Courtney: Someone's been spying on us, Pat.
[indistinct whispers]
Shade: I need Courtney Whitmore.
Pat: Courtney! [unsettling scraping]
[ethereal whoosh]
Courtney: Jennie, what's going on?
Jennie: My ring was corrupted by the Shade's shadows,
and now the darkness is leaking into it.
Shade: Jennie needs to exorcise the darkness from her ring.
Jennie: You can help me overcome
the darkness within me.
No!
I finally found my brother.
[echoing] No! Todd: Ah!
Jennie: And he needs our help.
Todd: [distorted] If you take me out of this room,
I'll destroy the world.
Jennie: I'm not leaving you here!
[thud]
Todd: Ah!
Pat: Courtney! Look out!
[screams] Courtney: Pat!
[dramatic music]
- [groans]
♪
[ominous music]
- Hey, are we in the Shadowlands?
- Yes, because you insisted on helping
those irksome children.
More proof that no good deed goes unpunished.
- How did we get here?
- Alan Scott's daughter has the power of light,
but his son, for reasons I don't understand,
has the power of the shadows, like me.
Me coming into direct contact caused some kind of feedback,
which seems to have banished us here.
- Okay, we gotta find a way back.
- That--that's a brilliant strategy.
I'm truly watching a master at work.
- Hey, Swift, I'm doing the best that I can--
- No, no, please, please don't apologize.
I can think enough for the two of us.
Lucky for you,
you're with the sole being in existence
that knows how to escape this dreadful place.
Come now.
Let's get home.
[dramatic music]
♪
Okay then.
I'll do it...right here.
[high-pitched warbling]
♪
Ah!
[groans] - Swift!
You okay? Huh?
- No.
It seems until Jennie's ring
is free from its corruption, I'm as useless as...
you.
[sighs] Ugh.
[ominous organ music]
♪
[alarm blaring]
[indistinct chatter]
[dog barks]
- It's okay, Kritter.
We're okay.
[lock beeps]
- Good God, what now?
[deep growling]
[roaring]
[wind blowing]
- It hurts.
- Todd? You can control this.
Focus on your sister, your family.
- Family.
- What's wrong with you, Todd?
[unsettling music]
♪
You like boys?
That's sick.
No wonder your real father didn't want you.
And me? I run my group home for normal kids.
You're filth.
Tainted.
You'll be alone forever.
We're gonna fix your sins.
I'll beat 'em out of you
for as long as it takes.
- Todd!
[dramatic music]
♪
- [panting]
♪
[dial tone]
[error signal]
The hell?
- You have caused
quite a lot of trouble tonight, young lady.
- What's going on?
Where are my friends?
- I didn't hear a "ma'am" in there anywhere.
Such disrespect.
- Oh, you wanna talk about disrespect?
How about lying to us?
You said Todd wasn't here.
- [sighs] All right, I lied.
But you don't understand how necessary it was.
- Necessary?
His sister's been looking for him everywhere
going out of her mind--
where is she?
- Jennie-Lynn is safe for the moment,
but her brother...
Your drop-in visit tonight
interrupted a very important procedure,
and now you have endangered everyone, including him.
Jennie-Lynn may burn down buildings
in her weaker moments, but Todd?
The whole world could be swallowed up in shadow
if we don't get him under control.
We are going to help him,
and you're going home, Stargirl.
- I'm not going anywhere.
My dad--
Pat.
I think Todd sent him and the Shade
into the Shadowlands.
- The Shadowlands?
- What Pat could be going through,
it could kill him.
It's horrible. I've been there.
- You've been to this place?
- It's where the Shade gets his power from,
and Todd, it looks like.
- You shouldn't have come here.
- Wait.
Ugh!
♪
- Whatever's happening on the other side,
Jennie's ring is still connected to the Shadowlands.
[thunder cracks]
That isn't normal.
- I mean, is there anything normal in this town?
- Believe it or not, the Shadowlands has rules,
and you'd better learn them. - All right.
- For one thing, this place preys
on your subconscious;
your fears and regrets.
While I, of course, don't harbor
such worthless emotions, I'm quite sure that you do.
