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I agree that Melissa was a kind of "blender" DCC--she is very pretty, but other than that, she did not really stand out to me. I'm even less impressed now that I've read that excerpt from her book. I wonder what Kelli and Judy really think of her being on the show. As far as this weight loss 21 day challenge and Kelli taking uniforms away, I worry that some of my favorite vets got their uniforms taken away or were threatened with that. I hope not! I recall a couple vets posting on Twitter when they started this, but of course they put a cheery DCC spin on it and looked excited rather than like they were being punished. I agree about Nicole in season 7. I had noticed that she looked a little heavier that year, but seriously, the woman always looks amazing and wears those curves (and curls) very well. Glad she is a leader this year!

Some of my latest thinking about where I wish this would go with Ezria, since Ezria doesn't seem to be going away: Since we first met Mrs. Fitzgerald, I've been wishing she had something to do with all this. She's manipulative, controlling, incredibly rich, and seemed creepy enough for me to think that she's part of the reason that Ezra not only changed his name and became a tortured-poor-little-rich-boy writer (hello, F. Scott Fitzgerald), but also developed a thing for teenage girls. Ezra's little bro is a shady creeper, too--he lies, tries to make moves on his brother's gf, and is bad with money. That Ali used to hide out and Shana died in the Fitzgerald Theater gives me hope that we get more from the Fitzgerald clan and a kind of Freudian understanding of (a) Ezra's socially inappropriate tendencies, and (b) a more satisfying explanation for why he's been such a big part of the show in the first place. Dear writers, I hope you bring Mrs. Fitzgerald to town for a visit! But back to this preview: It totally reminded me how well this show can do suspense! I mean, there is someone about to swing a shovel at Ali's head here. Who the hell is that?! And will we find out the answer before season 7?

I have to say, the comments on here are as or more entertaining than the episode, which I thought was pretty fun, even though I am so skeeved out by Ezria I can hardly stand it. I, like everyone else above a certain age it seems, loved that they chose "Every Breath You Take" for the reunion scenes with Ezria and Emison. Definitely seems an acknowledgement by the show that both of these relationships have seriously unhealthy dynamics. I was a little surprised that they showed Aria topless from the back on this show. It had seemed to me that much of the sex stuff on the show is restricted visually because of the family channel situation. I think it was a couple seasons before they even showed active tongues in kissing scenes. I find this a ridiculous contradiction, since the content of this show is hardly family values oriented or appropriate for many adolescents or tweens. As someone else put it, Let's add blackmailers and cheaters to that list. I did not think the Mona and Jenna team-up was new, though mouthy Sydney does appear to be a newer addition. I agree with others that the visual resemblance between Jenna and Sydney in that scene was very striking, and probably not coincidental. Maybe J and S are related (or Sydney had an initial connection to Shana), as I can't think of another good reason Sydney would be willing to get drafted into the Rosewood espionage. But I recall that someone (Caleb? Toby?) spied on Mona visiting with Shana in hiding a few seasons ago, and we knew then that something was between Shana and Jenna, so I think someone has taken the A game from both Mona and Jenna. Otherwise, why might A be after Jenna (I'm assuming--though always dangerous with this show--that Jenna may have been inside the house when the bomb went off)? A appears to be operating still in teams or tiers, and I don't think they are all in concert with each other. Is this part of some kind of A power struggle for top A dog? Mona is her usual awesomely creepy self, but I do detest the sugary and scared innocent act she puts on for others (safety whistles for the whole school, her edited video and quavering lip when confronting Ali about the bitch slap). Everyone knows she went off her rocker and got all kinds of sinister with her classmates, so why they believe her now is beyond me. The whole school should be as suspicious of Mona as of Ali, I'm thinking. I still think Mrs. Hastings did and/or knows something very bad, and that she's setting it up to throw suspicion of guilt onto her unfaithful husband. I believe that was Emily's house where they were watching the news before the explosion. This explosion was definitely a step up for A, but in my mind, not a really big one. I mean, A already crashed into Emily's house with a car with Em and her mom inside, probably put Emily in that box in the saw mill headed straight for the blade, set a fire in the woods that the girls barely escaped from, and might have had something to do with the dead girl in Ali's grave (though I still think Mrs. Hastings is involved in that last one). A also implied that s/he put Caleb's mom in the hospital with that car wreck in California, might have sewed bones into Spencer's wedding dress for a charity fashion show, has forced the liars into all kinds of unhealthy activities, and might have been in on shooting Ezra. So what's a little explosion on top of all that? Pretty awesome, that's what. Cannot wait to find out what the group text says after that. Also, more questions: does anyone remember the name of the girl that Hanna tracked down in her detective phase, thinking she might have been the mystery girl in the grave? The girl had four friends she emailed, etc. Did that girl have a different name than the one reported on the news in this last episode? Could this Radley runaway have been another love child of Mrs. D? It could explain why she wanted to protect someone so badly who had tried to kill her daughter. Could this girl be another of Peter Hastings's offspring as well? Or maybe Professor Montgomery's love child with Mrs. D, since we know he's a cheater too?

