Cindy Burman is the personification of E-V-I-L! She has made it her life goal to destroy Courtney, as evident in Shiv Part Two.
Continuing from ‘Shiv Part One’, Cindy Burman’s life might appear perfect on the outside, but on the inside, it is nothing more than a mirage, a fake to fool the outside world. We learn more about her family and how she wants to prove to her father that she has what it takes to join the Injustice Society.
You might want to sit down for this one because Cindy is as savage as she can! But, then, buckle in for ‘Shiv Part Two’.
[CAUTION: This breakdown contains spoilers for ‘Shiv Part Two’]
Pat Purposely Crashes His Prized Car
Before we go back to Cindy, we see Pat driving erratically through the main street of Blue Valley. Although it looks like he is being chased by something, it is quite the opposite. He purposely crashes his prized car to create a cover for what happened to Courtney during her fight with Shiv.
Elsewhere, Barbara is enjoying dinner with Jordan, which looks like a date to us but whatever, when she gets a call from Pat, who tells her there’s been an accident involving Courtney.
Courtney’s Hospital Visit And Pleading With Pat
Courtney wakes up in a hospital bed with Pat at her side, who tells her he called Barbara, who is on the way home from her business trip with Jordan. The young hero asks her stepdad what he told her mother.
Pat explains that he told Barbara that they’d been in an accident, and it scared the hell out of her. Upon seeing the cuts on his face, Courtney asks what happened to him. Dugan tells her that he crashed his car on purpose as a cover for her injuries.
Her stepdad tells her he’s taking her home where she will rest. Pat then tells her he will find out what he can about Cindy and her family as she went after Whitmore for a reason. In Pat’s eyes, she’s connected to the ISA given her abilities and that she might be a child of one of the older members.
Knowing it was stupid of her to go off half-cocked, Courtney says what happened to her might be the key they need to lure out the ISA. However, Pat is unhappy because he feels they must be honest with Barbara.
Upset, Courtney says she hates lying to her mother too, but if she knew what she and Pat were doing, Barbara wouldn’t let them be heroes anymore. However, she says they can tell her what’s going on after they stop the ISA. She then begs Pat not to tell her mum yet.
Cindy Gloats To Dragon King
Back at Dragon King’s lair, Cindy arrives and gloats that she took out Stargirl. He then asks if she’s dead. His daughter then scoffs that she probably is.
Dragon King explains to Cindy that Stargirl is still alive because he sent drones to retrieve the body, which was gone. He calls his daughter reckless for taking out the Shiv suit and his staff without asking. He even decides to dig at her love of hurting things, which indirectly mentions his first wife’s death.
Understandably pissed, Dragon King tells Cindy that now he has to explain her actions to the other members of the ISA, and they’ll never give her a seat at the table.
Cindy protests, saying she didn’t do anything wrong hunting down Stargirl. However, her father is far from thrilled as she allows the hero into the tunnels and leaves her alive, which is a massive no-no. Telling his daughter to go home and not do anything, Dragon King then tells her, “Don’t make me take off my hood,” which scares Burman.
Courtney’s Attack Gets Back To The JSA
At the Pit Stop, a frantic Rick wants justice for Courtney by going after Cindy. Yolanda asks what they should do while Beth is hesitant.
When Rick suggests they break down Cindy’s door, Beth jumps in and says that Burman has powers which means one or both of her parents will be part of the ISA.
As he’s about to storm out of the garage with his hourglass, Rick is stopped by Beth. She points out that if they were to confront Cindy, they would have zero clue of what they were walking into or who they would be facing.
Rick’s belief is the eye-for-an-eye approach, but Beth stops him again. She’s mad, too, and he needs to cool off. When he argues with her, she points out that he’s so angry at the world that he wants to hurt everyone else.
Beth says that she cares about Courtney, the whole team, and Blue Valley, but they must work out who Cindy’s parents are before they act.
Yolanda agrees with Beth. While this doesn’t sit well with Rick, he questions what they want to do. The new Doctor Mid-Nite says she has a plan, and it’s a good one, before she holds up her goggles.
Courtney And Pat Pass Brainwave’s Room And Home Care
At the hospital, Pat is taking Courtney to be discharged when they stop outside Henry King Snr’s room and see his son. Courtney greets him but has the door slammed in their faces.
Sometime later, Courtney lays in bed when Mike pokes his head in to check on her. He’s bought her food and apologises for his behaviour at the homecoming game. He explains that he’s never had to share his dad with anyone before anyone else.
As Courtney listens, she is touched when he says she’s his sister and that he doesn’t want anything wrong to happen to her. Whitmore tells him that she’s forgotten everything he said to her, accepts his apology, and calls him little bro.
Pat’s Chat With The Cosmic Staff
Pat heads to the basement and taps on the cosmic staff’s crate door. Despite the weapon only working for Courtney, he has a chat with it and makes it promise to keep its wielder safe and not to let her run into any more danger.
While the staff is silent, it hears Pat’s message loud and clear… sort of. Dugan listens to Barbara come home during the talk, prompting him to end the chat abruptly. He then says he’s talking to a stick.
