The Big Picture
- Shining Vale on Starz is a horror-dark comedy that takes pleasure in playing with horror movie tropes and references, offering a fresh twist on the genre.
- Courteney Cox shines in the series, showcasing her range by playing the foul-mouthed, horny, and guilt-ridden protagonist who may or may not be seeing a ghost.
- The show features a supporting cast of eccentric characters, including a passive-aggressive mother, a perky realtor, and a snarky teenage daughter, all of whom add to the chaos and supernatural events occurring in the Phelps family’s new home.
A writer moves into an old house with plans to rejuvenate her career and a strained family relationship, but supernatural horror shreds the “home sweet home” doormat and all its positive vibes. If this sounds familiar, that’s what Shining Vale on Starz is hoping for! It has fun with throwing in references, homages, and twisting up horror movie tropes you know and love. The ball that rolls across the floor in a creepy attic? That’s just a yappy dog eager to play. The author who may or may not be seeing a ghost? That’s a foul-mouthed, horny, and guilty Courteney Cox, who might not mind getting possessed, should it mean a hot new book will be written. The series is not a parody, it’s a horror-dark comedy and a showcase for Cox’s range. With eight half-hour episodes, you have plenty of time to catch up before Season 2 premieres — but if you need a fast refresher, here’s your Season 1 recap of everything that goes down in Shining Vale.
‘Shining Vale’ Welcomes the Phelps Family into the Horror Genre
An opening disclaimer states: “Women are roughly twice as likely as men to suffer from depression.” The symptoms that follow include insomnia, hallucinations, and a loss of control before the disclaimer adds, “Women are also roughly twice as likely to be possessed by a demon.” As for the symptoms, well, they’re the same. Patricia “Pat” Phelps (Cox) is a writer in desperate need of a new bestseller, specifically writing in erotic which she is quick to defend as women empowerment not porn. She is also a recovering alcoholic, who hasn’t had a drink in sixteen years, and a sex addict, who just recently committed infidelity. Such a wrong martial move, as per horror movies, requires a new start. They head out of NYC and over to the quiet town of Shining Vale, where the Phelps family move into an abandoned mansion. Inside, there’s retro wallpaper, creaky floors, and long hallways. Oh yeah, there’s a ghost too!
Pat’s hopes to reconnect with her family hit the brakes immediately on the first night. She sees Rosemary (Mira Sorvino), the spirit of a housewife from decades past. The sugary sweet demeanor of Rosemary is a dangerous facade, greeting Pat with perfect manners before sticking her cigarette into Pat’s arm. She’s also a bad influence, pushing Pat to break her sobriety and drink again. All because Pat believes Rosemary isn’t a ghost but a creative muse to get back into writing. Rosemary doesn’t correct her, not at first. None of the other Phelps believe there is something paranormal happening in the new house. The teen children figure out ways to adjust to this attempt at a family redo.
The snarky Gaynor (Gus Birney) gets close to neighbor and fellow high schooler, Ryan He (Derek Luh). Because Ryan is religious and a member of the high school’s Chasity Club, Pat knows Gaynor is using the boy to tick her off, as Pat wouldn’t be able to remember the last time she went to Church. Ryan is a gentle soul, not the oddball like his mom is. Valerie (Susan Park) is a devout woman who senses a dark presence lurking in the house the Phelps family has moved into. She does mean well in trying to warn Pat then Gaynor that something isn’t right, but her warning goes unheard. Pat treats Valerie’s cautions as a nuisance and Gaynor just wants to focus on getting close to Ryan. But Gaynor isn’t just an angsty teen, she wants to avoid ending up as high-strung as her mother.
When it comes to Gaynor’s socially awkward brother Jake (Dylan Gage), he prefers to play VR games, not realizing he’s seeing some of the spirits on the property, thinking it’s just part of the game. As for Pat’s husband Terry (Greg Kinnear), he tries to move on from his wife’s cheating, chopping wood as a stress reliever, another form of bottling up his frustrations. He visits the handyman who had the affair with his wife and demands to take the guy’s fancy coffee maker, only to need help in moving the heavy machine. He almost has an affair with coworker Kathryn (Alysia Reiner), but he can’t go through with it. Terry is a good guy who simply wants the best for his kids and Pat. While all these other Phelps are going about their day, Pat goes off the rails fairly soon.
