Archive for Pretty Little Liars
Pretty Little Liars: For Whom the Bell Tolls – S1E22
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So the grand season finale finally airs and now I’m wondering if I should call it grand. The promos promised a lot of revelations and some real answers – yes there were some answers but they were nearly not enough! What’s more they only lead to more questions!
So we come to know Ian actually killed Ali. He was also responsible for the videotaping of the girls and even Jenna but that’s all was really revealed. Like I said, everything else just seemed to give rise to more questions.
For instance the new officer’s (Officer Garrett) thing with Jenna; we were only recently introduced to Officer Garrett but it turns out he is a major conspirator on Jenna’s behalf! So does he really know what’s on the video that she is so desperate to get back? And what about her illicit relationship with Toby? I’m sure that’s bound to kill the relationship! We come to know that Officer Garrett dint manage to get the flash drive, but we don’t know who did. It’s possible that Ian had it in his pocket or A somehow got a hold of it.
Going back to Ian’s death the show pulled its usual stunt there. He is dead but not really… always lingering in the back drop ready to pop out unexpectedly. I thought we had enough characters doing that already, are you with me on this? Being a season finale, they should’ve at least tied up this loose end.
Jenna reveals that her part in this whole mystery business is merely self-protection. She comes out with her own version of Ali’s visit which kind of makes more sense given what we already know about Ali. It’s quite possible that she had no real connection to Ian at all – Ian appeared to know A and neither Jenna nor her new boyfriend could have been in the Bell Tower then.
In other storylines, we come to know Emma’s moving to Texas for a year – so I guess that means we’ll be seeing very little of her in the upcoming season. I’m sure A will have a tough time carrying out a long distance taunting relationship with her!
Aria’s drama surrounding her relationship with Ezra will never be over I guess. She finally managed to act like an adult till his ex showed up at the faculty mixer. Now that they are finally free to date openly (till her father finds out that is), her little tantrums are getting absurd.
So that was the grand final episode of the season and thankfully we’re not too far away from the new season set to air in June! Hopefully the new season will have more answers than questions!
Pretty Little Liars: Monsters in the End – S1E21
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So finally there was that much awaited progress in this week’s episode! It feels like we might actually solve one big mystery this season.
Poor Spencer has now become A’s new target. Her family forces her to work with Ian in an effort to raise her spirits – bad idea! But at least it allows her to take a cheap shot at Ian which actually makes her feel a little better! By making a sarcastic comment about the Hilton Head she actually discovers some very potent information. Melissa makes a daft comment about the ocean view rooms which shows that Melissa hasn’t actually been to the Hilton Head and was merely trying to protect her husband. But why? Is it because she is pregnant with Ian’s baby or is she really trying to cover up something more sinister?
When Spencer is supposed to meet Toby at the funhouse she get a text message that is supposedly from Toby. She follows the anonymous text only to discover a nasty message from ‘A’: “Shut up or I’ll shut you up!” and then she gets locked into one of the small chambers. Clearly these girls haven’t learned anything about text messages from unknown numbers! The only person that is desperately trying to shut Spencer up is Ian. So is Ian our mysterious ‘A’? Luckily for Spencer, Ian unlocks her. Since she is surrounded by her family I guess Ian or A dint have much room for more mischief.
In other storylines, Mona is trying to be Hanna’s best friend again. She tears up the note that Caleb writes her. He was just trying to apologize and say goodbye, she should’ve at least told Hanna about it. Now I actually feel sorry for Caleb. Lets hope he’ll be back next week.
Here’s the biggest revelation of the week though – Caleb’s information leads to the girls’ discovering Ali’s secret key! The key opens a storage locker that holds many, many videos of the girls. Someone has been spying on the girls for a while now. But how did Ali get a hold of the tapes? Is the peeping tom also Ali’s murderer? Of course the identity of the person making the video tapes remains a mystery for now (is it one of our usual suspects – Ian, Jenna or is it someone we’ve never considered), but hopefully we’ll find out next week!
Pretty Little Liars: Someone to Watch Over Me – S1E20
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We’re just to episodes away from the season finale and the pace with which we’re going doesn’t give me any hope that we’ll actually solve one of the mysteries like the promos promised. We sure got a closer look at Ian’s plan to frame Spencer but apart from that we dint really find out anything.
Spencer sure has her hands full with the police taking an interest in her. Spencer’s one little lie seemed to have landed her in much bigger trouble than she anticipated. If anything the police should be taking a closer look at Ian!