I found it very satisfying to see the writers let Ali's inner bitch out on the 100th episode. I was getting a little nauseous during her "I'm sorry and was mean to others to feel better about myself" spiel earlier in the episode. Her threats to and about loser Mona and her loser army sure rolled off her tongue easily, making me think (hope!) the writers are not going for a facile redemption of Ali. I still don't trust her handling of Emily, and think Ali is twisted enough to be playing with Emily's feelings either for the rush of being a master manipulator, or because she has some agenda and feels this is the best way to get Emily on her side. Or maybe Ali's meanness in the past stemmed from her inner turmoil of staying in the closet...hello, American Beauty.

So frustrating that TC is being kept under such tight wraps, as I'm feeling impatient to find out who gets cut and who makes the team! I'm also intrigued to see the TCCs dance on the show, since I agreed with others here that the dancing at auditions seemed underwhelming. Just based on the audition videos, which I know are not the strongest indication of dance ability since they must perform on the fly without much practice, I think only 6 or 7 ladies looked like they had the technique and performance qualities to make the team. Now, back to Hannah and my baseless speculations for a minute. I can't remember if I was watching auditions of season 7 or looking at online still photos of the auditions, but I did see Hannah very clearly (I only knew to look because other people mentioned they thought they'd seen her). I can't imagine why she didn't make TC her first time around, since she was no less gorgeous, fit, or talented 12 months before she made it into TC. I wonder if whatever reason she didn't make it to TC the year before has to do with why she ended up getting cut/leaving the team. This realization only deepens the Hannah mystery for me...

School in Rosewood seems like a place to see and be seen, and not to be taken seriously for education, moral development or career planning. Spencer, our supposedly studious Liar, hardly cracks a book, everyone skips class, and teachers sometimes blackmail and sleep with their students. They don't care what Ali didn't learn, or how behind she is. Just one more aspect of the show that makes it puzzling that it airs on a "family" channel.

Ali is indeed one shady lady. I cringed last episode with all her lip wobbling and tears over having to go to the doctor, mostly because I felt like she's upset that her lies will be exposed. But guess what, Ali? You're a terrible liar! How does she even think a doctor or the police are going to believe her crappy tales?! The lies are bad and they are delivered pitifully. You got your old scar on your inner thigh a few weeks ago, cutting it on a rock with metal on it while jumping blindfolded out of a moving car? Girl, please. But why are the police and doc humoring her and not calling her on her crap and asking for the truth? I think Ali is genuinely scared of someone, but I'm hoping it's because she got herself in over her head with the wrong person with her twisted teenage manipulations. I'll be pissed if she comes out of all this squeaky clean and looking like some scared little misguided angel. This is one character I don't really want to see easily redeemed, because I really don't like her. She lies, blackmails, bullies her friends, tries to steal boyfriends--and that was all before she faked her death for two years and watched her friends go through hell for her. And now she's being cruel to Hanna and still digging on her weight, because Ali is inherently cruel and/or feels threatened by a slimmer Hanna. Can't wait for Mona to bitch slap her. Girl has it coming!

