S05.E12: Taking This One to the Grave

[ladyrott]

How about it was a really realistic life sized Mona doll?

[Anisky]

My response to the bathroom scene: "But who is the Element of Magic?"

[lorikauai]

Where was Mike Montgomery when his girlfriend was being murdered?

Edited August 28, 2014 by lorikauai

[ottoDbusdriver]

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.

 

The Magic vagina strikes again !!

[rainsunmoonshine]

I. Marlene King went to Pepperdine University. I'm Australian, so I have no idea how that ranks.

 

I loved this episode- it really did make me want to see what is next.

[apgold]

Janel Parrish did say we would be seeing Mona in flashbacks in her message to fans.  So I guess she really is dead.  I was kind of hoping we would see her eye blink at the end but, oh well.  JP is one of the best things about PLL so I'm glad we'll still have her around in 5B, or whatever season we're starting in January.

 

Ali's new hallway crew looked just like the PLL stand-ins.

 

The timeline confuses me as well.  Wasn't Halloween when they went to Ravenswood and found out that Ali was alive?  And don't get me started on Toby's police academy training.

 

Aria's Thanksgiving outfit was truly horrifying.  I'm convinced the girl is colorblind.

[Jack Shaftoe]

I knew it! Hollbrook and Tanner are just as dumb as all the other Rosewood cops. Their theory is that Spencer killed Bethany because Alison blackmailed her about the pills?The who in the what now? No evidence whatsoever but they arrest a girl who has not one but two rich, influential lawyers for parents?

 

 

When Toby asked Spencer if she would come to the ceremony I said jokingly to my brother "the graduation ceremony", thinking not even this show can twist the timeline so much, that i must be some other ceremony, but no. I still ship those two a little bit but considering the troubles they have both had with the police their "sexy" I-am-arresting-you talk didn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

 

I sure hope they will keep Mona dead. Good riddance.

 

 

Want to bet that nobody bothered to copy the Bethany documents that they stole and now with Mona "dead" the documents will be gone too?

 

When Hanna said "Read her boobs", caleb should have replied "Believe me, I am. Why do you think Paige is staring at me as if she is planning where to bury my dead body?".

 

Paige was adorable as usual but the drama about Ali's new minions was so silly. So Ali has new minions. In other news the sun rises daily. Who cares? The whole nonsense about Mona and Ali's armies is extremely irritating.

 

 

Why is Alison trying to look as if she is 32? I loved that for once Emily played her instead of the other way around and it was done in a way that you could see that was plan if carefully followed the developments instead of having Emily sudden go Team Ali for no apparent reason and then when several TV sets get broken by angry fans to be revealed that, wait for it, Emily was just trying to keep Alison busy.

 

 

Byron and Ella will invite Ezra to Thanksgiving, even though he isn't even dating Aria right now?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

What was with the fakeout with Toby's car accident? Just how many times are they going to tease us with Toby's "death"? 

 

Didn't you love it when Ezra was hugging his underage student-girlfriend right in front of a bunch of cops in the end? Rosewood for the win (if you are a pervert).

 

 

 

Not only that, but Hanna has never been shown to not be book smart.

 

 

Actually, her not being book smart has been a running joke since the very start of the show. Not knowing how to say nuclear or how to spell Louisiana or what the Manhattan project is or what an anagram is or who Vladimir Nabokov was are just things I can come up off the top of my head. I love Hanna to pieces but I am tired of the cliche where the character who isn't book smart aces some tests without even trying. Buffy did it and it was just as contrived back then.

[aphrodite.G]

haha the cops in this show are so stupid and annoyng .4 teenage girls plus mona plus lucas plus plus are always so many steps ahead of them .arresting spencer ? really ?

btw the whole mona thing was very sad and it creeped me out so much... :S

[GaT]

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?

 

As usual, they have until the new season starts to retcon Mona's death. Just because she seems dead now, doesn't mean she'll actually be dead later on.

 

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?

