Past Seasons Talk: A is Everywhere

[lion10]

I feel like from a purely academic perspective, Spencer is the smartest, she just sucks when it comes to detective work and she still doesn't know it.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Nobody is the smart one in this show. Plot induced stupidity is the fuel on which PLL runs, alas.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[SparedTurkey]

I agree with the above two answers - I think Spencer is smart AND is the one that pushes herself to be (unlike Hanna, who for whatever reason is smart but doesn't seem to have been very school focused). In saying that, Hanna is a lot smarter than Spencer at people it seems...well, except Mona.

 

But the problem is that if PLL had the liars acting with full smartness - there wouldn't be that much of a mystery. Otherwise, Spencer and Mona would have teamed up a long time ago and brought an end to the shennanigans. (Also, Mona is obviously the smartest and has access to the required technology - based on that she could have solved everything post-Radley thing, if set loose). Its the trap of a serialised mystery that goes on longer than planned - it can make the protagonists look like morons. They did it better in the first couple of seasons by seemingly rationalising why the girls wouldn't go the cops - they got burned too many times and at least in Spencer and Aria's case they didn't trust their parents.

 

At least with Spencer she does target the people that are looking the most guilty at the time - which is plot required. But yes, I do like the running joke that no one she picks is right. Or is right until the next episode and is redeemed. Plus, Troian makes it funny in a way, which makes it mostly bearable.

[mercfan3]

She never caught on to A's "framing" tendencies. Which I think was my biggest problem with Spencer. The first few times, when people looked guilty as heck..okay..I was with Spencer..but by about Paige, the girls should have known better..and yet Spencer would be ready to go after someone. All of the other girls, even if they rushed to blame someone, pushed back on people being A because they looked guilty. Spencer never did.

 

Now, I think some of that was personality. But for "the smart one"...

[cuddlingcrowley]

She never caught on to A's "framing" tendencies. Which I think was my biggest problem with Spencer. The first few times, when people looked guilty as heck..okay..I was with Spencer..but by about Paige, the girls should have known better..and yet Spencer would be ready to go after someone. All of the other girls, even if they rushed to blame someone, pushed back on people being A because they looked guilty. Spencer never did.

 

 

This so much. And this is a huge deal in s1 because there's a point mid-season when A starts giving the girls "clues" to Ali's murder, along with pulling pranks on them, leading the liars to Ian. Then, the girls inexplicably wonder if A and Ali's killer are different people when:

 

1) They never considered outloud A might be Ali's killer before so it's a leap to simply decide A might not be because they are giving them clues all of the sudden;

 

2) Isn't it more likely that A might be Ali's killer and these helpful clues might be A leading the girls away from suspecting them, through pointing to the wrong people as suspects? Especially given A has already shown not to be on the girls' side. Like...??

 

This isn't an actual complaint because I love the plot in S1 and I think the terrible choices the Liars make in it are completely belivable but you know.

 

On another note, I watched 2x01 yesterday and it's amazing how the girls don't realize how bad they look. And how likely it seems they're the ones who murdered Alison. The parents definitely do. Veronica, poor Veronica, has been giving Spencer some really sound legal advice since last season, like DON'T HANG OUT WITH THE PREVIOUS MURDER SUSPECT and all Spencer does is pout and do it anyway. Mother of God. Is this show before the Amanda Knox thing? That's all I keep thinking.

 

The problem with Spencer is that she's her own worst enemy. That's the most consistent thing about her and her being smart or not is completely irrelevant to that fact. That she's so academically gifted just makes it the more tragic and the more bewildering.

Edited August 24, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[dwmckim]

I can totally accept Spencer's tendency to want to latch onto people as "A" since deep in her subconscious she had been wrestling with questions as to whether or not she herself had actually hurt/killed Ali.  Even though Ali's killer & A didn't necessarily have to be the same person (and if Spencer's fears of having actually killed Ali herself were correct, then indeed "A" would be someone else), i think she was living in a huge state of denial and was anxiously looking for someone else to be responsible.  At the same time, another consistent element throughout the series' run is her reluctance to believe Melissa could be involved with the A game...she would always be the last one among the PLLs to accept that possibility even when the others were fully aboard that train.  And Spencer has been privy to moments of Melissa being shady that the other girls didn't know about and she seems to live in a constant state of denial.  