I don't like it either! But I'm not sure that is what happened this year. I mean, Hannah is such a stellar performer and a gorgeous girl that I think they had to cut her for some reason besides ratings. But I really DO want to find out what happened to Hannah on the show this year! I'll be totally annoyed if she's just gone without a real word like Amy Reese was a few seasons ago. Inquiring minds and Hannah fans want to know!

This most recent episode totally reaffirmed my suspicions that have been brewing since the first season: that Veronica Hastings knows or did something very, very bad. I always have thought that she has as much motive as anybody to hate the whole DiLaurentis clan, and be seriously freaked/pissed by Ali's knowledge of Mr. H's affair with Mrs. D. I mean, V has lived next door to her husband's love child for two decades--that's some time to nurse a twisted grudge. So, I totally read Veronica's haggard appearance and stress in this episode as signs of her mental agitation over her guilt, and saw this episode as the first blatant foreshadowing that Veronica Hastings has significant and sinister involvement somewhere in the DiLaurentis Drama. She can't sleep, she gets lost in thought, she's displacing her stress onto the landscaping project (hello, wanting to literally cover any reminders of her crime), AND she casts suspicion onto her husband while trying to steer Spencer away from suspecting Melissa is being her usual shady self. This is totally "The Tell-Tale Heart": the story of the man who goes crazy with guilt, imagining he hears the beating heart of the dude he murdered and buried under the floor boards in his house. I mean, people on this site are suggesting that her trip to the "spa" might be code for Radley. I don't know if she's in the psych hospital or not, but I do think her spa-cation has to do with trying to prevent herself from snapping from the strain of some kind of guilt--either over Ali's disappearance and murder attempt, Jessica's murder, and/or the murder of the unknown dead girl in "Ali's" grave. Veronica told Spencer she feared her husband did something to Jessica in an effort to protect Spencer, and maybe Veronica herself did something drastic out of some desperate desire to protect one or both of her daughters. I think Mrs. H certainly knows more about Jessica's death (or at least the reasons she might be murdered) than she has let on as of yet. One more potential clue to support my Mrs Hastings is in it to her neck because of her cheating husband theory: Shana's copy of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne's classic novel about a woman cast out of her Puritan community for adultery who has to wear a scarlet A on her chest. I read this as a pretty big sign that the whole A thing is connected to the Hastings-DiLaurentis neighborly adulteries and rivalries. When Aria flips through the book, the underlined passages read: "It is a curious subject . . . whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. . . each leaves the passionate lover, or no less the passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his subject." Obviously Mrs. H still somehow loves her unfaithful husband, or at least loves the life she has with him and their Hastings perfect family society status; but I'm thinking she also kinda hates him, and Jessica, and Jason--and probably Ali for trying to blackmail them about it or at least torment Mrs. H with her bratty insinuations and unneeded reminders of her husband's infidelity. One thing about my theory I still haven't worked out: why would Mrs. H torment high school girls, and especially her daughter, I cannot begin to rationalize.

I thought Jacie, Samantha, Emma, Kinzie, and Jennifer K looked great in that video. It was hard to see everyone well. But I also agree that it was not an especially dynamic overall group performance, as far as DCC expectations of perfection go. Lines looked a little jagged and some of the girls lacked a cohesive snap and pop.

