S05.E12: Taking This One to the Grave

[AmandaPanda]

Let me get this straight: it's only been a month since Halloween (!) but Toby has had time to graduate from the police academy?

 

Not just graduate, but also get hired by an actual police force. The patch on his uniform said Harrisburg Police, not Rosewood. 

 

And was Halloween the episode in Ravenswood or the Halloween special on the train? Weren't both in their senior year?

 

Either way, it being Thanksgiving means the entire series of Ravenswood, then Caleb coming back, and him and Hannah drinking happened in less then a month. Sure, that's believable.  

 

Halloween was supposedly the train episode. So, in the past month, we've had the second half of season 3, all of season 4, all of Ravenswood, and the first half of season 5. Clearly, Rosewood is on another planet where their days are longer than 24 hours.

[Bort]

Okay, it took watching the episode's second airing to recognize Mona's mom from All My Children. Julia Santos!

[WhitneyWhit]

Okay, it took watching the episode's second airing to recognize Mona's mom from All My Children. Julia Santos!

I knew she looked familiar. Maybe Noah will show up as Mona's dad!

[Amelia]

Not just graduate, but also get hired by an actual police force. The patch on his uniform said Harrisburg Police, not Rosewood. 

 

 

Halloween was supposedly the train episode. So, in the past month, we've had the second half of season 3, all of season 4, all of Ravenswood, and the first half of season 5. Clearly, Rosewood is on another planet where their days are longer than 24 hours.

 

So, series finale...Groundhog Day? -_-

Edited August 27, 2014 by Amelia

[kiddo82]

Poor Mona.  She's been my favorite.  But I think we all knew it was her within the first 10 minutes.    How adorable was her mom when she saw that her daughter had friends over?  Ugghhhhh.  Worst PLL death so far.

That killed me too. I must be getting old. Her mom seemed so happy that friends had visited her and all I could think was "Poor Mona's mom, this is not going to end well."

I also agree that Ali didn't kill Mona. Either she doesn't do her own dirty work or her involvement is a red herring. Either way, I feel the character of Alison is beyond redemption at this point. She's cold, calculating, and manipulative. She is poison to those around her and I don't find the character enjoyable even in "love to hate way." I could be wrong, but I'd have a hard time rooting for her without some serious characterization 180.

I don't even bother with the show's timeline anymore. It's not worth making my head hurt over.

[Bort]

They didn't say aria was "compassionate" they said Aria was "passionate."

Nope, Mona said COMpassionate. About Aria. I laugh.

[emma675]

Oh Mona, you poor crazy bitch. I always thought she was strong enough to beat Alison and A, but I guess not. She did not deserve to go out like that, stuck in A's car trunk.

 

I continue to love Caleb and Hanna and their relationship. PLL writers better never screw that up.

 

I love that Paige had the smarts to follow Alison and those weird twins after they left Emily's house, but can someone explain what's up with those twins? Have we ever seen them before? They kept showing up all episode and I couldn't figure them out.

[KaveDweller]

I love that Paige had the smarts to follow Alison and those weird twins after they left Emily's house, but can someone explain what's up with those twins? Have we ever seen them before? They kept showing up all episode and I couldn't figure them out.

 

In the episode where Alison went back to school, she went up to those twins and apologized for being a bitch before she died.  Or we may not have heard her say it, but we saw her talk to them and later brag to Mona about how easy they were to get on her side.

[kiddo82]

Nope, Mona said COMpassionate. About Aria. I laugh.

I could've sworn she said passionate but I may be wrong.

[cuddlingcrowley]

If anyone is interested Satan made a thing.

 

I find it remarkable how consistly brilliant the Mona/Hanna dynamic was written over the years that Hanna desperately calling out for Mona at the sight of her wrecked house and full on bawling on street after realizing she was dead felt so incredibly organic and true that the show didn't even need to make them any kind of special recconecting during this episode to sell it like so many others would have fallen in the mistake of doing.

 

I think Aria being compassionate is an even more useless trait (to Alison) than her being passionate. All the other girls' traits had a clear use to her, I don't get Aria's. At least passionate is something you can manipulate into turning bad. We saw her do that when she manipulated Aria in wrecking her father's study and I have a very strong feeling Alison has a very clear objective for Ezria.

Edited August 27, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[mercfan3]

yea, "compassionate" doesn't even make sense in the way that it was said. Ali wasn't jealous of Aria's ability to be sympathetic with others, she's jealous of Aria's ability to feel strongly. 

 

Plus, in the few times we've seen Aria been manipulated/blackmailed by Ali, Ali has used Aria's feelings. 

[emma675]

I love that #RIPMona is trending on Twitter right now.

[superman1204]

Speaking of things that happened in way too short a period of time, how is Alison building an army?  I thought the whole school hated her after she bitch slapped Mona.  Also the liars stopped taking to her like two days ago.  She sounds like a cartoon super villain, she is off screen for one episode and then she comes back with an entire army following her.

 

I loved Emily decorating for Christmas.  She was so obnoxiously festive it was hilarious.

 

I hate to be a jerk but I can't really buy into Mona or Hanna's college prospects.  Mona got into Ivy League schools?  No one gets into Ivy League schools.  I know she is supposed to be crazy smart, but she lost at least two years in hyper-reality, followed by six months in Radley.  How does anyone come back from that?  Also I love Hanna, I love that they are trying to make the character more than the fashion obsessed blonde, but how good were her SAT scores?  The girl doesn't understand all of the words that come out of Spencer's mouth, but some how she did so well that the guidance counselor thought she cheated?  I'm sorry, the show really can't have it both ways.