I'm wondering if A bumped up Hanna's scores to screw with Spencer. When Spencer & Mona were in Radley & Mona was talking about where she got early admittance from, Spencer said she hadn't heard from any place. I think A may have blocked/diverted Spencer's acceptance letters, & changed Hanna's scores because Spencer has always thought of herself as the smart one & Hanna as stupid. Add that to being arrested for murder, & it all sounds like a big A plot to me. 

 

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

Haven't they already killed Mrs D & possibly Bethany?

 

A has gotten to be too over the top now, Professor Moriarty wasn't this devious & evil.

[ladyrott]

I don't like this A who murders people willy-nilly.  The original A, the one we started this show with, might throw cars through people's houses, but he/she/they didn't murder everyone in sight.  No, I haven't forgotten Ian (or did Alison kill him?  I am losing track) or Garrett but original flavor A was a little more selective.  I actually bought that original A was a high school student, but this blowing houses to smithereens and multiple murders is putting them more in the adult category to me. 

 

I will say that I floved the scene where Mona informs the liars that Ali is a sociopath.  These girls are, once again, standing in their high school bathroom, talking about things they shouldn't.  I am going to hope they at least opened and checked the stalls this time. 

[GaT]

I don't like this A who murders people willy-nilly.  The original A, the one we started this show with, might throw cars through people's houses, but he/she/they didn't murder everyone in sight.  No, I haven't forgotten Ian (or did Alison kill him?  I am losing track) or Garrett but original flavor A was a little more selective.  I actually bought that original A was a high school student, but this blowing houses to smithereens and multiple murders is putting them more in the adult category to me. 

 

 

 

I had completely forgotten about Ian & Garrett, also, dead guy in the woods with Toby's tattoo. Who killed all of these people? We still don't know.

[mercfan3]

 

 

 

 

Actually, her not being book smart has been a running joke since the very start of the show. Not knowing how to say nuclear or how to spell Louisiana or what the Manhattan project is or what an anagram is or who Vladimir Nabokov was are just things I can come up off the top of my head. I love Hanna to pieces but I am tired of the cliche where the character who isn't book smart aces some tests without even trying. Buffy did it and it was just as contrived back then.

No, Aria and Spencer correcting Hanna for things she's said has been a running joke on the show. We had Emily struggling with her grades, we never saw Hanna struggle with her grades. 

 

It's done because there tends to be an equivalence of girly with stupid. Hanna isn't Aria or Spencer. She doesn't care about her grades, and she doesn't feel the need to correct people or be perfect all the time. That doesn't make her stupid. 

 

Of all the things that we've had to swallow from this show, Hanna acing an intelligence test isn't one that's too difficult to explain. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

I didn't say Hanna was stupid. I am saying she has never shown any real interest in studying and she has shown time and again that book knowledge isn't her forte.

 

 

We had Emily struggling with her grades, we never saw Hanna struggle with her grades.

 

We have never seen her get good grades either, IIRC. She thought Emily was crazy for complaining about her too high test mark and it was heavily implied that Hanna's own grades are rarely in that high range. Is it impossible that she would ace the SAT? Of course not. But it is much more likely that someone like her would not do so, yet on TV the rule seems to be the other way around. 

[Cranberry]

Hanna does like to read. Remember back in season four when she was reading all of those crime novels so she could pick up tips?

 

[Mabinogia]

Between Toby the Insta-Cop and Mona dead, this is no longer must watch TV. It's like someone flipped a switch and suddenly I just don't care anymore. I was so excited last week about this ep but I didn't even watch it live. Even the girls' relationship with each other isn't doing it for me anymore. I'm sad. I loved this show. And it's not like I hate it now, I just don't care anymore.

 

Really sad Mona died but the instant she started helping I knew she was gone. Knew I wouldn't get lucky enough for Toby to be the one to die. That was just stupid. It was all kind of boring. And I HATE Ali now. Just absolutely despise her. I wish she was still dead. She was more interesting dead.

[Sakura12]

Hanna being able to do well on test, okay. Hanna being able to get into Ivy League or "brainiac" schools, nope, nope, nope. The one shown not knowing basic math, history, science or any school subject, being a secret genius is an overused cliche on tv shows and I hate it. 

