I watch this show because it's NOT high quality, lol. It lets me turn my brain off for an hour every week and lose myself in something that could never be reality.
I kind of envy the friendship the girls have. I have great friends, but we're not as in tune with each other about when something's up. I certainly didn't have a group of friends like that in high school - everyone was too busy surviving their own issues/hormones. I really hope teen girls everywhere are learning and imitating the kind of support these four show for each other. I don't really like how the show portrays gay women though - while the overtone is that being gay is fine and normal and your friends and family should accept you for you, there's also a lot of subtle negative messages. Emily is the only one without an OTP, reinforcing the bullshit stereotype that homosexuals are promiscuous and noncommittal by nature. Her girlfriends are all troubled somehow - druggie, violent, married but confused, locked underground for years and released into the world with no counseling - which fits with Emily's personality of saving lost, sad puppies, but doesn't portray lesbians in a very empowered light. We could have had depth on Paige coming out to super homophobic family, but instead it happened and everything was wonderful and problem-free (so therefore her fear of coming out was irrational???). Bisexuality, in keeping with the pop culture trend (OITNB, I'm looking at you), is pretty much dismissed since Jenna and Alison's true romantic intentions are never explored (are they really bi, or are they using Shana/Emily?) and the involvement doesn't last long. And if you're a black lesbian, you WILL end up dead. I feel like the show could be a very positive platform on the issue, but it fails just as much here as it does with making sense of the storyline, portraying healthy student-teacher relationships, and solid parenting.
But I still watch and read forums and stalk IMK on Twitter and listen to podcasts and try to figure out who A is... So obviously the writers are doing something right ;) It's a frustrating but fun mystery, just don't take it too seriously!