Info
"Shining Girls" from Apple TV+ is a supernatural crime-series based off a book The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. Apple TV's series adaptation stars Elizabeth Moss (The West Wing, Mad Men, The One I Love, The Handmaid's Tale ) as the lead, with Wagner Moura (Elysium, Narcos ), Phillipa Soo (Tick Tick ... Boom, Hamilton ), Chris Chalk (12 Years A Slave, Detroit, When They See Us), Amy Brenneman (Heat, Fear, Judging Amy, The Leftovers ), and Jamie Bell (King Kong, Jumper, Snowpiercer, Fantastic Four ) in major supporting roles.
Summary
Episode six's "Attribution," finally gives us some background info into our time-traveling psychopath. It opens with Harper on a battlefield, World War One, and to my disappointment it shows that he's kind of always been a violent immoral person. This is illustrated by how he kills a fellow soldier for their gas mask and steals a handkerchief from their dead body later. We get introduced to Leo from the hospice, he's a fellow WWI soldier that Harper meets and presumably robs people with. We're introduced to the girl from the video tape Leo gave Kirby, Klara. They're not exactly childhood friends. It sounds like Harper's just someone from her past who she'd rather not spend too much time with and its revealed he used to peep on her. While showing her of a new place he's been casing, he discovers a watch from the future and assaults the woman, demanding to know its origin. This is what later leads him and Leo to a strange house with items from throughout history. While pockets stuff, Harper finds the house's current owner who asks him what year it is. Eventually, him and Leo chase him outside and the old owner gets hit by a car. This is where the first shift is revealed, it's no longer the 1910s but 1950s. Harper later shows Klara the time-travel house, takes her and Leo to the 80s where they meet Kirby. Later it's revealed the house only works for him and that he's repeatedly taken Klara on the same adventure. She calls him a small man and he kills her. He goes back to the 80s and we see his new fixation is Kirby.
Review
Episode six's "Attribution," was crammed full of reveals, maybe even too much so. We finally get the background history of our time-traveling killer and while him being from World War I is almost mildly interesting, Harper's just some dangerous creeper from a long time ago that found a magical house. We don't get any explanation for why the house works for him, where the house is from, what kind of adventures the previous owner may have went on. It felt like they ran out of time, especially when it came to the character of Klara. She should've been a lot more important to the series. She is the original victim. Harper's dangerous obsession with women started with her but just as quickly as she's introduced she's thrown away almost as if Harper himself wrote the episode.
I wanted to see some practice adventures with Harper and Leo. They're soldiers-turned-robbers so the show could've developed Harper as someone who got a taste for violence during a robbery. We also could've seen other time-travel ventures with Leo to show how he went from the leader to Harper's prisoner.
Why do people who use the house get sick if they stay too long away from it?
What is in a house that can travel anywhere in time?
Why was the chandelier changing?
How many times has Harper used the house?
Two episodes left to hopefully answer all of these questions.
Hope you enjoyed this post and see you next time!
