‘Shining Vale’ Recap – ‘Chapter 11: The Goat’ – Nerds That Geek

‘Shining Vale’ Recap – ‘Chapter 11: The Goat’

10/28/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear in Episode 203 of ‘Shining Vale’ – ‘Chapter Eleven: The Goat’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Shining Vale’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Something that stories across all genres rarely cover, is what families do after a traumatic experience has entered their lives. Sure, they’re happy to show us the moment itself and the love they share and the healing they try to take part in, but beyond that… we don’t see people pick up the pieces, and we don’t know how they cope with the realities of what happened and how one heals from that. Which is why Shining Vale is such an important horror series on STARZ. Because it is taking the time to not only creep us out and offer all the black humor that makes the show great, but it is also really exploring what the Phelps family must do to recover from the painful events that happened in their new home, as evidenced by this week’s episode.

For ‘Chapter 11: The Goat’ saw some peace settle into their lives. For Pat’s book was out and people were buying it, and there was finally some honesty in the household regarding what happened that fateful day, and that honesty… went a long way. Because it gave Terry clarity and potentially a way forward to heal his memory. Wherein he would return to work and get into a routine and hopefully have so much unlocked in the process. Which both hindered and helped Terry unfortunately. Because while there were echoes of the past, and familiar moments, there was confusion too. Mainly because he experienced a strong pull to Kathryn, and that left Terry worried about his standing as a husband in the relationship.

Which eventually helped him to learn, that he and Kathryn shared a moment and a stolen kiss and that broke Terry to a certain extent. Because he couldn’t stand the thought of being the bad husband, especially at such a precarious time. Which prompted him to go the extra mile and work to impress Pat and make her feel special and loved and hopefully he could rekindle everything. Granted, there were missteps there, since he absolved Pat of her own sin, without knowing said sin existed and of course… he tried to feed her food that was dangerous from an allergy and recovery perspective. But the underlying ties to the theme were clear. This was a storyline about forging bonds in dark times and healing, and forgiveness goes into that, and it was lovely to finally see a story explore those steps in detail.

Gus Birney as Gaynor Phelps in Episode 203 of ‘Shining Vale’ – ‘Chapter Eleven: The Goat’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Not to mention, this story also explored how the end of a crisis can bring about second chances. Since Gaynor faced quite the surprise in this tale. In that… she took her ACTs while mom and dad were healing, just to see what she would score, and as it turned out… the test results, reaffirmed her intelligence and her potential. Because she got every single question right, and she realized that if she chose to go to college, she could be free of the events of the past few months and could enjoy a new beginning, and she pondered deeply upon doing just that during this tale. But alas, she was deeply worried that things might go south again, and she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Jake and her dad behind in the midst of a new crisis, and that created great conflict within her about taking advantage of freedom.

Which… were valid feelings. Because all healing aside, there were more chilling moments to be found in this tale. Since Pat was also being haunted often by terrible dreams. The kind that brought old memories and ghosts to life and spoke of a deeper evil lurking in this house. One that wanted badly to be near her. Which she ignored for a time and shook off as nothing more than being related to the tea that seemingly healed everything about her and revitalized every aspect of youth possible. But eventually those dreams took a worrisome turn. Since they pushed the envelope and saw that evil potentially get as intimate with Pat as possible. Giving rise to new risks in a place where darkness thrives.

All of which brought forth, another amazing episode from an outright amazing series. Because this was the perfect blend of humanity and horror. Since we were indeed treated to a rare sight in storytelling regarding how we pick up the pieces, alongside some scary and spooky visuals. The kind that evoked echoes of Rosemary’s Baby, and were unsettling in nature, and they of course… set the stage for an ugly journey ahead. One that will once again question the reality of this nightmare or if we are bearing witness to a haunting for the ages and well, all this does is leave us eager for more. To see which is the case and how this intrepid family will deal with the new crisis brewing within their broken home. Until next time.

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