 

Hanna can be a average student that passes her classes just fine and gets into a regular college like most of the world does. 

[OwlMilk]

My response to the bathroom scene: "But who is the Element of Magic?"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was reminded of MLP: FiM!

[Cranberry]

I paused on Hanna's list (Brown, NYU, Northwestern, Stanford, Oberlin, Wesleyan) and was amused to note that she listed the school colors under each name along with the school's location and cost. Those would be the most important things to Hanna!

[Chaos Theory]

I've seen people do well on tests who don't really come off as that smart.  Hanna isn't stupid.  When she cares about something she knows EVERYTHING about it.  She just doesn't care about school stuff.  Ask her about Fashion and I bet she will school you.  Now I know people who just take tests well.  So I can see Hanna doing better then she should have on what amounts to a multiple choice test.  

 

I don't like this A who murders people willy-nilly.  The original A, the one we started this show with, might throw cars through people's houses, but he/she/they didn't murder everyone in sight.

 

 

The original A was Mona.  

 

I actually didn't like Alison when they were making her nice and sweet and kind.  That wasn't the Alison we saw in flashbacks.  Flashback Alison was a mean girl who was a borderline Sociopath.  I actually LOVE the idea that Alison is the one true A.  In my mind it suddenly makes the show make sense (ok fine the show will never really make sense but the general main plot).  The idea that the whole thing was one big elaborate game to test the Liars loyalty.  You do remember "The First Secret"?   This is a bigger version of that.  How far can she push them before they break?  

Edited August 28, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Writing Wrongs]

So Mona is with Baby Jesus now. Literally.

 

Sigh.

[hcs]

One of the thing I liked  was that they showed that Lucas and Mona were still working together out of their shared hatred of Ali. I don't know why but that made me happy. I have always had a fondness for those who actively hated Ali.

[mjgchick]

I'm still not over what happened last night but i got some things to say.

 

First, Julia Santos as Mona's mama was awesome. I don't think I could ever care for her grieving for Mona because like I've always said I loved mona but I could never feel for her, but Marlene hires Julia Santos and I was sobbing for her.

 

Second point. Keegan Allen can't act but he really does know how to charm  the camera's even with his "I'm going to kill you face." He and Troian were sexy last night imo.

 

Third, can the show stop the "Haha Hanna, you're so dumb." lines they give her? Who doesn't know what the SAT's are? Even the dumbest person knows what the letters are to that test. If not the SAT's then the ACTs. Hanna is smart but she clearly will be the Elle Woods of the group. She's probably the second third smartest person in Rose wood with Spencer and Mona (who are out of commision right now.) being first ans second.

 

fourth, Paige is hot as fuck so I hope they don't try to make her a red herring for the second time. They have had Spencer be a suspect and or a person interests since season 1. I can so see the show doing that to Paige by having her be fooled by Allison like Tom Cruise-Lite obviously was last night.

 

Fifth, where the hell are these kids parents? You're telling me the only parent in town was Julia Santos?

 

Sixth, this show has gotten it's strides back because after 3A the show really lost it's way. Toby not being A put a damper on the show and then they did it again with Ezra which made him come out way worse. Hello he's dating a child who he's known was underage this whole time? So I hope the show can continue to do better because I don't know about everyone else but this season has entertained me way more than season 3B-4B has ever.

[Fauxliage]

Yeah the Mona thing was coming from a mile away, but I still held out hope til I saw CorpseMona at the end. And even then, there have been so many fakeouts, there's a little hope left in me.

 

I can appreciate having a meaningful death and Mona being too formidable alive, but she was just fun to have around. I was loving the idea of the show picking back up with a war against Ali's mega army. And it would have changed this dynamic of almost always being on the defensive, just being tormented repeatedly by A, following every "lead" (even if they know A planted it?!), still being complete idiots about discretion and secrecy 99% of the time. 

