Shining Vale season 2 review: Starz's horror-comedy is back with a bang
A game Courteney Cox leads a mostly triumphant sophomore run for the underrated show

The most frightening aspects of Shining Vale aren’t the jump scares, ghostly possessions, that creaky old home, or those mysterious skulls in the backyard. No, the freakiest part of Starz’s underrated horror comedy is how it portrays a real-world terror: society’s quick dismissal of women’s experiences. Co-created by Jeff Astroff and Sharon Horgan, Shining Vale smartly maneuvers familiar tropes to tell a surprisingly moving story that can be summed up in two words: Believe women. Season two, which premieres October 13 (that is, Friday the 13th) doubles down on this in a pretty compelling way.
Through protagonist Patricia Phelps (Courteney Cox), Shining Vale depicts the harshness with which the world labels someone who is anything less than “ideal.” Pat, a recovering addict and erotic romance writer, often gets dubbed as crazy, bitchy, rude, and manipulative by her neighbors, friends, and, yes, even her family. In reality, she’s suffering through something traumatic that’s exacerbated by the fact that no one around truly understands or bothers to help. The writing and performances are exceedingly potent; they transcend the screen to make the viewer viscerally feel Pat’s anxiety, fear, and isolation. Is she seeing apparitions or is her mental health in utter decline? Cox captures her character’s paranoia wonderfully. While best known for playing Monica Geller in a sitcom and Gale Weathers in a slasher, Shining Vale is a challenging mashup of both vibes for her—and she’s clearly up to the task.
Pat is a uniquely relatable character, and not just because of her quips about her profession (“No writer enjoys writing,” she wisely says at one point) or her complex family dynamics. She’s a flawed hero with a strong desire to work on and improve herself. Despite her poor decision-making, it’s easy to root for her triumphs. In many ways, Shining Vale and Pat are akin to Santa Clarita Diet and Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore), who turns into a zombie and tries to use this life-changing twist for good. And like any good horror comedy, Shining Vale has a strong underlying message.
Season one was about Pat’s move to the titular town with her husband, Terry (Greg Kinnear), their two children, and a pet dog after she had an impulsive affair. Pat and Terry’s plan to work on their marriage went awry once she started seeing the ghost of Rosemary (Mira Sorvino), a repressed ’50s housewife who died in the same mansion. But was Rosemary real or a figment of Pat’s imagination as a way to process guilt? And is she gone for good now that Pat has received electroshock treatment? Shining Vale eerily tackles these questions while continuing to explore her depression and writer’s block.