[jjjmoss]

Outside of the circle of four, my 5 favorite character pairings for the show:

Hanna/Mona
Hanna/Lucas
Mona/Spencer
Spencer/Melissa
Jenna/Noel

 

I'm fascinated to see how their relationships are like now. Has Hanna forgiven MonA for emotionally destroying her junior year and, er, running her over? Is Lucas over Hanna; have they kept in touch at all without the spectre of A hanging about? Does Spencer still have animosity over the whole Mona trying to kill her and then driving her insane to the point that she ended up in Radley? Now that Spencer knows the truth about That Night, is she friendly with Melissa, or are there new secrets to separate them? What shady stuff has Jenna actually done that we don't know about, and was Noel complicit in any of it?

[SparedTurkey]

I would add to that list -

Spencer/Caleb

Emily Caleb

Mona/Caleb

Caleb/Ezra

 

Mainly because I love Caleb as a de-facto 5th liar and I love it when he and any of the liars are together. I'd also love to see a scene with him and Mona because of his visceral hatred of her. Similarly - I can't imagine he is ok with Ezra for stalking Hanna and he didn't seem impressed with him in 6x01 and that should definately be explored because, well, that is how I feel.

[jjjmoss]

Like most Liars significant others, I only found him interesting when he was Shady.

[raytch]

I would add to that list -

Spencer/Caleb

Emily Caleb

Mona/Caleb

Caleb/Ezra

Mainly because I love Caleb as a de-facto 5th liar and I love it when he and any of the liars are together. I'd also love to see a scene with him and Mona because of his visceral hatred of her. Similarly - I can't imagine he is ok with Ezra for stalking Hanna and he didn't seem impressed with him in 6x01 and that should definately be explored because, well, that is how I feel.

I loved Mona / Ezra!

Everytime I watch that scene I wanna high five someone because of how much they both nail it. Of course I usually end up high fiving myself cause I usually watch alone.

[Jack Shaftoe]

I love Spencer/Paige interaction. As forced as the "Paige is A" plotline in 3.11 and 3.12 was, the scenes with those two were so intense.

Ashley and Hanna is by far my favourite parent-daughter relationship in the show.

The most consistently portrayed couple in this show are Ashley Marin and her wine, though, no doubt about it. That's true love, folks.

I like Caleb with anyone, to be honest. I'm still bitter they teased us with Caleb and Paige teaming up to hunt A and nothing came of it.

[Perfect Xero]

I'm a sucker for any of the interactions of the screwed up Hastings and DiLaurentis family dynamics.

 

Spencer/Alison

Spencer/Melissa

Spencer/Jason

Jason/Alison

Mrs. D/her irrational hate-on for Spencer

[SadieT]

I'm a sucker for any of the interactions of the screwed up Hastings and DiLaurentis family dynamics.

 

Spencer/Alison

Spencer/Melissa

Spencer/Jason

Jason/Alison

Mrs. D/her irrational hate-on for Spencer

 

Me too.

 

And I'm kind of curious to see how Melissa would interact with Alison post time-jump (not that I think they'll ever appear in a scene together). Does she still blame 15 year old Alison for stealing her gross boyfriend? Or has she finally matured and realized Ian was a creep and Alison and Spencer were children he was preying on. 

Edited August 25, 2015 by SadieT

[lorikauai]

It kills me that the one time Spencer figured something out (EzrA) the show took it back.

[SadieT]

It kills me that the one time Spencer figured something out (EzrA) the show took it back.

 

Yeah, that sucked. I loved how for once Spencer's obsessive investigating actually paid off. And there's that awesome scene of her staying up all night strung out on pills fake googling stuff to Awolnation's Sail and it's just so Spencer. But then of course, Ezra was just writing a true crime novel and she basically drove herself crazy to find out Ezra is a creep but somehow not a threat. 