[Peanut6711]

I had completely forgotten about Ian & Garrett, also, dead guy in the woods with Toby's tattoo. Who killed all of these people? We still don't know.

I'd say MK has forgotten about that all too. 

[larapu2000]

I didn't say Hanna was stupid. I am saying she has never shown any real interest in studying and she has shown time and again that book knowledge isn't her forte.

 

 

We have never seen her get good grades either, IIRC. She thought Emily was crazy for complaining about her too high test mark and it was heavily implied that Hanna's own grades are rarely in that high range. Is it impossible that she would ace the SAT? Of course not. But it is much more likely that someone like her would not do so, yet on TV the rule seems to be the other way around. 

TV never gets anything about college right.  But the thing about Hanna is that if she got a good test score but has crap grades, premiere schools are NOT interested, because that tells them you never applied yourself.  But not on PLL!  I agree, I think this got brought up as a plot line for next season for Hanna.  Something's off.  She's definitely NOT stupid, but if the guidance counselor thought she cheated, then clearly she's a C student with an Ivy League test score and those 2 don't add up, especially in the math portion of the SAT.  I feel pretty sure Hanna didn't take advanced math classes, so unless she's a lucky guesser, there were probably questions on there she had no idea how to even do.  It's definitely A.  Or Mona.

[mjgchick]

Are we sure that guy was dead and it wasn't someone Mona hired? Toby didn't even know about that situation. You can tell because the tattoo did not look the same as Toby's. Hell I'm going to fanwank that crazy Spencer helusicinated it at this point. BTW Spencer better accept Community College at this point. A is never letting her get into a College let alone one she likes.

 

Hanna doing good on test scores even though she's ditzy is a tv trope that shows seems to always use. Glee did it with Britney. Saved by the bell did it with Zack (All though he wasn't really dumb just lazy.) It could be that Hanna just so happens to remember stuff from studying with the girls. It's not un heard of. I had a high test score and I didn;t give a fuck about school half the time.

Edited August 28, 2014 by mjgchick

[superman1204]

 I feel pretty sure Hanna didn't take advanced math classes, so unless she's a lucky guesser, there were probably questions on there she had no idea how to even do.  It's definitely A.  Or Mona.

What if Hanna got a really high score on the SATs because the writers have decided that she really is a super genius?  Mona could have left Lucas instructions that if anything happens to her, he needs to give all of her stuff to Hanna, and to avenge Mona, Hanna takes over the role of morally ambiguous, super-genius spy (with amazing fashion sense).  It would be perfect.  Mona tried to fix her relationship with Hanna, but Hanna shut her out, so out of guilt, Hanna now feels the need to figure out who killed Mona, and to do that, she is going to use the ghost-ninja skills that she learned from watching Mona.  Even her new grunge look works perfectly with Hanna as an A-like-figure.  A black hoody would go perfectly with most of her current outfits.

 

On second thought that all seems crazy, even by this shows standards.  Sorry for rambling.  I really should have gone to bed like an hour ago. 

[M1977G]

Mona is dead?  The mind reels.  Partly because she was such a fabulous and fascinating character, partly because it looks like it was such a gory battle (way to go down fighting, M!), and partly because I found her dead eyes wide open in the drunk pretty disturbing.  I'd think that a killer who can stand to have her/his murdered victim's eyes stare back at them--after they've left a doll representing their murder victim in the Fields' manger and placed the stolen baby Jesus in the trunk with said murder victim--is pretty remorseless and pretty freaking sick.   The shot of Mona looking through the wavy glass of her front door before her demise was beautiful.  

 

When Emily said, "Where's Jesus?" I knew it would be the best line of the episode--maybe one of my favorite lines this season--but I didn't know till the final scene that it would be prophetic.  Nicely played.  Second best line of the episode:  "Code Go!"

