Time is a weird soup folx, and Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang‘s Paper Girls is doing a great job and mixing time travel with story and heart. In episode six, “Matinee,” the girls are stuck in 1999 and reach out to another one of their counterparts for help finding a way back home.

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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“Matinee” opens as Erin (Riley Lai Nelet) has a dream about debating Ronald Reagan (portrayed by Marcus Truschinski) about how her family needed her to be their caretaker and how she gave everything up in life. Mac (Sofia Rosinsky) gets her to finally wake up just in time to get her out of the cab outside of older Tiff’s (Sekai Abeni) house. Mac and KJ (Fina Strazza) argue about the area and how KJ’s family hasn’t taken it over yet, but younger Tiff (Camryn Jones) knows they are in the right place.

Inside, Tiff and the girls have their hands marked and head inside the nightclub, where older Tiff lives. Or is it at least hanging out? Tiff leaves the other girls to find herself, and Mac’s nose starts to bleed. When KJ tries to help her clean it up, she storms off, and Erin tells her to stay behind. While Erin shoves a tampon up Mac’s nose while listening to her complain about KJ’s anger issues, older Tiff meets up with younger Tiff.

Older Tiff reaching out to younger Tiff.

Paper Girls. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Younger Tiff gets her older self all caught up on what’s been going on and is taking everything in stride. Of course, this is because she has been studying all of this stuff, is super smart, and believes that all of this is possible. Older Tiff is just more shocked at the fact that younger Tiff is standing right in front of her. And younger Tiff is in shock because she is definitely not what she expected to see in her grown-up self. They decide to head back to older Tiff’s place for the night, and younger Tiff heads out to grab the others. After a refreshing hug, they head off to relax.

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At the apartment, the Tiffs have a moment to chat, and it seems like older Tiff might not have the best relationship with her mom now. Older Tiff gets her younger self off to bed, and the last we see older Tiff, she is looking over at younger Tiff’s backpack. Younger Tiff wakes up the next day to find KJ gone (she went to get some fresh air) and older Tiff returning from the market with some snacks. Older Tiff has thoughts about what has happened to them since she went to MIT.

“Matinee” jumps to KJ, who decides to check out the theater and see the movie Lauren (Maren Lord) recommended. KJ seems to be handling meeting her future self (Delia Cunningham) (by hiding and not actually meeting her) a lot differently than Tiff. Back at the loft, older Tiff goes into her theories, and younger Tiff realizes they can get more information by visiting the Larry of this time. But Mac instantly shoots it down, not wanting to force Erin to deal with him again after everything that has already happened.

KJ standing in the movie theater trying to buy a ticket.

Paper Girls. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

The argument quiets down when older Tiff’s boyfriend (Andrew Eakle) shows up. He was expecting a ride and suspects she is mad because he didn’t show up last night like he said he would. Older Tiff decides that she wants to head out to this farm and check it out and will drop him off on the way. She leaves Mac and Erin behind since they don’t want to go, taking younger Tiff with her.

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On the ride over, younger Tiff gets a front-row seat to older Tiff acting a bit stupid when dealing with her boyfriend. She thinks it is easier to adjust who she is to keep things easy, and maybe one day, when younger Tiff is older; she will understand that too. But really, younger Tiff sees it as a waste of time and even judges him because he is still living in their hometown, forgetting that is exactly where she is too.

Back at the loft, Mac and Erin are done playing video games, and Erin jumps up and calls her mom. She isn’t able to say anything, but it does make her feel a bit better to hear her voice. Erin asks Mac if she wants to call her house and try and talk with her parents. Mac isn’t interested, and when Erin asks about her brother, she tells her that he is probably away at medical school and didn’t bother coming home for the summer. When Erin finally asks about Mac’s 1999 self, Mac lies and says that Dylan told her she went to vet school in Florida.

Erin and Mac standing in older Tiff's living room.

