Shining Vale – Season 2 Episode 5 “The Miracle” Recap & Review

The Miracle

Episode 5 of Shining Vale starts with a heavily pregnant Pat wandering through the woods with Roxy, the dog, when they come across a deer. Pat turns into a demon, chases the deer down and feeds upon it. Terry approaches with his flashlight and discovers Pat eating the deer. He calmly asks, “Are you pregnant?” Pat then pounces on Terry as Roxy feeds off the deer’s carcass. This is all a dream, of course.

Back to reality, it’s Monday, and Pat and her mother are at the doctor’s for an appointment to discuss Pat’s pregnancy and get tested. Pat addresses the weird dreams she’s been having and snaps back at her mother when she suggests she’ll get an abortion. She won’t, she assures her. Her mother says she will support her either way. 

The receptionist calls out the name “Phelps,” and there’s a mix-up when they think the appointment is for Gaynor, as Pat seems to old to have a baby. 

Pat and Terry are chatting in the kitchen at home, and Terry reveals he’s playing pickleball and taking cocaine now, as he enjoys his newly single life. Pat announces she’s pregnant by handing him the test, and he is irked that she handed him something with her pee on it. Terry suggests having a baby might be a good thing and maybe they should work on their relationship. 

Pat and Terry tell Gaynor and Jake they are getting back together, and both of them are fuming about this. Jake is especially mad, as he wanted his second Christmas. Terry announces that Pat is pregnant, which has equally negative responses from both of them. Gaynor calls them selfish and storms out.

Pat goes to talk to Gaynor in her room. She offers to talk about anything she needs and is proud of how strong she is. Pat promises she won’t love the baby any more than she loves her, to which Gaynor makes a negative remark, clearly not on board with the pregnancy.

It’s Wednesday, and Kam tells Pat that a woman who read her book killed her husband with an axe, and insinuated that women see themselves in Pat. She tries to put a good spin on this, but her take is immediately shunned by Pat. Kam suggests Pat attend a local book club to discuss her book. She says it’s tomorrow, and Pat agrees to attend despite her misgivings about it. She also reveals to Kam that she’s pregnant, which shocks her. 

Gaynor hears someone at the door. She approaches the door with an axe and is negative until she realises it’s Ennio from the coffee shop the other day. It turns out that he’s an exorcist, and she invites him in. 

Meanwhile, Terry is at a doctor’s appointment. The doctor tells him his testosterone levels are 0. He is offered medication to help increase it, but Terry insists he’s fine and says he has baby on the way, trying to convince himself of how fine he is. However, he snatches the medication and leaves. 

Gaynor is with Ennio in the kitchen, as he makes her a special cappuccino as she talks through her problems with him. He reveals he is here because of the Phelps’ dead neighbour, who warned him about the ghost in the house. 

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time for the book club. The Principal from Gaynor and Jake’s school is in attendance, and she reveals she read Pat’s book over and over again and loved it. She seems way too into it and gives off creepy vibes. She gets aggressive with a fellow member of the group over the book, which causes tension in the club. Pat tries to escape during the wine break, but when the group finds out she’s pregnant, they fuss over her and won’t let her leave. She tells them all to shut up about it and then asks them to all pose for a photo so she can fulfil her duties and leave. She takes the picture of the group altogether, but weirdly, the principal has been blurred out of it. 

Ennio goes to the basement in the Phelps house with Gaynor. They flirt, and he takes some pictures as he senses some dark energy at the bar, and that is the place where most of the ghosts choose to talk to their humans. Ennio says he is going to send the photographs to the Vatican. The pair nearly kiss, but Ennio says he has to go now. Gaynor is very smitten with him. Leaning back on the wall as she thinks about how wonderful he is, she finds herself stuck to the wall with some weird unexplained goo. 

Rosemary comes round with stuff for Pat and the baby. She tells her to make an appointment with a doctor to check everything is ok “down there.” She recommends one to her, but Pat insists on showing loyalty to Dr. Bellamy, who delivered her children. She rings him up, but it turns out that he died seven years ago. 

It’s Friday, and Pat has morning sickness, while Terry is worrying he’s too old to be a new dad. Pat tries to convince him to take the testosterone prescribed to him, but he is still not convinced by it. They collapse on the bed and have a nice touching moment, as Pat reveals she also worries she’s too old too.

Pat has an appointment with the doctor recommended to her by Rosemary. He thinks she has a good chance of a successful pregnancy, but must take extra care and asks both her and Terry if they want a picture of the baby. Something weird happens with the monitor as it keeps cutting out. The doctor then warns them that there could be a case of pregnancy psychosis with this pregnancy, and a possibility of hallucinations and delusions. The doctor then presents them with a picture of the ultrasound. 

Back at home, Pat jabs Terry with the testosterone, and Pat tells Terry she’s worried about passing on her “crazy” to the baby. Terry reassures her that she’ll only pass good things onto their baby. 

Meanwhile, Jake is stuck in the wall, and Pat goes to find him. She hears banging and tells him to carry on so she can locate him. Jake crashes through the wall, and he looks a mess. It turns out he’s been stuck in there for three days and four hours. Pat says sorry to him and tells him she promises to be a better mum in future. Jake proudly announces that he found ”old tiny boobs and candy” while stuck in the wall. Jake leaves to get a shower, and Pat looks into the hole and a weird monster screams in her face. Terrifying!

The Episode Review

This is a decent episode that deals with the aftermath of Pat discovering she’s pregnant. It’s still unclear where this season is going, and here’s hoping there’s a payoff because it’s definitely building towards something big.

There’s a creepy dream sequence at the beginning of the episode that is genuinely scary, and it all ends in a pretty scary way too. The episode is not without comedy elements too, as Jake getting stuck in the wall is rather amusing, and takes a close second to Terry’s visit to his doctor.

Ennio is a very intriguing character who finally offers a potential resolution to exactly what is going on with the lore of the show when he reveals he is an exorcist. What sort of conclusions will be drawn when he sends pictures of the Phelps’ basement back to the Vatican? Intriguing stuff.