 

I am impressed that the writers actually killed off Mona.  It's nice to see them start to take at least some risks with the storyline.  More importantly, I was actually sad when A opened the trunk and Mona was inside.  I'm glad that didn't drag out Mona's death as a 'was she really murdered?' storyline, but it was sad that just as she seemed to return to being a normal person she was killed.

 

My only wish about Mona's murder, is that they had given her one last awesome line.  I was thinking along the lines of, "Make it a really horror show.  I want my face on the cover of every tabloid tomorrow."  You know, something to remind us that Mona is both amazing and crazy all at the same time.

[Sakura12]

So the one thing they taught Toby at Police school was to interrogate teenage girls by making out with them. Yep, that sounds like Rosewood. 

 

I figured Mona was a goner once she said she needed to survive High School. I think it was Cece that killed her from Alison's orders. Alison looked way to smug to see her friends mourning Mona. This also explains a picture Tammin posted awhile ago.

 

I'm glad they finally remembered that Caleb's a hacker too since he forgot about it for the past year or so. Also funny that even Aria doesn't know why Alison chose her. 

 

I'm going to go with Bethany isn't Alison's twin but she is Alison's half-sister because Mrs. D really got around that town. She must be the one that passed her super power down to Jenna and that's why Alison hates Jenna so much. I also thought at first they said Mrs. D was having an affair with Bethany and was like finally an adult woman was creeping on a teenager, it's not just the men that drink the kool-aid. 

 

I'm not really a fan of the dumb ones being a secret genius plot, they did that on Glee too and it was also stupid. I liked Hanna being street smart and common sense smart. She doesn't need to be a genus as well. 

 

#RIPMona. You were finally getting interesting and getting answers so that means you get murdered.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Sakura12

[KaveDweller]

Also I love Hanna, I love that they are trying to make the character more than the fashion obsessed blonde, but how good were her SAT scores?

 

 

Well maybe the guidance counselor thinks really low of her and accused her of cheating with only mediocre scores?

 

I did love her saying she "did good" on the test.  Is grammar tested on the SATs these days?

[cuddlingcrowley]

My only wish about Mona's murder, is that they had given her one last awesome line.  I was thinking along the lines of, "Make it a really horror show.  I want my face on the cover of every tabloid tomorrow."  You know, something to remind us that Mona is both amazing and crazy all at the same time.

 

 

Oh, that would have been awesome!

 

 

I loved Emily decorating for Christmas.  She was so obnoxiously festive it was hilarious.

 

 

Along with a handful of hilarious lines that scene gave us, I actually saw a lot of S1!Emily there which I loved because from all the liars it seems like Emily is the one who changed the most and it can get a little jarring if you think about it.

 

 

Speaking of things that happened in way too short a period of time, how is Alison building an army?  I thought the whole school hated her after she bitch slapped Mona.  Also the liars stopped taking to her like two days ago.  She sounds like a cartoon super villain, she is off screen for one episode and then she comes back with an entire army following her.

 

 

That's one of the main reasons I think the girls are simply way off in regards to what they think Alison is up to.

 

 

I love that #RIPMona is trending on Twitter right now.

 

 

It's nice to see one of the actual great characters of this show get some proper attention and not frigging #PoorToby or #EzrA. 

 

Also, I think it's just starting to sink in that Mona is really dead and I'm getting weirdly sad. I applaud the writers' decision because not only was it very well done but it kept the show from getting too predictable but damn no more Mona...and poor thing probably suffered a lot. I wonder if we're gonna get any details about how she went out if/when they find the body at some point. I don't know if I want that. We didn't even get to see the murder weapon which makes it even creepier somehow.

Edited August 27, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[Lolabelle]

After letting the finale digest for a little bit, I think my biggest frustration now is that the liars need an ally that isn't one of their bed buddies.  Mona was the best fit for that, but of course they use her for an episode.   The other ambiguous characters were Melissa (gone), Jenna (never around), Noel (never around), and Lucas (not that guilty).  

 

Upon rewatch it's also maybe worth noting that in the A tag there was no blonde hair sticking out.  Maybe Ali did kill Mona but she's not A.

 

Glad Mona literally fought for her life.  

[mercfan3]

I don't think it's shocking at all that Hanna is smart. In the pilot, it was Hanna that was the reader (and Mona pretending she didn't know what Hanna was talking about.) We've also seen she has a pretty large vocabulary at times, even if she doesn't have Spencer's vocabulary. She's proven herself to be the smartest, common sense wise, towards all of the girls. Also, don't forget..queen bee types often conform to that "blonde ditz" stereotype. She has shown that if she doesn't care she doesn't apply herself too much. (Not even remembering the SAT name, for instance..)

 

I'm pretty sure the only liar we ever saw struggling with her grades was Emily. Spencer and Aria were a given with good grades, and likely A students. But if Hanna was a B student and did well on the SAT's, she could get into a very good school.

[Bort]

Mona got into Ivy League schools?  No one gets into Ivy League schools.  I know she is supposed to be crazy smart, but she lost at least two years in hyper-reality, followed by six months in Radley.  How does anyone come back from that? 

