Top 10 Best Paper Girls Moments (Season 1)

“Paper Girls” begins in 1988 with four 12-year-old girls, Erin, Tiffany, Mac and KJ, trying to finish their paper routes. But, in addition to dealing with jerks in the neighborhood, the girls then have to survive what they think is either a nuclear attack or aliens. Erin ends up severely wounded before two strangers pull them into some kind of time machine. Yeah, it’s a lot. When the time capsule lands, all hell breaks loose. Not only have they been transported 30 years into the future, they also find themselves under attack by soldiers. It’s a super epic moment, and this is just beginning!

After their chaotic arrival in 2019, Erin Tieng takes the girls to her house. She’s expecting to find her mom and sister but instead, she comes face-to-face with herself…only older. Naturally, both Erins are in disbelief. And, as they try to wrap their minds around it, Young Erin learns that this isn’t the life she envisioned for herself. Adult Erin lives alone in the same house, with no spouse or children. She’s estranged from her sister and works as a paralegal, something Young Erin isn’t especially impressed by. The reveal is awesome in itself, but the idea that Erin is dissatisfied (to put it lightly) with who she becomes is an interesting plot point and definitely strikes a chord with a lot of us watching.

In 2019, Tiff wants to contact her adult self since Adult Erin isn’t doing a great job helping them get home. But, it’s not until they end up time-traveling to 1999 that she actually gets to reach out. The girls show up at a warehouse rager, where 12-year-old Tiff meets Adult Tiff, who takes the whole time travel situation surprisingly well. The two Tiffs nerd out over physics but, like Erin, Young Tiff is shocked and disappointed that her future self didn’t live out her childhood dreams. Sure, she was valedictorian and went to MIT but she didn’t graduate. Instead, she ended up a party girl back in Stony Stream. Plus, adult Tiff drops one heck of a bombshell on her younger self.

While the others get the chance to see their future selves, Mac learns that she dies at 16. Not one for sharing, she doesn’t tell the other girls about it and makes up a lie about being a veterinarian. She eventually confides in KJ and swears her to secrecy. It’s a powerful moment that leads to an even more somber one, when Mac and KJ go to see her grave. Actually standing in front of her grave is shocking enough. But Mac is really taken aback when she sees her stepmom, Alice, bring flowers. She realizes that she’s deeply missed, and more loved than she ever knew.

The girls meet Larry Radakowski, a member of the STF Underground, aka the “good guys” in this time war. He’s not the most inviting person but he does briefly bond with Tiff and sort of warms up to older Erin. Larry helps them leave 2019. However, they end up in 1999, the year Larry originally wanted to go to. They tell 1999 Larry about his betrayal, and he makes it his mission to redeem himself. When the Old Watch descends on his farm, he puts his life in danger to save the girls. He dies in a strange and unexpected way but, in the end, he sacrifices himself, proving that he was nothing like the other Larry.

Of course, a mind-blowing show like “Paper Girls” would have an equally epic ending. Prioress, who has been hell-bent on capturing the preteen time-travelers, ends up betraying the Old Watch. She realizes that one of them is the Tiffany Quilkin, founder of the Quilkin Institute and the one who discovered time travel. We’ve heard about the Institute throughout the series but not in relation to time-travel. However, a scene in the finale shows Young Tiff giving Adult Tiff Larry’s journal, which, as it turns out, leads to the discovery of time travel. Prioress hopes that Young Tiffany can prevent her future self from the discovery, erasing the timeline that led to the war. It’s a big twist that perfectly sets up season two.

At Larry’s farm, he shows Adult Erin and the girls a possible way home. But, it won’t be as easy as jumping in a time capsule. This specific time machine is actually a massive robot and it needs a pilot. Because she is already paired with the mysterious STF device, Erin is the only one capable of operating the Transformers-like robot. And this might be their only chance to get home. No pressure, right? They successfully make it through the folding but an Old Watch robot appears and Adult Erin now has to pilot her way through a giant robo-battle. She puts up a good fight but in a crazy, unfortunate turn of events, she doesn’t survive.

In 2019, Mac goes off on her own to find her older brother, Dylan, who we briefly saw in the first few minutes of episode one. Future Dylan is a doctor and a family man, which is not what she was expecting. Sadly, this is the point where Mac learns that she died as a teenager. The siblings get to reconnect, which makes for some incredibly touching scenes. Dylan sets a plan in motion for his sister to stay in 2019 and, while Mac does want to stay, she feels like an outsider among his new family. KJ eventually informs her that Prioress is hot on their tail and, not wanting to put Dylan in danger, Mac makes the tough decision to leave.

When the girls get to 1999, KJ offers up her house as a place to crash since her family is usually out of town for the 4th of July. However, they find the Brandmans having a big party. KJ avoids running into her college-aged self but discovers that she attends film school in New York. And, when she sees older KJ kissing her girlfriend, Lauren, it’s a revelatory moment for young KJ. At the Kubrick screening, she has a beautiful, transformative viewing experience, followed by a touching conversation with Lauren about art and love. Seeing her future self happy, in a loving relationship and living her own life sets KJ on a journey of self-discovery and accepting her sexual identity.

“Paper Girls” is about a lot of things but it’s mainly a coming of age story. And no scene encapsulated that like this one. Right after arriving in 1999 and seeing her future self die, Erin gets her period. You know, because she doesn’t have enough going on. Mac helps her out by nabbing a box of tampons from a store but, because Erin is the first girl in the group to get her period, they’re all unsure about the “process.” Still, that doesn’t stop them from offering up some suggestions and guesses. The scene is hilarious and perfectly shows the fear and awkwardness that perpetually surrounds puberty.