She loses track of time, blacking out as Rosemary haunts her and seemingly possesses her. Rosemary also helps Pat uncover a tiki bar in the basement, hidden behind a wall, which can’t be good for her sobriety, but Pat can’t deny Rosemary is getting the help needed to get a book started. When Rosemary asks for Pat to let her be possessed, the spirit is a powerful influence and a new kind of addiction that Pat allows. It seems to help with writing and reconnecting with family, so Pat is hesitant to lose the connection even when she realizes Rosemary is not a simple housewife. There is the possibility the housewife is demonic. Or so Pat finds out when she goes to Zeth (Adam William Zastrow), whom Pat refers to as a “one-star Wiccan,” and admits she might have made a deal with Rosemary Without an easy way out, Pat tries to use Rosemary to her advantage, which is the bad idea like it sounds. But Pat has to deal with many characters who expect something from her, other than the secretive, ghostly housewife.
A Supporting Cast Pushes Courteney Cox Over the Edge in ‘Shining Vale’ Season 1
There is Kam (Merrin Dungey), Pat’s agent, who demands the author write a book or else Pat may be dropped. Sherilyn Fern plays Robyn, Shining Vale’s local realtor who praises Pat’s new home while throwing jabs at the author by calling her writing, “lady porn.” She’s perky, hurdling with a group of housewives from town who seem one step closer to being The Stepford Wives (1975). The Phelps mother decides to be medicated by her therapist on a high dosage of anti-depressant and anti-anxiety drugs if it means she can avoid messing up again. Elsewhere, Judith Light guest stars as Pat’s mom, Joan, the two being estranged with a past that will come full circle by the finale.
Back when Pat was a teen, she institutionalized her mother when Joan’s schizophrenia got severe and she attempted suicide. While Joan found relief on drugs and adores her grandkids she is passive-aggressive to her daughter, not forgiving Pat for committing her all those decades ago. Ghosts might be scary, but so too is intergenerational trauma and a lack of beneficial help for mental illness. Pat’s therapist is quick to write out a prescription and Joan can loan a supply of expired drugs, making Pat’s situation worse in dealing with Rosemary, who is a very real monster, even if no one believes this to be true.
Pat Phelps Can’t Beat the Supernatural in ‘Shining Vale’ Season 1
There is a point of no return when Rosemary impales Ryan’s mom Valerie on a ridiculously jagged fence Terry created as a house project. Pat’s selfish tendencies cloud her judgment. Listen up! Don’t do what Patricia Phelps does, if you find yourself in a house where a spirit promises to help with vague demands, it’s not worth it. Rosemary killed herself a long time ago, after she went on a murderous rampage that involved her killing off her family she felt neglected by. Now she wants Pat to do the same and by the finale, no one is left unscathed. A young writer who is Pat’s competition ends up in a coma, thanks to Rosemary. Pat attempts to expose Terry and Kathryn’s affair (that didn’t go past the two sharing a few drinks) to Kathryn’s husband but it doesn’t go as planned.
In retaliation, Terry shares a kiss with his coworker while Pat has a full-on sexual affair with the husband. Denying it for too long, Pat understands she is not in control, and Rosemary can possess her whenever she wants to. To destroy her link to the entity, Pat swallows a bunch of pills. Terry worries for her safety and finds himself right to think this, having to dodge an axe Pat swings at him as Jack Nicholson did in the Overlook Hotel. She gets a good swing into his head with the axe’s blunt edge, sending him tumbling down the stairs. Pat is about to attack Gaynor when the drug overdose kicks in. Like what happened to Joan, Gaynor is forced to commit her mother to a psychiatric hospital, the Phelps kids staying close together as they leave a terrified Pat strapped to a gurney and wheeled down the hospital corridor. Pat catches a glimpse of her house from a vintage photograph hanging on the wall, a place for “hysterical women.” And who is standing as a nurse among the other nurses and doctors, is Rosemary, the picture dated 1859.
Season 1 of ‘Shining Vale’ Is Stuffed With Horror Movie References, With More to Come in Season 2
Watching Season 1, you will spot many horror movie references, with plenty owing to The Shining (1980). There are nods to Paranormal Activity and American Horror Story: Murder House, and the house the Phelps move into is said to be on Elm Street, plucked out of Freddy Krueger’s favorite hunting grounds. Season 2 promises more references, in the horror genre and beyond with promotional posters offering nods to The Exorcist, The Ring, Donnie Darko, and Mommie Dearest. While Courteney Cox is ruthless as Gale Weathers in Scream, she is just as ruthless as a writer with addictive impulses and a supernatural muse. There are plenty of the guttural screams Cox practiced when outrunning Ghostface, proving she is truly a “scream queen.” Season 2 ultimately sees Pat leaving the hospital for a new haunting, finding out Rosemary isn’t done with the Phelps just yet when the half-hour show returns this Friday, October 13.
