Summary
Another twisty episode that’s quite hard to wrap your head around.
This recap of Apple TV+ series Shining Girls season 1, episode 5, “Screamer,” contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Shining Girls season 1, episode 5 recap
After being attacked in the previous episode, Kirby struggles to have the sketch artist draw precisely what she wants. Meanwhile, Harper wakes up strapped to the hospital bed. He puts enough fear into one of the patients for them to release him. And once free, Harper “goes home” as he can’t be away from home for long.
Whilst Dan believes Kirby’s version of events, the detectives have a harder time. But then, when Dan sees the sketch image, he realizes that it’s the same man he spoke to outside Julia’s house. When outside the Bee Happy Bar, Kirby tells Dan how things change in a split second, again, and again, and again. However, this has never happened to Dan or Jin-Sook, as far as they’re aware. Visiting Leo once again, Harper and Leo speculate whether Kirby knows something that they don’t.
Afterward, as the conversation between Kirby and Jin-Sook plays out again, it’s clear that Harper was hiding in plain sight. And when Kirby becomes suspicious of a door that apparently always gets caught in the latch, she stares right out in Harper’s direction. But whilst he can see her, Kirby doesn’t see Harper. Clearly dealing with a mind f**k, Kirby returns to her husband, who makes her happy food. Although, of course, Kirby has no memory of this dish.
Dan visits Rachel, and although she is reluctant to speak to him (as she blames the press for Kirby’s attack the night before), she does reveal that Kirby is not crazy. And as Kirby and her husband look through some family photos, she comes across a man who has the same tattoo as Harper. And as a result, Kirby learns that it’s more than likely that Harper has some form of military experience.
The ending
As Jin-Sook attends work and inspects the dead bee, Kirby and Dan visit Julia’s clients. And when Kirby speaks to the receptionist, they learn that Harper makes frequent visits to one of the other patients, Leo. As for Leo, unlike the other patients who have aggressive forms of dementia, Leo technically has nothing wrong with him. When Dan quizzes Leo, they get no response. However, when Kirby is alone with Leo, she tricks him into giving them a recording of a blond woman that Harper filmed.
In the closing section of the fifth episode of Shining Girls, Harper speaks to Jin-Sook and tells her to say something to Kirby. Whilst when Kirby goes to leave with Dan, she reveals that the car is now different. With the car that Kirby describes, in fact, his old car, Dan speculates whether Kirby’s “memories” are what’s to come.
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