I agree with others who point out that vets mess up, not just Sydney. They are human, after all, no matter the crazy standards everyone holds for DCC. A couple things about the rehearsal night that continues to get referenced about Sydney being off and Olivia not following her. First, this was Sydney's first year as a group leader, so she was rehearsing in a new role and is allowed to mess up, as long as she makes the corrections necessary. That is what rehearsal is for. Second, Olivia got called out repeatedly throughout that rehearsal for mistakes, not just because she didn't follow Sydney one or two times. Olivia kept missing her lines and placements, and also got called out in kick line. I remember from that episode that Olivia was so off her game that night (hey, everyone's allowed a bad rehearsal, and like Sydney, she was in a new environment/role), that Judy actually growled and yelled, "Uggggh! OLIVIA!!!" So, this was not all about Sydney. Olivia had to get used to dancing with a team, following exact placements, and making unexpected adjustments on the fly. Don't get me wrong: I'm a big Olivia fan, too!

I agree Jenna is still a little young for group leader, but I do think she could be a candidate down the road. She's an excellent performer--made SG her rookie year--and seems very responsible, team-oriented, and mature. I don't think her closeness to Sydney would have been a good reason to make her a second this year. They appear to be besties, but Jenna does have other close friends on the team. As far as the vet vs candidate label for returning cheerleaders in TC, it's true that returning girls are eligible for being cut (obviously) and no one officially makes the team til end of summer, but I have heard Kelli and Judy repeatedly refer to the girls in blue as "vets" when talking to the camera and the cheerleaders. I get the distinction, but I find "vet" and "rookie" to be a useful and quick way to distinguish between newbies and, well, veterans of the team.

Really? I didn't know that. Or did you mean Jessica A? I would have thought that, if Jennifer also had been a Jets cheerleader, the show would have made some mention about two pairs of Jets cheerleaders making the team two years in a row...

Love this! Makes me wish I had a wig to get snatched, too, cause I can't wait to see how these two rumble. I mean, Spencer threatened to take a shovel to Ali's head--that girl don't play. Yes, but often bullies and mean girls are that way because it's their way of dealing with serious insecurities, abuse/trauma, and/or childhood dysfunction. For 4 seasons, I've wondered if we ever were going to find out what happened when Ali was younger to make her so manipulative, abusive, petty, and criminal. To me, that has been one of the biggest mysteries of the show I'd like solved. A key question, and I think it ties directly to my musings about Ali's f-ed up childhood. I think Ezra had one too. His mom is a manipulative control freak, and his brother was super creepy. Apparently, creepiness is a Fitz(gerald) family trait. Maybe some crazy past connection between Ali's mom and Fitz's family? Did Mrs. D have a love child with Mr. Fitzgerald too? As for all the statutes about sex with minors and corrupting them in the great state of PA, I don't really care if it was illegal. Screwing your high school student is immoral (not to mention creepy), as is spying on high school girls, which he admitted he'd been doing for years. I love this show--guilty pleasure galore!--but Ezria always has and always will turn my stomach.

I'm happy for all the leaders and seconds. Some of my favorite performers on the team. I agree it's surprising they chose a 2nd year vet as a second leader, but as others have pointed out, Jennifer K was Rookie of the Year and is one of the best dancers on the team. Obviously, she gets mad respect from her teammates as well as Kelli and Judy. In addition to her being deserving, perhaps Kelli and Judy are wanting to groom some of the younger cheerleaders for leadership positions since the squad is so young, and a number of upper vets are likely to retire next year. I think there are far more girls on the team who would make good leaders and seconds than available positions. I would like to see Brittany and Veronica get to be leaders/seconds, but regardless, hope they return for their 5th year because they also are two of my favorites. I thought Brittany would get picked for a leadership position this year, but I wonder if her work responsibilities are such that taking on the extra responsibilities of group leader is impractical. I think Ashley M and Jenna would also make for great leaders/seconds down the road, and hope they get the chance.

She got a phone call from an unknown person. Just before Mona holds her revenge assembly with Lucas, Paige, etc. (she's already in the meeting room), she's on the phone and says, "You need to stay on top of this. We need to mobilize." Then she hangs up and tells Lucas that they're in NYC. It definitely could have been Shana on the other end of the call, since she wasn't dead yet, but who knows?

