The best new time-travel show since ‘Dark’

Don’t let it tweens fool around on bikes in the 80s glitter haze. The similarity between Paper girls And Strange things It stops there.

Four paper girls – Erin, Mack, Tiffany and KJ – are on their morning delivery route in suburban Ohio when they are suddenly caught in a time warp between rival factions in the future. Transported from 1988 to 2019, the Paper Girls encounter grown-up versions of themselves as they struggle to find their way back home.

Amazon Prime Show It strays quite a bit from the graphic novel, but it’s a spirited adaptation that captures the same sense of youthful friendship and adventure you find in the source material.

Paper girls It also stars comedian Ali Wong as Erin Tieng, Nate Corddry and Adina Porter, along with Sofia Rosinski, Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nellett and Fina Strazza as the four main characters. Jason Mantzoukas as Wong is a recurring character who is best known as a comedian but plays a dark and dramatic role that defies audience expectations.

Amazon’s production team, artist Cliff Chiang and colorist Matt Wilson, faithfully capture the aesthetic of Steamwave’s stunning illustrations. it’s true, Paper girls It struggled a bit with a modest budget and could have been greatly improved with better special effects, but it works with what it has.

Like the comics, Paper girls He represents a variety of backgrounds in his narrative, including homosexuality, immigration, adoption, anti-Semitism, and religion, among others. Mental health and trauma – past and present – are openly discussed as the girls get to know each other.

All that gravitas and nudity is still there, and it’s done extremely well. The writers — comic co-creators Brian K. Vaughn and Chiang, along with Stephanie Folsom and Fola Gocke-Pariola — clearly understand the classification. Sensitive topics are handled realistically and given a fair treatment, while the script understands the language of your typical 12-year-old.

Mac drops F-bombs on the fly because she thinks they’re just as good as most little ones. As a racist “white trash” character, Mack uses slurs and believes in reformist ideas that were “acceptable” in the 80s and likely replicated in her conservative family. As in the comics, characters like KJ and Tiffany call out her disgusting behavior, but offer a thoughtful explanation of how homophobia and xenophobia can harm her.

As the protagonists come face-to-face with their older selves, the stream of insults and blind observations they deliver aren’t harsh. Big Erin (played by Wong) is completely roasted by all the girls, including Young Erin (Nelette), who at 45 is starting to grow up to be such a loser.

Amidst the far-fetched sci-fi of the general plot, girls still find time to laugh about hamsters, talk about tampons, and laugh at video games, based on a timeless story that allows you to connect and empathize with these faithful little creatures. . Not only are their dialogues realistic, but the actors themselves see the point. You won’t find any 24-year-olds struggling to pass as people half their age. And the adult actors share uncanny physical similarities with their younger selves.

Unlike the complex and interwoven time travel Darkness or three time lines Western worldjump into time Paper girls It mostly makes sense. Time jumps keep you on your toes, but the overall performance is surprisingly understandable. The first two episodes are pretty confusing, but you’re in for a treat as the four girls get stuck in the future without understanding how or why. Both the viewer and the characters feel their own confusion as the mystery unfolds. And it will not be the end of the chaos – Paper girls It’s the rare time-travel show that takes advantage of its premise and throws dinosaurs into the mix.

such as, Paper girls It’s a very uncomfortable ride for the audience. Adults and kids alike travel through the decades with Erin, Mack, Tiffany and KJ, and watch as the four strangers become firm friends in the process. There are some things you just can’t share without loving each other, and one of them seems to be traveling back in time to scan your big bodies before heading out for the night.

Paper girls Now streaming on Amazon Prime.