cuddlingcrowley

I was pretty ambivalent about hearing the show had been picked up for a 6th and 7th season but after this premiere my faith has been renewed! I say, bring it! I was one of those most against Ali being brought back but it might just have been the best thing that could happen to PLL. It really breathed new life in the show, imo. My favorite thing about this episode was the callbacks to the sleepover and the theater settling was all kinds of gorgeous. Seeing the girls there made me think of them as dolls in a dollhouse. Mona would have appreciated too, I'm sure! I really did not see coming one of them actually going as far as killing anyone ever again, but I'm glad it was Shana who bit it. I appreciated her explanation about why she turned on Ali after hearing the stories of the people she has hurt and falling in love with Jenna. Shauna has always been one of the weaker characters and her supposed friendship with Ali never felt quite right so i'm glad they made sense of her character before killing her off. (It also makes tons of sense because I've always had the impression Shauna was written to fill the role Jenna left after the actress who plays her got pregnant. And now that she's fit to come back, Shauna has to go. In retrospect, it served to keep Jenna as this mysterious figure even after all these seasons so I think it worked out for the best, but I'm so glad Shauna is gone and there's no time best for jenna to return than now that Ali is back too.) The scene where the girls are eating snacks and talking about a tv show while Ali awkwardly and sadly looks hit me so hard that I had to pause the episode for a minute. I can't help but feel badly for Ali and what she's been though but I know I wouldn't be able to feel so sympathetic towards her if the show didn't consistenly bring up the bad things she did and called her out on them. I really love how they're going about bringing her back to the show since last season and I can't wait to see more of where they're taking her. On a superficial note, Hanna looked better than she has looked in years. Just absolutely gorgeous! I'm glad PLL's beauty department stopped hating on AB. Aria on the other hand wore one of her most hideous outfits to date. She really looked like a hanger with those scarfs and that weird rope thing around her neck. As a tiny person myself, the proportions of that outfit were completely off for her body type. The scenes with Ali, Cece and Noel Khan made my life. I cannot express how much I love to see Ali's life through Ali's pov. It was one of the scenes that really sold me on the potential for the show to go as long and the writers plan for it to go. The reason Ali had for keeping that stuff a secret from the girls (protecting Cece AND protecting them) was unexpectedly heartwarming but I completely get Spencer and Hanna's frustration with her. I feel Shana's betrayal and death will make Ali wanting to trust the girls both easier and harder because she could use all the allies she can't get but girl is entitled to all the trust issues in the world at this point. At last, I can't not mention Mona's little gathering. It's like every conversation I've ever had on Twop coming to life. Finally, FINALLY, we get an A-team! I can't remember the last time I liked Paige this much. She brought an important pov to that little gathering, of someone who's been bullied but would rather move on than take revenge (the fact that she has been arguably a bully in her own right might have factored in that). But also, her staying the moment Melissa walked in was just absolutely glorious. Paige has been in an uncertain place with the liars after that note she left on holbrook's (sp?) car, bu It really speaks of the writting of this show they've managed to convey Paige's loyalty to them in such a subtle way. I can't wait for her to tell them all about what she learns. I'd like to take special note of the little moments like Spencer being too hungry too think (that would absolutely be me in that situation) and the girls talking about what life without A would be like. Gorgeous, gorgeous little moments that make the show what it is for me. And also everything Melissa! I can't believe they're finally adressing her role in this A mess and it seems she's as deep in it as we've all suspected. At this point it looks like she's the Hasting who tried to kill Ali but that last scene with her father is starting to make me wonder if it isn't something else.

This is definitely a headscratcher, especially after the long look Noel and Aria shared in the premiere. Fingers crossed Ezra will end up in jail where he belongs!

From tumblr, with love: