It’s the 100th episode and guess what:
You’re damn right they did!
This show has gotten me so frustrated that after finishing the episode, I threw up my hands and said, “Fuck this show!” Once upon a time, this Tuesday night television-watching ritual was spent with my sister painting our nails, drooling over the Liars’ gorgeous hair and beautiful clothes and generally femme-ing the fuck out. Now, this show has made Tuesday nights so frustrating to me that if I weren’t recapping the show, I wouldn’t even be watching anymore! I’ll talk more about that after this very short recap because LESBIAN THINGS HAPPENED!!
Jenna is back, and Aria momentarily tries to befriend her, but you know who Jenna’s real friend is?
I’m sorry that people are so jealous of me, but I can’t help it that I’m so popular.
Sydney! I KNEW we were getting the queer vibes from this girl. Sydney, Jenna and Mona are working together, along with someone else! BUT WHO?!
Spencer, I’m really disappointed in your neckerchief coordination here.
Spencer’s parents are divorcing because Mrs. Hastings thinks Mr. Hastings and Melissa killed Mrs. DiLaurentis. She found out they were lying about where they were the night of her death.
It’s just… I really nicely told you I don’t like wire hangers, Spence. I said no more. I’m trying to not be all Joan Crawford about this, but.
So, Spence and her mom are living at a hotel, and Spencer is lying to everyone about their divorce.
Beware of plastics.
Alison’s return to Rosewood High goes about as well as you’d think. At first everyone keeps worshipping her after she apologizes, but that doesn’t last for long, because…
SLAP FACE 1
SLAP FACE 2
Mona stalks Ali, they argue, then Mona records Alison slapping her across the face (after she slapped Ali first, so).
Somebody wrote in that book that I’m lying about being a virgin, ’cause I use super-jumbo tampons, but I can’t help it if I’ve got a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!
Mona uses this footage to trick everyone into dismissing everything Alison says from now on. Even the Liars are upset with Ali, because when Ali told them the story of the church, she left out the part about slapping Mona.
Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by Alison DiLaurentis.
Classic Mona move.
I went all the way to Ravenswood and all I got was this lousy goatee.
Caleb returns (!!!!) with bad facial hair (boooo), sending Hanna into a spiral of self-doubt which manifests itself in binge drinking.
WHOA LUCAS THAT’S INAPPROPRIATE I AM NOT INTERESTED IN THAT AT ALL
In her defense, he’s super weird and jealous about Buzzcut, which he has no right to be. He says he never saw that weird Ravenswood girl after the Halloween night, so I guess we’re all pretending Ravenswood never happened. I know I am.
This makeout sesh is so boring I’m falling asleep on the counter.
Aria and Ezra have sex because they reconnect over the horror of Aria having killed Shana.
At least he reads, I’ll give him that. Too bad this is NOT OKAY.
Siiiiiiiiiiigh.
Ali tells Emily that she wasn’t lying when she said she had feelings for Emily back in the day. Emily spends the night at Ali’s house and they make out in bed.
womp womp
This is simultaneously kind of hot but mostly disappointing. The next day is when the Liars catch Ali lying, which makes Emily super mad at Ali, so we all know they won’t end up together and it feels really forced. More on that after.
Ezra is feeling just as disappointed in Emily and Ali as I am.
WILD PARTY, EMILY
The Rosewood police chief names the girl buried in Alison’s grave: Bethany Young. She is an escaped Radley patient. Here’s a link to some theories WITH BOOK SPOILERS about who Bethany Young may be. Most importantly about this scene is that Emily and Ali are holding hands the whole time.
While all of the Liars are watching the news coverage of this announcement at Emily’s house, Toby’s house explodes.
I always cut off my Barbie’s hair before it got to the frizz point. Just another early sign of my penchant for alternative lifestyle haircuts and the women who wear them.
We end the episode with black hoodie A. So A is officially baaaaack.
So, now for my rant and why this recap is so short and so late.
Right now, Pretty Little Liars is the only mainstream show with THIS MANY queer female characters on it at one time (I see you, Glee), and it portrays a variety of queer female experiences. That’s true. It’s a successful show in which we see a relatively diverse range of queer women at different stages of the coming out process, and sometimes it’s one of the rare programs in which we’re actually able to speculate that a seemingly-straight character could, in fact, fall for another woman. So that is something.