 

The girls have so few victories against A it's actually kind of unbelievable because they're smart and capable. Spencer doesn't realize Mona is original A until Mona's about to reveal herself, and they had no idea about Shana, and they of course never made the CeCe is Charlotte who used to go by Charles connection. They didn't even get out of the Dollhouse on their own, although I guess they kind of lead Alison and the boys to them so it was kind of a joint escape/rescue effort. But for once, it would be nice if the liars could have the upper hand. A has always been like thirty steps ahead of them. 

Edited August 27, 2015 by SadieT

[cuddlingcrowley]

I'm mid season 2 and I had forgotten what a prize Mike used to be. I don't know what's worst: the way he doesn't recognize his parents' authority over him AT ALL or him completely ignoring their existence when they talk to him. He does the same to Aria. I found the later thing downright frightening.

 

It's odd how compelling I'm finding the Montgomery's drama in the rewatch. Maybe because I used to completely zoom out through Aria's scenes so it feels new somehow.

 

I also didn't remember how guilty the writers made Jason look back in the day. I don't know if it's because I didn't take it seriously from the start and/or was way too blinded by the fresh air that was Jaria, but he really looks like a serious suspect of Ali's murder for a good chunk of season 2 and the motives just keep pilling up. Also, remember the thing with pictures of Aria asleep? Well, the show juxtapositions Jason telling Aria it was Alison who took them and Spencer finding he was on the NAT club with Ian and Garret, so even though Aria believes him, it's obviously a lie. It's clearly old work of the NAT club or even Jason himself.

 

Knowing what Jenna and Garret are hiding is that Jenna believes Garret killed Alison and they made Jason think he killed her is pretty cool.

 

One thing I'm noticing on this rewatch is that some things are introduced to make up the fabric of the show but aren't meant to be related directly to A. Ali fleeing her house in the middle of night because Jason was throwing a party and some asshole probably scared her is just that. It doesn't have some big mistery behind it. Same goes for the NAT club. It was just a bunch of dudes perving on the pre-teen girls on the neighborhood and if it ever gets out it would get them in all sorts of trouble, especially because one of the girls turned out DEAD after stealing the videos. Hence why they're all so jumpy but the hilarious thing is that neither of them were actually Ali's killer. Alison is what connects the stories, not A. 

Edited August 30, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[cuddlingcrowley]

2x12 - midseason-finale. 

 

"Two can keep a secret if one of them is that" - I'm really thankful this is one thing the writers managed to explain and explain well: the reason why Alison couldn't tell the girls she knew Mona was A in the first couple of seasons.  Mona was the only one who knew Alison faked her death in order to allude her would-be murderer and if Ali told on her, no doubt Mona would reveal that secret and Alison would be a target once again.

 

The fact that Mona was actually the person who attempted to kill Ali just makes the episode stronger because the shovel indeed was the "murder weapon" used by her to hit Bethany. Only the killer would know this.

 

I don't know why, but I find it all kinds of fun that Jenna thought she knew how Alison died because she believed Garret killed her when he didn't. There's this great little moment when Jenna says "Ali deserved to died like that" and Garret looks to the side like "...".

 

Here, Jenna, Garret and Mona were obviously working together: the "A" tag indeed gets used (which I couldn't quite recall) and at the end while Jenna and Garret are at the police station, MonA is closing the deal with Dra. Sullivan. So the answer to whether Jenna and Garret were ever truly aware of MonA and were part of the A-team at any period is a resounding: YES.

 

Rewatching S1 and S2 makes me wonder how the girls manage to be civil with Mona. Ever. The simply cruel but petty pranks stop by mid-season 1 and from then she's all about leading the girls away from her as Alison's killer, even if means incriminating the wrong people, discrediting the girls to the entire town and, ultimately, incriminating them herself.

 

All in all, this episode is actually better in the rewatch. I remember not quite  getting into it the first time I watched it. Until I was blown the frack away by the Jenna/Garret talk at the end, thinking it had broken open the show. I was such a sweet summer child.

 

Tiny, tiny thing: I don't really buy Jackie being into Ezra again. During the first scene on this episode, it really seems like she's testing him and in the last one with Aria it was just to call Aria's bluff, imo.

 

Also, Aria's earings make her look like an insane person.

