[soft music]
♪
[door opens]
- [sobbing]
♪
[exciting music]
♪
[low rumbling]
[soft music]
♪
- Afternoon, young lady.
- Joey, that was incredible! - It was so good.
- I'm so impressed. You've been practicing, huh?
- Yeah, all week. - [laughs]
- Very good. Very, very good.
You know, you have a real future in this.
- You think so? - I absolutely do.
♪
- Hi there.
You must be new in town.
Welcome to Blue Valley.
I'm William Zarick. This is my wife, Denise.
- Hi. - And our son, Joey.
- What's your name?
- It's Courtney.
- Welcome, Courtney.
You are going to love our little community.
- I was a different man before we came here.
- Well, that seems like years ago.
- Oh, doesn't it? [laughter]
- I left a troubled life behind,
but here I dedicated myself
to being part of something bigger than just me.
I became a councilman.
- Now Dad's running for mayor.
- In Blue Valley, you can be whoever you want to be.
Like our son Joey here.
He's gonna be a famous magician one day.
- Zarick the Magnificent.
- Zarick the Great, Mom.
- Oh, right! [laughter]
- Oh, why don't you show her that trick I taught you?
- Yeah. - Okay.
[clears throat]
Pick a card, any card.
- Okay.
- Pick one, Courtney.
[tense music]
♪
All right, now take a look at it.
Don't let me see it, though, all right, but memorize it.
Take a look at it. Don't let me see it.
And then when you're ready, just put it back
anywhere in the deck.
♪
All right.
Now, Courtney,
was this your card?
- Yes, the seven of hearts.
Oh, my gosh, how'd you do that?
[laughs]
♪
Joey.
- Are you gonna lie to me again?
I know I messed up the trick.
- No.
This is wrong.
This isn't happening.
- I'm never gonna be a real magician.
♪
- Joey.
♪
- New students always cause trouble.
- I miss my tuba.
[bell rings]
- Ahh!
♪
Cindy? - New girl.
♪
- [grunting]
♪
- [breathing heavily]
- You're really here.
You're bleeding.
People here don't bleed.
- Hey, what are you talking about?
Where are we?
- Cynthia.
♪
You are my greatest experiment,
my dear daughter,
but...
my work is not yet complete.
♪
- Ugh.
I'm not doing this again.
Don't wait up, Daddy.
♪
- How did you get here?
Hello?
- Cindy, I don't understand.
I thought I saw you die.
- How did you get here?
- Where is here exactly?
- This is where Eclipso was born.
- Eclipso was born in a little girl's bedroom?
- It's called the Shadowlands, nitwit,
a void created by the darkness inside humanity.
Fear, rage, guilt,
a perfect place for something to feed on it all.
- Eclipso?
- The Shadowlands gave him life.
I learned all about it on the island the diamond's from.
To us, this place acts as a...
what's the Bible name for it? Um...
Purgatory, it shows you things,
stuff you did, people.
Mostly it just bums you the hell out.
Sometimes it's fun. [chuckles]
I've killed my father
and you
so many times. [chuckles]
- Okay, that's psychotic.
How do we get out of here?
- You can't.
- [scoffs] Of course, you've given up.
I'll figure it out myself.
- Okay--wait.
- I'm going home.
♪
- Oh, good. You're here.
I hate to work Christmas Eve, but it's time and a half.
- Mom?
- Thank you for coming on such short notice.
I just got her down for a nap. She's been just so fussy.
Her dad, I mean, he never visits anymore,
but it's all she ever talks about.
Meanwhile, I'm working two jobs and raising her myself.
I have a business degree, you know?
But I got pregnant.
- Mom, i--
it's me, Courtney.
- My daughter ended all my dreams.
Every day I go through hell for her.
- Mom, I--
- I could've had such a better life.
- What was that?
- It looked like your mom was wishing you were never born.
Harsh.
- That wasn't--
that wasn't real.
- Mm, maybe.
- How do the doors work?
- Oh, I don't know.
Sometimes you end up in a place that means something,
and sometimes you don't.
- I'll find a way out of here.
- [chuckles] Yeah, you better.
You won't survive long.
You're too good.
- What does that even mean?
- You think that everything is black and white.
Good and bad, and you're all good.
Well, guess what?
There's darkness in everyone,
even you, new girl.
I just choose to embrace mine while you avoid yours,
and that is what makes me a survivor.
From what I've pieced together so far,
the people that Eclipso sends here,
and the people that get lost in despair
and send themselves here,
their souls are eventually torn apart by their own nightmares.