 

 

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 think Ali is trying to make Spencer look guilty, but I also think that the cops suspect her because someone in her family is guilty.  And not just Melissa for being so dumb as to bury someone alive without checking for a pulse.  I continue to cling to my theory that Mrs. Hastings is somehow involved in the DiLaurentis shadiness, and I think she might have smashed Bethany in the head thinking she was really creaming the bratty neighbor girl who blackmailed people and knew that Jason was the love child of Mr. H and Mrs. D.  Or she could have smashed Bethany's head in because she was Mr. H's second love child with Mrs. D. and she just lost her shit.  Unsure if I think she killed Mrs. D also, or instead of Bethany.  She had every reason to hate the woman who screwed her husband, and I just know she has to be involved somehow, because she is the one Hastings who has never fallen under serious suspicion, which makes her very suspicious to me.  

 

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.

Possible, but I'm still hoping Holbrook can remain one of two decent men in Rosewood who do not succumb to inappropriate feelings for teenage girls.  I'd like to think that he and Tanner are playing at being at odds in their investigations, and they are playing Ali. But this is Rosewood, so I'm not holding my breath, and even if they're playing a game here, he was awful to inform Mona's mom that her child has been murdered--in front of strangers at a press conference.  

 

 

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.

Yep.  Those two are definitely having sex with his Harrison PD-issue handcuffs.  I didn't think Toby had it in him!  

 

My favorite part about the Hanna SAT scene?  Caleb's smile, like, damn girl.  Awww.

 

did Byron and Ella seriously invite their daughter's teacher/lover to Thanksgiving dinner?!  [....] 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!

 

Exactly.  He's already had pie.  #shittyparenting

Edited August 28, 2014 by M1977G

[Pollock]

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.

That was the WTF moment of the episode for me.

Not Toby being a cop in three Rosewood days, not Mona dying (like you, I'm still sceptical, the flashbacks they are talking about could be to explain her faking her death), not Spencer being arrested in a split second for a BS cop theory again, not Hanna being a super genius, not the victim's boyfriend being elsewhere at the end (at this point, he could be the murderer for all I care).

No.

All that Rosewood routine doesn't trump that the police announce to the press BEFORE telling to a mother that her child was probably murdered in an horrific way. And the tactfulness award goes to.... 

[maraleia]

I think Marlene King owes us a damn timeline of events for the show. Last nights episode made it perfectly clear that she has no idea how to plot story lines so they make sense time wise.

[Preity]

I wouldn't be suprised if Mona rose from the dead like Jesus, anything is possible!

 

I thought you could only get early acceptance to one college and that was binding?

And I still expect all the girls to end up at Hollis, if they ever graduate at all. And of course Ezra will transfer back to Hollis as well. And Byron of course will also be there. Where I come from, Students aren't allowed to be in their parents class, so seeing Aria be in her mothers class and her boyfriends class always makes me feel wrong.

Totally agree with everyone who thinks the show was better in season 1 and 2. At least back then things still made a little sense. And at this point I've given up hope that all my questions will be answered. I suppose I'm just gonna have to live with the fact that some mysteries are never going to be solved.

I can see Ella inviting Ezra to thanksgiving dinner. She likes to be some sort of parent who let's her child do whatever she likes. I love her, but her parenting sucks. Aria is still underage and Ezra still teaches at her school. Still wrong in all possible ways. And it's not like he fits into any of Arias social groups. Imagine spending your free time with your best friends and english teacher... I know everyone on the show loves Ezra and Aria and so do so many fans, so they're probably gonna stay a couple or whatever until the show ends, but I'm tired of it. It's one of the things slowly making me want to watch the show less (not that I could ever not watch it anymore...)

[GaT]

Totally agree with everyone who thinks the show was better in season 1 and 2. At least back then things still made a little sense. And at this point I've given up hope that all my questions will be answered. I suppose I'm just gonna have to live with the fact that some mysteries are never going to be solved.

 

 

In the early seasons A was doing things that seemed at least possible. Now A is blowing up houses & the body count has gotten ridiculous. They've written A as some kind of super villain, I'm surprise Marvel hasn't written a comic book about them. 

Edited August 28, 2014 by GaT

[Preity]

In the early seasons A was doing things that seemed at least possible. Now A is blowing up houses & the body count has gotten ridiculous. They've written A as some kind of super villain, I'm surprise Marvel hasn't written a comic book about the. 

