As Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick are trained by Pat to learn the importance of teamwork, they try to figure out who the other members of the ISA could be, and Courtney just wants to go on another mission. Meanwhile, Cindy is growing impatient with her father, wanting to join him, and Courtney tries to befriend her. However, not everything is what it seems.
Find out what happens in the newest episode of Stargirl, “Shiv Part One.”
Training starts now. New episode of #DCStargirl starts NOW on The CW! pic.twitter.com/ggE5pPJrBt
— DC's Stargirl (@stargirl_cw) July 1, 2020
Mike gets home from his paper route and overhears Pat talking to Courtney, saying he’ll “take care of it, and training begins after school.” He wonders what they’re training for, asking if Pat’s making Courtney get a job too. Courtney tells Mike it’s no job, making up an excuse that Pat’s helping her with something. However, Courtney says he’s helping her learn to drive, while Pat says he’s helping her with her homework. Pat continues, saying it’s more like a driver’s ed class, but while simultaneously talking about the actual training, Courtney wonders if it’s more than just a class and more of a “hands-on” experience. Pat says Courtney is not just going to jump behind the wheel of an automobile without learning a few fundamental rules. He tells her it’s a good way to get herself and everyone killed. Barbara comes in, hearing Pat tell Mike that learning to drive is serious business, and she hopes that Pat isn’t teaching him how to drive. Mike tells Barbara that Pat is teaching Courtney, and Courtney says they’re probably just going to study a bunch of old manuals and never even leave the Pit Stop. That’s exactly what they’re going to do. Barbara wishes Pat would’ve talked to her about this, and Pat apologizes, saying he should have told her. He should tell her everything. Courtney gestures to Pat to not say anything, so he just tells Barbara she looks beautiful and American Dream is lucky to have her.
At school, Rick, Courtney, Yolanda, and Beth walk down the hallway as the newest crew until they bump into Cindy. Courtney wonders why she’s so mean. Yolanda says she’s always been like that, and Beth adds that she remembers Cindy was a lot nicer in elementary school. Then her mom died, and her dad got remarried twice. Rick says that’s no excuse. Later in the hallway, Courtney sees Cindy bump into the janitor, who accidentally mops over her shoes. Cindy’s upset at him and pushes down his mop, calling him a worthless freak and walking away. Courtney rushes over to the janitor and helps him, and the janitor thanks her. Cindy finds Henry, telling him they have to go to the dance. Henry told her he’s not up for it; he’s not even playing in the game later that night. If Cindy wants to go to that dance so badly, Henry tells her to go with someone else. The janitor goes into a closet, and a sword is seen between some brooms and mops.
In Chemistry class, seeing that there were no partners left and wanting to know a little more about Cindy, Courtney asks if she wants to be partners. With no other choice, Cindy gives in, and they get started. Meanwhile, in Geometry, Henry is getting ready to take a test, and he’s having a hard time focusing. When the test begins, he starts hearing other people’s thoughts about it and their answers, and he writes them down. Courtney and Cindy begin their activity, and Cindy talks about her dad, saying they did science experiments for fun when she was growing up. Courtney tells her that her stepdad is a mechanic and that her real dad died when she was younger. After the bell rings, Cindy asks Courtney if she’s going to the dance, and Courtney tells her she hadn’t planned on it. Cindy says they can hang out Saturday night if she wants, and Courtney agrees.
After school, Cindy comes home and is greeted by her stepmother, Bobbie. Bobbie, afraid of Cindy, tries to make small talk with her and tells her that her father gave her very strict instructions about alcohol and curfew. Cindy tells her she’ll tell her father she was horrible to her, and Bobbie gives in, telling her she keeps a bottle in her room. Bobbie tells Cindy she knows her father doesn’t like it when she visits unannounced, and Cindy says if she asks him, he’ll just say he’s busy, like always. Cindy puts in a code and goes downstairs after Bobbie tells her she’s not allowed down there. She walks through an underground lair.
Pat welcomes Courtney, Yolanda, Beth, and Rick to the Pit Stop, and Courtney tells the others they have to train somewhere private. The Injustice Society is looking for them. Pat says she’s right; they have to lay low until they’re trained and ready. He tells them he’s been working all day on something special for them, and they need to go over two crucial categories; What they can do and what the bad guys can do. Rick knows what they can do; He can hit things hard, Yolanda can climb up walls and kill toasters, Beth can talk about everything, and Courtney has a glow stick that blows things up. However, Pat says they still don’t know how to work together as a team. With all that skill and talent, Pat says they weren’t able to survive. He wants them to understand the dangers, too. He opens a door to a back room and presents a makeshift version of the Injustice Society of America that they can train on.
