With the threat of Eclipso hanging over the JSA, Courtney turns to an unlikely source for help; Mike's search for Thunderbolt leads him to his old friend, Jakeem; Pat goes to extreme lengths to protect Rick.
Tropes:
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Inverted. Jakeem's sister continues to be a jerk, pushing her brother around, calling him and Mike 'Losers' and even deliberately adding to their workload when they're doing the dishes.
- Bait-and-Switch Credits: The start of the episode is a recap of all the drama and tension that has unfolded this season, indicating things are about to get really, really serious. And then the episode starts out with Buddy the bulldog, left alone in the house, running around chewing up everything he comes across, as well as attempting to pee on Cosmo's crate, all set to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy."
- Beware the Nice Ones: Matt learns this the hard way offscreen after rudely refusing Pat's request to drop the charges against Rick.
- Breather Episode: Compared to previous episodes, this one focuses less on Eclipso, until the last few minutes, and spends the majority of its time resolving loose ends and preparing for the inevitable showdown. Namely, they include:
- Mike locating Thunderbolt and recruiting Jakeem to use him to help the JSA;
- Beth meeting and working alongside Dr. McNider in person for the first time;
- Courtney settling her differences (if grudgingly/temporarily) with Cindy and convincing Yolanda to rejoin the JSA;
- and Pat doing whatever it takes to get Rick released from jail and back onto the team.
- Broken Pedestal: Courtney remembers that Yolanda idolizes Ted Grant and explains to her that he supported killing Eclipso's previous host Bruce Gordon to stop him. Yolanda tells Courtney that finding out that Grant also killed someone, albeit via vote rather than action, makes her feel worse, not better, and swears never to don the Wildcat suit again as it now has twice the blood on its legacy.
- Catapult Nightmare: At the end, when Jennie wakes from her dream of an Eclipso-possessed Stargirl, she sits straight up and screams "No!"
- Changed My Mind, Kid: After learning that Courtney has resorted to forming an Enemy Mine with Cindy, Yolanda begrudgingly agrees to become Wildcat once more to make sure Cindy doesn't backstab anyone after the truce ends but clearly states her intention to part ways as soon as Eclipso is dealt with and Cindy is gone.
- Doing Research: Once Rick is free, he begins to comb through his father's journal in order to recreate the hourglass.
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Or, in this case, Buddy loves Cosmo's crate, much to the staff's annoyance.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: When Jennie's ring is infected by the darkness left behind by Eclipso, she dreams of Eclipso possessing Stargirl and using her to kill the JSA, a plan that Eclipso is currently explaining to Dr. McNider and Beth.
- Enemy Mine: Continuing from the previous episode, Cindy Burman decides to call a truce with Courtney and the JSA while they work together to defeat Eclipso.
- First-Name Basis: Dr. McNider invites Beth to call him "Chuck".
- Grand Theft Me: As revealed to Jennie in her nightmare and to Beth and Dr. McNider by Eclipso himself, Eclipso intends to perform this on Courtney in order to combine his powers with the cosmic powers of light and become a Physical God, all so that he can devour the souls of everyone on Earth.
- Godzilla Threshold: The danger Eclipso poses has now become so ominous that Courtney resorts to a truce with Cindy Burman in exchange for her help in stopping him and gets no serious pushback from anyone else about it.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Jakeem's reason for not wanting to give up Thunderbolt: it's the first time in his life that he's had someone to hang around with.
- I Was Just Passing Through: Yolanda makes it clear that she's only rejoining the JSA to make sure Cindy doesn't pull anything while they're dealing with Eclipso and that once neither of them are a threat any longer, she's done with her tenure as Wildcat.
- Internal Reveal:
- Courtney informs Yolanda about the original JSA killing Bruce Gordon, and that Ted Grant voted in favor of doing so. It only makes Yolanda want to distance herself from the JSA even more.
- Cindy tells Yolanda that she, not Henry, was responsible for spreading her nude photos around in revenge for Cindy losing the class election to her. Yolanda gives her an arm to the throat and snaps at her to Get Out! in response.
- Mike discovers that Jakeem received the Thunderbolt's pen.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Implied, and done offscreen, not for information but for coercion. Pat, after trying and failing to peacefully convince Matt to drop Rick's assault charges, gets fed up and decides to show Matt that he's not the only one who can pick on someone weaker than he is. A few scenes later, we see Rick being released and asking what made Matt change his mind. Pat responds that he hasn't a clue.
