The Amazon Prime Video adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's comic book series Paper Girls has four well-written pre-teen characters who time travel from the late '80s to 2019. Erin Tieng (Riley Lai Nelet) becomes a paper girl along with Mac Coyle (Sofia Roskinsky), Tiffany Quilkin (Camryn Jones), and KJ Brandman (Fina Strazza). The girls each have their own strengths and flaws, and they get to know each other during their route one early morning before their lives change forever.
While all of the characters on Paper Girls are full of depth, and they are definitely the strongest part of the show, Tiffany stands out, especially when she meets her adult self and learns what really happens to her in the future.
Camryn Jones plays Tiffany Quilkin on Paper Girls, a girl on the cusp of teenagehood who loves Math, science, and who dreams of attending MIT. In the comic book series, Tiffany plays a ton of video games, and while she's more focused on math and science in the TV show, she's still the same smart character. Tiffany is an excellent character, possibly one of the best on a TV show about teenagers, because she doesn't hide the fact that she's smart and savvy and knows who she is and what she wants. That's meaningful to see and it's great for a TV series to celebrate a character's love of learning, strong work ethic, and ambition.
While it's fun watching young Tiffany try to figure out the time traveling algorithm and focus on facts, figures, and data, it's when Tiffany meets the adult version of herself that things really kick into high gear. While all science-fiction TV shows explain the rules and guidelines of the worlds that they have set up, that might be the weakest part of Paper Girls as there is only a vague explanation of the time war and what's really going on. But viewers can ignore that and focus on what a well-drawn character Tiffany is and how compelling and powerful it is to watch her meet her future self.
Adult Tiffany (Sekai Abenì) seems to be living a cool, fun, and amazing life at first. She lives in an incredible and creatively decorated loft, so Young Tiffany ignores the fact that she's still living in her small town of Stony Stream for the time being. But as the two characters talk more, Young Tiffany learns that when she gets older, she drops out of MIT and struggles with adulthood. The most underrated teen horror movies explore what it's like to be young and dreaming of the future while coming to terms with what might and what not be possible.
Tiffany is on that journey as she wonders why she has always had such a rigid and clear view of her future. It seemed so crucial to be valedictorian at her high school graduation and go to MIT and have an incredible career, but Adult Tiffany seems happy even though her path has been different, which throws Young Tiffany for a loop and makes her see that she was wrong. The other characters have interesting moments with their adult selves, but Tiffany's is more flshed out. Adult Erin (Ali Wong) is struggling with anxiety and mourning the loss of her mom and the fact that she and her sister don't talk anymore. Mac learns that she will die of an illness but reconnects with her brother in a moving storyline, and KJ realizes that she is gay.
But there's something especially memorable and relatable about Tiffany's character arc. Everyone has a specific vision of themselves and what their life is going to turn out to be. Watching a pre-teen meet her adult self and learn that her dreams and hopes won't come true is devastating.... but also realistic. In high school, dreams seem easier. Achieving success is far enough off in the future that reality doesn't come into the equation. Paper Girls plays with time like the series Cruel Summer, but while that show tells stories over three timelines, Tiffany is able to travel to 2019 and meet the person who she becomes, which rocks her worldview and makes her wonder if she can still find happiness if she's not the perfect person she wanted to be.
Paper Girls isn't a show without flaws, but it does examine if people can really plan for the future and if they can ever know who they will become. Tiffany is a stand-out character on the show and one of the best from any young adult drama as she learns that she can be smart and work hard while realizing that life won't turn out the way that she thought. Through meeting Adult Tiffany, Young Tiffany learns to go with the flow a bit more while still keeping the parts of herself that are important to her. Everyone learns this lesson (but without the time travel, of course).