Not to mention that it's this almost identical track record that's supposedly the reason Spencer isn't getting any college offers. Unless it's the repetitive drug problem that's also an issue. Except I don't think it was ever part of public record. Until it came up in Ali's polygraph.

The above paragraph was brought to you by the Council of Broken Sentence Fragments. Don't let this happen to you.

[Cranberry]

That was a great episode (I was entertained from start to finish; even the Aria/Ezra scene had fun dialogue and didn't annoy me as much as it normally would), but I'm so disappointed that Mona is (apparently) really dead. I knew that one of the characters I love would die at some point, but up until now I've been lucky and haven't cared much for anyone we've lost.

 

The episode really was a love letter to Mona, wasn't it? That's probably why I liked it so much.

[Sakura12]

Hanna's not book smart and that is what the SAT's are about. The SAT help demonstrate what you've learned in school and your readiness for college-level work. Hanna can't even remember the name of the actual test she did so well on, she doesn't know quotes by Churchill or anyone in History, she sucks at math, and many more things that weren't her just pretending to be dumb. Because when most of things were brought up there was no reason for her to be acting like a bimbo. 

 

Mona acted stupid but we saw many times that she was really smart before the reveal she was a genius hacker. Hanna is street smart, that's why I liked her but that wouldn't help her on the SAT's. That's just like Toby graduating from the Police Academy in about 3 hours. Hanna can do well in school without being a genius. She's not completely stupid but she's not a brainiac either.  

Edited August 27, 2014 by Sakura12

[spidermiss2426]

So when it came time for Blonde Wig to break into Mona's house, I was like "why is Hanna going to kill Mona if she is with the others?" since I saw black in with the blonde... then I saw the cut scene with Hanna and the others.

 

EDIT:  Oh and for whomever asked was it easy to break into a hospital/insane asylum type place... My Dad did it once, in a place where there were people and it was supposedly high security to get my Mom out and no one saw.  They had put her in a bed where someone had just died without cleaning up the bed first, and she was freaking out.  So yes, it can be done.  And don't forget, Mona had been breaking in and out of Radley while she was still a patient.

Edited August 27, 2014 by spidermiss2426

[mercfan3]

Hanna's not book smart and that is what the SAT's are about. The SAT help demonstrate what you've learned in school and your readiness for college-level work. Hanna can't even remember the name of the actual test she did so well on, she doesn't know quotes by Churchill or anyone in History, she sucks at math, and many more things that weren't her just pretending to be dumb. Because when most of things were brought up there was no reason for her to be acting like a bimbo. 

 

Mona acted stupid but we saw many times that she was really smart before the reveal she was a genius hacker. Hanna is street smart, that's why I liked her but that wouldn't help her on the SAT's. That's just like Toby graduating from the Police Academy in about 3 hours. Hanna can do well in school without being a genius. She's not completely stupid but she's not a brainiac either.  

 

Not really. There's a reason that people study for the SAT's in completely different ways than they do for school work. And there's actually a lot of common sense questions on the SAT's (you find that in a lot of studies with race on the SAT's.) And, there are plenty of instances of people doing extremely well on SAT's and not being fantastic with their grades. (Which is why they say your high school grades, not your SAT score is more indicative of your college grades.) Not only that, but Hanna has never been shown to not be book smart. And she's been shown to be a reader. 

 

She can be ditzy and girly, but that doesn't make her automatically stupid. Hanna has a "saying things before she thinks them through" problem. But she's never been stupid or a bimbo. We've seen her making the smartest decisions of all of the liars more often than not. 

Edited August 27, 2014 by mercfan3

[Artsda]

Loved Emily's Christmas cheer and her t-shirt. Like seeing some normalcy and light around all the dark.

 

Sad to see Mona die. :(  It was really really obvious though when at the start they went straight from the flash forward to the flashback of Mona. It was clearly her, then her getting into her Ivy league colleges and getting out of the town. She was a goner.

[scarynikki12]

The timeline's even crazier when we consider that Ezra was shot since Halloween and had several weeks (per Aria a couple episodes into this part of the season) to recover and that's before the current crazy. So, technically, all the post shooting stuff has happened in just a few days (including Toby joining the academy). Rosewood really must have 48 hour days.

Also, ever since Ali came back I've been getting more and more convinced that Aria is endgame A. I don't really know why I have this feeling but it's growing stronger with each episode.

[Bort]

Also, ever since Ali came back I've been getting more and more convinced that Aria is endgame A. I don't really know why I have this feeling but it's growing stronger with each episode.

Since pretty early on, I've had the theory that Aria is A and Spencer is the psycho killer, operating separately. The writers have done their damnedest to get me to deviate from these thoughts but so far, they've failed.

[larapu2000]

Ali has been built up as A, so she's obviously not A. I'm suspicious of the twin thing, but the blonde hair looked like a wig. 

 

Mrs. D was sleeping with Bethany's father. That woman got around. Unless Bethany's father is Spencer's father...Perhaps Jason has a twin..

 

So..here's my crack theory. Jason is A. He's the one with the twin. He's crazy. 

I have another theory.  Jason is A.  He's the one with the twin.  The twin is a transvestite who dresses in women's clothes and is a dead ringer for Alison when he does.

 

And now that he's got a broken leg and is in a wheelchair, maybe they can ripoff 'Rear Window' somehow in a future episode.

YES.  SO.MUCH.YES.