And if you give into them,
it could jeopardize us both.
You're keeping up with this, yes?
- Yeah, yeah, I got it. I understand.
- Also, doorways here,
they usually take you where you most desire to go,
taking their cues from the subconscious.
It rarely turns out for the best.
If I can't get us home the way I did before,
our only hope is to... keep moving,
avoiding the hungry wraiths
your insecurities will no doubt conjure up
until I can...
I can find a way out.
It should have taken us somewhere else.
- Why?
- Because the diner is insignificant to me.
- Well, that's not entirely true.
[ominous music]
♪
This is where you refused to forgive me.
Isn't it, Mr. Swift?
- Gambler... - It's not him.
It's a construct. - Sure looks like him.
- It's awfully hypocritical of you not to forgive me.
Wouldn't you say? - Ignore him.
- You caused your sister so much pain,
yet she still forgave you, didn't she?
- Enough.
- Sweet, dear Emily.
What did you say to her on the day she died?
Do you remember? - Out.
- [chuckles]
- Go! - Where?
- Away from him.
- [laughing]
- Oh.
From one grease pit to another.
[wrench cranking]
- Damn it.
[ominous music]
♪
- Who is that?
- Well, what are you standing around for?
Grab a wrench.
- Dad?
- Todd! - Jennie!
- No! - No!
No!
- [gasps]
[sinister music]
♪
- Hello?
[muffled] Let me out of here!
[energy whirring]
PA system: This room is designed for your protection
and ours.
The walls are coated
with an energy defusing polymer
to assist in power control and suppression.
- Whoever the hell you are, open the door!
PA system: I'm a friend, Ms. Hayden.
I'm an ally to both you and your brother.
[machine whirring]
I only want what's best for you both.
- Let me out of here.
PA system: I'm sorry,
but you and Todd can never be together again.
[speaker crackles]
- [screaming]
[ominous music]
♪
- Damn thing keeps overheating.
Sarge is gonna have my ass
unless I get her up and running.
You wanna help me, son?
- I always tried to.
- You did try.
Remember the garage on the base?
You were always at my side.
- We should go, Pat.
- You were like a tick on a dog, son.
Every time you tried to fix something,
you made it worse,
like our family.
You should have brought me and your mom closer together,
but instead, she pushed me away.
I was too hard on you.
She worried about your feelings.
Made you weak. Stand up straight, would you?
I was never proud
to call you my son.
- This is the Shadowlands.
A nightmare version of the people in our lives.
It twists their words. - No.
Not this time, Shade.
My real father spoke every word of this.
- You've always been worthless,
playing second fiddle to everyone in your life.
You've never been a standout, a leader,
have you?
- We need to go.
- Still miss you, Pop.
- Don't turn your back on me.
I should've been harder on you.
[dramatic music]
[coughing]
- No.
- What is it?
- Nothing that I care to see.
[energy sizzles] Ah!
- [wheezing] Dickie, is that you?
[soft music]
♪
Have you come to say goodbye?
♪
Don't let me die alone.
Not like Father. [coughing]
[energy sizzling]
Don't ignore me.
Please.
Say something.
[panting]
[energy sizzling]
- Ah!
- Shade.
I know it's difficult to lose people that you love.
- Yes, spare me
your bleeding-heart sentiments, please.
- Courtney survived the Shadowlands because--
- Because of me.
- She got out because of you.
She survived because of her.
She had to face her own darkness
in order to get past it.
- You're telling me about the darkness?
- I'm just saying, maybe the key here
is to face things.
You don't run away.
- I'm incapable of feeling anything.
[energy roaring]
[dramatic music]
♪
- Have you been watching us?
In our town, our school, our--our homes?
You picked the wrong people to do this to, you know that?
They're going to find you if they haven't already.
Starman, the Justice Society of America,
all of our friends.
They'll be coming for us.
For you.
Y-you think I'm helpless without my staff.
I'm not.
PA system: No, but that's the point.
You can set the staff aside.
Just as Yolanda can put Wildcat's suit away.
Rick the hourglass, Beth her goggles.
You're not like Jennie and her brother.