Once Pat has left the basement, the staff lights up.
Barbara Checks In On Courtney
Upon arriving home, Babara goes to Courtney’s room to check on her but finds she’s asleep. Kissing her goodnight, she leaves the room and finds Pat waiting for her.
Barbara tells him she didn’t think he’d let Courtney drive the car. Pat admits it was a bad idea to allow his stepdaughter to go at night, which is probably one of the biggest lies he’s ever told his wife.
The subject of Mike comes up with Pat explaining he got a lift home with a friend after the game. Barbara can see that something doesn’t add up in her husband’s story but allows it to slide when he says he has to tell her something. She says they’ll talk about things in the morning and goes to bed.
Jordan Takes Out One Of The People Linked To His Wife’s Death
Back in Oakville, some dude returns to his hotel/apartment and finds Jordan waiting for him. When he tries to escape the room, Icicle freezes the lock and handle of the door to the room shut.
Jordan then goes over all the guy’s achievements before he cuts to the chance. Next, he goes over all the reasons he wants companies like the one the dude works for gone from America.
Jordan even goes as far as to mention his late wife, Christine, who worked as a school teacher at a school built over a toxic waste site that led to her cancer. He even rubs in that his late spouse loved their son (Cameron) and her students above all else.
The guy calls Jordan crazy, which is wrong, as Icicle freezes him to death.
Henry’s Headaches Continue
At the King residence, a desperate Henry Junior looks through his father’s study for pain medication to help with his constant headaches.
As he goes through a drawer, he finds an odd, old-fashioned key. Another wave of pain rolls over him as he shakily pours out pills. The burst causes him to drop them over the desk, and to his surprise, one begins to float in the air.
Realising that he made the pill levitate, Henry does it again, which causes him less pain than before it stops altogether.
Beth Activates Her Plan To Get Intel On Cindy – Phase One
Outside the Burman house, Yolanda asks Rick if he thinks Beth’s plan will work. He responds that it is better.
They jump when they hear Pat behind them. Yolanda tries to lie and says they’re just keeping tabs on Cindy. That’s when Rick mentions that they’ve got a plan. This is when Dugan realises Beth’s missing.
Yolanda looks towards the house, and Rick jabs a thumb over his shoulder, leaving an unimpressed Pat to go after his wayward student.
Racing across the street, Pat gets to the Burman front door, but Beth’s already run the doorbell. A woman answers and asks who they are. Beth rambles as she tells Mrs Burman that she’s a classmate of Cindy’s (which isn’t a lie) and that she was going to teach her cheerleading moves (this is a lie). She then tries to demonstrate a step but fails miserably.
Pat is unimpressed by this and thinks she’s crazy. He then tries to get Beth away from the house, but the woman asks who he is. This is where things get weird. He then explains that he’s Beth’s dad, his ‘daughter’, and she’s adopted. Talk about a massive facepalm moment!
The woman introduces herself as Bobbie Burman and invites them inside, which is to Beth’s joy. Finally, phase one of her plan is working!
Before going inside, Pat looks over to where Yolanda and Rick are hiding to see that they’re sceptical.
Cindy’s Visit
At the Whitmore-Dugan house, a bored Courtney grabs her phone and texts Yolanda but gets no response.
Barbara pokes her head into the room and asks if she’s up for a visitor. When Courtney says yes, Cindy enters with balloons, wanting to ‘check in’ to see if she is okay. Talk about the most extended stare-down in the history of staring contests.
After Barbara leaves, Cindy starts an awkward conversation with Courtney, given everything that has happened between them.
Cindy says she owes Courtney an apology for what happened the day before. She goes on to say that after everything that went on with Henry, Jenny, her dad and Cameron asking Courtney to the dance, it drove her to breaking point, and she ‘snapped’. We find it funny that when she says that she’s ‘sorry’, she looks ready to hurl.
Beth Activates Her Plan To Get Intel On Cindy – Phase Two
With Bobbie out of the room, Pat and Beth scour the room they’re in. What surprises them is that almost everything they touch is fake.
When Cindy’s stepmother returns, she has a plate of cookies. Bobbie then engages Beth and Pat in conversation, but it varies when they both issue different jobs for Dugan. Pat says he’s a mechanic. Beth says he’s a doctor. Ahhh… okay.
Bobbie says she’s a mother and homemaker, but she used to do other things before Cindy came into her life. To her out of the room, Beth asks if she can have a glass of water. Once she’s gone, Chapel puts on her goggles and begins to search via Chuck for clues into who Cindy and her parents are.
Bobbie arrives back in the room with the glass of water and is surprised to see Beth with the goggles on. Pat jokes that she’s incredibly blind and that they help her see. Chuck scans Cindy’s stepmother and can’t get a lock on who she is, which is weird.
As Bobbie leads the way to the bathroom, Beth informs Pat that Chuck doesn’t know who she is. She then tells Courtney’s stepdad to keep the woman busy as she looks around. Yolanda and Rick contact her on the comms to ask if she’s found anything.
Beth explains to her friends what she told Pat about Chuck being unable to identify Bobbie. Rick then asks about Cindy’s dad; Beth replies that she doesn’t think he’s home and will need to find a photo of him. She finds the keypad that leads down into Dragon King’s lair/the ISA headquarters.