 

Halloween was supposedly the train episode. So, in the past month, we've had the second half of season 3, all of season 4, all of Ravenswood, and the first half of season 5. Clearly, Rosewood is on another planet where their days are longer than 24 hours.

This isn't surprising considering Ali's Murder Day Shenanigans!  But at the same time, duuuuuuuuuude, writers, we realize it gets hard to write the show when the girls go to college, but this timeline is redonk.

 

I was so irritated at the opening scene because Ezra was there, so obviously, he didn't die.  And I'm pretty amped for him to die.

 

Why is my hot boyfriend Holbook being such a dick?  And where is Noel Khan!!!!!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Halloween was supposedly the train episode. So, in the past month, we've had the second half of season 3, all of season 4, all of Ravenswood, and the first half of season 5. Clearly, Rosewood is on another planet where their days are longer than 24 hours.

 

At this pace, the PLLs will be graduating from high school when Troian turns 40. </snark>

Edited August 27, 2014 by ottoDbusdriver

[GaT]

Are we sure that was Mona in the trunk? When the trunk was opened, I actually said out loud "who the hell is that?" It did not look like Mona to me, her hair looked kind of blonde. I don't know who else's dead body it would be though, unless it's not actually a dead body, but another doll? 

 

Let me get this straight: it's only been a month since Halloween (!) but Toby has had time to graduate from the police academy?

 

 

Because he had been a member of the A team, he didn't have to take any of the pervert classes so he was able to graduate early.

[Preity]

When Mona called Aria compassionate I actually tried to think of a moment in which I found her compassionate. Couldn't think of one.

 

I always loved Mona and thought she actually was trying to help the girls lately. I'm going to miss her...
It would make sense for Ali to kill her, especially with the proof Mona had. But I agree it seems to obvious. Then again the writers know that the fans have realized the obvious is not the truth, so maybe they're playing with us. I could definitively see Ali trying to get rid of Mona forever. 

Queen B Ali and scared Ali were interesting to me. There was so much guessing and asking yourself who she actually was. New Ali is boring. She's the typical character I always hate. She seems more than manipulative and somehow she can do anything she wants and never has a single problem doing it. I prefer the pre Ali being back PLL... Ali is starting to annoy me even more than Aria.

Ali being A would make sense if this was all a game to her. But then she would have to be psychotic. How else would you come up with a game of torturing your 'friends' and lying to the entire town, letting innocent people be arrested and everything. I understood Mona as A, but I would hate to end the series knowing it was all some little girls psycho fantasy cause she was bored with her life.

 

Since we found out about Bethany I always thought she was Mrs.D.s daughter. Why else would she take such care of her and take her horse riding and be worried about her? I can totally see Mrs D. not wanting anyone to know about her daughter being in Radley, so she wouldn't have told anyone. But why would Ali be jealous of Bethany? Old day Ali would have loved to tease Bethany about being a nut case in Radley. Bethany would have been her victim of choice and she still would have felt like Mommy's favorite girl.

 

So Spencer is a person of interest in yet another murder investigation. I wonder what 'proof' the police  has... You don't just get arrested because someone says you might have done it. And why do the police suddenly believe Alison? They spent the first half of the season not believing a word she says. And it's not like you can't fool a lie detector, if anyone can do it it's Ali.

 

I love Hanna and I know she's smart, but I can't imagine her getting into Stanford. I can believe she did well on her SATs, but not great...She's not a dumb blonde, but every time she was in a kind of academic conversation she didn't know the name of books or whatever, she told her mum the last book she finished reading was the hungry caterpillar or something and every time the girls studied together she just sat next to them. So I can see her do well on all the questions that simply require logic, but I think the questions that actually required knowledge wouldn't have been easy for her. She seems like the kind of girl who gets by in school without doing much, but with average grades. And didn't she want to go to some fashion institute?

The time line sucks. But aren't two halloweens in one year nice? lol I'm just going to accept the fact that Rosewood has a different time line.
btw I think it would make much more sense if the girls had actually graduated by now, the don't act or live like under 18 year olds anyway, so maybe they should have just made them be college students at Hollis from the beginning. Except then the Ezria storyline wouldn't have been as...interesting...(still don't know why people love Ezria...)

[lorikauai]

Damn I was thinking for sure the dead liar thing was going to be a fake out. Hasn't every other mid-season finale been one?

RIP Mona (assuming you are in fact dead). You will be missed you crazy bitch.

So the person in the blond wig. Jason? Lucas? Noel? Melissa? Wren? Mrs. H? Byron? Who is left?

Ick on Paige and Emily getting back together immediately. Come on show. Can't these girls be single for 5 minutes?

More Ali next half season. Sigh. Why am I already tired of her? And another unflattering outfit. What is going on there?

Of course Toby graduated from the police academy in 2 weeks. Of course Hanna aced her SATs. Why not? Anything is possible in Rosewood.

Adding: my closed captioning had Mona calling Aria "compassionate" as unlikely as it seems.

What is the deal with Tanner and Holbrook? Tanner thinks Ali's full of shit and Holbrook believes her? And why didn't they ask any questions about her kidnapping when she was hooked up to the lie detector? Why only about Bethany?

