Paper Girls is an American science fiction drama streaming television series created by Stephany Folsom. It is adapted from the comic book series of the same name written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang and published by Image Comics from 2015 – 2019. The streaming television series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, 2022. Is the series worth binge-watching?
The premise of Paper Girls is an intriguing one –
A few hours after 1988 Halloween night, four 12-year old girls have to face a mission. Trapped in a complicated conflict, they will travel in time to save the world. (IMDb)
Essentially, the four protagonists viz. Erin Trieng (Riley Lai Nelet), Tiffany Quilkin (Camryn Jones), Mac Coyle (Sofia Rosinsky) and KJ Brandman (Fina Strazza) will in the course of their time travels discover troubling aspects concerning the future and the fate of their older counterparts. It is this element of Paper Girls that makes the series compelling and unique. Thus, the science fiction under-pinnings are really more of an excuse for intimate character studies of four distinctive young girls.
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However, the fact that the actresses in question are really aged 14 to 16 years ago, does take away from the suspension of disbelief – it’s clear that none of the Paper Girls are twelve. But that is a minor complaint. More seriously, the pacing of the series is lacking and there are deep tranches of plodding sequences of dialogue and exposition that should have been tightened up. This is so especially from the mid-point of the series when it seems to lose momentum.
That all said, Erin, Tiffany, Mac and KJ are all likeable, engaging characters – which is no surprise as that is the main strength of Brian K Vaughn’s writing. But the science fiction aspect of the series is sorely lacking and that often threatens to derail the effectiveness of Paper Girls. Hopefully, the series does well enough to earn a second season, especially with the cliffhanger season finale.
So, in the final analysis, Paper Girls is worth binge-watching especially if you enjoy deeper characterisations notwithstanding a loose plot line.
Paper Girls is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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