Cindy listens in on the Injustice Society talking, saying they agreed to keep their kids out of this. The new JSA could already know who they are, but if they knew their true identity, then they would have come for them already. Jordan tells everyone to keep looking for them while he’s gone. They’ll find Stargirl and her friends, whoever they are. Cindy overhears Stargirl and then gets pulled away. Meanwhile, at the Pit Stop, Pat is informing the new JSA about the ISA, with Courtney interrupting every once in a while. She asks Pat if they can speed this up, saying who knows how many people are being hurt because they’re not out there right that second. Pat tells her if they’re not trained to work as a team, they’ll be the ones getting hurt. Confronting them again would just be too risky. Courtney uses the Cosmic Staff to take down the makeshift ISA before the others have a chance to try. Pat tells her this exercise wasn’t just for her and tells the others they’ll just call it a day. Yolanda and Rick leave upset, and Beth follows, telling Courtney this was supposed to be for the team.
Dr. Ito asks Cindy why she came down there, and she tells him she can’t take it anymore, being a teenager. A knife comes out of Cindy’s sleeve, and she slits a drone’s throat, saying she wants to be part of the ISA. Dr. Ito tells her it’s like she learned nothing from her mother’s death, but she was young, and that was a mistake. He gave Cindy powers to protect her, not enhance her tantrums. Cindy sees a suit hanging up, and Dr. Ito tells her not to touch it, but she grabs a scepter and starts fighting a drone until Dr. Ito stops her. She says she could be helping him for real instead of wasting her time in high school. She runs that place; those kids will do anything she says. Only one kid matters, but Cindy says Henry is just moping around; they should just pull the plug on his dad. Dr. Ito says if Brainwave doesn’t wake up, they need Henry’s telepathic abilities for his machine. Cindy tells her father he doesn’t have any and pleads to break up with Henry. Dr. Ito tells her she needs to keep watch even though he’s just been at the hospital. Henry doesn’t have his dad’s powers; he doesn’t even know who his dad is, and none of them do. Cindy says if at least one of them knew, at least she had someone to talk to. She’s all alone. Cindy wonders about Stargirl’s identity. She heard the ISA talking and wants a seat at the table. Dr. Ito tells her she’s not ready.
At Pit Stop, Pat tells Courtney she’s not ready and that this isn’t about her. It’s about her friends that she put in the line of fire. “It’s about learning to be a team to save this town from whatever the Injustice Society has planned.” Courtney suggests he send her on a mission while they train, so she can prove she’s right about Principal Bowin being part of them. Meanwhile, Dr. Ito tells Cindy there are more important things at stake than her selfish needs. He says to go home and not take this out on her stepmother again. He doesn’t have time to prepare another.
“You are my greatest experiment.”
Courtney, Mike, and Pat are at the high school football game, and Courtney can’t help but keep looking at Principal Bowin. Pat leaves to grab some snacks, and Mike tells Courtney that Pat’s his dad, not hers. The two of them hanging out all the time, teaching her how to learn to drive and cook. Mike asks her if she sees him with Barbara 24/7 because he doesn’t have a mother. She doesn’t because he deals with it. He and Pat have been through a lot, more than she knows. Mike leaves, and Cameron comes up to her, asking her to the dance. She tells him she made plans with Cindy but decides she’ll tell her they can hang out another night and tells him yes. Courtney finds Cindy on the field with the other cheerleaders, wondering if they could hang out another night besides the following day since Cameron asked her to the dance. Cindy tells her to forget it, forever. It’s Courtney’s loss, not hers. Courtney begins to leave, sees Principal Bowin taking a call, and follows her, avoiding Pat behind the bleachers. She overhears Principal Bowin saying she’s been trying to wake up Dr. King. Courtney follows her into the school and sees a secret passage in an office.
Courtney grabs her costume from her locker, the Cosmic Staff right behind her. In her Stargirl costume, Courtney goes into the office, uses the Staff to find the secret door, and makes her way through. Meanwhile, Cindy’s back in the lair and trying to find her dad, who is nowhere to be found. An alarm goes off, and Cindy looks at the security cameras, seeing Stargirl. She takes the suit hanging on the wall and goes after her. Courtney manages to find her way back into the school hallway but is soon thrown by Cindy, and the two fight each other. Pat leaves Mike to go find Courtney, and the fight is taken to the gym. Just as Courtney is down and Cindy is about to use her scepter to finish her off, the janitor arrives and shoves Cindy off to the side.
“Until death is all life.”
The janitor leaves, and the Cosmic Staff finds Pat, leading him to the gym. Cindy, struggling, leaves, and Pat finds Courtney, unconscious.
Stargirl airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on The CW, streaming free the next day on The CW app.
