Let there be (purple and pink) light!

Backstory! We have backstory! Our intrepid 80s team splits up and it’s more than a narrative device to provide distraction from the main plot – it’s the best of Paper Girls so far.

We learn from our new friend Larry that our warring factions are the Standard Time Fighters, or STF (the goodies) and The Old Watch (the baddies), who stand for adjusting time ‘when humanity has taken a wrong turn’; and maintaining the status quo (where they hold the power), respectively. We only have Larry’s word for it that the STF are the good guys, but as he’s not the one going around slaughtering people, I’ll take his word for it – for now. For my money, he should have turned up in episode 2 and explained some of this stuff sooner, but I’ll get over it.

The best scenes are most certainly those with Mac and her brother, Dylan. I gasped, I gasped again then I realised what he’s up to and I just want to give him a hug. I guessed what he might want to do in light of the earth-shattering news he has for Mac, and by the time he declared his intent, my only reaction was joy and hope. It’s got me – it took 3 episodes but it’s got me. The very last scene also has a surprise… I wonder how they got Bumblebee in there?

Verdict: The fog starts to lift and the stakes are raised. 8/10

Claire Smith