We have officially hit the halfway mark for Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang‘s Paper Girls. In the fifth episode, “A New Period,” the girls crash land in 1988. Or is it? All signs are pointing to something or someone messing with their jump. And if this isn’t 1988, what year are they in, and who can they turn to?
DISCLAIMER: This is a recap and, by definition, will include spoilers. So, if you want to go into this series blind, we highly suggest bookmarking this page and coming back later. Paper Girls can be found on Amazon Prime Video.
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“A New Period” opens as older Erin (Ali Wong) pilots the battleship right into the sand part of the factory. It isn’t the best land, but the group has made it. Larry (Nate Corddry) helps KJ (Fina Strazza), Tiff (Camryn Jones), Mac (Sofia Rosinsky) and younger Erin (Riley Lai Nelet) out and onto solid land. Everyone seems happy to be back in their time except Mac. Younger Erin thanks her counterpart for getting them home before the group heads off. Except for Tiff, who wants to be a part of the overall mission.
Larry is a bit on edge, which might be because they are too late. A bright purple rift opens in the sky, and Larry sends older Erin and the others to the trailer before trying to take on the giant robot himself. It quickly takes him out with a bright purple beam before heading to check on the other battleship. When it finds no life forms in the ship, it turns its sights on the trailer. But thankfully, when it tries to scan the one they are in, it needs to recharge. This gives them time for older Erin to send the girls off on their own while she deals with the issue.
The girls watch as older Erin rushes out, climbs into the battleship, and gets it upright again. She manages to knock the other battleship down, but the other ship is able to blast her back. After some motivational words of wisdom, older Erin gets back up and continues the fight. The girls watch as older Erin makes the final sacrifice and blows up the battleship in order to take the other one out.
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After the battle, the girls hide in the trailer while the Old Watch cleans everything up. Tiff isn’t willing to let the backpack Larry was hanging on to go and rushes out to try and grab it. But it isn’t just the soldiers of the Old Watch out there. The mysterious man (Jason Mantzoukas) and the crazy lady (Adina Porter) are there too. Tiff gets a front-row seat to the two arguing over how to end this war. But the guy knows that they just can’t put an end to this war the way she wants to, and he needs her to do her job. Which includes wiping the memory of everyone in the area who might have seen the battle.
After the Old Watch runs off, Tiff rushes over to grab the backpack and makes it safely back to the trailer. She warns the girls about what is happening, but it begins before they can do anything. However, once everything is done, they still remember everything. Why the thing doesn’t work on them is still a question for everyone, but no one knows the answer. Tiff wants to continue the mission, but everyone else wants to return to their normal lives.
While Tiff and KJ are arguing about what needs and doesn’t need to be done, Erin realizes there are flags everywhere when there should be Halloween decorations. They rush over, and Tiff finds a paper. It turns out that they didn’t just miss the landing mark by distance, but by years. They officially found themselves in July of 1999. KJ believes that Larry had been lying to them the entire time and was never going to return them to their time. Older Erin died for a lie, leaving them stranded and alone in a new time.
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“A New Period” shifts to the girls heading to the convenience store so Mac can steal some pads for Erin. Erin causes a distraction so that Mac can nab and run. The four have a somewhat awkward conversation about periods, how they start and what to do about them. Poor Erin. As if traveling through time, being forced to watch the future yourself die and being stuck in a different time wasn’t hard enough.
With Erin handling her newfound step into menstruation, the rest of the girls try to come up with what to do next. No one seems to have a good idea when KJ finally recommends they head to her house. No one is going to be there since they always go away for the holiday. Tiff doesn’t want them to blame her, and while it doesn’t seem like they do, they definitely don’t want to continue talking about it or the stuff he had in his book. At least for now.
When they arrive at KJ’s house, it seems like her family’s holiday plans have changed. It isn’t a safe place to hide out anymore, but Mac is right when she tells them they should sneak in and take some food before heading out. They tell KJ to hang back so that no one spots her while they run in. Inside, the girls get snacks while Tiff goes through Larry’s book. Outside, KJ watches through the window as the party unfolds. She decides to brave everything and head in, hoping no one will notice her.
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While she is making her way through the party, she catches this year’s KJ (Delia Cunningham), who seems to be just what her mother wanted. KJ rushes off before watching this current KJ awkwardly exit the current situation. She might not be as different from our KJ as she wants to believe. Mac heads off to check on Erin and tries to pass off the shrimp she didn’t like. To get Erin to feel better, Mac tries to get her to search the house with her instead of watching older adults do the mambo.
Erin downs a drink while they spend some time going through KJ’s family stuff. Mac opens up about seeing her brother again and the life he made for himself in 2019. The two spend some time trying on people’s jackets and dancing to the music. Downstairs, KJ finds Tiff and starts looking for supplies. Her dog wanders up, and she decides to spend time with her before they head off. Back upstairs, Erin and Mac go through the wallets in the jackets to find cash for their trip. The two discuss the morals behind stealing and then slip into the topic of how Erin felt when older Erin died.
“A New Period” returns to KJ, who heads upstairs to see how life has changed in the years between 88 and 99. It seems pretty clear to her that her mom has had a real say in her choices, but when she enters her room, she finds a girl sitting at the desk. She is Lauren (Maren Lord) and is a friend from school. KJ pretends to be a cousin and uses it as an excuse to go through her room and learn more about her future self. She learns she decided to go to film school and make movies. It seems like KJ eventually decides to make a stand against everyone.
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While younger KJ tries to make si downstairs, she is blocked by older KJ, who is coming upstairs to check on Lauren. She is telling Lauren about her mom’s attempts to get her and the guy downstairs together. But older KJ has a lot more important things to do, like editing her work and making out with her girlfriend. Younger KJ gets quite the surprise when she learns that her older self is a lesbian. Talk about one hell of an “ah-ha” moment.
KJ rushes everyone out of the house without an explanation. The other girls call her out of being an asshole which sets her off, and she punches Mac in the face. This sets Tiff off since everyone was blaming her for what happened even though none of them knew what they needed to do. “A New Period” comes to a close as Tiff finds a phone book and decides the best course of action is to get into contact with herself (Sekai Abeni).
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Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