But it’s not enough. Like most characters on most television shows, the queer women on this show are beautiful, very slim and feminine. That’s to be expected, I guess, but it really bothers me that there have been only three queer women of color on this show and that one of them is Emily and the other two, Shauna and Maya, have been murdered. It’s a toxic combination of two of television’s most problematic tropes in which gay people and people of color (specifically black people) always seem to be the first to die.
Even after Maya was murdered, I tried to understand, maybe even excuse, the fact that the only love interest of any Liar to be murdered happened to be a queer woman of color. And then the Shana and Jenna relationship reveal happened and my confusion grew extreme, but I still held hope, because Emily and Paige were so cute together, you know? But I couldn’t excuse it when we were lied to about Shana being A (I’m assuming it was a lie because this show gives us less answers than LOST), and the pseudo-realization that every bit of abuse to the Liars had been done in the name of “Crazy Lesbian Love Feelings.” These women are making out with each other, going through bad breakups and killing each other… all in the name of hot lesbian love. It was a cheap red herring, just like all of the clues in this show are cheap red herrings. It was also deeply problematic when you consider that the writers basically just bought into the idea that every episode of torture could be brought about by a lovesick teen girl seeking revenge for her girlfriend. Women are just so emotional, right?
In past seasons, we worked through things like coming out, parental reactions to coming out, falling for your first love, falling for your best friend even though she’s a manipulative jerk and falling out of love with your first love. We even saw Emily help Paige through her own coming out experience, to herself and her family. This show was really great when it came to portraying the experience of a young queer in a small town with not a lot of other queer women around.
Ultimately it was Ali’s return and her confession that her “feelings were real” that sent me over the edge. Why is this being done? Why are we shown Ali and Emily kissing and obvious clothes-on-everything’s-safe-here, but the next shot is Aria’s naked back on top of Ezra’s naked body? Why is Toby-Spencer sex part of seemingly every episode while Emily and her love interests barely make physical contact? Getting Ali and Emily back together seems like bait for the queer community, but I’m not ready to bite. Is Ali gonna just “get over it” in the next episode? I’m not saying that’s unrealistic (quite the contrary, it’s almost too real!), but it’s as if they’re just tossing queer love in to fill in gaping holes of other underdevelopments. I’m tired of queerness being seen as automatically “edgy” and “setting the show apart.”
Even after learning that PLL’s showrunner is a queer woman, I still feel that this show is manipulating the queer community’s desperate thirst for visibility. Even after learning that the showrunner is a queer women, I still feel pandered to by problematic storylines.
Beyond even its treatment of queer characters, I’m frustrated by the downfalls of this show and completely lost in terms of plot development. Who’s writing this? Who’s allowing Ezria to continue, glamourizing their reunion like we’re supposed to support the most emotionally abusive, manipulative, ILLEGAL relationship I’ve seen in recent television? At this point, we need to feel like at least the writers know what’s going on. We need a more clear through-line. “Who Is A?!” is done. They can’t return to having someone in a black hoodie fucking with things at the end of every episode. It’s boring. We’ve seen it for the past 100 episodes. The only definite answer we have so far is that Mona was facilitating most of early A’s stuff. To have her return as A doesn’t make sense.
We deserve better than “Well, Paige is hot, so.” We are, of course, still totally allowed to watch a campy soap opera where high schoolers are stalked and tormented beyond and sometimes without reason, and we are allowed to enjoy every cheesy minute of it. But there’s just no reason for this show to have become as convoluted as it has. I mean, is this “magical realism” or a “fantasy land” or what? Is anyone really watching this show because they still think it’s good or makes sense, or are we all just trying to be in on the joke?
This season could be about PTSD. It could be about Alison’s reformation. It could be about how high schoolers are banding together to overthrow Ali once more. It could be about so much more than explosives and black gloves and black hoodies. We could focus on returns – Ali, Caleb, oh hell, even Paige. We could focus on fixing relationships. We could watch how past loves returning affects the present.
I would watch the fuck out of this show if it was more about growing out of past friendships. That’s heartbreaking, so much moreso than Jenna plotting murder and Mona being pseudo-evil. I don’t need dark cars following Ali. I am hungry for something more substantial.