Edited September 3, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[DigitalCount]

Did we ever confirm who Ali's original A was? I feel like we're supposed to think it's Mona, but was it actually?

[Lady Calypso]

So I've decided to rewatch the series, so I'm not very far yet (only episode 4) but I forgot how different the show feels compared to now. I forgot there was a time where I actually liked Ezra. Now, knowing his intentions and what he knew, it makes me look at him in such a different light. There's a point where Aria's saying that Ezra doesn't know her and he can't be judging her and her family, and Ezra pauses before saying that she's right. Knowing that's a lie now, even though Marlene had no idea at the time, just makes me dislike Ezra a lot. I also am trying to pinpoint the moment he falls for Aria truly. I think we're supposed to assume it happened very quickly. Yet, it's episode four and it hasn't hit yet. Also, Ezra says in the pilot that he's not a writer, and that made me laugh out loud.

Toby changed a lot in this series. I kind of liked him when he was creepy and lurking in the shadows. I also love that they were trying hard for a Toby/Emily friendship. They really, really worked as friends. Also, I really shipped Wren/Spencer. I didn't remember that I did until I saw their scenes again. I also am picturing Wren as A, as the popular theory goes, and so far, it would have absolutely fit. Also, thinking about Mona creeping in some of the scenes in order to get the information that she did makes me laugh, because I can picture it.

Everyone feels so different, so young, especially Emily. It's so different to see all the girls have their own secrets, and actually keeping them from each other for a while. I think they try to maintain consistency throughout the series with the girls keeping secrets from each other, but it's having the girls in season 1 in their own separate storylines and all having secrets at the same time that makes it so interesting to watch. 

Edited July 11, 2016 by Lady Calypso

[Lii]

Season 1 was great for things like the lasagna box and glamping and the creepy coat check at the Halloween dance. The show was simplest  , which allowed the threat of A to feel more truthful and less Wil E. Coyote. Good times.

[Lady Calypso]

Yeah, it felt scarier when A wasn't completely all knowing and completely immortal-seeming. 

Ah, I forgot that the first Jason actor actually had a bigger part. Unlike the first Ian or the first Toby, where they barely had more than a line so it was easier to switch them out, first Jason is just so different from the Jason we've known. He literally creeps me out, and I think that was the intent. He looks, sounds, and acts completely different from our Jason. I'm happy they got the actor switched. 

The first season had a lot of revolving love interests in the first half of the first season alone. Hanna had Sean and then Lucas was hinted at before Caleb, Spencer had Wren and Alex before Toby, Aria had not just Ezra, but Noel, and Emily had Ben for a bit, Toby for a couple of episodes, and then Maya. 

[dwmckim]

I've been doing a series rewatch as well (up to around episode 12).  Really liked original recipe shaggy haired hollow eyed Toby.  Once he became a love interest for Spencer, all that was gone and they started sexing him up.

[Lady Calypso]

55 minutes ago, dwmckim said:

I've been doing a series rewatch as well (up to around episode 12).  Really liked original recipe shaggy haired hollow eyed Toby.  Once he became a love interest for Spencer, all that was gone and they started sexing him up.

Same here. I'm also on episode 12, and I actually think Toby's a lot cuter back then, with his shaggy hair and piercing blue eyes. He also seemed different and interesting. I forgot that Toby was actually kind of an artist. I also see that in the first half of season one, there were no hints to Toby and Spencer being a thing at all. It disappoints me that they were kind of forced together, since I'm just not sure why they had to go there. Toby as the brooding, dark emo artist was great. Toby the construction worker and love interest of Spencer was not. He lost the little charm he had. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

Personally I loved early Spencer/Toby. Sure, it came sort of out of nowhere but it worked for me till the stupid "Toby is A but not really" plotline in season 3. It had some great moments like Toby asking her if she had made coffee and Spencer's expression is basically "Dude, I literally can't live without coffee" and then he telling her how to troll the cops. Or when they were making out in his truck and Spencer noticed movement in Jason's house. Toby is all "Damn it, here she goes again".

