'Perpetual Grace, LTD' episode 8 reveals the secret behind the girl that disappeared and her connection to Paul Allen
Spoilers ahead for 'Perpetual Grace, LTD' episode 8 titled 'Fiveever'...
'Perpetual Grace, LTD' has finally addressed the two things that I for one have been the most curious about. The truth of Paul Allen Brown and girl who went missing after her association with him. Till now, Paul has come across as an affable character so far, whose only aim seems to be to con his parents out of the money that they conned from others in San Antonio in the name of religion. Over the eight episodes, his character arc was developed and he became one of the many fascinating characters of the show. While Paul gets in touch with James to dupe his parents Byron Brown and Lillian by claiming that he (James) is their son Paul, he doesn't tell the complete truth to James either. The fact that a Texas ranger, Wesley Walker, is on his trail trying to pin kidnap and murder on him is something that James learns much later.
A girl where Paul had once stayed goes missing, and after investigation, it is found that she was last seen with Paul who had promised her that he would make her disappear. She does disappear, and we find in the eighth episode that the little girl was found dead, and her hands were handcuffed. So long, Paul had continuously claimed that he was not the reason behind her death, and it was all one big misunderstanding. What really happened was portrayed through a parallel narration between what Glenn Pirdoo experienced when he disappeared with James acting as Paul. Ranger Walker questions Glenn about his whereabouts the past few days and learns that Paul, New Leaf and Glenn had gotten quite close and it was nothing like the girl that went missing.
The real Paul had manipulated the little girl by telling her that he would teach her how to disappear, and be a magician. She was fascinated with Houdini and so he handed over a handcuff and told her that it was indeed Houdini's handcuff, which she wears to check and finds herself trapped. Paul tries to blackmail the girl's father into paying him for moving to a different country. He sends a postcard to the girl's father about her whereabouts, but soon she is found dead.
The truth about Paul, on the other hand, has just begun to be explored. He is not exactly innocent when it comes to the case of the missing-dead girl. He is after his parents' money and is smart enough to not get directly involved in conning his parents and we have to believe at this point that Paul is a smart man. As his father says, Paul went early to Harvard, not as a smart student, but more as a specimen and that is the explanation provided to us to justify Paul's eccentricity.
In the meanwhile, New Leaf learns the truth about the real Paul and after losing both his parents he tries to shoot the real Paul down because his father Byron was the one who cheated New Leaf's parents out of their savings. As James tries to calm New Leaf down, Paul apparates (yes, like in Harry Potter) to a distance to save himself from the bullets that New Leaf fired. In a strange scene, we even see New Leaf finding comfort in invisible Paul's words. The knots have just gotten more complicated now on 'Perpetual Grace, LTD' after Byron and Lillian get captured by a local mafia leader in Mexico and Paul's uncle is adamant about organizing a funeral because Paul's parents are believed to have passed away shortly after they set out to find their son.
We will have to wait till next Sunday at 10 pm ET to see what Byron's fate has in store for him. The episode will be aired on EPIX.