Looks like even Spencer’s mom cant do much to suppress the evidence that has come up against her – the fibers. The only good thing that came out of her predicament was that her relationship with Toby. Toby certainly knows what it must feel like to be a pariah and he gives Spencer much needed support.
Ian tries his best to get Spencer to run away but unfortunately for him Spencer turned out to be a much stronger person than she appears to be. His portentous warning indicates more Ian scenes next week! (Hopefully that will solve something.)
In other story lines, Aria manages to cause problems between her parents. She accidentally sends a romantic message to her mom instead of Ezra and instead of lying about her boyfriend’s identity she decides to come clean with her parents. It’s strange though that she has her mom stored as ‘Ella’ rather than mom on her phone. I don’t see any other way she could’ve made that mistake! Her mom naturally blames her dad for all the secretive behavior that she’s been displaying and the dad as usual dint want to take responsibility for it!
Hanna finally discovers Caleb’s true intentions through Jenna – definitely not the ideal way! Now poor Hanna has a broken heart to tend to but that dint stop her from confronting Jenna. She slaps Jenna hard on the face saying “This is Hannah, in case you couldn’t guess.”
With Paige and Emily things seem to be back on track! Paige tries to get Emily jealous with a date with Sean but soon realizes that it’s not going to work with Emily and simply goes back to her. Will it last this time?
Pretty Little Liars: A Person of Interest – S1E19
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The girls finally decide to come clean with the police and they do. You would think that such an episode will actually lead to a substantial discovery of some sort or some real progress in the main plot but I guess the script writers have mastered the art of stalling!
What we got instead was budding relationships. Although Hanna and Caleb actually have their first kiss in the last episode, they become more like a couple in this one. Turns out Hanna’s mother’s suspicions about Caleb were right. We see Caleb on the phone with a puzzling stranger (well, maybe not a stranger, it could be our mystery woman A). If Caleb is involved with A in someway it’s not going to be pretty for Hanna. That’s too bad because, they do make a great couple.
They seemed to have connected quite a bit during the camp (with the steamy make out sessions!) It cant be good that Hanna seems to be treating Caleb like a project – a man she can fix! We all know that that never works. The bright side is that maybe Lucas has a chance here after all!
It started out looking like Spencer was going to have a real break through with her little investigation. She’s out snooping around motel room no. 214 and she hears waifs of flute music and sees this mysterious bag on the bed. Turns out, the music was pre-recorded and the bag contains just another nasty message from ‘A’. That dint really hold any significance in the main plot and only frustrated both Spencer and the viewers! Well at least it made way for some cozy love scenes with Toby!
So that’s another new couple in the episode. Toby’s all in for protecting Spencer against Jenna manipulations which will hopefully bring some much needed information. Poor Spencer doesn’t seem to be catching a break with her family either. They seem to think she’s just out to jeopardize Melissa’s relationships and they insist she get some therapy.
Emily and Aria dint have too much this week – just a few glimpses into their relationships. Emily seems to have taken an interest in Paige now that Maya is out of the picture. But with Paige not willing to get back in the closet, I guess that relationship is pretty much done. Aria on the other hand, actually showed some signs of maturity! She was honest with Ezra. It is peculiar that she would be threatened by Jenna!
Pretty Little Liars: The Bad Seed – S1E18
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Another fascinating episode further exploring the main mystery – this episode clearly reveals what the other episodes only hinted at. As the girls participate in a play titled ‘The Bad Seed’ they get a chance to really look at their own perceptions of their best friend Alison. She is not only mean but also really dangerous at times.
The episode sort of picked up pace as each of the girls started out their flashback. Ian, as we see, is the guy who was last seen with her (according to the video evidence) and apparently Ali has had a thing for him for a while. But with Ian describing Ali as “a psycho stalker who couldn’t take no for an answer” things start looking a little different to the girls. As the girls travel back in time to the frat party where a seemingly drunken girl falls off the stairs, now in hindsight looks a lot more suspicious.
Emily realizes that Ali was missing around the time the girl fell and also that Ali had her eyes on Ian all night. Is it possible that Ali would go to any extent to get things out of her way? With these new insights the girls are forced to re-evaluate their own memories thus re-examining Ali’s motives.
It is a little strange that an apparently important piece of evidence was just lying around in the prop box. But Spencer goes for it anyway! Spencer seems to be proactive in solving Ali’s murder for selfish purposes but I’m guessing that’s only to clear her name as she was set up by A, just like Toby. So when they find the Trophy sitting in the prop box, the girls hand it over to the police, pissing A off even more. We can probably expect a big pay back in the next episode especially for Spencer.