Seasons 1B and 2A were the high-water mark of PLL. The mystery element was pretty bad but not nearly as convoluted and idiotic as it is now and the character development was exquisite. Well, except for Ezra who was in a show of his own and always a boring fool.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[DigitalCount]

I'll still never forget that tense conversation between Peter, Toby and Spencer that ends with Peter punching the side of the truck. That was scary like horror-movie scary, and now the show is practically a cartoon in comparison.

Also, while recasts usually make me so freaking annoyed, I agree that Jason's recast was the right choice and wish that Drew Van Acker had been locked in from the start. He's the perfect merging of DiLaurentis and Hastings, which Jason #1 wasn't. Actually, now that I think of it, Jason #1 looked more like a Hastings than a DiLaurentis, which is interesting in and of itself. I wonder if that was always the plan...

[Lii]

Whenever I think about early Jason I think about the Halloween train. That shit is up there on my list of confusing nonsense that will never get explained because it happened for no actual reason. 

[joelene]

Someone remind me, last time Noel Khan was around he was working "undercover" with... someone, I can't remember who. Mona? Jenna? Alison? And why? I can't remember what his purpose was last time he was around. 

[Perfect Xero]

On 7/14/2016 at 0:53 PM, DigitalCount said:

I'll still never forget that tense conversation between Peter, Toby and Spencer that ends with Peter punching the side of the truck. That was scary like horror-movie scary, and now the show is practically a cartoon in comparison.

Also, while recasts usually make me so freaking annoyed, I agree that Jason's recast was the right choice and wish that Drew Van Acker had been locked in from the start. He's the perfect merging of DiLaurentis and Hastings, which Jason #1 wasn't. Actually, now that I think of it, Jason #1 looked more like a Hastings than a DiLaurentis, which is interesting in and of itself. I wonder if that was always the plan...

I like DVA as Jason, and he as Sasha look very much like they could be siblings, but Jason 1.0 was written much more like a smart, driven, manipulator that I'd expect from a Hastings-DiLaurentis. That whole conversation between Jason 1 and Spencer where he tells her that Alison told him about The Jenna Thing but placed all the blame on Spencer is probably my favorite Jason moment in the entire series, but doesn't track with the casual stoner with memory problems Jason reverted to with the recast.

[Lii]

Jason 1 was so much creepier that it was much easier for him to actually be involved in the mystery part of the show. Since the recast, he LOOKS more the part, and thus has been able to be involved in the soap opera part of the show, but did anyone really want that? I just don't buy that this current Jason would have ever been friends with Ian the milk drinking pedo or Melissa the casual murderer. They tried to creep him up when they first brought him in but it just never worked for me.

[Perfect Xero]

Since they retconned his age down a bit, I fanwank that Jason was a younger guy who the older kids realized they could get to buy them drugs and let them hang out at his house and get high (also, his creeper friends like Ian wanted an excuse to hang out around his sister). I think that Alison even had a line in one of the flashbacks about how Jason's friends were using him, so it has some backing.

[Lii]

LOL, what a failure of a DiLaurentis, getting used instead of using everyone else around him. 

I can't buy Melissa on drugs, just because of how judgy she always got at Spencer about her drug doing. Yeah, Melissa was a total hypocrite in a lot of ways, but the sheer level of smug she always spit at Spencer about her really relatively benign drug use was really just out of control.

[Chairperson Meow]

On 7/20/2016 at 2:39 PM, joelene said:

Someone remind me, last time Noel Khan was around he was working "undercover" with... someone, I can't remember who. Mona? Jenna? Alison? And why? I can't remember what his purpose was last time he was around. 

Mona.  He was hooked up with Aria on a double date via Hanna when she was still dating Abstinence Club Shawn so they could see a concert.  This was before anyone knew about Ezria or MonA and when Lucas was helping Hanna sell stuff on ebay.  Then Noel Khan found out about Ezria after A hit Hanna with a car during the glamping shit and started blackmailing him for grades.  He got suspended for something, probably Ezra related I think since Ezra and Aria are the least slick people ever in life.  Then Jenna hired Caleb to spy on the Liars, Hanna found out, he skipped town.  Noel Khan returns as Caleb is leaving in the season 1 finale and Mona throws Caleb's goodbye letter away.   Hanna confronts Mona about it when she finds out about the letter in the season 2 premiere and who's Mona with?  Noel Khan.   He's also worked with Alli and Jenna.  Why?  He's Noel Khan and he has a great smile that's why.  I'm doing a rewatch and just began season 2 and that's the only answer I have.   

