Thunderbolt made his debut on Stargirl this week, and we learn something surprising.
[CAUTION: This post contains spoilers for Stargirl Season 2 Episode 3: Summer School: Chapter Three]
Johnny Thunder made his first live-action appearance in the flashback opening of the episode. He and Pat get sidelined from the fight with the ISA. In just this scene alone, we get a sense that Johnny is a lonely man, which is how his beloved sidekick, Thunderbolt came into his life. Even though the OG Justice Society were his family, he felt he couldn’t live up to them and saw himself as a sidekick. In other words, the JSA had to clean up his and Thunderbolt’s ‘messes’.
Later in the episode, we meet Johnny’s genie pal in full when he makes Pat’s son, Mike see the words ‘So Cool’ written around town whilst out on his paper route. Unable to prevent himself from saying those two tiny words, the young Dugan says them, bringing Thunderbolt out to play, and ooh boy! It was so great hearing Jim Gaffigan’s voice in such a fun character!
The whole experience with Thunderbolt and what draws him to his masters was unexpected. The genie tells Pat that he remembered Johnny’s last wish the night he died. He waited eleven years to make that new friend and explains he chose Mike because of his loneliness.
Cindy And Eclipso
While neither villain makes an appearance, we learn that The Shade is looking for Eclipso. We got a hint of why he was back in Blue Valley in the previous episode when he asks Barbara to allow him access to the Zarick inventory. However, it was confirmed this week, and while it should scare us, it doesn’t.
Now, we know next week, as per the episode guide on the Stargirl Fandom, Artemis will be the first ISA legacy Cindy attempts to recruit. We’ll also get a confrontation between The Shade and Courtney, and he will provide her with much-needed information.
A tall-tale sign that Swift might not be a bad guy is his concern. His last words of the episode are, “He’s going to kill those children”.
Barbara informs Pat that the box Swift stole from the storage unit contained a black diamond. The mention of this piece of ‘costume jewellery’ prompts the sidekick to worry.
Meanwhile, Beth confides in Rick about her parents potentially getting a divorce. Suddenly, Chuck reactivates. Despite snot recognising his best pal, the AI tells her danger is looming as Eclipso is now in Blue Valley.
