely would have killed the JSA.

Well said. And I'm still convinced Brainwave faked his own death to escape. If that's true, then he's hanging around just to fuck with Yolanda, and that's a horrible thought. Then I start wondering if he's driving a wedge between Beth's parents.

A scene at the Dugan/Whitmore House:

Pat: Mike! Oh my God! Are . . . are you twerking?!?

Mike: (catching his breath) I think you meant "tweaking" . . . and nah. I just touched the black diamond shard and-

Pat: Whooooooaa, easy there, buckeroo!

Mike: (frowning) Really?

Pat: I'm that kind of dad. Seriously, though, you shouldn't touch those. I've been keeping them because I figure we could use those against Eclipso.

Mike: Okay, okay . . 

Pat: (grabbing Mike) I know, I probably should have told you. But this is serious stuff. We're dealing with an honest-to-goodness evil thing. He's more or less blotted out the sun. It's July 3, and the leaves are already-

Mike: (interrupting) Wait . . .it's July 3? Assuming the spring semester ended in mid-June . . .are you telling me we've plowed through seven episodes in the span of a few weeks?!?

Pat: (shrugging) I don't know, Mike. I don't know about that. I don't know why Yolanda has only been feeling guilt now, as opposed to the past several months. I don't know if Sylvester will pop up again and snoop around my life. I don't know what the deal is with Zeek. I don'-

Barbara: (off-screen) I think he's an alien! Like, he's a Martian or something?

Pat: (shouting back) Honey, you're probably thinking of Zook. I think J'onn J'onzz said he was his imaginary friend when he lived on Mars! That's Earth-1. We're Earth-2!

Barbara: (disappointed) Aw . . .  I thought I had something!

Pat: You did good! The spelling is similar!

Mike: Dad? Are we ever going to cross-

Pat: God willing, 2022.

Mike: Awesome! I'm gonna get Gary's autograph!

Pat (facepalm) I have gone wrong as a father . . .

Edited September 22, 2021 by Lantern7

[Pepper the Cat]

Please, someone help Yolanda.

 She is just a child who killed someone. 
surely there is someone somewhere that can help her

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

35 minutes ago, Frozendiva said:

Don't know what Mike was touching that caused him to have that reaction.

The pieces of the Black Diamond. That's why he asked Pat why he was keeping them around, and Pat said the Diamond was the only thing that stopped Eclipso before.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Noneofyourbusiness

[shapeshifter]

Dark and dreary. Is this building up to a PSA on teen suicide?😧

[Diapason Untuned]

Wow, this was quite the episode. Making Yolanda think she sent Henry to burn in hell is one hell of a twisted way to break her. Seeing her guilt and suffering just keep ramping up over the episode was heartbreaking. She didn't deserve that. Now I'm really feeling worried for poor Beth.

 

3 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

Man, are Ca-, uh, people of a particular denomination good at self-flagellation. And Yolanda's parents are really no help.

I haven't seen an on screen Catholic self-flagellate like that since Charles Cox.

 

3 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Courtney really should have asked Pat to stop by for the group scene.  An experienced voice may have been able to keep things from spiraling out of control, especially if one of the original JSA or Seven Soldiers killed a baddie back in the day.  

Yolanda and Courtney were keeping this a secret from Pat.

 

2 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

I wondered if the episode was just one mindgame for little evil kid Eclipso.

Undoubtedly.

 

Quote

Instead of going to the confessional, maybe go to the school counsellor and ask for a referral to a therapist.  The priest can't do much except to actually leave the booth and maybe counsel her and help her get the help she needs.

Then her parents would get involved, which she understandably wouldn't want.

 

Quote

The mom telling folks not to call, having her quit the job, etc. is wrong. What are they going to do? Move to a new town?

They probably want the same thing as before, Yolanda going to school and back, no friends, no church, no social life.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[thuganomics85]

Nine times out of ten Brainwave will always be the worst parent on here, but it was also nice to remember how much Yolanda's parents suck...