[Perfect Xero]

1 hour ago, Lii said:

LOL, what a failure of a DiLaurentis, getting used instead of using everyone else around him. 

I can't buy Melissa on drugs, just because of how judgy she always got at Spencer about her drug doing. Yeah, Melissa was a total hypocrite in a lot of ways, but the sheer level of smug she always spit at Spencer about her really relatively benign drug use was really just out of control.

Indeed, I think Ali even had a line in one of the flashbacks about how Jason's friends were just a bunch of losers who were using him. But, yeah, Jason 1 fit right in with the driven, scheming, manipulative DiLauretis and Hastings clans. Jason 2 is a laid back guy who'd probably be a fairly normal dude if his parents hadn't gaslighted him into believing that his brother/cousin was an imaginary friend and he wasn't surrounded by Rosewood's parade of surprisingly savvy and capable creeps.

Melissa was around because she was dating Ian.

[Lii]

In the history of this show, has there been even one person who wasn't some kind of messed up?

[Perfect Xero]

Pastor Ted so far? Holden? Toby's do-rag?

[Lii]

Toby's do-rag was delightfully messed up. I ship it with EzrA's Ravenswood gas mask.

[dwmckim]

2 hours ago, Lii said:

In the history of this show, has there been even one person who wasn't some kind of messed up?

Mr Fields.  (RIP)

[millennium]

New viewer here.  I started watching PLL on Netflix after learning one of my favorite writers from thirtysomething (the guy who created Miles Drentell) is a head writer on this show.

I would like to ask -- is this show worth sticking around for?  Does it go anywhere?  I'm 8 episodes in and already having trouble swallowing the omniscience and ubiquitousness of A.    Seriously, notes in the fortune cookies?   Managing to make a flyer land right at their feet while they're sitting on the park bench?   

 I see the show is in its 7th season.   Do they actually drag out the mystery of A's identity that long?   

(If you reply, please quote this message so that I receive a notification and can link directly to your reply rather than risking potential spoilage elsewhere on the page.   thanks.)

[Jack Shaftoe]

12 hours ago, millennium said:

New viewer here.  I started watching PLL on Netflix after learning one of my favorite writers from thirtysomething (the guy who created Miles Drentell) is a head writer on this show.

I would like to ask -- is this show worth sticking around for?  Does it go anywhere?  I'm 8 episodes in and already having trouble swallowing the omniscience and ubiquitousness of A.    Seriously, notes in the fortune cookies?   Managing to make a flyer land right at their feet while they're sitting on the park bench?   

 I see the show is in its 7th season.   Do they actually drag out the mystery of A's identity that long?   

(If you reply, please quote this message so that I receive a notification and can link directly to your reply rather than risking potential spoilage elsewhere on the page.   thanks.)

I would say you probably should drop the show because A is actually way, way more omniscient and ubiquitous in the later seasons. And yes, they drag the mystery a lot. Like an awful lot. The first A is revealed, then another A appears but many questions about the first A remain, and now we have a third A, with most of the questions about the second A still being unresolved. Basically, if you are looking for a well written mystery, you won't find it here.

If you want to stick around for the characters (as I did), try watching till the end of season 1 - along with the first half of season 2 it's widely considered the best portion of PLL, if you don't like it much, you are probably going to like the rest even less.

Edited August 8, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[Bort]

@millennium, run! Get out while you can! It's too late for the rest of us!

[mac123x]

On ‎7‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 9:56 PM, Lii said:

In the history of this show, has there been even one person who wasn't some kind of messed up?