So true!

Back then A was about blackmailing people and getting revenge for being bullied and hurting the girls. I could believe that, it still had a highschool feeling to it for me. A (Mona) was mean, but not psycho. Now it's just over the top. How many houses have been destroyed in the last couple of months, how many people have died? And no one in the entire town really cares. I know it's a tv show so it has to be over the top or it wouldn't be interesting, but come on!

I fell in love with a show focused on emotional blackmail and playing with peoples heads and now I wouldn't be surprised if the show ended with the whole town being destroyed in one finale battle to save the human race from destruction by the ultimate force of darkness.

[WhitneyWhit]

Can I just say how much I love that in Rosewood, instead of calling the cops when you find a dead body, you burry it, because chances are that someone you know killed them.

[krimimimi]

Off the wall theory time, starting with some questions: Why did Mona call Aria to tell her about Mona's discovery re: Ali/Bethany? Wouldn't Hanna be her goto person? Do we assume Mona called Han as well? Or did Mona not call Han (and instead Aria phoned Han and Emily)? If so, would Mona do that just to avoid having to hear all about Spencer's arrest from Hanna? Or did Mona have... reasons??? (Muwahahaha!) Seriously though, if this isn't a matter of economy of what we're being shown due to the time limitations on a TV show, then why is the communication taking place between Mona and Aria? Mona's blowing off Han's text and its topic (Spence's arrest) were the only things that came to my mind here, and they didn't seem particularly compelling to me.

 

If we assume this is the only call that Mona made, for me, the only two good reasons for that would be timing and Aria's credibility vs. Hanna's. As to timing, I think Aria is more likely to wait for (or even pickup) the others (they did arrive together), and Hanna, having had a friendship with Mona, would have been more likely to go there directly. (Note that she's the one who literally takes off up the stairs to Mona's room (where the group hadn't met before) while Aria and Fitz search the clearly wrecked and bloody ground floor (<- a valid choice). Sure Emily follows Han, but Han didn't wait to see if she would.) As to credibility, Han is clearly still softer on Mona than the others, and she's had more... let's go with "issues..." with the police than Aria has. If I were evil!Mona and up to hijinks, Aria makes a better neutral witness. And what (seemed to have?) followed may well elevate that phone call and its contents to a dying declaration. Even if it weren't sufficient for a court of law, it probably would be at least within the PLLs' minds, either of which may have been the goal.

 

My idea: If the tapes yielded no evidence against Ali, this does just by virtue of that phone call. Which may have been exactly what Mona wanted, in addition to a chance to disappear. Realistically, the info she provided Aria with that was (supposedly) on the tapes really only feeds into the cops' theory that Ali would have wanted Bethany gone, and Spence was only too happy to comply. We have no indication of how that proves Ali is A, except that Mona says something does and is then cruelly murdered. (Apparently.) Making that statement proof in itself.

 

So I think that makes the theories of Mona saving her own blood more likely, as I can see this being something she might have planned. Whether that went terribly wrong or not is another matter. (Say with Lucas who then goes completely off the rails and kills her for realz. (Ooops.) The best lies are closest to the truth, and all.) Denial still has me rooting for a Mona dummy in the trunk, of course. And, y'know, wondering where I can get one, too.

Edited August 28, 2014 by krimimimi

[Writing Wrongs]

Julia Santos as Mona's mama was awesome.

 

I must be old, because the first thing I thought was "Hey, it's little Meggie from The Thorn Birds.

[chelsie]

Wilden killed Garrett. Ian Thomas's murder remains unsolved tho.

[ladyrott]

I thought Ali admitted to killing Ian at one point?  To save Spencer, maybe? 

[Bort]

I thought Ali admitted to killing Ian at one point? To save Spencer, maybe?

Ali said she shoved Ian off that bell tower but that he disentangled himself and walked away. However, Ali is a ginormous liar, so who knows?

