SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for “Summer School: Chapter Seven,” the latest episode of DC’s Stargirl.
Yolanda Montez is Wildcat no more. In “Summer School: Chapter Seven,” the latest episode of DC’s Stargirl, Yolanda quit the Justice Society of America, but she didn’t arrive at that decision on her own. Throughout the episode, Eclipso haunted her with visions of the two people whose deaths she feels responsible for: Brainwave and Henry King Jr. This brought her to her breaking point, causing her to lash out at Courtney and sequester herself away from the life she had built with her JSA teammates.
Speaking to CBR, Stargirl star Yvette Monreal broke down Yolanda’s “heartbreaking” decision and everything that led up to it. She recalled the joy of working with Christopher James Baker and Jake Austin Walker again, as well as the “emotionally draining” scenes she filmed with them. She explained why this episode’s cliffhanger had her “on edge” and how Yolanda now views Eclipso’s looming threat. She also teased Yolanda’s fate, shared her dream story arc for the character and more.
CBR: What was it like to have Christopher James Baker and Jake Austin Walker back on set for this episode?
Yvette Monreal: It was the best thing ever! We missed them so much. They’re so talented. They’re so fun to be around, just off-screen and on-screen. It was really fun. Yeah, it was honestly so good to see them again. It was very nostalgic. We love working with them. They’re great, great people and they’re great actors. They bring so much energy to the room. It was so much fun, I have to say.
Yolanda has been haunted by the idea of what she did, but now she’s being confronted by these hyper-realistic visions of the people whose deaths she feels responsible for. What does that do to her mental state moving forward?
Well, she feels like it might be punishment from God because she committed this huge crime. She feels like she’s going crazy. There’s Brainwave now, who she’s seeing. So she does feel like it’s a punishment from God. So she feels like she’s seeing all these things because God is doing this to her.
So it’s really taken a toll on her, on her mental health, and she doesn’t know how to approach it, which is why she leans so much on her faith this season and why she tries to seek redemption and justification for the things that she’s done.
Which part of this very emotional, action-packed episode was the most challenging for you to film?
Well, the wire work was fun. I did do some of the wire work in the church. That was great. But most of the time, my stunt double is doing most of that.
I think emotionally, it became a little draining when I was doing all the scenes with Henry and Christopher Baker, because I had to be on and it was like a 15-hour day when I was doing all of the scenes with Jake and with Christopher Baker. So it was a long day. I think just keeping that emotion real and raw and just keeping it at same level at all times, it was very exhausting.
But it was a good payoff at the end of the day, because I really enjoy that episode. I am proud of my work. But yeah, emotionally draining.
The episode definitely builds to this, but I was genuinely surprised when Yolanda decided to quit the JSA. What was your initial reaction when you found out?
Wasn’t that so sad? I saw the episode and I was like, “Oh my gosh!” It was so great. I love those scenes between Courtney and I but I was genuinely shocked. I actually was at dinner with a few of my castmates and Geoff [Johns] and he was just like, “Oh, yeah, by the way, this is going to happen.”
So when he told me, I was genuinely shocked, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, now what’s gonna happen to me?!” I didn’t know what was gonna happen to me! The episodes kept coming out every week and I was like, “What’s gonna happen?” I was on edge!
You know, there’s the whole thing in the comic books. Eclipso does some really bad things to Beth and Yolanda, so I was really scared that that might happen. So I mean, cliffhanger: we don’t know what happens. I can’t really say but I definitely was scared for Yolanda’s life. It was sad to me. It was heartbreaking.
How worried should fans be for Yolanda now that she has sequestered herself away from the rest of the team?
Well, I mean, I think she is focusing on herself, focusing on her mental health right now. She kind of wants to pretend like it’s not happening, even though we all know what’s happening… Eclipso is not my priority anymore. That is for other JSA members. We’re gonna leave it at that.
Like you mentioned, you filmed a very intense scene with Brec Bassinger for this episode. What was that like for you?
Oh, yeah, we were filming that at the church. I remember it was very emotional. It was really nice, because Brec is one of my best friends and the emotions that I was feeling at that time, it was really easy to come by. I mean, honestly, working with Brec, it’s always a blast. It’s always a good time.
But also, yeah, I was sad for me too, because I could really bring in the emotion of leaving the JSA. Like I said, I didn’t have any of the future scripts, so I didn’t know what was going to happen with my character. So it was really heartbreaking. That was one of my last days of filming for that episode, so it was really easy to bring that emotion on.
What is one of your favorite memories from set this season?
Oh, man, I really enjoyed this past Episode 6. I spoke about this earlier, but we did spend a lot of time on set, but when I’m on set, I’m so happy! We get to spend the days with each other, with my castmates, with Brec, with Meg [DeLacy] and Anjelika [Washington] and everyone, so I would say filming Episode 6 and watching my stunt double do all these cool stunt moves. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed filming the stunt sequences for Episode 6. That was so fun.
What would be your dream story arc for Yolanda?
Genuinely, I would like to see her become a reporter and follow a little bit of the comic and see her just transitioning into this woman with a lot of confidence and exploring that side of the comic book. I really like that they stay accurate to the comics. So just honoring that and exploring it even further would be awesome for me. I would love that. It kind of reminds me of a couple movies that I grew up with. So that would be fun.
Stargirl airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.
About The Author