Not surprised that their battle with Eclipso has thrown the JSA for a loop, but poor Yolanda has really been done a number on.  I'm guessing Eclipso was the one behind her seeing Brainwave and Henry Jr. again, but all of that guilt is really there.  And while there is plenty of reasons to point out why Yolanda was right to take out Brainwave like she did (and not just because, again, he was the worst!), it makes sense that a teenager like her; especially one who seems to be pretty religious; would think she is horrible for what she did: including blaming herself for Henry Jr.'s death as well.  While I'm sure she won't be out of the JSA for too long, I'm not surprised she is taking a step back for a bit.  I just hope she finds some kind of help.  Yvette Monreal did excellent work here.

While I'm glad Courtney was trying to be supportive and I understand why they wanted to keep things from Pat at first, I do think it would have been wiser to loop him in and have him be there when Yolanda told everyone.  While it might be too early to declare him the "father figure" to all of the kids, I do think he has established a good mentor-like relationship with them all and could have been a calming presence in the room.

Liked Pat and Mike working together to fix STRIPE.  Completely with some classic dad puns and jokes!  Luke Wilson really excels at those!

So, I guess The Shade is still up in the clock tower and was leaking whatever it was that Barbara noticed.

Of all the things you did, Eclipso, taking that sucker without saying thank you was the real dick move!

[Josh371982]

I really don't get why Yolanda should so bad over killing a huge scumbag like Brainwave. And Nice Job Rick and Beth of not helping a friend feel Less guilty of killing a scumbag 🙄

[cardigirl]

I suspect Eclipso is going to not so subtly go after each member of the team individually to break them down. That's why the little kid Eclipso was staring at Beth. She's next. And smart as she is, she's got no real defense against him, poor kid. 

I get very frustrated at Pat sometimes, because he should be trying to inform these kids as much as possible, but he seems to think holding back information is a way of protecting them. I understand that Courtney and Yolanda decided to keep it between them how Brainwave died, but all of these secrets are so damaging. It's very frustrating. 

I keep waiting for Starman to show up. 

[bobbyjoe]

How much you wanna bet the Aztec/Inca stuff the substitute was talking about (and that they were all ignoring) is actually gonna be important to defeating Eclipso?

[rtms77]

Correct me if I’m wrong but Yolonda didn’t just March up and kill brainwave, he was tormenting her and such and she lashed out in defence. Since he wasn’t expecting her to break his mind trap he was killed. Not really Yolonda fault. There’s murder and then there is killing in the heat of war/battle. It was a righteous kill. 
 

I think Brainwave is as he said a part of Y now. He pulled a professor X and transferred himself over. Eclipso may realize this and be exploiting the whole thing. He was at the diner for a reason. And Beth is next. 
 

Pat stop leave ng dangeous artifacts lying around where young kids can play with them. Seriously dude lock that stuff up. 

10 hours ago, cardigirl said:

keep waiting for Starman to show up. 

So do I. Was it a flashback or did we see him ask some waitress about her ex Dugan? 

[cambridgeguy]

17 hours ago, Josh371982 said:

I really don't get why Yolanda should so bad over killing a huge scumbag like Brainwave. And Nice Job Rick and Beth of not helping a friend feel Less guilty of killing a scumbag 🙄

It's hero 101 - you don't kill even when the person really deserves it and you feel guilty if you lose control.  That's why you need to arrange it so that a falling rock or something similar does the job, or at least only be indirectly responsible (I won't kill you but I don't have to save you).  Then it's a win-win!

[Noneofyourbusiness]

7 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Correct me if I’m wrong but Yolonda didn’t just March up and kill brainwave, he was tormenting her and such and she lashed out in defence. Since he wasn’t expecting her to break his mind trap he was killed. Not really Yolonda fault. There’s murder and then there is killing in the heat of war/battle. It was a righteous kill.

