‘Shining Vale’ Recap – ‘Chapter Seven: Impertinent Questions’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Seven of ‘Shining Vale’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Ask anyone just how far they’d go to live their dreams, and you’ll get back the exact same answer. Wherein they will tell you, they will do whatever it takes to have what they want. Which is the answer we all expect of course, for we are taught that to truly achieve what we want in life, we must be prepared to make sacrifices and make tough choices that can be costly in unique ways. But what’s fascinating about that answer, is that not everyone is fully honest regarding it. Because if that person, our ourselves for that matter… had to do something downright awful and hurtful to obtain our dream… we might think twice about it. Or if we had to cross a moral line and potentially put our soul on the line in the process to grab hold of our dreams in record time… we may come to outright regret that choice.
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Because moral compromise is tough to reconcile, regardless of the pot of gold that waits at the end of that tainted rainbow and well… that’s a hard lesson that Pat had to learn in the next episode of Shining Vale on STARZ. For when we catch up with her and the Phelps family in ‘Chapter Seven: Impertinent Questions’, Rosemary and Pat have become one as part of their deal and at first… it appeared as though this wasn’t going to be a story that taught Pat a valuable lesson. After all, her kids were enjoying free money for lunches and fresh cobbler whenever they wanted, and hugs and kisses. Plus, Pat’s marriage was no longer on the rocks because she and Terry were getting along and were back to being their old romantic selves.

Not to mention, Valerie was laid to rest, closing the book on a painful chapter in everyone’s lives and of course, Pat’s book was on pace to be something genuinely special. Which meant, it seemed as though this was going to be a tale about how sometimes taking chances on something risky could in fact, pay off in spades. Until… things started to get uncomfortable for Pat. Because little by little, Rosemary was starting to sneak into Pat’s conscious mind in moments that she was forbidden to do so. Such as say, negotiations with the publisher and her agent/manager. Since Rosemary stepped in, in the middle of that, and almost torpedoed the book deal by playing hard ball and the trouble didn’t end there. Because Rosemary also decided… it was time to throw a cocktail party and uh… that ended in outright disaster.

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Because as the night went on and the cocaine flowed for Laird, things got weird. Laird for instance, went overboard with the blow and ended up peeing himself because of it and once he and Pat’s agent and unsavory writer guest were gone for the night… Rosemary decided to really stick it to Katherine and her husband, who decided to drop by for the party as well… by blurting out some horrible things. The kind that drove everyone to make some poor choices at the end of the night. Such as say, swapping husbands and wives. Since Pat awoke to discover she’d slept with Katherine’s husband, and it was heavily implied that Terry crossed the infidelity line as well and, in that moment, Pat finally came to learn the all-important lesson that so many have been trying to teach her.
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In that, there are no shortcuts to obtaining our goals. And to try to find them is disastrous, especially when one decides to make a deal with a desperate ghost that is eager to live life through pure possession, to get what they want. And well, all Pat has now is mountains of regret through and through. For she’s morally compromised herself by making a deal with this proverbial devil and her family is going to suffer for it, as will her career no doubt, and at this point… who knows how Pat is going to escape the rotten deal she made with this monster. Because Rosemary clearly has a taste for life again and surrendering that isn’t something she’s going to be keen upon in the slightest and well, that sets the stage for a grand showdown.

One that may force Pat to face her own personal demons at last and deal with them… so that she doesn’t need Rosemary and can easily take back the power that she’s given her. Or… confronting Rosemary in any manner could go south and end in a terrifying and messy manner… the kind that takes this show into a full-on horror story as Rosemary’s revenge is unleashed upon the family. Either way, it’s going to be an incredible ending to an incredible season come next Sunday. Because this series always knows how to wow us and impress and well, all we can do now is wait impatiently to see how Pat will apply the lesson she learned here… to her newfound quest to purge her soul and her life of one bad deal with one bad ghost. Until next time.  

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