Paper Girls. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Mac changes the subject and asks Erin if she wants to go to Erin’s house to try and see her 1999 self. While they wait, Mac continues the lie about her future self. Eventually, Erin spots her family, and it’s harder than she thought. Mac reminds her that even when someone isn’t around, the world continues without them. It seems to be just as much a reminder to herself as it is to Erin.

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“Matinee” jumps back to the Tiffs as they arrive at the farm looking for Larry (Nate Corddry). He tries to play stupid about the STF Underground, but neither Tiff will let him back down. Younger Tiff shares with him that she came from the future and knows everyone. Tiff heads to the barn but doesn’t find the battleship since it hasn’t been dropped off yet. The book is enough to convince Larry, though. It turns out that this Larry is a new recruit to the group.

Larry is worried that they are from the Old Watch, but Tiff rips into him about what his future self has done. Everything from lying to them, taking them to the wrong time and causing not only his own death but older Erin’s (Ali Wong) too. He hands over the code and swears that he won’t ever do something like that again. When he asks them how he can get ahold of them, younger Tiff blows him off, but older Tiff lets him know who they are and where they can find their information.

Larry showing the Tiffs his notebook and what he has learned so far.

Paper Girls. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

At the theater, KJ is drawn into the film nearly as much as she is in her future self. Mac and Erin make their way through town, and Erin starts talking about how rough it is on her that she knows when she is going to die. Mac listens on, but it’s clear she is getting frustrated with the conversation. Instead of telling the truth about her future self and being dead, she blows up on Erin, telling her to get over it and not be stupid and do what the other Erin did. Of course, this isn’t what Erin wants or needs to hear, so she blows up and storms off.

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Back at the theater, KJ waits outside to watch older KJ and Lauren leave. When older KJ steps away, our KJ uses the moment to go up and talk to her. They discuss the film for a bit, and KJ debates asking about how she found out she was gay. However, she panics and changes the question back to movies. But Lauren is smart enough to realize that she was asking how she knew when she was queer. Lauren shares with her that everyone moves at their own pace, that she will eventually find a “movie” that will change her world, and that while others don’t understand, it’s okay. Lauren tries to ask KJ to get coffee with them, but KJ rushes off when she realizes her older self is coming back.

“Matinee” returns to older Tiff’s loft. The two talk about all of the accomplishments that they have reached so far. It turns out that the older Tiff went to MIT but never actually graduated. She felt too confined by the rules and wanted the freedom to do and think the way she wanted. Older Tiff finally admits that how younger Tiff has been acting is borderline insulting. She has worked hard for where she is at and is continuing to push boundaries. When older Tiff mentions that she is working towards a new way to provide education, younger Tiff remembers learning about the institute her 2019 self founded.

Young Tiff making a face at older Tiff as she explains why they dropped out of MIT.

Paper Girls. Image courtesy of Amazon Prime Video.

Their conversation is cut short again when KJ arrives home. She is still a bit standoffish with everyone. Erin arrives right after and lets it known that she wants nothing that has to do with Larry. And then Mac arrives in a bad mood right after, taking older Tiff’s clove cigarettes and heading to the roof. Upstairs, KJ apologizes to Mac for punching her in the face. KJ then opens up about how she saw herself while out and that she seems happier now. All those fancy things might look good from the outside, but it doesn’t tell the real story.

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Just as KJ is about to open up to Mac about growing up and being queer, Mac drops the bomb that she is dead at 16. The idea that she knows when she will die has changed her whole outlook on life, and we can finally see how she is processing the entire situation. Her breakdown is brief before she bottles it all back up and tells KJ not to say anything to the others. She doesn’t want them to look at her any differently.

Downstairs, the Tiffs are still breaking through Larry’s code and discussing how all of this is such an exciting thing to dive into. Together, they break down everything and can figure out that the next folding won’t be until 2006. Erin overhears the information and freaks out. They can’t stay in this time for the next seven years. She wants the Tiffs to double-check their work, but they know it’s right.

“Matinee” comes to a close as Larry watches papers dated November 1, 1988, and a bicycle comes crashing out of the purple sky.

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