Holden, except for the whole exploding heart thing

Samara, the girl Emily briefly dated between bouts of Maya fever, but she turned out to be a 1000 year old vampire on another show

Toby's father / Jenna's mother, because their images can't be captured on film and they may in fact be undercover CIA agents

Hanna's singing grandmother

Tippi the Bird

Pepe the corpse-hunting dog

Officer / Detective / Chief of Police Barry Maple

[millennium]

1 hour ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

I would say you probably should drop the show because A is actually way, way more omniscient and ubiquitous in the later seasons. And yes, they drag the mystery a lot. Like an awful lot. The first A is revealed, then another A appears but many questions about the first A remain, and now we have a third A, with most of the questions about the second A still being unresolved. Basically, if you are looking for a well written mystery, you won't find it here.

If you want to stick around for the characters (as I did), try watching till the end of season 1 - along with the first half of season 2 it's widely considered the best portion of PLL, if you don't like it much, you are probably going to like the rest even less.

 

57 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

@millennium, run! Get out while you can! It's too late for the rest of us!

 

Thanks for the candor.   I think I'll probably bail.   The characters aren't very likeable and the plot is abysmal so far.   The degree of improbability is too much to swallow, starting with the almost casual reaction these girls have to being stalked.   Then there's the the teacher-student love affair which, aside from being terribly boring, seems almost criminal on the part of the writers because  you don't romanticize something like that on a show targeted to teens (Dawson's Creek did it too, but that was a less socially conscious time and not airing on a network called "ABC Family").   Even the theme song is irritating.   Really irritating.

It was great to see Laura Leighton and Holly Marie Combs again (how do their faces not age?  Holly looks like she just walked out of an episode of Charmed) but it's not enough to justify the wasted hours of my life.

[mac123x]

I'd suggest finding some supercuts on YouTube, like the ones that detail Alison's history (before she resurfaced).  I saw a compilation of her Vivian Darkbloom saga that was really good, and showed off how good an actor Sasha P is when she has good material to work with.

[Bort]

The show is truly terrible now, not that it was that good in the first place, but it put Troian and Ashley on my radar, so I don't regret it. 

[millennium]

I wikipedia'ed "A" and discovered the original A's identity, and the subsequent ones, and all I can say is THANK GOD I didn't sit through any more of this show.

Thanks for the warning!

[Chinspinner]

I recently binged this show on Netflix. The first season had such great promise; admittedly the set up was lifted straight from the first season of Veronica Mars, but never-the-less it seemed like a fun little mystery to wile away a few hours. 

The cracks started to appear early on in the first Season. Very quickly the plot became convoluted and incoherent; and the actions of the character's grew increasingly absurd. Why were the main character's more worried about shoes and boyfriends than the (potential) serial killer hunting them, the corrupt police, the absentee parents, the utter stupidity of every action taken by every single person in their town? The show seemed unsure whether it was a teen soap-opera or a murder mystery and fell between both stalls. 

But the biggest problem was that a good mystery requires consistency, it needs to play fair with the audience, it needs to supply clues and red-herrings that the audience can follow, and that will ultimately lead to a satisfying conclusion that makes sense. What it does not need is a series of random and unconnected events that seem to suit the whim of the writers rather than serve an over-arching story, or the copious use of deus-ex-machina whenever the writers run out of ideas. This lack of coherence just leads to frustration.

Never-the-less, something about the show pushed me on to watch more. The second season was a repeat of the first (with a new antagonist); and the third season was a repeat of the second. Then the central conceit of the entire show was undone in the most unsatisfying way; the dead friend was alive... but hiding because... reasons- nonsensical, illogical reasons.  

And from here on in the show dipped into pure farce. The absurdity of an entire previous season was now shoe-horned into individual episodes. The characters behaved against type, half the cast randomly disappeared and reappeared until you had no idea who was who. The set-pieces were silly to the point of amusement. The killer could have been anyone- it simply didn't matter anymore- in fact, it would not have surprised me if one of the cameramen stepped in front of the lens and announced it had been him all along. Seasons 6 and 7, in particular, were comedy gold; my response was constantly moving between bemusement, disbelief, cringing and laughing.  

So all in all, a fun watch, if for all the wrong reasons. 

Edited to add: I also found the handling of the teacher/ pupil relationship plot line uncomfortable, particularly given the target audience.  

Edited February 9, 2017 by Chinspinner