Summer School Part 8 – Director: Andi Armaganian/Writer: Steve Harper
This one starts with Miss Woods coming out to Rick’s farm to apologize again and give him some college applications. But his asshole uncle tells Rick he’ll never amount to anything and throws the papers all over the place. Rick goes out to the woods to rage at the world and ends up hanging out with Solomon Grundy, who probably feels as alone as Rick does.
At home, Courtney’s still worried about Yolanda but her family says to give her some space. The doorbell rings and Courtney finds the Wildcat costume
on the step. Meanwhile, Beth is still trying to fix the Dr. Mid-Nite AI and getting nowhere. She hears McNider’s voice from the goggles and he tells her he has some goggles of his own that might be breaching the barriers of the Shadow Realm, but he disappears before he can give Beth any details. We do see a flash of something sinister on Beth’s laptop. In the woods, Rick talks to Grundy (who’s devouring some apples Rick brought) about his crappy life and Grundy actually seems to feel 
some kind of empathy for him. At home, Courtney is worried about the Staff (which she’s named Cosmo) because it’s recovering so slowly from Eclipso’s power. Beth’s parents finally talk to her about their divorce, but things quickly go wrong when they blame Beth for their current troubles. This is obviously Eclipso playing on Beth’s own fears, and when she sees maggots in her lunch she freaks out and takes off.
In the woods, Rick hears that a bunch of hunters are coming out to kill the “bear” that’s been causing trouble around town. He’s worried that Grundy will get shot, so he goes back to warn him. At the garage, Courtney wants to
go out and look for Eclipso, but Pat says they have to be cautious. Rick calls to say he needs help with Grundy, so they head out to the woods. Unfortunately, Rick didn’t bother to explain that he’s trying to help Grundy, so they show up ready to fight the monster. At Courtney’s house, Beth finds young Bruce Gordon waiting for her. He taunts her with racist insinuations and runs upstairs with the goggles. Beth chases him and realizes she’s dealing with Eclipso. He taunts her some more, playing on her fears of being unworthy of JSA membership, 
and ends up pushing her into Courtney’s closet. In the woods, Rick runs into some wounded hunters who tell him a ten-year old girl has gone missing. Rick doesn’t believe Grundy would hurt a kid and promises to bring her back. Beth finds herself in JSA headquarters, where the original JSA tell her she doesn’t belong with them. Young Bruce shows up to taunt her again and she goes after him, ending up back in Courtney’s house.
In the woods, Rick finds Grundy standing over the dead body of the girl (who looks like Rebecca McNider, although there’s no way for Rick to know that). Rick freaks out and Grundy takes off, with Rick chasing after him
while powering up with the hourglass. Pat and Courtney show up seconds later and pull the body from the river, but when it disappears they realize Eclipso is screwing with their heads. Rick goes home and when he finds Grundy there, he starts pounding the shit out of him. At Courtney’s place, Eclipso taunts Beth some more but she stands up to him, letting him know that she can push past her fears. She tells him she doesn’t need to get her validation from other people (and that 
she’s proud to be black), grabbing the goggles from his hands and putting them on, which makes Eclipso vanish. Beth realizes she’s still at home and McNider tells her the goggles can see through Eclipso’s illusions, so she shouldn’t take them off. At the farm, Pat and Courtney show up and try to stop Rick, but he won’t listen. Courtney blasts him with the Staff and he finally sees the truth … it’s his uncle he’s been pounding, not Grundy. Rick is so pissed off about being manipulated by Eclipso that he smashes the hourglass. Rick’s uncle is taken to hospital and Rick is arrested, as we see Grundy really is hiding out on the
farm. Beth clears the air with her parents, who don’t remember the earlier encounter since it never actually happened. Her mom gives her some good advice about not letting other people’s perceptions affect the way you see yourself, not realizing the advice is helping her figure out how to deal with Eclipso’s bullshit. Barbara tells Mike what happened at the farm and they comfort each other, even as it starts to snow outside (remember, it’s July 4th).
This is a pretty good episode that shows how Eclipso uses his powers of illusion to prey on everyone’s guilt and fears about themselves. He seems to 
be whittling the JSA down bit by bit, first causing Yolanda to quit, then getting Rick arrested. His attempt to overwhelm Beth with her fears of inadequacy backfired though and Beth ended up coming out with even more self-confidence. It’s interesting that Eclipso used racism to pick at her insecurities, since that’s probably something she does worry about (even if it’s only subconsciously). Rick smashing the hourglass would seem to indicate that he won’t be Hourman anymore, but we did see some weird mist rising from the smashed hourglass, so maybe Rick absorbed the energy directly into his body and won’t need it anymore.
Favourite Quotes:
- “No, that’s terrible advice. You help her by kicking Eclipso’s ass.” Mike’s advice to Courtney on how best to help Yolanda.
- “I chose me! Oh yeah, and I love being black!” Beth letting Eclipso know he can’t make her feel unworthy.