Shining Vale Season 1 Episode 3 introduced more craziness into the Phelps family and sees Pat struggling to convince Terry that her experiences are real.
The episode sees Pat attempting to remedy her 50s housewife ghost problem by locking her in the closet. Terry and Gaynor watch Pat and it is clear that they think she is crazy, but are given a scare when the closet door opens unexpectedly. It’s a comedic scene that sees Jake come out of the closet citing that he wanted some time “alone” — yes, he was doing what you think.
The encounter sees Pat and Terry back with their therapist. Terry raises concerns about Pat’s behavior, yet again, but Pat asserts that she is not crazy. Pat also has her concerns about Terry’s coworker, Katheryn, although it’s arguably not her place to have such concerns after her affair with the handyman.
The therapist ends up prescribing more medication for Pat. How much medication is this woman taking? When Pat goes to the pharmacy to collect her prescription, she bumps into the woman that sold her the house and demands to know if her house is haunted. The large lipstick smudge across Pat’s face does nothing to help the illusion that Pat is crazy and she low-key looks like the Joker.
Meanwhile, Gaynor runs into Ryan at school and the two talk about starting a Facebook group for their chastity group. Gaynor brushes off a joke about being a virgin in an attempt to grow closer to Ryan. Honestly, I’m interested to see where this relationship between the two goes.
Terry’s Presentation
Terry panics at work when he cannot find a presentation he is due to present alongside Katheryn to a group of priests. He interrupts Pat’s writing to ask her to send the presentation via email from his home computer. Pat eventually does, but weirdly loses an hour in between in which she cannot remember what she was doing.
During the presentation, Terry is humiliated when it turns out the presentation has been manipulated with rude and satirical messages aimed at the priests. It was a little funny, though.
When Terry returns home, he confronts Pat about the presentation but she tells him that she has been busy writing 13 pages and didn’t mess with his presentation. It seems she is embracing the 50s housewife a little too much and it is messing with her writing.
Things become weirder for the Phelps when the oven randomly pings and it is revealed that Pat baked a casserole sometime during the day. Whilst she has no recollection of baking the casserole, she takes ownership of it. There’s humor in the scene given when Pat takes out the casserole from the oven it is filled with cornflakes. Weird.
Pat sits down once again to write but finds her computer randomly instructing her to go to the basement. She manages to find the entrance to the basement covered up with wallpaper but quickly peels this back and finds a Tiki bar hidden in the basement.
When Terry comes to see, he asks her why she messed with his presentation, but Pat reveals that she blacked out and doesn’t remember anything.
Later that night, Pat goes down to the basement and comes face-to-face with Rosemary, the 50s housewife that has been haunting her. Rosemary explains that she has been providing her with ideas but ultimately Pat is in control. Not for much longer, though. Rosemary manages to convince Pat into drinking for the first time in 16 years.
The episode ends on an ominous sign, showing a skull of what appears to be a young girl in the woods surrounding the house. Who is this girl and what connection does she have to the house and Rosemary?
Review
This episode was honestly one of the better ones of the series and for me probably the best one we’ve seen thus far. We got to see a lot of craziness, but it added to the overall mystery of the whole show. Courtney Cox’s acting was superb too!
Overall, it left me with a lot of questions, such as who the little girl is and what connection she has with both the house and Rosemary. Also, will Gaynor’s encounter with Ryan’s religious mother be explored more? Clearly she knows what is going on inside the house.
What did you think of the episode? You can catch it here on STARZ. Don’t forget to check out our review of the previous episode here too!