[KatWay]

 

Ali said she shoved Ian off that bell tower but that he disentangled himself and walked away. However, Ali is a ginormous liar, so who knows?

He looked pretty dead to me tangled up in those things. But the retcon powers of this show have always been veeery strong.

 

So, Melissa "killed" Bethany, but we don't know who conked her on the head. Ali was buried by her mother but we don't know who hit her on the head either. Ian was pushed off the tower by Ali but apparently was killed by someone else later. Garret was killed by Wilden (solved! I'll be damned!). Wilden was killed by Cece, apparently, for some reason. Mona was killed by Unknown.

 

Sheesh, this makes me appreciate the kills that the liars do because at least we know for sure who killed who then. Emily killed Cousin Nate. Aria killed Shana.

 

Also, how incredibly annoying is it that this show has now at least THREE times pulled that "we will show you who killed XY - except the actual culprit is still a mystery!" crap. Bethany (Melissa), Alison (Mrs. DiLaurentis), Ian (Alison). All of these greatly promoted reveals ended up being more or less pointless because we still don't know much of anything.

Edited August 28, 2014 by KatWay

[JazzBuffy]

It was weird that Tanner was nowhere to be found. I mean it has been what 2 days? since Ali did her polygraph and Tanner wasn't even at the crime scene? I wonder if Tanner was getting too close for her own good and something happened to her. It also seemed strange that for being partners Tanner and Holbrook seemed to be doing their own thing a lot.

 

I originally also thought Mona was faking her death especially since she called Aria who was suppose to be the "compassionate" one and would be willing to quickly get everybody over to Mona's.The way Hanna screams I imagine there was mass amounts of blood all over her room, then there is a some blood and a sign of struggle down stairs. Maybe whoever surprised her was working with her and was helping her fake her death, (like maybe Lucas brought her the blood they set the scene and made it look like Alison was in her house). He leaves and she gets attacked for real by Evil A. 

 

I also thought Alison was older maybe lied about her age ( I mean she was quite the mature 14 yr old), which could make her as old as Bethany. But has Alison's family lived next door forever? I think in the books they move there when she is still in elementary school maybe. 

[mac123x]

He looked pretty dead to me tangled up in those things. But the retcon powers of this show have always been veeery strong.

 

So, Melissa "killed" Bethany, but we don't know who conked her on the head. Ali was buried by her mother but we don't know who hit her on the head either. Ian was pushed off the tower by Ali but apparently was killed by someone else later.

 

Further to that, since we can't trust any of Ali's stories, We don't really know that her mother buried her or even that she was hit on the head by some assailant.  We do know that she was buried, because Gruwald corroborated that, but it's possible that Ali arranged that as part of her escape plan.  (Possible, not plausible, but this show is unfamiliar with the meaning of that word). 

 

Another possible "twist" they could go with:  Mrs. D witnessed Ali get hit on the head, then buried her alive all the while saying "what did you do?!?"  She could have been assuming that Bethany hit Ali, and was trying to protect Bethany.  Alternatively, since she was hopped on on liquor and pills, it could have been the other way around.  She might have thought Ali hit Bethany, and in a haze mistook the unconscious Ali for Bethany.  It just makes more sense to me that she'd do something so stupid to protect her actual daughter than to protect her lover's mentally-unstable daughter.  Of course, this show is as familiar with "makes sense" as it is with "plausible".

 

Regarding Ian, Ali said that she saw him leave the church under his own power, but that could have been a lie also.  She might have dragged him to that building where he later "committed suicide".

 

Garret was killed by Wilden (solved! I'll be damned!). Wilden was killed by Cece, apparently, for some reason. Mona was killed by Unknown.

 

Adding to the list:  Marion Cavenaugh was likely pushed from the roof by an Unknown.  It'll probably turn out to be Mrs. DiLaurentis who is conveniently dead.  Marion found out about the affair Mrs. D and Mr. Young were having, so arranged Mrs. Cavenaugh's appointment with the pavement.