[Agent Dark]

My first thought about Hanna's SAT scores were that Mona faked them somehow, as in she was was trying to help Hanna in her own slightly twisted way.  I also wonder what other truths about Mona will come out of her murder investigation, particularly if things like her military grade equipment is uncovered (then again, Rosewood PD: "there's a lot of blood, so I guess she's dead.  Donuts?").  The "covert infiltration" scene was fun too, with Mona being right in her element. 

 

The Ali and Emily scene was pretty good.  While it seems that Ali has been playing the Liars all along, this is perhaps the first time she got played back?  It's interesting that Emily was the one that could do that too.  I've always believed that Ali has had feelings for Emily, and I think it showed in that scene.  I don't think Ali would have been played like that by anyone else.  I'm going to think of Ali as Talia al Ghul to Emily's Bruce Wayne - Talia is pretty much a full on bad guy/batshit insane, and Bruce knows that, but there is still this strong connection between them.  Also, if this means that Emily and Ali will have a child together and he grows up to become the next Robin then I'm completely OK with that.

 

I think I'm really going to miss Mona, but I think her swan song episode was really well done.

[chelsie]

Poor Mona! The second I saw her mother I knew she was gone.

 

As for the crazy time line I like to pretend that Ali went missing when she was in 8th grade, with the show begining in the freshman/sophomore year. 

 

 

Re: Hanna's SAT scores. I don't think it's that unbelievable, she could have just studied like crazy. I don't think this is comparable to the Brittany situation at all. But wouldn't Hanna's law trouble go against her? Also does she do any extracurricular activities?

Edited August 27, 2014 by chelsie

[resonance]

Well maybe the guidance counselor thinks really low of her and accused her of cheating with only mediocre scores?

 

I did love her saying she "did good" on the test.  Is grammar tested on the SATs these days?

The thing is that you can't even expect to waltz into Harvard or Stanford with a 2400 SAT. A perfect score isn't that uncommon and it takes a lot more than good test scores to be admitted.

 

I hate the overdone "secret genius" plot because, aside from suspending disbelief that the character was really that smart, the writers completely butcher the entire college application and selection process.

 

There are colleges in the US beside Harvard and Stanford! Apparently, half the Pretty Little Liars universe is going to HYPSM: Paige, Mona, Spencer, and now Hanna. Cece went to Duke.

 

Resorting to Harvard or Stanford is an easy indicator of the quality of research as well as the level of education of the writers. Clearly Marlene King did not attend a prestigious institution.

[HawkeyeLo]

Oh, Spencer, caught once more with a shovel. You know the only reason anyone owns a shovel in Rosewood is because they plan to murder and bury someone.

 

I'm ignoring the college thing because I've given up on TV shows ever getting it right. Everyone goes to Ivy League schools, never state schools (because no smart people go to those, of course); they get in to said top schools with terrible grades and no extracurriculars; they can apply two weeks before graduation, etc. It's not that hard, so I don't see why they screw it up every time. But they do. Anyway, I hope Ashley has a special lasagna box college fund for Hanna because those all the schools on her list are pretty pricey.

 

There were some pretty specific mentions of "Tanner should be here but isn't," so I hope that leads to something with Ali's story and Spencer's arrest. I'd love to see her get pissed at Holbrook.

 

Sad Mona is gone; she was a great character. But I think this show is losing me a bit. I can't watch the girls lose all the time. They need to get a win now and then. I'm sure Spencer will be exonerated next half season, but still. Throw them a real bone now and then.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Damn it, why are the PLLs stupid enough to discuss Melissa's video while they were still in Mona's house? They clearly still didn't trust her yet they were talking about Melissa MURDERING someone.

 

What was with those ugly flowered jeans Mona was wearing when the PLLs came over to her house? And damn, girl, you got murdered while wearing a different pair of flowered pants. That is not the way to go. Did she borrow those from Allison's retro 90s wardrobe? I guess I should just be glad that she didn't pair any of those flowered pants with one of Ali's blazer.

 

When Paige said she was tired of talking and then kissed Emily, I thought oh crap, Paige is Tara! She is going to die and then Emily is going to go all Dark Willow!

 

Then Hanna said she "did good" on the SAT and the counselor accused her of cheating and I thought what? Hanna is Dylan McKay!

 

When Toby texted Mona in the police station, I was having Veronica Mars flashbacks.

 

I really do not understand the timeline on this show/in Rosewood. Spencer has already applied for early acceptance and U Penn and got rejected last season. The deadline for early acceptance applications at U Penn is November 1st. This episode takes place right before Thanksgiving, so she already got rejected and Mona already got accepted at Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth in less than a month. Meanwhile, Toby just started at the police academy a few episodes ago and is already graduating. That's the equivalent of, what, six days?

 

OMG, what the hell was Aria wearing for Thanksgiving dinner? A fuchsia and black striped crop top with an insanely printed long skirt!

 

Hahaha, when Caleb and Hanna spotted Holbrook going into Radley and they freaked out, I totally cracked up. Caleb really thought that putting the visor down would hide him.

 

FINALLY the girls are having some moments where they aren't complete idiots. When Aria asked Holbrook if she should call her parents because he was questioning her at Radley, I wanted to applaid. Of course, that was followed by Emily being dumb enough to leave her phone on her desk so Alison could read Hanna's texts.

 

I am going to miss Mona. She was a really complex character. As crazy as she was, it was clear that she loved Hanna and was jealous/fearful of Ali, and those two things provided most of her motivation for all the crazy stuff she did. When the girls said they stick together because that's what they do, Mona looked so sad and left out. I liked that they showed Caleb noticing her wistfully watching them. They might have asked her to help, but they didn't think of her as a friend. I think Hanna was the only real friend that she ever had.

