Paper Girls

Based on: 2015 comic series of the same name by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

Created by: Stephany Folsom

Starring: Camryn Jones (Tiff), Riley Lai Nelet (Erin), Sofia Rosinsky (Mac), Fina Strazza (KJ), Adina Porter (Prioress), Ali Wong (adult Erin), Nate Corddry (Larry)

Of the many sci-fi series cancelled after just one season by various streaming services (looking at you, Netflix and Amazon), I consider Paper Girls one of the most tragic. 

This was one of three great sci-fi series I remember premiering within months of each other, all Amazon originals. If memory serves, the other two were Night Sky and Outer Range. Only the latter received a second season renewal. (No, I'm not bitter at all, why do you ask?) I believed I've already reviewed the other two, though that might have been before I started waiting for full seasons to air before writing them. Of those three, I found Paper Girls by far the most compelling. 

Paper Girls is about four preteen girls going about their predawn paper route one day in the early 80s. In about as sci-fi a plot development as I could ask for, they find themselves accidentally caught in the midst of a battle between two factions of time-travelers from the future. To escape being shot, they seek refuge in what they don't realize is a time machine--and fling themselves into the future. 

The girls, stuck in the future, try to figure out what to do next

Adult Erin tries to help them piece things together

Over the courses of the series, the group encounters each of their future selves and have to come to terms with who they'll become. Simultaneously, they encounter enemies and allies of this time-travel war and are forced to continuously determine who has their best interest at heart and run from those who don't. In one truly heartbreaking moment, this involved abruptly abandoning a reunited family member who was made unsafe by the girls' presence. 

My only complaint about the season is the significant lack of information we got about these time traveling factions. We learn... basically nothing. I understand the idea of building up the concept and focusing on character, but I think the writers could've really sprinkled just a little more world-building to help us understand these fighting factions or even just tease us more about what was going on. Instead, they seemed to leave basically everything for the now-non-existent season 2. 

Jason Mantzoukas and Adina Porter play the primary villains who are trying to kill the girls

However, this wasn't a total loss because the character building was rich. It also stayed interesting because the girls were exploring the wonders of the late-2010s from their 1980s-perspective. They were meeting themselves, having rich conversations about expectations met and unmet, and grieving the losses of allies gunned down by enemies--and sometimes resurrected by other time-travel shenanigans. There were moments when the family and friend drama became a bit excessive, especially when the girls fought among themselves (or their older selves). But I didn't think this happened too often.  

Larry, an endearing ally, helps them understand what's going on around them

Tragically, the season finale was the most exciting part of the show. It ended on a fascinating cliffhanger that left me needing more. In the end, the girls infiltrate part of a faction headquarters. They're about to be cornered by the enemy when they program a time-travel pod for their home date, but only some of the girls manage to enter and return to their home date. Thus, two girls return home, and two are left in the faction headquarters with some of their allies to fight for their lives. 

I was so mad to see that Amazon Prime had cancelled this season because I needed more of these girls, more of these factions, and to find out what happens next!