In other storylines, Hanna and Caleb seem to be hitting it off! Sure Hanna’s mom doesn’t think much of Caleb but that’s not going to stop Hanna.
Ezra and Aria are still grappling with the ramifications of their special relationship. Ezra know it is a bad idea for them to be working closely in front of other students but I wonder why he agreed anyway? And as expected, they end up arguing bitterly. Aria’s father has actually started developing a friendship with Ezra, I wonder how he’ll react when he finds out how long they have been dating!
Pretty Little Liars: The New Normal – S1E17
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Our mystery villain ‘A’ was unusually quiet in this week’s episode. The episode seemed to have more comic relief and sweet / hot moments between characters and less mystery and suspicion – a valentine’s special I guess! The main mystery wasn’t completely laid to rest though, we saw brief hints with an exterminator (strangely) being sent to take care of the infestation in Hanna’s basement – a sure sign that ‘A’ although quiet, is still watching.
Some of the best scenes were with Hanna and Caleb flirting. It was nice to see the lighter side of these girls’ lives! Hanna and Caleb almost kiss and I’m sure there’ll be even more development with their relationship next week. So that’s it for Lucas then? Too bad, because I really liked him! Caleb sure brings on a cool and controlled approach to the otherwise dramatic life of Hanna. He casually introduces himself to Hanna’s mother without the usual nervousness a teen might face in such a situation.
Hanna and Aria worked things out between them. The timing couldn’t have been better as Aria has things like a parent-teacher meeting to worry about. It was rather funny to watch Byron attacking Ezra thinking the teacher was after his wife!
The other funny part was when Spencer incorrectly interprets the Braille message as “Bad” and says “Am I supposed to go buy a Michael Jackson album?” It looks like sparks are flying between Toby and Spencer now – I dint see that coming! Now that Toby’s not going to jail for murder I guess he can afford to be involved with Spencer, but I dint think he was her type. Toby’s finally beginning to show Jenna whose boss, but he’ll probably have to pay for it soon!
The big surprise this week was watching Emily and Paige kiss in the car! After all the homophobic behavior Paige throws on in earlier episodes followed by an apology that was a bit more than necessary – we should have guessed!
The cliffhangers this week – although there weren’t many – were Jenna’s words to the sales lady: “He likes lace.” So who is she talking about? Alison’s killer? Or A? well, whoever it is, I sure hope its not Toby she was talking about!
Pretty Little Liars: Je Suis Une Amie – S1E16
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This was probably one of the most unsatisfying episodes of the series. Although promos claimed that we’ll get a real break through in A’s identity all we were left with was just another episode filled with mystery and suspense that is typical of the show. The episode gave us some of the least viable evidence in the series ever! (gosh! Do I sound really bitter?)
We did get a few useful glimpses into some of the characters’ persona – Paige and Caleb. Caleb the newest addition to the show somehow was not met with the same suspicious eye that the other new comer’s were met with, in spite of his dodgy affairs. He turned out to be very helpful to Hanna with the last episode, so was he expecting her to introduce him to the other rich friends of hers? Obviously he is in dire need of money. This becomes apparent to the girls when they find out that he stays at the school.
Hanna lets him stay in her house and is real sympathetic towards him, completely dismissing Spencer’s words of caution. With enough information about his past he becomes one of the dark underdogs that teenage girls just cant resist. Looks like there will be something between these two with all the tender bonding moments. Poor Lucas! He’s been shoved aside since the dance.
In other storylines, looks like Emily’s run in with Paige is finally over. She turns up at Emily’s doorstep, real late in the night too, to apologize for her actions! I wonder what was so urgent that it couldn’t wait till the next morning. I understand her actions were cruel, but this change of heart and with such urgency is definitely sneaky. The two seemed to bond quite a bit later in the episode.
A good part of the episode was also aimed at the Hanna / Aria drama that started last week. It was good to see Aria not accusing Hanna straight off despite the text message from A and Hanna ends up confessing to Aria. Wonder why A is being extra cruel to Hanna? This makes me think A has a few extra bones to pick with Hanna. Could it be Mona he ex- best friend? She is definitely bitchy enough to be mean!
The biggest cliff hanger was the Braille message that Toby gives Spencer in the Catcher in the Rye book saying: “found this in Jenna’s room… you may be right.” Cant wait to find out what that means!
