‘Shining Vale’ Recap – ‘Chapter Ten: She’s Real’

10/21/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Gus Birney, Greg Kinnear, Courteney Cox, and Dylan Gage as Gaynor Phelps, Terry Phelps, Patricia ‘Pat Phelps’, and Jake Phelps in Episode 202 of ‘Shining Vale’ – ‘Chapter Ten: She’s Real’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 202 of ‘Shining Vale’. To revisit the Season Two Premiere, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

It is definitely safe to say that fans of the hit STARZ series, Shining Vale, are still debating whether or not what’s happened to the Phelps family so far is a result of mental illness in the family line or the power of a genuine ghost hiding within their rustic murder home. And this debate persists, simply because the show has yet to commit to one or the other. Because every single time we think the spirits are floating about and causing trouble, there’s evidence to show otherwise and well… that’s not a bad thing by any means. Because it has kept us engaged and looking for clues, and it has brought forth some amazing moments storytelling wise, and well… judging from this week’s episode, it would seem this show is showing no signs of preparing to settle this debate.

For ‘Chapter Ten: She’s Real’ once again left us guessing, courtesy of Pat’s firm belief that she was losing the positive results of her treatment and needed another shock therapy session to get herself to a sound state of mind. Courtesy of that meeting with Rosemary that she had at her front door. But the outright denial of those services, because only insurance money talks in America… left her deeply trying to figure out which was which and well… that’s when the story began to deeply play with us. For the next morning, Rosemary was once again in her kitchen, and as plucky as ever and making some food. Which put Pat into an outright and justified panic as she worked to figure out how to make this go away. But as it turned out… she did not need to make Rosemary disappear, for this wasn’t Rosemary.

In fact, this woman’s name was Ruth, and she now lived next door. And she was dropping in often to help Terry with his recovery and that left Pat feeling foolish and out of sorts and she wasn’t alone. For the family was suddenly at one another’s throats and that prompted therapy and some overall pondering upon the general mental health of the family. Especially since Gaynor was suddenly seeing apparitions and visions as well. Which left her worried that there was indeed something passed down from generation to generation in this household and that really did lean this story toward the possibility that Gaynor and Pat were indeed suffering from some kind of imbalance, and it only got worse from there… for Pat at least.

Greg Kinnear and Dylan Gage as Terry Phelps and Jake Phelps in Episode 202 of ‘Shining Vale’ – ‘Chapter Ten: She’s Real’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Because the time had come to get back to work with her writing and promote her book and that went uh… that went awful. For once the cameras flipped on, Pat flipped out. In fact, she had one hell of a breakdown on camera, one filled to the brim with threats to the host and f-bombs galore. Which prompted Pat… to really think upon the logical cause of all of this. Which in her case, may have related to hormone changes from the onset of menopause, combined with stress, and she also came to realize… that Ruth looked so familiar because they met ages ago. Which meant she used Ruth’s face as the inspiration for Rosemary and that made everything seem as though mental illness was in play, and that the time had come to manage it accordingly.

But that’s when things suddenly got spooky. Because Gaynor’s hallucinations were getting stronger and far too real, and they were related to parts of the house that no one had ventured to before. Not to mention… Jake’s VR headset kept popping up and calling to him. To the point where he put it on and was invited by that damn creepy kid to join him on quite the quest. Not to mention, an attempt to feel youthful via some herbal tea from Rosemary, led to quite the transformation for Pat and oddly enough. Ruth kept popping around difficult moments. Because an attempt on Pat’s part to apologize to that host for what happened on air, led to her untimely end, and it was an odd coincidence that Ruth was standing there… to see the carnage.

All of which, perfectly toyed with the notion, whether or not this family is under the thumb of a powerful ghost or if their rattled mental state is causing more harm than good and well… that made for an amazing story. One that also peppered in some real-world horrors and some wonderful homages. Because Terry appears close to recovering his memory and that will be bad for Pat, and let’s be honest, The Shining shoutouts here were just the best. In fact, this episode was perhaps the best reminder that this house is heavily influenced by the design of the Overlook Hotel to the point where one wonders if we will learn that the original owner of the place happened to be named Robert Townley Watson. But that aside, this episode was also quite funny, especially the scene where Jake tries to help his dad read the sex scene Pat wrote, and well… all of these wonderful elements leave us hungry for more. To see if the mystery will be solved and to also see, what lies ahead for this poor family as they continue to endure confusion and fear. Until next time.

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