Cindy Continues To ‘Bond’ With Courtney
Back at Courtney’s, Cindy complains about the chocolate she bought over while Courtney can only sit awkwardly and watch her. Her nemesis then says she realises they aren’t all that different and are similar—cringe and scary.
Courtney asks what she means, and Cindy says that their dads are similar and other stuff which doesn’t provide an answer. She even says that Courtney could be a lot like her while her adversary or the other way around.
Cindy brushes this comment off and says she needs a friend. Look elsewhere! You’re evil! Courtney doesn’t know what to say to that.
Beth Ventures Down Into The Lair Of Dragon King And Cindy Springs A Reveal On Courtney
Back at the Burman house, Beth ventures down into the lair and tries to contact the others but can’t get a signal.
Outside, Yolanda and Rick begin to worry when their communication with Beth is cut off.
In Courtney’s room, Cindy finishes the chocolate and heads off but drops a bomb. She knows about the cosmic staff and that Courtney is Stargirl. What’s really ‘generous’ of her is that she’s going to keep the information to herself because she doesn’t want her dad to sideline her. Then she threatens to kill her friends.
Back at the Burman residence, Yolanda and Rick are growing desperate as they still don’t have contact with Beth. Yolanda then gets a text from Courtney saying that Cindy knows who she is [Stargirl].
Texting Courtney back, Yolanda reveals she, Rick, and Beth are at Cindy’s and that Pat’s with them.
Beth struggles to get her friends on the comms down in the tunnel. She stops when she hears a growl from Solomon Grundy and turns back to run out.
Beth Narrowly Misses Running Into Cindy
Outside the house, Yolanda and Rick see Cindy return home. At this point, Beth is back in the main house as communication isn’t breaking up when she is told that Shiv now knows Courtney is Stargirl.
Chuck advises Beth not to go into Cindy’s room, where she argues she has to do something. Yolanda checks in to see if she’s okay, where her friend reveals she’s inside Cindy’s room and that she’s not leaving until she’s found something that can help them.
Yolanda cautions her that Cindy’s at the front door. She and Rick are then forced to act if the situation turns deadly.
Bobbie is in the kitchen, watching Pat fix the sink; when Cindy walks in, she laughs at Pat, explaining that Mike put a Nerf football down the sink.
Cindy ignores her stepmother and heads up to her room.
Meanwhile, Beth finds a photo stuck to the mirror of a man whom Chuck identifies as Dr Shiro Ito. The odd thing is that Ito was executed in March 1947 for war crimes. Beth then questions what Cindy’s connection would be to a dead war criminal.
Upon hearing how close Cindy’s voice is, Beth panics and tries to hide in the wardrobe but can’t. Yolanda is her saving grace when she hears her tapping on the window.
Beth looks down and says she doesn’t like heights. Yolanda, not playing around, pulls Beth from the window where Rick catches her below.
Moments later, Cindy enters the room and finds it odd that her window is open. So she looks out to see if anyone’s there when she hears voices outside.
Pat’s Equally Narrow Escape From Bobbie’s Clutches
Bobbie continues to watch Pat, begins flirting with him, and doesn’t bother to hide it. Finally, Dugan sees Beth retreat from the house and decides it’s time for him to make himself scarce.
Meeting up with the kids, Pat learns from Yolanda that Cindy knows Courtney is Stargirl. Beth then gives him the photo she found in Cindy’s room of Shiro Ito. He also says he knows that Ito is a war criminal.
Pat says he is beginning to think the new JSA are lousy luck and tells Yolanda she shouldn’t be running around in her suit and that they need to get out of there.
Courtney Confronts Cindy And Henry Discovers His Father’s Brainwave Getup
Having had enough of sitting on the sidelines, Courtney goes into the basement to grab the staff. However, it refuses for a moment before it relents to her wishes when she tells it their friends are in danger.
Henry experiments with his powers at the King’s residence by making the key he found levitate. He then tries to find what object it unlocks.
The key unlocks a cupboard/wardrobe and reveals Henry Snr’s Brainwave outfit. Inside he also finds letters from Dr Ito about Cindy keeping an eye on him and a photo of his mother.
Cindy senses dread wash over her as she realises someone has been in her room. She notices that the photo of her dad is missing from her mirror. A second later, Courtney charges through the window at her staff, resulting in a massive fight.
Cindy goes flying out the window and is almost in the path of Henry’s car. He goes to help her, but she brushes him off as she goes to attack Courtney.
Henry edges close to the fight and hears Cindy and Courtney’s thoughts. He realises that Stargirl is Courtney just by her thoughts. His girlfriend tries to convince him that they need to kill her together. It becomes too much for him, and a burst of mental energy sends both girls flying.
Before Cindy can go and attack Courtney again, a couple of her father’s lackeys drain into her a maintenance hole down into the sewer. The whole thing reminds us of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Courtney realises that Henry has the same powers as his dad, Brainwave.
In his lair, Dragon King realises Cindy was wrong and that Henry does have the same abilities as Brainwave.