 

I noticed that Lucas was in the crowd outside of Mona's house. I don't want to believe that he had anything to do with her murder so I'm going to pretend that he just heard what happened and ran down there.

 

Why did Alison need CIndy and Mindy to drive her to Emily's house? I don't think she planned for Paige to follow them to the warehouse so I guess she really just needed a ride.

 

Everyone goes to Ivy League schools, never state schools (because no smart people go to those, of course)

Not true! All the kids from 90210 and Saved by the Bell went to the (fictitious) California University! And Buffy, Willow, Oz, and Tara all went to UC Sunnydale!

Edited August 27, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[AmandaPanda]

I have another theory.  Jason is A.  He's the one with the twin.  The twin is a transvestite who dresses in women's clothes and is a dead ringer for Alison when he does.

 

Well, they do love their Hitchcock. I know they've already done their Psycho homage, but it would definitely be fitting.

 

My first thought about Hanna's SAT scores were that Mona faked them somehow, as in she was was trying to help Hanna in her own slightly twisted way.  I also wonder what other truths about Mona will come out of her murder investigation, particularly if things like her military grade equipment is uncovered (then again, Rosewood PD: "there's a lot of blood, so I guess she's dead.  Donuts?").  The "covert infiltration" scene was fun too, with Mona being right in her element. 

 

Oh, the Rosewood PD. They didn't even test to make sure all the blood was from Mona. It was pretty much like they went in, took a look around for a quick second, and were like "Yep, someone dead. It's probs Mona. So, press conference?" And did they use the press conference to break the news to Mona's mom because her reaction seemed like no one from the police force had talked to her.

[Kaboom 2.0]

I really don't know what to say. I heart JP and Mona so I'm hoping that this was all just some fake out. Liked seeing Sydney Penny as Mona's mother. I guess we know for sure that the A with the creepy dolls of the liars is the person that had dead Mona in their trunk? I guess? Since they replaced Emily's baby Jesus with Mona's doll?

 

I cannot stand Ali and last night it reached epic levels. I can't see her as A, more like riding on A's coattails, using A's actions as covers for what her own endgame is (I'm still hoping it's always been Ali vs Jenna). At this point I'm starting to come around on the Aria is A theory just because in a world full of craziness on this show this is slowly making sense to me. Liked Paige following those creepy ass nerd twins and Ali after they left Emily's house.

 

Loved Caleb remembering he used to be a cyber genius hacking werewolf and his little smirk when Hanna said she aced her "SCT." And of course following her suggestion that he read Emily's boobs. LOL

 

I can't believe we have what, two more years of this? And I know I'll be watching every episode. Sigh.

[SparedTurkey]

 

I figured Mona was a goner once she said she needed to survive High School.

So did I. But I wish this show was sometimes original, and she was faking her death, like another poster said, and had been storing her blood (hence the fainting spell last week) - which would have been more awesome!Mona. I would have believed it too, if not for the last minute or two.

 

 

Queen B Ali and scared Ali were interesting to me. There was so much guessing and asking yourself who she actually was. New Ali is boring. She's the typical character I always hate. She seems more than manipulative and somehow she can do anything she wants and never has a single problem doing it. I prefer the pre Ali being back PLL... Ali is starting to annoy me even more than Aria.

I think this could be fixed if Ali is responsible for Mona's murder. This show is full of non-answers and I get that the mystery is the fun of it. And when A was cutting down huge trees in the middle of the woods, I loved it. But I think, for a nice change of pace, that the audience knowing who did what, concretely (and not based on someone's flashbacks) and waiting for the Liars to figure it out, would be a different way for the show to go. Obviously, based on who Ali is, she didn't do the deed. But I can see her getting someone else to do it so her hands are "clean"- like Cyrus, in a wig (maybe not Noel Khan, if only because they can't get the actor it seems). Or maybe the Bobsey Twins? I would like it if the show twisted it up, rather than the usual - the core four think this + Spencer reaches an answer through her awesome Spencering + a new twist means they were wrong = here is an answer that is really a non-answer.

 

 

Ali being A would make sense if this was all a game to her. But then she would have to be psychotic

I love the idea from a previous poster who said all of this is Ali and her twin/non-twin sister playing a game, and who cares who gets caught in the crossfire. Won't happen, but it would be fantastic, as a series ender (like, when Troian turns 40, which seems like this show may end).

 

 

I love Hanna and I know she's smart, but I can't imagine her getting into Stanford.

I don't think she did? I thought Caleb just found a list of possible colleges? I'm not from the USA so I don't understand the university system, but I thought only Mona got early acceptance, not that everyone put in their applications/heard about it? I know Spencer did, but I assume A meddled with her application (I vaguely remember that from a previous season).

 

 

The Ali and Emily scene was pretty good.  While it seems that Ali has been playing the Liars all along, this is perhaps the first time she got played back?  It's interesting that Emily was the one that could do that too.

I loved it too - but mainly that Ali acted more like a typical teenage girl, than a criminal mastermind. Playing up to Emily's emotions and finally shoving her when she was angry, with that smirk - I've been on the receiving end of a similar kind of attitude and it sucks. Sasha got it just right. I love that Emily got her, and I think it was through the relationship/sex happening earlier in the season. I think Ali would have expected that kind of move from any of them but Emily. I do wonder if Ali knew Emily would turn around that quickly to get her phone - or whether she was banking on the usual Liar tendency to leave important electronics in public/in reach of, well, A.