I often feel like Emily is the most gullible one of the group, so I found it even more annoying that the other girls seemed to think the same thing. Shana always seemed like a gopher/enforcer/errand girl for A than the mastermind. I mean, how can the liars not recognize this?! And will we ever get an explanation for Shana's creepy skulking around in Ravenswood's cemetery? Yes, but the show would end, too. That said, self-sabotage and bad decisions for plot lines gets annoying. My hope: that Officer Hottie-Hollbrook approaches Hannah to try to get at the truth and that we can get some good answers/intel through them teaming up a little. I'm not advocating a romance here -- I totally disapprove of romantic/sexual relationships between adults and minors, especially on a "family channel" (I am always creeped out by Ezra and his thing for high school girls. And Wilden's. And Aria's dad's thing for his college student, though she was over 18). However, it seemed to me some of the chemistry between Hannah and Officer H last season had to do with a shared intrigue with solving mysteries. I'm hoping he proves to be a smarter adult than all the others in Rosewood, who sees through Ali's crap, and is one of few adult male characters who proves not to be a pervert, cheater, or creeper. I want him to get us some answers! And I want Hannah to be in on it, in part because Spencer was so snide about her detective skills and interests in mysteries last season. Hannah is no intellectual, but the girl is smarter than she gets credit for (trying to bury her mom's gun near a frat party excluded).

No idea about more cuts yet. Last year and this year, it seems Kelli and Judy have been very restrictive about what can be posted about training camp. I'm sure it has to do with wanting to build interest and suspense for the season (though of course, once the team is announced those who want to can figure out who made the team before the season airs). I do see Alexandra in the photo mentioned above (thanks for the link, bigskygirl: https://www.facebook...&type=1). She's on the very left hand side of the picture. I recall that she was not a very good dancer in her video, though, so I regretfully predict that (unless she goes from a "2 to a 10" like Nicole Bulcher did her rookie year) Alexandra won't make the final team. Based on those videos, I was really disappointed in the overall quality of rookie candidates, and was sad to see that few African American women trying out had the dance skills and performance charisma to make it into training camp. (I did think that at least one other young lady should have made it into TC, but I forget her name). I'm not sure that Alexandra is the only African American TCC, though. I think that Mary might be biracial, and I think there are maybe a total of 4 or 5 women of color who are TCCs this year. Regardless of her ethnic identity, though, I thought Mary was one of the strongest dancers in the videos and a beautiful young lady and I really hope she makes it!

I have to say, I wonder why Mrs. Hastings hasn't come up in any of the speculations I've read or heard regarding the identity or real motives of Ali's tormentor. I think she is an excellent suspect, in part because no one on the show has ever really talked about her as a suspect, which seems a good setup for a plot twist. I mean, it would be kind of disappointing if, say, Jason were really A, since he's been under suspicion since the first season. Mrs. H has every reason--more than most, I think--to want Mrs. DiLaurentis dead, since Mrs. D not only slept with Mr. Hastings but became his extramarital baby mama and raised their illegitimate love child next door to the Hastings and therefore basically flaunted the infidelity in Mrs. H's face for at least 18 years. I'd be pretty mad in Mrs. H's shoes, and I'd really want to shut up the bitchy neighbor girl who is related to Mrs. D and threatened to expose the secret or just rub it in a lot. So, I'd say Mrs. H had excellent motives to try to kill Ali and her mama (insofar as anyone has a "good" motive for murder or blackmail or harassment). I'll admit that I can't quite figure out why Spencer's mom would torment her daughter and her friends with years of crazy texts and ambushes, so I'm thinking that A is still some team or network of conspirators rather than just one head honcho. But I would not be surprised if Mrs. H is at least in on this A scheme if not the actual lead A. She pulled that crazy dumb stunt to get pulled off of Ashley Marin's defense case, had those strange dealings with Wren, and now, Mr. Hastings and Melissa are trying to keep some big secret from Mrs. H that her husband says she can never know about. But I think she already knows everything, and is out for some serious revenge...