[scarynikki12]

The terminology may have changed but when I was in high school, early decision was the one that was binding and only for the dream school. No other applications go out until that school has responded. Early acceptance merely meant that the student applied to a small number of first choice schools and would only look elsewhere if they didn't get in to any of them. But, again, the terminology may have changed in ten years.

[mercfan3]

Yea, early acceptance is just a time period of when you send out your applications. Usually October-mid november. It's called early acceptance because colleges review those applications first and you find out early if you have been accepted. (I found out before my friends had sent their college applications out, for instance.) You are free to say no to those schools. Seems like the show has had Spencer and Mona worried about early acceptance. Hanna's list wasn't an acceptance list, but rather a "my SAT scores might allow me to go here.." list. Probably a "dream school" list. 

 

Also, I wanted to say that I loved having Caleb back as the fifth liar. He was one of my favorite characters because he was, part of the helpful crew. And I always enjoyed his interactions with the other girls as much as his interactions with Hanna. 

[mjgchick]

I also thought Alison was older maybe lied about her age ( I mean she was quite the mature 14 yr old), which could make her as old as Bethany. But has Alison's family lived next door forever? I think in the books they move there when she is still in elementary school maybe. 

Didn't Spencers parents say Ali moved when she was 5 or something? But that doesn't mean the girls have been friends with her since they were younger. All of their pics are of them as teenagers.

[ottoDbusdriver]

One curious question I have -- how old was Bethany Young supposed to be when she died ?  Older or younger than Ali, because she would be at least 1 year older or 1 year younger than Alison ?  I would think that would be something they could determine from the autopsy of Bethany's body (from when it was found under the gazebo), you know, the autopsy where they didn't even run a DNA test to determine if it was Alison, but I digress because the cops in Rosewood are the tops when it comes to incompetency.

 

If Mrs. D was Bethany's  mother, how did she hide her pregnancy from everyone ? How did they explain that the baby never appeared ?   If Bethany went to live with her father, where was Mrs. Young in all of this ?

[Bort]

Bethany's body (from when it was found under the gazebo), you know, the autopsy where they didn't even run a DNA test to determine if it was Alison, but I digress because the cops in Rosewood are the tops when it comes to incompetency.

The DNA part I'm fine with, they supposedly IDd the body with dental records. (Why that was wrong is a different story that they haven't bothered to explain) But that's fairly standard procedure in an investigation, if the body is IDd with dental records, they aren't going to bother with a DNA test because it's expensive and time consuming.

This is my thing though: I feel like they've been tap-dancing around what Bethany looks like. Nobody has mentioned it at all and you'd think it was something that at least Spencer would've asked about. And she totally should have. But nope, nothing, conveniently unmentioned. Nobody has at least produced a school ID or something?

[AmandaPanda]

I think Marlene King owes us a damn timeline of events for the show. Last nights episode made it perfectly clear that she has no idea how to plot story lines so they make sense time wise.

 

I've been trying to put together a comprehensive spreadsheet with my best estimates at the timeline. I'm only about halfway through season 1, though. 

 

I thought you could only get early acceptance to one college and that was binding?

And I still expect all the girls to end up at Hollis, if they ever graduate at all. And of course Ezra will transfer back to Hollis as well. And Byron of course will also be there. Where I come from, Students aren't allowed to be in their parents class, so seeing Aria be in her mothers class and her boyfriends class always makes me feel wrong.

 

Well, there are multiple reasons it's wrong for a high schooler to be in her boyfriend's class...

[mercfan3]

I've actually wondered if they haven't shown what Bethany looks like because they haven't picked out an actress for her yet. (Perhaps not knowing if there will be flashbacks or what not.) 

 

But more likely, she's someone's twin. I'm still going with Jason. 

[lorikauai]

So Bethany's dad was having an affair with Mrs. D (who gets around like her daughter apparently). I guess that could be Mr. H, but what if it was someone else? Mr. Fitzgerald? It would put Ali's relationship with Ezra in a new light, plus the Fitzgeralds seem like the type to hide the crazy daughter in a sanitarium under a fake name.