- Literal Genie: Thunderbolt, as usual. The last wish Jakeem made was for some Chinese food, at which point Thunderbolt flew off. Mike draws the conclusion that Thunderbolt is probably en route to China as they speak, given he's been gone several hours.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Whatever Pat did to coerce Matt to drop Rick's charges. Not only is it awesome due to it succeeding but also because Matt seriously deserved it for being such a Jerkass.
- Offscreen Teleportation: After Yolanda snaps at a taunting Cindy to Get Out!, she is interrupted by her mother calling her. When she turns back, Cindy is gone (and the window she came in by is in full view of the camera the whole time).
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Pat has almost always held back in fights when outside of STRIPE, even against Larry at first, and is almost always a gentle, sweet guy who's content to be the sidekick/mentor/mechanic to the old and new JS As. His utter Tranquil Fury as he delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Matt is very notable.
- Papa Wolf: Pat refuses to let Rick suffer in prison because of Eclipso's manipulations and Matt's jerkassery. Unfortunately for Matt, he's the problem that Pat can solve immediately.
- Precision F-Strike: Matt's response when Pat pleads with him to forgive Rick and drop the charges against him? "Go to Hell," written clearly on a notepad with his one good arm. Cue a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Pat attempts to get Rick's uncle Matt to drop the charges against his nephew by appealing to his better nature. When this fails, he delivers one of these, calling Matt out as a spineless bully right before locking the door and closing the windows to his hospital room in order to administer a more forceful form of persuasion.
- The Reveal: Eclipso intends to take Courtney as his host, claiming that it will allow him to become a god and feed on the entire planet.
- Reverse Psychology: Cindy sneaks into Yolanda's room to tell her not to come back because she isn't strong enough, with a bit of taunting for good measure. As Cindy expected, it works like a charm in getting Yolanda to do the opposite.
- Stopping the Blame Game: Cindy once again lays the blame for Eclipso's running amok at Courtney's feet, saying she's the one who broke the Black Diamond and set him free. When Courtney counters that it was Cindy who dug up the diamond in the first place and that she was attempting to kill Courtney and her friends with it at that moment, Cindy finally if sarcastically, concedes that she's the one ultimately at fault.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Courtney attempts to show Ted Grant's flaws and make Yolanda feel less inferior toward the past Wildcat. Except Yolanda's issues run a lot deeper than that and the knowledge that both Wildcats have been directly responsible for someone's death doesn't help, so a Broken Pedestal is just one more weight on her heart.
- Torture Always Works: Presumably how Pat "persuades" Matt to drop the assault charges against Rick.
- Ungrateful Bitch: Not only does Cindy not thank Courtney for freeing her from the Shadowlands, but she also continues to blame Courtney for her getting sent there in the first place. Courtney has none of it and quickly shuts her down.
- Unwitting Pawn: Beth alerts the rest of the JSA when Eclipso catches her and Dr. McNider snooping around the ISA's former headquarters. Eclipso gleefully explains that this is exactly what he wanted her to do, as he needs everyone there to perform the ritual that will allow him to possess Courtney and her powers.
- Wham Shot: At the end of Jennie's nightmare is a shot of Courtney, possessed by Eclipso.
- What the Hell, Hero?: No one is thrilled about Courtney allowing Cindy to work with them and Yolanda outright demands if she's completely lost her mind.
- What You Are in the Dark: Pat, normally a pacifistic Nice Guy, explains to Matt that "We all have a little bad in us," then locks the door to Matt's hospital room and closes the blinds before he proceeds to coerce Matt into dropping Rick's charges.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Mike tells Jakeem that as Thunderbolt's keeper, he has a responsibility to use the genie's powers for the greater good. Jakeem jumps at the chance.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Eclipso intends to take Courtney as his host, having the powers of both light and dark at his command to ascend to godhood.
- You Are Not Alone: Courtney tries to convince Yolanda of this by telling her of how the original Wildcat also killed somebody and regretted it. Instead of making Yolanda feel better, she feels worse as she now sees the mantle of Wildcat riddled with blood.
- You Are Not Ready: Pat firmly believes that the new JSA is nowhere near ready to handle someone like Eclipso. While he can't comment on the others, Dr. McNider firmly states that Beth, at least, very much is.