According to DCC Facebook page, Samantha made the swimsuit issue cover. I think she looks really fantastic. I guess that means the issue is out or coming soon.

I don't think the vets are considered TCCs exactly--they do have a different status than the girls who have not earned their uniforms yet. But starting in season 3, Kelli announced that vets would be eligible for cuts during TC, so there definitely is less certainty for the vets than there used to be. Last season, they showed the girls signing a "20-page contract" at the first meeting, so they are legally committed at that point. That's where they lay out that they can (as Kelli put it last year) "cut you for any reason," including weight, behavior, tardiness, etc.

I don't think it was the test that was the problem. They take it before training camp starts, and I recall in season 3 that about 5 girls, vets and rookies, flunked the exam. Kelli called them out in the first meeting for it, and they all got put on notice, but none of them got cut for it. I just can't think of a "good" reason for Hannah to have left the team. If she'd gotten another dance opportunity, it doesn't seem ethical (or especially contractual) to take it after signing on a dotted line for another year commitment to DCC. I've written before that she seemed to love being on the team so much, it's hard to imagine her just choosing to walk away for a better or different opportunity. I just hope she's healthy and not too heartbroken over this.

Yes, that was her name. How scandalous! Arrest record doesn't look good on a DCC resume. Thanks for the info.

Me too. Maybe we only think that because that's how the episodes run? It makes sense, though, that they start on kick line early. And I would imagine it could take a while to make all those uniforms by hand, even if this isn't an especially big rookie class. But I did think makeovers were more like week 3 or 4. Re: Amy Good point. Kinda harsh, Kelli! It does make me wonder why she/they choose not to show some girls getting cut at all. I find it strange when they do that after giving a girl talk time, like Rebecca (I think her name was) from season 6. Or what about that girl from Carissa & Kim's rookie year who never got mentioned and was edited out of almost the whole show? She was petite like Jenna, and about the same skin tone, with curly hair. Anyone know what was up with her situation?

There was no hint on the show that Amy had had any health problems, weight related or otherwise, just a couple mentions from Kelli that she looked bottom heavy in the uniform and her performing wasn't as pleasant to watch as other TCCs. (I seem to recall that the night Kelsey got called out for her "s******" dancing and faces, Amy got called out for facials too.) All this came within about two episodes, with hardly any other camera time for Amy, so the audience had little to go on when she got called into the office to get cut. The exit interview was incredibly awkward, with strangely timed "yes ma'ams" and Amy just so nervous it was painful to watch. I don't know if Amy kept it from Kelli & Judy at the time, but I remember her sister posted on the show Facebook page after the episode aired to defend Amy and said she'd been in the hospital the night before cameo shoots and had made herself ill trying to get skinny enough to be on the team. I definitely think the show played it they way they did for heightened drama, but it did make Amy look so awkward, and it seems to me, unfairly so. I don't think she was the best dancer, and she definitely had a little junk in the trunk (her figure was great, just curvy like Alex Hermes), and the few times I saw her speak on camera I did find her less comfortable than a lot of the other girls, but even so, she couldn't have been that bad all the time as depicted or she'd never have survived the finals interview. I'm guessing that, if they did know, they wouldn't want to air that, because it would highlight the extreme pressures the girls are under about their weight, and reveal that, at least sometimes, some ladies go too far trying to drop weight. Not exactly ideal PR. But, especially seeing Amy seem as nervous as she was, I could also imagine that she didn't tell them what was up when it was happening. I recall TCC Marie a couple years ago got cut in the last week, in part because her kicks and splits were bad, and when she got into Kelli's office was the first time she told them she'd had a leg injury. So maybe both girls kept their mouths just and were just trying to fly under the radar and not draw extra attention to weaknesses that they knew could get them cut.