He was pretending to be a miraculously-surviving Henry Jr via a mental illusion and Yolanda slashed his throat open because she figured it out (he slipped up by saying "your friends" instead of "our friends"). As Courtney pointed out earlier this season, if Yolanda hadn't killed him too quickly for him to realize, he would have brain melted her to death and then found and attacked the rest of the JSA.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Noneofyourbusiness

[UnknownK]

Its a young person show, the last thing they want to do is show her killing adults and liking it (which a teenager in highschool would probably do and brag about it). Show me a "real" teenager who is a super hero, has crazy skills and or powers, and doesn't brag about and abuse those powers. There is a reason people under 18 can't do a lot of things legally.

[MissLucas]

I'm Catholic raised by nuns and priests and never met a specimen of that guilt-ridden Catholicism US tv shows like to embrace so much. I've only encountered some of that stuff in historical sources. And there's plenty of burn-in-hell-forever stuff in protestant historical sources to creep me out just as much. It took me a long time to even understand what 'Catholic guilt' is supposed to mean. But this is Catholicism à la TV tropes (where Vatican II never happened) so I'm willing to roll with it. Especially as the priest was portrayed as genuinely concerned and trying to help. I also think even non-Catholic teenagers would struggle with killing someone and come up all sorts of weird guilt trips.

Lots of people screwed up in this episode or had to admit they screwed up before. Courtney should never have agreed to keep Brainwave's death a secret and I'm glad she admitted that by the end. She should also have been more concerned about Yolanda long before things escalated. But she's a teenager and was in way over her head. Pat should not keep those diamond shards lying around on his work-bench. They belong in a safe. Barbara should not touch blood oozing from the ceiling and Mike should not touch stuff that behaves weird (like stepmother like stepson) He was lured by the shards pretending to be Thunderbolt right? Time to put that brain into action kid. And Beth should think hard how often she relied on Yolanda (and the others) to do the fighting for her. This was not the situation to bring up ethics but to help a friend who was clearly having a breakdown. Rick got that. I'm okay with Beth and her goggles being next on Eclipso's hit-list. 

Damn, this show got dark.

[tennisgurl]

Poor Yolanda, she is really being put through the wringer this season, in a season that has in general been quite dark. I can see why Yolanda is so guilty and disturbed by killing Brainwave, I would think that killing someone, especially in a pretty bloody visceral way, would be a lot for anyone to handle, but especially for a teenager. That on top of her religious beliefs and it all being mixed up with her grief over the horribly traumatizing and tragic death of Henry, no wonder she is falling apart. I am guessing that this is Eclipse, who is trying to corrupt one kid after the next, but I could definitely see Brainwave sticking some of himself into Yolanda's brain, he was just that kind of asshole. I get why Yolanda is upset, but more people need to remind her that Brainwave was the absolute worst, the guy murdered his own son and if Yolanda wouldn't have stopped him he would have killed her and the rest of the JSA. It was a totally different situation than Rick and Grundy, who was not really a threat anymore and is only barley sentient from what we have seen, Brainwave was a threat and a monster who needed to be stopped. I really wish that Courtney had asked Pat to come and talk to her, he has established a nice mentor style relationship with the kids and I can imagine he would have some experience with this, I can imagine that some of the original JSA could have killed someone before, maybe in similar circumstances, and could have been a good voice of support as an adult.

Yolanda's mom might not be Brainwave levels of awful as a parent, but she really sucks. At least her priest tried to show her some compassion and tried to get her mom to stop judging and lecturing her for five seconds, even if it didn't help very much. I don't think she will gone for long, but she will probably be hanging up the claws for awhile. Yvette Monreal did really great work.