And it'll serve you right.
It's your fault I'm stuck in Eclipso's funhouse.
- My fault?
- You let go of me.
- I was trying to save you.
- Oh. Great job!
And now you're here without your staff.
- You're the one who brought Eclipso into this.
- I needed his darkness to put out your light.
- Oh, and how did that work for you?
- You started all this.
- I started all of this?
You tried to kill me to impress your dumb dad, you freak.
A-and when that didn't work, you murdered him.
- You have no idea what he did to me.
Your mom blames you for her waitress job?
That is so sad.
My dad cut me up like a lab rat.
I made the best of a bad hand,
and my dad paid for what he did.
And I'm never gonna be scared of him again.
You hear that, Eclipso?
I will kill my dad a thousand times.
This-- this is my version of paradise,
so just bring it on.
I am not afraid of him!
- Cindy.
♪
- Who is that?
♪
- Mom.
- Please don't hurt me again.
- Go away.
- I'm your mother. I love you.
- Go away!
[dramatic music]
♪
No, no! - Cindy!
♪
Cindy!
♪
- Cindy!
[soft music]
♪
- You must be Courtney Whitmore.
- How do I know you're really Charles McNider?
- I've been talking to your friend Beth.
She's told you.
- Nothing here is real.
- You're right.
Much here is a lie.
The very room you're seeing is an illusion,
unlike the abyss I just pulled you from.
- So...
what was that?
- That was the truth.
The Shadowlands in its pure, unadulterated form.
- How do you know?
- I've been living with the truth for years.
The goggles let me see nothing else.
It's what's kept me alive.
- Daddy!
- Take a look.
Quickly, please.
This is what the Shadowlands really look like
without the projections of your subconscious.
- You know it's your fault, Daddy.
Daddy, where were you?
- How do you stand to look at that all the time?
- When I take them off,
all I hear is my daughter.
Eclipso feeds off negativity and darkness.
He will plant anything or anyone here to lead you
into despair or rage.
Do not give in.
All that is good in your life,
any light inside you,
you have to hold on to it.
Turn away from the darkness,
or you will be consumed.
[soft music]
♪
- My goggles are filled with tears.
But I'm afraid to take them off.
- If I wasn't afraid...
the ring would've saved Courtney from Eclipso.
It's my fault, Beth.
Again.
- Dr. McNider?
♪
What?
- What do you mean, Courtney's still alive?
- She's in the Shadowlands with Dr. McNider.
- He's actually alive, and they're together?
- Guys, what if this is just another trick?
- Well, we have to have faith in something.
Chuck--I mean, Dr. McNider thinks The Shade can
open the doorway to bring them back.
- The Shade's the reason Courtney's there
in the first place.
- We'll make him rectify that.
- Guys, listen if I could just find the Thunderbolt--
- Jennie can find The Shade.
Dr. McNider said the light in Jenny's ring is sensitive
to dark energies.
Like a dog, it just needs to pick up the scent.
Is there anything he may have interacted with
that might have a scent?
♪
- Will this work?
♪
- [breathing heavily]
I don't always have control over the fire.
Rarely, in fact.
- Repeat to yourself what you want to do,
and then just focus on that, okay?
- Okay. - Right.
- Concentrate.
Find The Shade, save Courtney.
[soft music]
♪
- The Shade is still here?
- In two different locations?
How?
- How did you not lose your mind in here?
- Time passes differently.
That's part of it.
But...
I also was able to hack into the real world.
I could see glimpses of things,
news mostly.
It wasn't until your friend activated the goggles
that I had hope of ever escaping.
- Even if they find The Shade, why would he help us?
- Because he's...
complicated.
A few nights after Rebecca died,
Myra went to her mother's.
I was in bed. I couldn't sleep.
And I heard someone in the house.
I found The Shade in my kitchen with a bottle of absinthe.
He'd half-drunk it himself already.
- What was he doing there?
♪
- He said he'd known
about Eclipso before and done nothing.
♪
And it bothered him.
He blamed himself, but I dismissed the notion.
♪
Then he asked me about Rebecca.
We finished that bottle and then he left.
The Shade wasn't like other members of the ISA.
When he sent me to the Shadowlands,
it wasn't punishment.
He was trying to save me from the ISA.
I think he considered us friends.
There's a chance he may help us now.
- Dr. McNider? - Beth?
- Mike's tracking down The Thund--help,
believe it or not.
We're tracking him to two locations.
Jennie and I are-- and Pat and Barbara--
- Beth! - So tell Courtney--
- Beth, can you hear me?