You're not like me.
- I don't even know who you are.
[door opening]
You'll have to try harder if you want to scare me.
- My appearance is not a choice I can make.
My mother was subjected to experiments
while pregnant with me.
Beyond my flesh being transparent,
I was born with a... cyanide touch,
these doctors called it.
[plant hisses]
Anything I come into contact with dies.
That included my mother.
Nurse Love rescued me from the people who did this.
But there was nothing to be done.
- I'm sorry, I really am, but--
- I am as cursed as Jennie and Todd,
unlike you and your friends.
We were born this way.
Here at Helix,
we help those like us learn to live a life of isolation.
- You teach them how to hide from the world?
- We help our patients survive the only way they can.
Alone.
When Jennie's ring was infected by the shadows,
it connected her to Todd, and his power became unstable.
If we cannot suppress Todd's power,
he will destroy us all.
[thunder rumbling]
- [groaning]
- Shade, you okay?
- Traveling through the fire like that, I don't--
I don't think I can do it again.
Emily asked if I'd come say goodbye.
But the truth is, I didn't say anything to my sister
the day she died 'cause I wasn't there.
I wasn't there.
I couldn't, you see.
I had to separate myself from her.
Losing people is just too hard.
- Forget that limey.
We're not done, son.
[rumbling]
- Jennie's still too close to Todd.
We need to take her far from here.
- Maybe I wasn't born like Jennie or Todd
or you, but I know what it's like to lose family,
to feel so flawed you must have pushed them away.
I've carried that curse too.
But Jennie and Todd are meant to be together.
I saw her powers reacting to his hurting.
She's the light he needs, not those lamps.
My power, Jennie's,
it all reacts to how we feel.
That's why I think Todd's connection with Jennie
is the only thing that can save him.
It also might be the one thing that brings Pat home.
Look, I know what you're doing here,
and I understand why, I do.
But life isn't about living in isolation.
It can't be.
Because if we're alone...
what's the point of anything?
[ominous music]
♪
If you're wrong,
we all die.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Jennie, are you all right?
- Courtney, where's Todd?
- Waiting for you.
You need to be with him.
- But when I touched him, it-- - You both were frightened.
And you know what that does to you and the fire.
For Todd, well, he became...
a living doorway to the Shadowlands, I think.
- What can we do?
- Do what we did for you.
Stand with him. Don't go away.
Have faith.
♪
- You think I'm a bad father, Pat.
But look at your son.
He does everything he can to get your attention.
Just like you did with me.
- But you don't see Mike at all,
so like you, he feels worthless.
[rumbling]
- Don't. Don't listen to them, Pat.
- You're gonna die alone, Mr. Swift,
like your sister.
No one's gonna say goodbye because you haven't earned it.
- You shouldn't be here.
She'll never really be his mom.
Mike's mom abandoned him when he was what?
Three or four years old?
She got strung out and left him
at a soup kitchen.
You got Mike and left
and never spoke about Mommy again.
You wanted him to forget Maggie and move on.
Like you did.
Mike thinks about his mom every day.
He doesn't say it.
But he feels as unwanted
as Courtney does.
- One day, I'm gonna hate you
as much as you hate your dad.
- I don't hate him, Mike. I don't.
And I never did. - Good. Pat, that's good.
Don't give in, and we'll be out.
[rumbling]
[Todd groaning]
[screaming]
- You have to go to him.
- What if I hurt him again?
- Do you wanna hurt him?
Then you won't.
[dramatic music]
♪
[Todd screaming]
[distorted roaring]
- [panting]
Please. You need to leave.
- I'm not going anywhere, Todd.
[energy whirring]
- We shouldn't have trusted you.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Where are we?
- Todd, I--
- I don't understand any of this.
- I don't understand it yet either.
All I know is we finally found each other.
- We need to go.
- You go. - Come on!
- You go, please.
- Dad left his ring for me.
He knew we would find each other with it.
Somehow, he knew.
We've always been connected.
We always will be.
We have to be.
The light and the darkness.
[energy whirring]
[wondrous music]
♪
- Todd! - Jennie!
No!
Jennie!
