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The Origin Of The House
In 1848, a man placed a flower in his journal out in the woods. When he returns to the house, he finds a body hanging from the rafters with a note “All yours.” The note suggests that the man’s wife has died and he is now free to live as he pleases.
We soon find out that Harper is using this house as his time traveling base.
That dog from before randomly showed up in the house for Harper during one of his travels too, explaining how it showed up randomly with Kirby. Harper led the dog out of the house, shutting the door behind him which, presumably, leads into Kirby’s apartment. ..
Jinny is still rattled after last episode’s tie-up of loose ends. Kirby is aware of what’s happened and points out that Jinny’s new reality is something she needs to get used to.
Why does reality shift?
After finding evidence that Jinny is now a mechanical technician and living at a different address, Kirby urges her to head home and try to blend in, pointing out that this is “who she is now.” Kirby has experience with these shifting realities and encourages Jinny not to panic.
Kirby heads to Dan’s place, but he’s not there. As a result, Kirby’s role at the newspaper has changed.
Kirby is working on a project called the Berwyn Murders. This project is important, and she’s been working on it for a while.
Kirby realizes that the Harper case is being wrapped up with Pavel as the likely suspect. When he attends the morning meeting, Abby informs the team that Dan Velsaquez used to be a writer with them but he’s been killed at Sid’s bar. Through hearing this, Kirby realizes why everything has changed.
Does Harper find the tape?
Harper visits Leo and demands to see the tape of what he has been talking to Kirby about Klara. Leo denies knowing who she is, but Harper persists and asks for the tape. ..
Leo insists he doesn’t know where the tape is, but Harper is relentless. He eventually takes Leo out of the care center and brings him back to the house, under the pretence that the tape is there. ..
Leo can’t open the door. Harper can. Why is that? ..
As we soon learn, Leo actually helped Harper get rid of Klara’s body and this tape holds evidence of what they’ve been doing, hence why Harper wants it so badly.
Leo wants to go back to the day they found the house and in doing so, he’ll reveal where this is. Given Klara saw straight through the man’s deception, Leo is confident he will too and gets to the crux of the issue. He taunts Harper, telling him plainly that he has no one – that’s why he’s in this house and losing his sanity.
He stabs Leo several times and holds him in his arms and lets him bleed out.
What happens after Leo is killed?
Meanwhile, Jinny tries to explain what’s going on to Kirby. She brings up the analogy about particles becoming untangled and a thread running through them. ..
Jinny believes that the thread connecting Harper, Jinny, and Kirby is important. In this specific example, that would refer to the three of them being connected. She believes Harper is responsible for connecting them and in order to untangle everything, they need to “remove one of the particles from Harper to let the rest run free.” This sees them turn their attention toward Harper as the one they need to free. ..
In a new reality, Marcus is happily married to someone else while Kirby is back working in archives. This reality seems to be the catalyst for the other realities changing. ..
Manic reality shifts
Jinny Harper is in a lot of trouble. She’s the only one left at the local newspaper after Harper went on a killing spree. The police are suspicious of her and take her away. ..
Kirby returns to the office to find Jinny gone. In the middle of this whole drama, another kill from Harper shifts us ever-so-slightly again as Marcus doesn’t recognize who Kirby is. She swallows hard and nods knowingly.
Kirby heads to the coroner’s office to find out what happened to the woman who had been there earlier in the series. It turns out that she has returned to her original form, Iris. ..
What does Kirby find at the coroners?
Dan has been brought in under the pretence that a thief came at him and stabbed the man as a consequence of this. Kirby knows this isn’t true and points out that whatever Dan has, he’s always been generous and given away, hence why the narrative doesn’t quite work.
Iris decides to leave and let Kirby investigate, and Kirby is appreciative. Kirby eventually realizes all of this links back to the house. ..
How does Kirby outsmart Harper?
Kirby breaks into the house and finds Harper inside. After looking around, she opens the shutters to see a bright light. When Harper returns, Kirby is there and she attacks him with a knife, determined to take him down. ..
Kirby rasps, “It was never you,” as Harper pins him down. She grabs a knife and stabs him through the chin. ..
Klara is not happy to see Harper again. The scene plays out very differently now. Klara somehow knows exactly what he’s going to say before he does. The timeline plays out like before, but without Klara this time, as Harper finds the digital watch…alongside a polaroid of himself; the address of the house on the back. ..
Leo and Harper are waiting for Kirby when he arrives. This time, Kirby is not the only one waiting for him.
The woman in the story is in control and she doesn’t kill the man when he shows up. She says it’s just a cycle that she can’t break.
In Harper’s mind, the world owes him something. He believes that the world owes him something because he has been given everything he has ever wanted. He derives his motivation from the belief that others owe him something, and this has come from operating under the illusion that the world owes him something. For Harper, this is her house now and she promises to always be with him. She forces Harper out of her home, demanding he make amends to avoid being killed again.
Does time go back to how it was?
After Harper’s death, Leo appears to him and tells him that he never actually made it over to France to fight. This revelation leads to a greater understanding of the events that have transpired since then. ..
In Harper’s pocket is a wooden Pegasus that he gave to Kirby all those years ago. Having not given it to Kirby, reality shifts back to the original timeline once more. This means that every single one of Harper’s victims are still alive and time seems to have righted itself again.
Jinny is back at the planetarium; Dan is still drowning his sorrows at the bar; Kirby is finally making sense of her reality. Jinny, Dan, and Kirby are all back at the planetarium. ..
Kirby heads into the bar and sits down with Dan. Dan doesn’t recognize her, but Kirby guesses what it is in his pocket. Kirby tells Dan if he remembers, then he knows where to find her.
How does Shining Girls Season 1 end?
Kirby is home and has been for a while. She’s been thinking about what happened in the beginning of the episode, when that dog came to her house. Kirby lets him in and they have a conversation. Kirby now lives in this house, but she still has the feeling that something could happen here that she hasn’t seen before.
The Episode Review
Shining Girls is really coming into its own these past few episodes and it’s another example of why episodic releases can actually help a show grow and improve. Midway through this slow, meandering series you might be forgiven for thinking this one is going nowhere in a hurry. ..
Since the beginning of the show, Shining Girls has been one of the most exciting and innovative shows on television. Its premise is unique and intriguing, and it has managed to keep up with the high standards set by its predecessors. Episode 6’s flashback chapter and subsequent follow-ups have really stepped it up a gear, making this an even more compelling show to watch.
The idea of this house being the constant, the time travel device if you will, feels like a nod toward Stephen King’s 11.22.63, although that show had a much more consistent thread tying everything together with its time travel. ..
The Shining Girls is a novel that is full of mystery and suspense. The run-time for the novel is muddled and not made clear until way near the end. That’s not a bad thing though, because it reinforces why you need to read the novel in order to fully understand it.
Apple has renewed Shining Girls for a second season, but whether or not the show will continue is still up in the air. This one was an enjoyable watch and left us wanting more. Whether or not we’ll get a sequel remains to be seen, but there’s definitely enough here to whet our appetite for more.
In the end, Harper is stopped from his murderous rampage but at what cost? Kirby has lost everything she had, and that could well see her try to rewrite history and get back to her old life. Or will she settle for what she has? We’ll see!