Beth, where are you?
♪
- Should be closed.
- Someone's in there.
- Why don't you let me check it out and then--
or we can go in together.
[exciting music]
♪
You didn't get too far.
- Ah, no.
My observant old friend, I did not.
The healing power of the diamond
was unfortunately halted when Eclipso destroyed it.
So I've been forced to preserve
what power I have left sitting here in the dark.
You see, you know, this is a wonderful film.
It's even better the seventh time.
- You used my daughter.
- It wasn't personal.
- She was ripped away from us because of you.
You're gonna help us get Courtney back.
- We know you can access the Shadowlands.
Dr. McNider said as much.
- Really? And when did he say that?
- Tonight.
- What?
- He's alive.
You put him in the Shadowlands.
- Oh, my God, if I thought he was still alive--
- Obviously, you didn't bother looking.
For a guy that's 208 years old--
- Okay, just stop--I don't care about your old rivalries.
I care about my daughter right now who's in danger.
If you don't get her back-- - No.
No, no, Barbara.
Please, no threats.
Make no mistake, I still have enough power
to kill you both where you stand.
- Then kill me,
because I don't want to live without my daughter.
♪
Please,
bring her home.
♪
- Oh, damnation.
You know, you really do remind me of my sister.
♪
- I'm taking it you didn't do that?
♪
Mom?
Pat?
- Courtney? Courtney.
- Can you hear me? - We can hear you!
- They need to walk towards the light, quickly, please.
- Courtney, hurry.
♪
- What is it?
- Cindy's still here.
- Then I think we need to hurry.
- Mom, I'll be right back.
- No, Courtney!
Courtney, come back now!
Courtney!
- Cindy. Take me to Cindy.
♪
- Dr. McNider?
Yolanda?
- Hi, Courtney.
Do you want to play a game?
♪
[tense music]
♪
- My dear daughter,
it's time to become more like me.
- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Please, Dad, no!
- I'm sorry, baby.
I didn't mean to upset you.
You were so angry with me that day, do you remember?
- I remember, Mommy.
You wouldn't let me stay up late.
It made me so, so mad.
- Stay away from her!
Stay--ahh!
- Let's play whose life did you ruin?
- This isn't real.
- Oh, yes, it is.
Yolanda is sitting in her bedroom right now
thinking of all the horrible things
that happened to her because of you.
♪
- I am not doing this.
Take me to Cindy.
♪
- Look at the monster,
in a cage
where he belongs.
You ruined his life too.
- You did this to Rick.
- And how does that make you feel about me?
♪
Are you sore?
- I want a doorway to Cindy.
[exhales]
♪
- You can't escape
what I've already done.
I've tortured your friends and your family.
I've hurt everyone you love.
♪
I like your locket.
Who gave it to you?
♪
- Please keep it open. - Oh, easy for you to say.
- Do it, Shade. - Oh, yes.
♪
- Oh.
I know who gave it to you.
His picture's inside.
Your dad.
He hurt you like I did.
♪
- I'm over him.
- No.
You're not.
You feel about him like you do me.
Don't you?
Somewhere deep inside,
it's festering.
Hate.
After everything I've done,
your friends and family
will never be the same.
Don't listen to anyone here.
None of it's your fault.
It's mine.
I love watching you all suffer so.
And seeing a lie tear you apart.
♪
How do you feel about me?
Come on, tell me.
♪
- I hate you.
♪
- One final procedure,
and you will become The Dragon Queen.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Cindy! - Where's your staff, Stargirl?
- He's not here. Ignore him.
- But he-- - Ignore him,
and he has no power.
♪
- Hey. We need to go.
- Ahh! - No.
♪
Mom.
- I did it again.
I made a mistake.
I didn't mean to.
♪
- I'm so sorry.
I--I'm so sorry, Mom.
I'm so sorry.
♪
- I loved you.
I still do.
- It's not real.
- Shut up, please.
- Cindy,
I found a way out of here.
We have to go.
♪
- Courtney! Courtney, hurry!
♪
- Oh, Courtney!
- Mom? - Courtney!
Courtney, come here! Courtney.
- You okay? - Are you okay?
- All right, stay with her.
♪
- Mom.
- [groans]
- Charles.
I'm so sorry about that trip to the shadows.
- I know, my friend. - What can we do for him?
- Barbara, would you mind--
would you mind awfully telling people
that I died...
doing something good?
[soft music]
♪
- So...
who wants to kill Eclipso?
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- Greg, move your head.