The show is called Pretty Little Liars, but I think it’s time for the Liars to stop lying, start mending themselves, maybe learn from some mistakes, and to cease being the constant targets of stalking and abuse. They’ve seen more horror and terror than pretty much anyone their age; how much more could an average teenager endure, honestly, and still maintain any semblance of sanity? Someone get these girls a therapist who won’t be kidnapped!
We have two seasons left after this! To butcher the famous Yeats line: things have fallen apart, and the center cannot hold. Let’s see a new direction from here.
I think there’s one thing we can agree on – Pretty Little Liars has gone off the rails. Hold on tight.
I’m with you. I thought it was a really well-executed episode (thank you, Norman Buckley!), but there’s SO much story to be mined from the relationships alone as well as all the years of secrets we still don’t have answers to. They don’t need new A-stuff.
And yes, ladyqueer sexytimes do not need to be G-rated when everything else is practically Skinemax.
As for Aria forgiving her stalker and statutory rapist, I cannot keep my lunch down even thinking about it. I know that pairing has a massive, MASSIVE fanbase, but that’s seriously troubling that the show caters to it that way. I’d had faith last year that they were starting to undermine it, and now they’ve reversed course. I can only thank them for underscoring their sex scene with the world’s most famous stalker song.
Aria continues her long tradition of being my least favorite Liar(BY A WIDE MARGIN) because of things like this.
YES THANK YOU. I am just so 100% over PLL but EVERY SINGLE WEEK I religiously download it and I get disappointed all over again! I’m so mad that A is back, although we all knew A was never really gone and I’m just ready for this to end/I’m ready for this type of show where teenagers are killing each other/getting killed and the adults are just like, “oh, you guys, no” to be OVER.
But also, I was simultaneously screaming NO at my computer while Ali and Em were making out and thinking that it was really really hot. I just want Paige and her to make up. Or really for Maya to come back from the dead and be with Emily again if I’m being completely honest.
I think I might be the worst because I actually love the Emily/Ali development! it’s like a rare case of queer-baiting in which we actually caught the fish. after watching shows for fifteen years where that shit never plays out how it would in real life (aka where the girl who is supposed to be straight does catch actual feelings), it was just thrilling to see this twist. and i think plot-wise it is a really rich opportunity for development because adding a romantic element to emily/ali’s friendship makes the whole thing so much more complicated and interesting.
that being said, the A-related plot is just fucking stupid and nothing adds up or makes sense and why do these girls keep splitting up in dark dangerous rooms and why do they go places alone and keep secrets from each other and why is school always in session but nobody ever really has to go to class and what is time, really, like does time exist in rosewood, i feel like time is sort of amorphous
Yes thanks you!
Haha I really enjoy the last paragraph as they have driven me crazy since the beginning of this show.
I’m totally with you here, on every point. This show is just continually disappointing because it could and should be about so much more than it is. The pieces are all there for a more mature story. I so desperately wanted this season to be about the girls realizing how much they’d grown and changed since Alison left and that they didn’t need her anymore. I wanted them to show that they’d come into their own, but things like the kiss with Emily and her “hefty Hanna” joking (probably what brought Hanna back into her shoplifting habit) aren’t giving me much hope. There’s always the possibility that this realization will come as the season continues, but considering how much this show’s unrealized potential has already let me down over the past five years I hesitate to even consider where it’ll go. I’m so sick of them dragging this out. Like, no one cares who A is anymore. We care about their actual relationships with one another and the ways that the girls develop. Five years is a long time in the target demographic. I was 15 when this show started and I’ve been following it since the beginning. The 18-21 year olds who for whatever reason have kept up with it are bored, and even younger viewers can still appreciate older and better themes. I’m sick of seeing the same old story played out every season. The writers need to move on.
I think PLL is generally restricted by what they can show in terms of sexy lady-times by ABC Family, HOWEVER works incredibly hard to centre queer characters within these restrictions. I agree that Shana’s death was a cop-out, and an unnecessary dismissal of a queer black character. I also agree that the walkback of the Ezra-is-A reveal was incredibly disappointing, and I hate how Ezria is being redeemed by the writers as an acceptable relationship. But the show is important for queers I think, especially the teen fanbase.