♪
- Come on! - I told you,
I could die going back into that fire.
- Hey, you either die in here, or you die trying.
Pick one.
- Fair enough, Pat Dugan.
[dramatic music]
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
[wind blowing]
♪
[soft music]
♪
- Well, I guess you were right.
- Where's the...
skeleton guy?
- He's calming some of our other patients.
We don't often have nights with this much excitement.
I hope this won't become a regular occurrence.
- I think we've got it under control.
- You both still have a home at Helix.
- What you're doing here isn't right.
- All of our patients are free to go
any time they wish.
No one is being held against their will.
- That's actually true, Courtney.
- Oh.
Even so.
Spying on us like you've been doing?
- Spying on you?
- They were behind the cameras?
- What are you talking about?
- The cameras you put up all over Blue Valley.
Inside our homes-- - We did no such thing.
- Then how do you know so much about us?
- We do our research, yes.
But spying on you with hidden cameras?
Don't be ridiculous.
- Yes, well.
Then we're all done here?
Or at least I am.
- I'm gonna go.
- Where?
- With my sister.
- I don't think that's wise, Mr. Rice.
But...
best of luck.
♪
I trust we all keep each other's secrets?
- You didn't happen to teach fifth grade math
back in the early 1980s in Omaha, Nebraska, did you?
- I don't care for your attitude, Mr. Dugan.
- I knew that was you.
♪
[soft music]
♪
[door opens]
- Courtney Whitmore might have been right, Nurse Love.
- About what?
- Isolation might not be the answer these kids need.
Maybe Helix should form a team of our own.
- You know, I still can't believe
that there's someone else out there
with the same powers as mine.
Potentially even greater.
- Envious? - Oh.
Sympathetic.
You know, when I first experienced them,
they're frightening.
- So help him.
I mean, think about how much different
your life would have been had somebody helped you.
- Yes, well, who knows.
- You've lived like this for over 100 years, Shade.
If there's anything on the planet
that can help Todd figure this out,
it's not Helix.
It's you. - I-I'm no teacher, Pat.
- Yeah, I get that, but you want redemption
for the past, right?
Well, it isn't just about not doing bad things, Shade.
It's about doing good.
And you helped to destroy the JSA.
- I did not kill--
- You were an accessory,
whether you want to face that or not.
And those kids right there?
They're the orphans that were left behind.
- All right, that's enough, Stripesy.
Ugh.
My heart's dream.
Saddled with reprobates.
Ah, yes, hello. Um...
Rather than make my exit,
I'd like to extend...
a hand.
If you're amenable to my help with the shadows?
- Yeah, I'd appreciate that.
- I'm not so sure.
- Well, then, please turn me down.
I do need to get to New York. - New York?
- It's where Sandy Hawkins is.
Wesley Dodd's nephew.
- Wesley Dodds, the Sandman?
- Look, I agreed to helping two children, not three.
- Sandy has nightmares of people in trouble
like his uncle used to.
That's how I knew Todd was here.
Sandy dreamt about me and Todd and reached out to me.
I promised him I'd help with his nightmares
once I found Todd.
- Ugh, New York. Fine.
But things are gonna be different from now on.
None of your outlandish theatrics.
Right, follow me.
[energy whirring]
- Thanks, Courtney. Bye, Pat.
- Pat? - Yeah?
- How do we get home?
[horn blaring]
- I can't believe the Shade actually agreed to help them.
But, Pat, that proves it's possible.
People can reform.
You know what else?
I helped Jennie and Todd
just like I helped Yolanda and Rick and Beth
without the staff.
I know what I need to do when I get back.
Not give up
on--on the villains, on my friends.
On myself.
Pat?
What do you think?
- Sounds good. All of it.
I'm sorry, it's just, I, uh...
can't shake it.
- I understand.
When I went to the Shadowlands, I saw and heard stuff
that was really hard see too.
If you wanna talk about them...
- Not yet.
- Whenever.
- Thanks.
- Pat.
This has left us with one question.
If Helix hasn't been the one spying on us...
then who?
[ominous music]
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- Greg, move your head.
- Mad Ghost!