Paper Girls “Matinee”

Yeah, I think after six episodes, five more than I probably would have watched had I not been reviewing the show episode by episode, that it is pretty safe to say that I am not enjoying this show very much.

OK, cards on the table:  Paper Girls for the most part isn’t really bad television.  It’s just resoundingly mediocre.  Heck, I find the Mac character to be rather interesting all things being equal.  I don’t know if its the young actress or the writing is just better for her, but the other three girls aren’t doing much for me as characters.  Erin’s whole thing about watching herself die isn’t doing much for me.  KJ’s confusion over her sexual orientation isn’t doing much for me.  Tiff’s bonding with and ultimate disappointment in her own adult self isn’t doing much for me.

But Mac’s abrasiveness and keeping secret from most of the others that she’s going to die at 16?  All while being resistant to things like group hugs and general kindness?  Yeah, that I can deal with for some reason.

This episode shows the group trying to get help from Adult Tiff, the smart one.  So smart, she dropped out of MIT to become a rave DJ.  She also takes the news that there’s time travel and her own childhood self is there in total stride.  There’s some decoding of Larry’s journal, a trip to go see Larry since he hasn’t died yet, and…I don’t really care.  That’s the problem with Paper Girls:  I really don’t care what happens to any of these people.

This isn’t like some of the more teenage angst stuff that turned off of the first season of Locke & Key.  This is more I have no real interest in what happens to these people like I did with The OA and Runaways, shows I started covering here and never finished because, well, I didn’t really care.  Sometimes those shows come up with something interesting that catches my attention, but ultimately, not enough to get me to continue.  I may finish the season for these articles, but I have quit shows before.  I could easily finish The OA, Runaways, and the American House of Cards, but I really can’t bring myself to.  Especially on House of Cards where I lost interest in that story long before Kevin Spacey got himself canned.

I guess Amazon Prime Video did me a favor by canceling this one after this one season.

Anyway, I plan to finish this one off and then get back to Titans, a show I may not like but is generally batspit insane enough to keep me coming back for more as it’s a lot more promising than it ever actually proves itself to be.  Besides, after that, there’s still The Great next season coming up really soon.  That show I genuinely and unequivocally enjoy.

Paper Girls, not so much, but I only have two episodes left.