 

All in all, I really want to quit this show because it takes forever for anything to happen. That said, I will miss Mona. A lot. (Who is gonna take her place? Lucas? Pfft). Also, poor Mona's mum - she seemed sweet and like she was trying (even though her daughter was a hyperadrenalined wack job).

Edited August 27, 2014 by SparedTurkey

[ladyrott]

When Paige said she was tired of talking and then kissed Emily, I thought oh crap, Paige is Tara! She is going to die and then Emily is going to go all Dark Willow!

 

 

Glad to see I wasn't the only one who went there!  As it is, I believe all the cops who survived Sunnydale turning into a crater have gone to work at the Rosewood PD.  In the immortal words of Principal Snyder (RIP), "the police in this town are deeply stupid".  I cannot believe Lucas just strolled into a cop shop, stuck his little hacker device into a department computer and downloaded all this important info.  For God's sake, it wasn't even in an enclosed office!  Did no one notice this kid standing on the wrong side of an officer's desk when said officer isn't around?!  No wonder they let Toby graduate from the police academy in 4 hours...they need someone with a half a brain working there!  I did notice that the patch on his uniform said Harrisburg, though.  I wonder if that is where the academy was or if he has taken an (yet another) out of town job?  Didn't he tell Spencer that one of the reasons he wanted to join the force in order to help the girls?  I would assume he would need to actually WORK on the force that is trying to pin every crime in town on them in order to be of assistance.   I did think the little exchange between Toby and Spencer when he showed up in uniform was cute.  Troian's little "I'm a bad girl" flirting was quite the sexy.

 

When we met Mona's mom I was sure that was going to be who ended up dead (and I would have loved seeing Mona going full on hyper-reality nut job over her mom getting killed).  Once I realized it was Mona and not her mom, I was sure it was going to be a Mona fakes her own death deal.  I figured we would see her hiding somewhere in dark glasses, beat up but alive, watching the havoc and being all pleased that the cops had just announced she was murdered (and kudos to the caring police force who notifies the murder victim's family of her death via press conference).  Seeing her body in the trunk makes me hope it was either a life sized Mona doll or Mona has a twin.

 

Purely loved perky Emily and her holiday decorating mania.  "Read her boobs.  The girl loves Christmas".  I do love my Hanna.  LOL  Also love Caleb for following instructions.  I have been a fan of the Paige/Emily pairing for a while so I enjoyed her being there to help decorate.  I don't understand why Mona didn't want the girls to tell their "bed buddies" that she was helping them.  Caleb and Toby have proven they are loyal and Paige stood up to her just a few episodes ago so she should know the loyalty to Emily is there.  Ezra would be the only one she should question at all and it seems they are/were quite buddy-buddy at one time. 

 

Speaking of Ezra....did Byron and Ella seriously invite their daughter's teacher/lover to Thanksgiving dinner?!  Has Ella lost her freakin' mind (history shows this would NOT have been Byron's idea)?!  This is the grown man who has been teaching your underage daughter literature during the day and screwing her after class....do NOT invite him over for turkey and pie! 

[mac123x]

Classic Death = Redemption story line.  Too bad, I'm going to miss Mona.

 

Fourteen-year-old Alison really was a criminal mastermind.  She somehow arranged for Bethany to escape from Radley, dressed in the same outfit, because she somehow knew that her stalker was going to attack that night and hoped that he/she would mistake Bethany for her and kill her.  This would a) allow Alison to escape and b) get rid of Bethany.

 

Now I'm beginning to think "Alison stalked by A for a year" was fake also.  Alison got her first A messages in that first Halloween episode.  Maybe that was the only incident, and everything from then until her disappearance was an elaborate game on her part.

 

I noticed that Lucas was in the crowd outside of Mona's house. I don't want to believe that he had anything to do with her murder so I'm going to pretend that he just heard what happened and ran down there.

Lucas is suspect number 1 for me.  Mona's killer was wearing a wig and bulky clothing.  I assumed that was to hide "her" body shape so they can then go back for the twist of "it was a guy!"
 

Why did Alison need CIndy and Mindy to drive her to Emily's house? I don't think she planned for Paige to follow them to the warehouse so I guess she really just needed a ride.

 

Even weirder, Alison got in the driver's seat.  I guess she was borrowing the twins' car, but being the Queen she had to drive.

 

I loved Emily's reaction when Alison confronted her about Hanna's text.  Probably for the first time in her life, she stood up to Ali.  I hoped for a second she was going to go full-on Emily Smash! like she did with Sidney, but this was still good.

[Sakura12]

Welcome to Rosewood: Home of the Criminally Insane, with our 72 hour days you can accomplish more in one day than most people can accomplish in a lifetime!

 

Because really, it's only been 3 weeks since the Halloween episode where Alison's (well Bethany's body was found in the drink cart?

Edited August 27, 2014 by Sakura12

[Chaos Theory]

I love the the idea of Ali being A because it would turn the entire show into one big elaborate (and deadly) game. It is already cannon that Ali loves those slighly over the line games but what if she decided to test the girls loyalty with a full tilt game of life and death? It actually make the show make sense, well as much as the show is capable of making sense.

