DC's Stargirl: Cameron Gellman Breaks Down Rick's Tragic Turn in "Summer School: Chapter Eight"

Things have not been easy for Rick Tyler (Cameron Gellman) on DC's Stargirl. Left in the care of his resentful uncle Matt Harris after his parents were murdered by the Injustice Society when he was a child, Rick's whole life has been one of grieving for his parents while also being mistreated and discounted by everyone in his life, especially his abusive uncle. This week, things come to a head regarding Rick's home life and how the world sees the young hero - and it will have major implications for Rick going forward, according to Gellman.

Warning: spoilers for this week's episode of DC's Stargirl, "Summer School: Chapter Eight" below.

In the episode, after a teacher brings Rick information about college and expresses her faith in him, Rick's uncle tells him that he'll end up in jail before he ends up in college and his words end up prophetic. Thanks to Eclipso's machinations, Rick is led to believe that Solomon Grundy has murdered a little girl, and, enraged, Rick severely beats "Grundy". Except, it's not Grundy. It's his Uncle Matt and the episode ends with Matt in grave condition and Rick in jail. Gellman recently told ComicBook.com that while a confrontation has been a long time coming between Rick and his uncle, resorting to violence is, to Rick, tantamount to becoming the thing he hates most.

"Oh, it's so tough, the position that Rick is in with his uncle. And yet he still has this sort of grace about him and this wisdom about him, that two wrongs don't make a right. And I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to be better than his uncle because he's not a Harris. He's a Tyler," Gellman said. "And so, he's trying to separate himself from the legacy that Matt left and align himself with the one that Wendy and Rex left for him. And he's doing that with no guidance because his parents are gone. And so, I think that that realization for him that he's nearly killed Matt is just one of tremendous shame. And I think it's a confirmation for him that he is the out-of-control, no-good, impulsive, angry, sort of piece of trash that his uncle is. And that's everything that he's always had. His greatest fear is becoming his uncle. So in that moment, he becomes his uncle."

Once Rick realizes what he's done, he tears the Hourglass off and shatters it. It could very well mean the end of Hourman as well as his father legacy and Gellman says that while Rick breaks things in the emotion of the moment, it cements that he feels like he's not worthy and that everything that went down is going to haunt him for a long time to come.

"I think it's just a really emotional moment for him, where he isn't thinking clearly and isn't thinking about the ramifications for himself or his team of breaking the hourglass," he said. "It's a lot of mounted now year-long sense of, I don't deserve these powers, or I don't know how to use them, or I'm never going to be my dad, I'm never going to be great like my dad. I think that's something that's always bothered him. And I think the breaking of the hourglass really ... It's sort of cements that."

He added, "Ultimately, the kind of person Rick is, and the pressure that he puts on himself to be the best team member for this group and to be the best son to his parents who aren't with him anymore, he carries a lot of shame and frustration, which is why I think we see him kind of have outbursts as often as he does. I think he's really sensitive and really nervous about not being enough and being left again or losing the people he loves. And so, I think that what he did is going to really, really bother him for a long time."

DC's Stargirl airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.