The Alison-Paige confrontation this episode was mesmerising (lesbian faces down her maybe-closeted, maybe-internalised-homophobic, sexually-fluid former tormenter, and tells her exactly how much she hurt her), and the exploration of storylines like Paige’s coming out journey or Emily and Paige’s breakup or wow, the whole of Alison and Emily’s relationship (Ali has got to be one of the most interesting female characters on TV, and the depiction of her sexuality and specifically her interactions with Emily are the kind that we haven’t really seen represented in media. I’m looking forward to seeing where they take her character).
The show definitely isn’t ideal, but I don’t think it queerbaits. The queer stories it’s telling ring true and nuanced, and aren’t being told a lot in mainstream media.
Guys, I worry a lot less about this show when I remember that it is basically the reincarnated ghost of Melrose Place and Passions (never forget!).
For me, the more over-the-top bananas soapy shenanigans, the happier I am. If the next season has Mona and A riding a tandem bicycle and licking ice cream cones, I will be on fucking board.
Also, if you aren’t watching PLL stoned, you are missing out on the best time ever.
Tabitha & Timmy would top this show right off
I loved this episode, through and through. So campy, so silly, so much fun. And I buy (/ ship) Emily with Alison a million times more than I ever did with Paige.
Lord help me, I’m pretty sure I’ll be addicted to this show for as long as it’s on air. Or maybe forever.
The plot of PLL is 100% absurd, I literally don’t try to follow it, I just prefer it as ridiculous as possible. I love all the tropes and poor decision making of the delightful PLLs. To me, the “so bad its good” is what make the show a bit of a treasure.
As for Emily/Ali I might be being a bit dense but I read it as the total opposite of queer-baiting. These are two central characters who are integral to the core plot and each other’s character arcs. Even when one of them was “dead” their relationship to each other has always been touched on. To me it seems like something that has been building fairly consistently since season 1. I am so used to gay relationships on mainstream shows being between a main character and an occasionally recurring guest star that doesn’t do anything really except for “be the gay love interest” so I am actually pretty excited about the potential for Emily/Ali.
However I do agree that it is totally messed up that Ezria can have gross explicit illegal sex but Emily can’t have sexy consexual legal sex. Even more messed up is the show killing off all of its black female queer characters. That’s unforgivable. Even though I would not be shocked if Maya was still alive somehow.
I guess we will see how it all pans out.
yup in total agreement re: emily/ali
I think things happening between Emily and Alison are great. PLL has never promised nor tried to be a beacon of queer or womens rights/awareness/goodness – it’s a show about sociopaths and all the drama that ensues from the ones doing harm, and the ones trying to shield themselves (or others) from harm.
Anyone (and pretty much everyone) is liable to be a victim (or conspirator) – so most everything hangs on being a mystery, leaving it up to the watcher to decipher (which takes time and effort [and of course not everyone has or is going to take time to do that, which is ok]).
I love the show and think it’s one of the best things to happen to “tv” currently, and especially since it has managed to remain on ABC family. I like the mystery, I like the queer story lines, and I like that no one is exempt just because they are queer.
not to be disrespectful, but did you ever like this show??? I feel like all the recaps I’ve read from Hansen miss huge plot details and leave me annoyed. I LOVED this episode. I’ve been watching PLL since the beginning and have always loved it, before it even got as gay as it is now. I just. have so many feelings. like, why are you recapping this show if you hate it??
When I first started watching PLL, I marathoned the first season during my really stressful thesis semester while living abroad in my ex-girlfriend’s parent’s house with basically no friends. PLL was a random but major source of escape for me, and so I grew extremely attached to the silliness of it all. I also hardcore loved Ezria, you guys. Like sincerely thought they were the best and I readily dismissed the problematic nature of it. During the second and third seasons, after I had finally moved home, I roped in my mother and sister to watch it with me, and it became a bonding time each week where we’d sit and watch and paint our nails and laugh and say, “Oh man! Why are they going into that alley alone at night when a psycho killer is on the loose?! This show is the best.”