[chelsie]

Is Aria in any Ezra's classes? And why is it that Ezra is being employed in a school where his rumured GF is a current student.

 

I doubt that Lucas is Mona's killer - what reason will have to do so? Is he crazy and not know it?  I think he was there because he heard like everyone else..

 

The girls still have the audio and the pictures that prove Ali's blackmail story is false, don't they? They can handle Ali if ish really goes down.

 

I'm a little confused about A's game. So what, s/he kills people now?

Edited August 27, 2014 by chelsie

[ottoDbusdriver]

Why did Alison need CIndy and Mindy to drive her to Emily's house? I don't think she planned for Paige to follow them to the warehouse so I guess she really just needed a ride.

 

 

The better question is -- why were Cindy and Mindy still sitting outside waiting for Ali ?  Emily's job was to distract Alison while the Radley shenanigans were going on which was going to take a couple of hours, so does that mean the Cindy/Mindy sat outside and waited for Alison all that time ?  Because they were already outside sitting in their VW bug when Ali left in a huff after reading Emily's phone texts.

 

Where was Sydney for the entire episode ? Or Jenna for that matter ?

 

When 'A' put the baby Jesus in the trunk of her dark blue car, did anyone else notice the logo on the trunk lid ?  It appeared to be a Toyota symbol.  Who drives a dark blue Toyota ? I believe Paige drives a dark blue Prius, as shown when she followed Ali and the twins leaving Emily's house.

 

 

Lucas is suspect number 1 for me.  Mona's killer was wearing a wig and bulky clothing.  I assumed that was to hide "her" body shape so they can then go back for the twist of "it was a guy!"

 

 

If you watch 'A' pick the lock on Mona's front door and enter the house, the camera focuses on the intruder's waist and those are definitely the hips of a woman.

[MaiSoCalled]

My first thought with the Hanna & the SATs plot point was that it existed simply to make her a candidate for Hollis. I don't know if the show intends to finish with their high school graduation, but this is the point in teen shows when the writers start trying to level the playing field so everyone can wind up together. 

 

I'm going to miss Mona, but early in the episode I realized she was a goner. The last time she was really one of the liars was before she was revealed to be A. Of the three liars, I think Emily was the only one without a complex relationship with Mona. I'm hopeful we'll see some of that explored next season. 

[emma675]

 

Also, I think it's just starting to sink in that Mona is really dead and I'm getting weirdly sad. I applaud the writers' decision because not only was it very well done but it kept the show from getting too predictable but damn no more Mona...and poor thing probably suffered a lot.

Me, too! When they showed the scene of Mona's body in the trunk I actually gasped and said "Oh no" out loud. I was kind of hoping Mona had somehow faked her death until that point. It looked like she put up a hell of a fight, though; her house was torn apart.

 

 

Hahaha, when Caleb and Hanna spotted Holbrook going into Radley and they freaked out, I totally cracked up. Caleb really thought that putting the visor down would hide him.

I loved how Hanna ducked behind the steering wheel and Caleb freaked and pulled the visor down and all of that paper fell out on him. Those two weren't great spies last night, but it was hysterical.

 

I think Ali has somehow gotten to Holbrook. Tanner was conspicuously absent and he's now focused so intently on Spencer and based on what evidence? He was starting to act like another typical Rosewood male creeper last night.

 

And if last night was Thanksgiving, how on earth are we going to have a Halloween episode?

Edited August 27, 2014 by emma675d

[cuddlingcrowley]

When Paige said she was tired of talking and then kissed Emily, I thought oh crap, Paige is Tara! She is going to die and then Emily is going to go all Dark Willow!

 

 

Oh, I knew that scene was a callback to somewhere! The difference being that when Tara went "let's skip the talking and kiss and make up" actually worked perfectly, imo, while between Paige and Emily just made me go "meh" like anything with them usually makes me feel. I just don't feel MK is that invested in them, I truly don't. I don't get endgame from them. But I don't think Paige is gonna die. We had that with Maya already and I think it was challeging enough dealing with one dead girlfriend and Emily already went Dark!Emily when she kissed a dude and killed him, imo.

 

 

And if last night was Thanksgiving, how on earth are we going to have a Halloween episode?

 

We're having a special christimas episode this year.

 

I loved Emily's reaction when Alison confronted her about Hanna's text.  Probably for the first time in her life, she stood up to Ali.  I hoped for a second she was going to go full-on Emily Smash! like she did with Sidney, but this was still good.

 

 

Did you miss Emily laying the smackdown of all smackdowns on Ali in the previous episode? Where she went "I'm so done with you"?

Edited August 27, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[Sakura12]

And if last night was Thanksgiving, how on earth are we going to have a Halloween episode?

 

They aren't having a Halloween episode this year. It's a Christmas one that airs in December. 

 

If Mona's gone that does mean Jenna gets to come back from Out of Town? 

Edited August 27, 2014 by Sakura12

[RedInk]

The whole press conference lead-in was so bizarre, what with naming a murdered minor without a body or any linking evidence (and in front of the kid's mother!), that I was shocked to see they actually went there with Mona in the trunk. Even so, I will never be convinced that she's dead. The showrunners have outright lied to the audience at every season finale, so this should be explained away with some totally laughable plot twist. Liiiike...Mona was given a paralytic agent? I just give up on real world rules applying to this show.

Edited August 27, 2014 by RedInk