Shining Girls Episode 8 is the eighth (and final) instalment of an American thriller streaming television series based on the 2013 novel The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. Though ostensibly about a serial killer, there are supernatural horror elements in this series that recalls the Stephen King HBO adaptation The Outsider from 2018.
S P O I L E R S
Entitled “30”, Shining Girls Episode 8 finally provides avid followers of the series the closure required to resolve all the ill feelings generated in response to Harper Curtis’ almost godlike ability to kill at will, without consequence. As revealed in episode 6, Curtis is only able to travel in time due to the House he discovers with Leo. While that is explained, the series never reveals why only Curtis is able to travel through time and Leo is not able to. Now, in the novel, Curtis ability to time travel is tied in with the murders, meaning he has to kill ladies on the cusp of big things in their lives hence, “shining girls” but that is not quite the case with the series. Which means – PLOT HOLE!
READ OUR ANALYSES OF SHINING GIRLS.
Why, you ask? Because in Shining Girls Episode 8, after killing Curtis, Kirby time travels to various key events in Curtis’ life to effectively torment and sometimes kill him. So why is Kirby able to time travel then and Leo was not able to? Perhaps it is because she killed Curtis in the House? Who knows? This is not satisfactorily explained in the finale and that is disappointing because the premise was so interesting.
In the final analysis, Shining Girls is a binge-worthy series though not quite up to the standard of Slow Horses or Severance. Like Outer Range and Night Sky, it had the potential to match the magnificence of Dark but fell short, though not as badly as the two Amazon Prime Video series. Recommended.
Now streaming on AppleTV+.
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