The fourth season is when it started to lose its charm for me, because instead of being campy and funny, the show became just totally bizarre and ridiculous and frustrating and desperate. There are still episodes I love, don’t get me wrong. I love love loved the season finale of season four, for example. I also still love everything Hanna ever does and I still believe she is a perfect human.
I don’t hate this show. I recap it because I have been a fan for a long time, since those days when I’d scare the pants off of myself alone in a dark suburban house procrastinating my thesis, so I volunteered to take over after Lizz started being more doctorly. I don’t think I’m being a bad fan of PLL by calling into question some of the annoying things that have been going on. Even if I weren’t doing these recaps, I’d still watch it.
Recapping this show takes me, on average, seven or eight hours a week, so if I miss something, it is not on purpose, it is not an erasure of facts. I am not an expert on PLL, but rather one lone woman hanging out in my pajamas, watching the show with the rest of you. Missing things is probably just me being tired or impatient or ready to go spend time not staring at my computer screen considering the various life choices of fictional teen girls. I apologize if you think it’s annoying. In the future, if I miss things, you should feel free to leave me comments on recaps to correct me, to be honest, that actually helps a lot to remember things for new episodes (that is not even sarcasm! I am being sincere!).
I made an account just to reply to your post and I feel I should probably preface my comment by stating that I am a queer male and I understand my opinion does not hold as much weight on a blog that deals with the experiences of queer women, but I’m also a regular reader of Autostraddle so hopefully that counts for something.
I don’t think it makes you a bad fan and I really appreciate that you took the writers to task about things that are undeniably problematic. Both their treatment of minority groups and their Ezria developments are completely egregious.
Frankly, I could not believe it when they said Shana was dead because I just could not believe that they had demonized and killed off ANOTHER queer person/person of color. So far, there have been exceptionally few people of color on this show. Off the top of my head, the only characters I can think of are Emily, Mona, Maya, Nate/Lyndon, Shana and that one cop who would get one line per 5-10 episodes in the first few seasons and who may or may not have a name. So, five noteworthy characters. So far, three of them have been shown to be homicidal (Mona, Nate, Shana) and three of them have been murdered (Maya, Nate, Shana). HOW CAN THIS KEEP HAPPENING??? At this point, if they introduce another person of color, I’m going to be expecting them to turn maniacal or get murdered every time they come on screen. It has reached a point that trying to pass these trends off as just coincidence is impossible.
As for Ezria, I supported it in the beginning. I was shocked it was allowed on ABC Family but not in an outraged way, just in a “Wow, the times they are a-changin” way. It struck me as just one more completely ridiculous aspect of a show more ridiculous than any I’d seen up to that point. Around season 3 I stopped supporting them simply because it got really boring. Then season 4 happened and we found out that Ezra knew who Aria was from the beginning and knew she was underage and everything changed. Suddenly, I was back into his storyline but not in any way interested in seeing him get back together with Aria. The revelations re: Ezra got me to a point where I could never support Ezria again. He is a predator, Aria has no business ever seeing him again (unless it’s from the witness booth in a court room as she seals his fate) and the writers have no business giving him any sort of redemption. I simply cannot believe that they (writers and fans) are shipping those two again. That shit is unbelievably fucked up.
I still love this show (most of the time) and I still get excited each and every Tuesday to watch the new episode, but being a fan does not mean that I or anybody else has to support every move the writers make. They’ve made some big mistakes and they need to be taken to task by more people for them.
P.S. I loved Lizz’s recaps and, after years of reading them, I naturally miss her contributions, but Hansen, you’re doing a great job. I laugh out loud every single week and, frankly, look forward to reading the Autostraddle recaps even more than I look forward to seeing the episode. Thanks for everything you do!
P.P.S. You rock, Intern Grace!
“Who Is A?!” is done. :D Word!
But i truly can’t navigate my heart in a different direction and forget Paily. Freaking jesus! Cheesy but true, I had already invested years on them and it’s hard sometimes but that’s just life. Mtv’s gross attempt on lesbians was an epic fail. Faking it started sweet but quickly turned sour.
Aside from faking it(puke!), How many other teenage shows are broadcasting a leading fearless femme lesbian character(Emily) and a dapper soft butch lesbian(Paige)? not many, right. Hate pretty little liars for it’s Bad timing, Dates, Plots, Stupid backtracking(Ezra as A), Ridiculous death causes(Shana’s 3 feet fall), but everything else is kind of awesome.
