Well, that escalated quickly.

Considering I felt the pacing was a little slow at the start of this series, I’m more than a little blown away by this episode! My head is still spinning from the first act alone. Nail-biting action and gut-wrenching emotions both hit hard as the Paper Girls’ plan to leap home to 1988 goes… Very Horribly Wrong.

This leads to some understandable strained relationships as our team processes events… with some light relief coming in the form of an extended discussion on the pros and cons of tampons (do you see what they did there with the title?!) which belies the woefully inadequate education young women typically received about their own bodies in the 80s. Yes, that’s the ‘light relief’, you read that right. This instalment doesn’t pull its punches.

I’m slightly more confused again about precisely how The Old Watch managed to do what they did, but I’m sure Tiff will explain it better, after she’s beavered away in her notebook.

It’s KJ’s turn for a shock to the system when she gate-crashes her own family’s 4th July party – the moment of discovery is played out so well as shock and panic fade to reflection, understanding and acceptance of self in a few very well acted moments.

Verdict: Ruin and revelation for the Paper Girls in the 1990s. 8/10

Claire Smith