Seriously, how many classmates have the teens seen die in horrible ways at this point? They should all be having serious issues. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

Lots of people screwed up in this episode or had to admit they screwed up before. Courtney should never have agreed to keep Brainwave's death a secret and I'm glad she admitted that by the end. She should also have been more concerned about Yolanda long before things escalated. But she's a teenager and was in way over her head. Pat should not keep those diamond shards lying around on his work-bench. They belong in a safe. Barbara should not touch blood oozing from the ceiling and Mike should not touch stuff that behaves weird (like stepmother like stepson) He was lured by the shards pretending to be Thunderbolt right?

I recoiled when Barbara touched the blood drops, expecting her to suddenly get a red glowy eye or something.

 

 

[rmontro]

On 9/21/2021 at 9:19 PM, cambridgeguy said:

Plus while it may have been inappropriate, someone should have told Yolanda that she's vastly overestimating herself if she thinks she'll be in a position to kill Eclipso. 

I think she was talking about a situation where maybe the rest of the JSA would have him down for the count, and she would be there to deliver the killing blow.  I got the feeling they were portraying her as almost the Wolverine of the team, she has the claws as deadly weapons after all.  And she didn't want to be the one to play that role.

They had me going for awhile there, I really thought Brainwave had implanted himself into Yolanda's mind.  Now I think it's just Eclipso messing with her, at least I hope so, but who knows for sure?  I really hope we haven't seen the last of Yolanda as Wildcat, and I certainly hope she isn't going to come back as the new Brainwave.

Looks like Eclipso is going to be bringing all the JSA members to emotional breakdowns in the coming weeks.  Then maybe the team returns and wins the day with the help of Shade.  

[shapeshifter]

57 minutes ago, rmontro said:

Looks like Eclipso is going to be bringing all the JSA members to emotional breakdowns in the coming weeks.

So Eclipso is basically the Supervillain of Mental Illness? Or something like that? Anxiety Man, maybe? Like Bizarro Ant Man??
I suppose with the pandemic dragging on and all viewers having experienced shut downs to one degree or another, the writers thought we'd all relate to this story arc, but I'd really prefer a respite from it all.

[SnarkShark]

Oddly placeholdery.  A lot happened in one sense, but in another only a single thing happened.

On 9/21/2021 at 10:51 PM, Pepper the Cat said:

Please, someone help Yolanda.

 She is just a child who killed someone. 
surely there is someone somewhere that can help her

 

Those aren't sentences you hear a lot.

[BeautifulFlower]

On 9/23/2021 at 4:15 PM, MissLucas said:

 And Beth should think hard how often she relied on Yolanda (and the others) to do the fighting for her. This was not the situation to bring up ethics but to help a friend who was clearly having a breakdown. Rick got that. I'm okay with Beth and her goggles being next on Eclipso's hit-list. 

 

All Beth said was "I don't know." She did not judge Yolanda at all. Hell, Beth cried when she answered the question. Beth's answer is a real life answer anybody could've said. Beth is not gonna lie to make Yolanda feel better. A serious question was asked and a real answer was needed.

You say Rick got that he needed to help Yolanda, but did his words actually help her? Rewatch the scene, because it did not. All of them could've supported her by saying she did the right thing and the result would still be the same. For Yolanda to feel better, she is the one who needs to decided whether it was the right thing to do. Her friends cannot help her until she helps herself. 

So get off Beth's case. You and others act like Beth told Yolanda she is going to hell for killing Brainwave. Beth was sad for her friend as she doesn't have the answer to Yolanda's ordeal.

Edited September 25, 2021 by BeautifulFlower

[Trini]

On 9/23/2021 at 5:15 PM, MissLucas said:

...

Damn, this show got dark.

I actually appreciate them spending time on Yolanda's guilt; but the show is kinda a downer right now - and probably for the next few episodes with Eclipso targeting the JSA.

At this point, I think I'll see what others say about the episodes before I watch; and I'll probably be doing a lot of skipping.

Also I did kinda appreciate them writing it in that while it's supposed to be summer, it actually looks like winter/fall (when they filmed).