I was not indulged into the Paige, Alison, Emily love triangle because i’ve seen how low can some of the fans get and that did not interest me. I however, had a little change of heart because it’s EQUALITY and it’s kinda good for the LGBTQ in the weird awkward way. Tv viewers are fighting not against lesbians but on who can’t get the leading lesbian! TWO GIRLS AND THEIR FANS ARE FIGHTING OVER FOR THE LEADING LESBIAN. Groundbreaking for abcFamily and the rest of the teenage based networks.
I loved this episode an I have always liked PLL because it’s campy and even absurd but it’s really fun, and no other show has as many queer characters that are important for the plot and not just there because they’re queer or serve the queer quota some tv shows seem to go by.
Emily and Alison getting together doesn’t seem as queer baiting to me, Emily’s feelings for Alison have always been there and Emily finally gets the girl I mean how many shows we’ve watched for seasons hoping the lesbian characters will get the girl only to be disappointed, I see a lot of potential in Emily and Ali’s relationship. PLL is doing what no other tv show has done, getting two mayor characters that are of the same sex together, and it isn’t even an issue, I mean some peoples problem with the ship (Emily/Alison) isn’t that they are both girls but that they want Emily with Page and that’s it, how rare is that for tv isn’t that what we all want.
I do however agree in the disgusting relationship that Ezra and Aria have going on and the unfairness that is that all the straight couples do get sex scenes and the queer couples don’t, and that’s on ABCfamily more than on the showrunners.
I wouldn’t go as far as shipping emison because ali is too much of a liar but i don’t mind the lady kisses. Heck! Go for it!
I agree that Emily/Allison isn’t queerbaiting. They have been practically telegraphing that relationship since the beginning. I knew from jump that Ali’s return from the dead was inevitable and thus her romantic relationship with Emily was inevitable. The writers have been consistent about this pairing. Now saying all that doesn’t mean I think Ali is good for Emily. Theirs has always been a toxic relationship IMO by nature of the type of person Ali is. The type of relationship they have can definitely be debated among the fans but I don’t see how the writers are queerbaiting in this instance.
I really don’t see the Emily/Ali situation as Ali having real romantic feelings for Emily. Ali came back from the dead after two(?) years and despite the constant torture that her friends experienced during that time that directly relates to her, they have moved on with their lives. She not only is no longer their queen, but she is not really one of them anymore. You can see that she feels isolated from them whenever they are all together and the other four know things about each other that she does not. I think a significant portion of the difference is that Emily is no longer the girl that adores and dotes on her; Emily even made her apologize to Paige. That is when Ali started telling Emily that the romantic feelings were two sided. I also think it’s important to note that Emily kissed Ali first, not the other way around. Basically I think Ali just wants the attention and is manipulating Emily to get it. Hopefully, Emily will realize this and be able to actually move on with her life.
I agree that Alison wants the attention and is using Emily to an extent, but I am really enjoying Alison’s characterization at the moment – she’s clearly trying to be a better person (the scene of her really crying alone in her room is really important, I think, as we know she’s feeling some genuine emotions), but she is so in the habit of manipulating, lying and playing on people’s emotions that she just can’t quite manage it. I think she does have a soft spot for Emily, but the snogging and hand-holding seems more like a cry for support/attention/acceptance as Ali has been so isolated since she got back. I think we’re somewhere in between using Emily and really wanting to be with her.
Oh, and I loved this episode – it’s way OTT and that’s fine with me!
Same. I think it will be really interesting to see what happens if the relationship continues and Emily wants to go public with it. She refused to be Paige’s secret and I can’t imagine her going backwards, even for Alison.
I agree that the redemption of Ezra is the most disappointing thing about this show. I feel like Aria has the potential to be such a fascinating character but the writers make her completely useless without Ezra, and the romanticism of their hella illegal relationship is deplorable.
That being said I thought the Ali/Emily hookup was really interesting mainly because I don’t believe Ali actually queer. I’m certain she’s manipulating Emily because that happened way too suddenly and easily for me to buy it.
Good to know that like half the cast are queer (albeit only femme) ladies. Not complaining about Sydney’s revelation.
