This article contains spoilers for Paper GirlsPaper Girls, based on the series by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Cliff Chiang, and Amazon’s latest addition to their catalog of comic book adaptations, recently wrapped up a stellar first season this year. Following four young paper delivery girls from Cleveland, Ohio, the show (and the graphic novel) follows the group as they get caught in an invasion, and subsequent war, between two factions of time travels from the future (The “Old Timers”, and the “Teenagers” respectively.
A little over six years since the original comic book series debuted, and three years since Amazon announced the adaptation,Paper Girlsfinally arrived in front of audiences in 2022. Yet another hit for the Prime streaming service, with current ratings sitting at 90% from Rotten Tomatoes, 7.2/10 on IMDB, and 7/10 on IGN.With an eight-episode arsenal in its first season,Paper Girlscovered quite a bit of ground in the story. Here are the best moments from the first season.
Related:“Paper Girls” Review: A Time Traveling Excitement.
5The Introduction to the Paper Girls
Similar to when we meet the boys ofStranger Thingswhile they play Dungeons and Dragons, we meet the Paper Girls while they are all on their morning deliveries; which is also when the chaos starts. The sky suddenly turns pink as the factions of time travelers arrive in their time. Erin is suddenly shot and immediately rushed to the hospital. The four get kidnapped by some of the time travelers. After even more chaos, troubles, and time travel, the girls end up all the way in 2019, much to their dismay. Shows, books, and stories of all kinds are always told to hook their audience from the beginning, andPaper Girlsdoes just that with a hectic, but well-done, pilot episode.
4Older Erin Joins the Group
The absolutely explosive cliffhanger from the pilot episode, the girls rush back to Erin’s home after a traumatic past few days, and discover Erin’s future self from 2019 waiting for them.Playing a Steve Harrington-esque role to the Paper Girls, older Erin plays a big part in the story of season one. From watching the girls, to helping manage the time travel, to trying to stop the Old Watch (with the help of Larry) dead in their tracks, and providing conflict with younger Erin, whose future gets spoiled to her at points from her older version. This plot twist is what makesPaper Girlsspecial, and what sets it apart from the other comic book television shows.
3Mac Gets the Love She Needed
One of the things teenagers struggle with throughout their teenage years is finding their own identity and dealing with their parents. As a coming-of-age show,Paper Girlsdeals with this heavily, especially with Mac. One of the more tragic characters in the show, Mac not only deals with the problems above, but also has to deal with the fact that she dies at 16. But during the scene where she watches her grave, she sees her step-mother dropping off flowers at her headstone, and visiting her for some time. Though still sad, this gives Mac the realization that she is more loved than she knows, and that people can be there for her throughout her struggle.
2The Robot Fight & Adult Erin’s Sacrifice
In the ever-growing time war between the Old Watch and STF, plans had been made, and serious actions needed to be taken. As adult Erin and Larry attempt to get the four girls back to their own time (of 1988, after being stuck in 2019), they activate Larry’s giant robot time machine, and since adult Erin is the only one connected to a mysterious STF device, she must be the one to pilot it. As they successfully get the machine up and running, and make it through the time fold, the group is hit with a blindside attack from an Old Watch robot. In one of the most stellar visual scenes from the show, adult Erin does her best to navigate through the fight, but ultimately dies in the attempt. The Paper Girls unfortunately, do not end up back in their time, but rather the year 1999.
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1The Quilkin Institute
Throughout the entirety of season one ofPaper Girls, dialogue, hints, and lines are thrown in about the famous Quilkin Institute; but not much else about the school is provided to the audience. But it isn’t until the season finale where we find out that Quilkin Institute is the place that invented time travel in the first place. After the thrill-packed events of “It B Over”, young Tiffany gives adult Tiffany (besides Erin, the rest of Paper Girls all met adult versions of themselves) the now-deceased Larry’s journal, which in turn, leads adult Tiffany to lead to the breakthrough of time travel, and the establishments of the Quilkin Institute in her name. Prioress (of the Old Watch) may have played a small hand in this, as she betrays the Old Watch and attempts to erase the timeline that the war is in.
A quirky, fun, full-of-heart, science fiction tale,Paper Girlswas a welcome, unique, and exciting entry into the world of comic book adaptations, and another hit for Amazon Prime Studios (AlongsideThe BoysandInvincible). With such a strong first season (both story wise and critically), and some suspenseful cliffhangers,Paper Girlshas definitely earned itself a second season, and has earned itself a watch from all available audiences.Paper Girlsnow available to stream on Amazon Prime.
