Summer School: Chapter Nine is again directed by editor and Arrowverse veteran Andi Armaganian, the direction is great and I just like what Andi brings to the table as the director which she was in Stargirl's first season and the second season. So having a director that knows the cast, characters and universe is a great thing and it shows even more in this episode than the previous episode. As 2.09 focuses on the backstory of the original JSA in how they defeated Eclipso, having a great script and a director that can get the vision and script to screen is a must and luckily Andi Armaganian does a brilliant job as the director of the episode. The cinematography is great and the episode just looks so nice, with the sets and locations plus the costumes. All the departments did a terrific job with episode nine.
The episode follows the events of the previous episode with Eclipso still lurking in the shadows and slowly but surely getting into people's heads and his plan is slow but great. The storyline of this episode has Eclipso taking aim at the Whitmore/Dugans, Pat is reminded of painful memories from his past involving the original JSA and their fight to take down Eclipso. Meanwhile, Mike is forced to confront the guilt he feels for his role in Icicle's death, and Barbara comes face to face with someone from her past. Finally, Courtney struggles to hold onto hope after Eclipso targets those around her.
The episode focuses on a handful of characters, most are from JSA 1.0 and in the main timeline it's mostly about Whitmore/Dugan family. Jason Davis makes an appearance through a flashback as Bruce Gordon who're the archaeologist who found the diamond that Eclipso was in on Diablo Island. Through other flashback's we get to see Sylvester Pemberton / Starman, Henry Thomas and Alex Collins as Charles McNider / Doctor Mid-Nite, Rex Tyler / Hourman, Ted Grant / Wildcat and Ethan Embry as Johnny Thunder. Always nice to see more of those characters, and Jonathan Cake returns as Richard Swift / The Shade. I didn't really find any of the performances to be great, it was mostly the actors who from the flashbacks who did anything impressive. Luke Wilson's performance as Pat Dugan was terrific, simply for how different it is as it shows a much more vulnerable side which is needed as we know what he's been through but he have never expressed those emotions for anyone in his family.
In my opinion, this was overall a great episode that gave us answers of where Eclipso came from and other answers. How much I appreciated the flashbacks, I can't look the other side in how it hurts the pacing. I'm just grateful that I like the characters and find the story interesting enough to not get bored, but I get it if you do. Like the two previous episodes, the ninth episode is all about Eclipso executing his plan. The pacing is slow but there's lots of character development and tension. John Wesley Shipp finally makes his anticipated appearance as Jay Garrick / The Flash in the earth Stargirl is based in, having played the character in the television show The Flash. Though it was shorter than I expected, it was still nice to see him there which makes it easy to bring him back.