Basically waiting for this shit to go all Sunset Beach and randomly throw in some full on magic…you know for the fun.
A is secretly a teen wizard with a time turner.
I fully understand the disgust with the Ezra backtrack and the subsequent Ezria reunion. It’s gross and weird and totally inappropriate.
However, you totally lost me when it came to the rest. This is Pretty Little Liars. It’s absurd and campy and a whole lot of fun to watch.
The Alison and Emily development seemed to me as though it was building since day one and what has happened between them since her return makes total sense to me.
Perhaps it is time for someone who enjoys PLL for the silliness that it is to start recapping? I don’t mean to be disrespectful, and I genuinely have enjoyed many of your previous recaps, but if you truly don’t like it maybe it’s time for someone else to take the reins?
i got so bored last season but this season i’ve liked a lot better because i feel like things are finally moving forward — which is why i am really confused about jenna, i thought that she wasn’t blind anymore? did something happen last season that i didn’t pay attention to
The surgery she had wasn’t successful and her vision slowly went away again. Allegedly. Considering how she was attacked and left for dead at Paige’s party, i’d imagine she would’ve fought back a little better [or at all] (in a way that would’ve left her beat up and not drowned/almost dead), if she were faking, so it is assumed she is legit blind again.
to amend that, one of the last things she said was “i see everything that I need to” (at pagie’s party) before she was attacked. So I’m guessing she see’s shadows /figures AT LEAST, etc, possibly more but can’t see far/detailed.
Pretty sure her surgery only worked temporarily and then her eye started failing again for some reason. (Maybe rejection or something? Not sure.) I know it was only done on one eye though, so the other one was still blind.
WHAT IF SHE IS FAKING BLINDNESS
again
I think her cyberbully buddies would probably know if that was the case. Especially Mona with her hyperreality wizardry.
Oh PLL’s will be the death of us as it’s become so convoluted and so hard to follow but it’s still an amazing show. I do like Paily it is really interesting, but I have always had strong feelings about Emison since the very beginning. Emily/Ali has been this slow burn type of thing that’s intriguing. I feel that the two will get together and Ali will mess things up or ‘A’ will make her breaks things off with Emily just when things get good between them. Who knows if they’ll be endgame or not but I do think Paily will get back together too in the future.
Ezria doesn’t really seem like it’s going anywhere. They have so many fans and even though they are illegal the writers won’t permanently break them up.
I am also so interested in the connection that Caleb and Ali apparently have. I mean did something happen in Ravenswood or did they cross paths another way.
So basically PLL is an elaborate fictional staging ground for the real-life battle between inclusive diversity and sexual liberation, and bullshit old-timey racism and misogyny. With shiny, shiny hair.
I hated the Ezria sex scene. If Emily only gets quick makeout sessions then that was COMPLETELY unnecessary. I like Emily and Ali. Ali is struggling to break her old habits and either Emily is going to help her do that or they’re going to be a complete disaster. Either way I wanna watch.
I have to agree that the show has kind of gone off the deep end. I also have to admit as the four girls get more and more unlikeable it is kind of hard to feel sorry for them. Especially if you keep in mind that none of this “A” stuff would be happening if Ali hadn’t been such an awful person and the other girls hadn’t sat back and watched. They’ve kind of made their own beds. I also hope they’re going to return the girls to their pre-Ali return personalities, particularly Hanna and Emily.
Reading the recaps for Pretty Little Liars has been one of my favorite things to read regardless of if it was Lizz or Hansen posting them but this recap really just pissed me off. What this show comes down to at its core isn’t romantic relationships (straight or gay), it’s not about some stalker in a black hoodie, and it isn’t even about the family drama, this show is about the friendship between Aria, Hannah, Emily and Spencer. Sure they need everything in between to make the show what it is (plus it is based off a book series) but when it comes down it this show is about the friendship these girls have and how they put that above all else. Each season at the end of it is coming back to being about their friendship and how everything that happens to them tests that.
If you have begun to dislike where this show is heading then either find someone else to do the recaps or don’t bitch about it while doing the recaps. People aren’t coming to read this to read about your complaints concerning the story lines, they are coming here to read a recap and this was not that.