This article, “Who is KJ Brandman,” contains significant spoilers about Amazon’s Paper Girls season 1.
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Who is KJ Brandman in Paper Girls season 1?
A 12-year-old girl and one of the main protagonists of the series, KJ (Karina J. Brandman), is very much aware that she comes from a more wealthy background than the other paper girls, especially Mac. It seems that her family is very protective of her, although they wish that she would behave more like a girl. Instead, KJ is a huge fan of sports and would rather be out playing a physical game than play with dolls.
Whilst she is a friendly and intelligent girl, she is very guarded. And the reason for that doesn’t come out until much later in the series when KJ realises that she is a lesbian. Whilst it proves to be a huge shock for KJ, it finally makes sense to her as to why she’s so uncomfortable in her own skin. Whilst not a violent person by any means, she proves that she can stand up for herself; proven when she punches Mac.
What does KJ Brandman do?
After being targeted by bullies, KJ gets saved by Mac, Erin, and Tiffany. Together, they promise to protect each other. But when they go to pull a prank on the bullies that threatened KJ, they end up stuck in the middle of a war. Whilst the four paper girls believe an invasion is happening, KJ can only watch as she witnesses the scared Mac accidentally shoots Erin in the stomach. When time travellers heal Erin and send the paper girls to the future.
Unbeknown to KJ, when Prioress starts to hunt the paper girls down, Prioress locates her parents, Nora and Ozzie. Unfortunately, it seems that after Prioress gets the information that she needs, Prioress murders KJ’s parents. Once the paper girls travel to 1999, KJ decides to track down her former self. Before long, KJ sneaks into a party and learns that her older self is a lesbian. She nearly tells Mac about what she has learnt. But instead, when Mac reveals that she died when she was 16, KJ sobs with her. In the season finale, when they are offered the chance to go back to 1988, KJ refuses. Instead, she says she wants to go to the future so they can find a cure for Mac’s cancer. Ultimately, though, KJ travels to an unknown location/era with Mac after they get separated from Erin and Tiffany.
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