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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S05.E13: How The 'A' Stole Christmas

Cranberry

By Cranberry
in Pretty Little Liars [V]

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Spencer Hastings

Spencer Hastings

Are we supposed to really believe that Mrs. D is Black Widow?  Is that real or just an unreliable dream?  Speaking of which, are the flashbacks that Mona showed Ali reliable?  I don't trust this show one bit.  We gathered quite a bit of information but I don't even know if we can use it.

 

The best part of this episode was Troian breaking character when they revealed A's surprise with the lights.  Her face very clearly said "I'm 30 years old and I'm stuck on a show where Christmas lights are supposed to be threatening." 

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scarletregina

scarletregina

Are we supposed to really believe that Mrs. D is Black Widow?  Is that real or just an unreliable dream?  

 

I hope this unreliable. Yes, it would be a cool twist if she was Black Widow, but I'd heard that Black Widow was supposed to be "endgame." If that's true, why reveal the identity now?

 

If Jessica is BW, then BW isn't involved with A's shenanigans. She wouldn't be torturing Ali or the girls. The only thing that has mean leaning toward it being true is that as far as we know, Ali has never encountered Black Widow. How would she know what the costume looked like?

 

Black Widow doesn't make a lot of sense to me. We've had so many As, why do we need someone else? Based on what we know, BW seems rather pointless.

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allonsyalice

allonsyalice

 

Black Widow doesn't make a lot of sense to me. We've had so many As, why do we need someone else? Based on what we know, BW seems rather pointless.

I always saw it as A being Black Widow??

but now that doesn't make sense. nothing about htis show makes sense

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Sakura12

Sakura12

I caved and watched it. I can't quit this stupid, pointless show!

 

I do love that Jenna continues to only talk to Emily even though Emily hates her the most. (My crack ship lives!). Jenna better be playing a con on Ali. Getting close to her to learn her weakness to take that bitch down. DO NOT RUIN JENNA, Show!!!!!. I suppose I can fanwank that if Alison and CeCe could kill Mona the omnipresent reality bending being that she was, Jenna is worried now. 

 

Holbrook macks on teenagers too. That is not a surprise. Emily's dad is still the only decent male in Rosewood. It probably helps that he doesn't stay in town often. His heart is too good for that town. 

 

I'm sorry, having Ezra with the rest of the Liars High school age characters was the grossest thing I've seen in awhile. Especially knowing he's been creeping on all of them for the past couple years. Why are they forcing us to accept him? He can date Aria for the tweens (that for some unknown reason) that love them. But don't pretend it's cool for him to hang out with high school age kids without their parents around after he stalk/spied on them. He is still their fricking TEACHER!  I guess they needed him to buy the alcohol. 

 

Ali, your friends hate you because you are a psycho. NO one feels sorry for you. 

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M1977G

M1977G

I thought the episode was worth it just for the Hitchcock nods and the gorgeous gowns the liars and their nemeses wore.  Emily was smoking beyond belief; Hanna was super fly in her formfitting white lace, sassy hair, and statement crystal necklace; Spencer was sophisticated as always in that sleek art deco beaded sheath. While the top of Aria's dress was lovely in its sparkly simplicity, I was not feeling the tulle pouf that was her skirt, and I thought it creepy that Ezra bought it for her.  Maybe that's because I think everything Ezra does is creepy--like stripping down with teenagers to impress his high school girlfriend.  I thought Ali also looked gorgeous and tres femme noir in her dress, and for once, I thought her hourglass shape was flattered by the retro cut of her dress.  

 

The liars are lucky that nothing terrible happened to them this Christmas, given that they courted disaster rather carelessly (if rather stylishly). First, real friends don't let friends on parole break into houses, especially if said friend is looking to break into the house of someone they'd previously been suspected of killing.  I mean, really, this is a plot problem, and if Spencer is going to be that dumb, then she deserves to go to jail.  While some might think her shank was badass, I found it crazy that she would break glass when trying to hide from a predator in a dark house and protect her friend.  How about silently running to the kitchen to grab a knife or two instead of shattering glass?  Also, much as I adore Hannah (pretty sure she's my favorite liar, with Spencer as a close contender), I hate it when she gets so stupid as to leave her phone somewhere unattended when breaking into a house.  (I can admit, however, that this carelessness led to some truly heart pounding moments in this episode for me.)  On top of this, Aria did an absolutely terrible job keeping an eye on Ali, running off to tell Emily what she saw (and of course, neither she nor we really know what she saw--was that really Holbrook kissing Ali, or is he in costume undercover trying to suss out Rosewood's various murderers and creepers?).  

 

As for the various ships this episode, I was a little sad for Emily and Paige, but at the same time, I'm relieved that (1) Paige's parents prove that some adults in Rosewood do have good sense and take action to ensure the safety of their children (not that Paige's dad is awesome, mind you), and (2) there's an end in sight for this couple.  They've had their sweet moments, but I've never been a big fan of Paige, and I'm over the various push and pull factors in their relationship.  Of course, at the rate that time passes on this show, next semester and Paige's departure could be fifty episodes away.

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scarletregina

scarletregina

I always saw it as A being Black Widow??

but now that doesn't make sense. nothing about htis show makes sense

 

That's sort of what I thought until this episode, but then I'm so confused about all of the As. Was CeCe redcoat? Was Ali redcoat? Were they both just pretending to be redcoat? If either of them was the real redcoat, then redcoat was never A - unless Ali is A and now my brain hurts!!

 

And if BW is A, then why is Jessica showing up to a Ghosts of Christmas Future Party dressed up like her?

 

I realize no one can real answer these questions, I'm just venting my "WTF Show!?" thoughts.

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auntiemel

auntiemel

The flashback scene with Mrs. DiLaurentis making KidAli repeat the story over and over until it became her new version of "truth" combined with the fact that the event itself was a memory that Alison had buried - not to mention the little tidbit of the one episode where Aria walked in on Mike and Mona discussing The Manchurian Candidate - makes me wonder if we aren't heading into some kind of theme of brainwashing/mind-control/etc.

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Jack Shaftoe

Jack Shaftoe

 

As for the various ships this episode, I was a little sad for Emily and Paige, but at the same time, I'm relieved that (1) Paige's parents prove that some adults in Rosewood do have good sense and take action to ensure the safety of their children (not that Paige's dad is awesome, mind you), and (2) there's an end in sight for this couple.

 

I wouldn't be so sure that this latest development means an end. Caleb left a few times and came back eventually. Ditto for Ezra and Toby. Paige was MIA for almost a whole season once upon a time. I reckon it depends mostly on whether the Paige/Emily shippers will be active enough on twitter. I appreciate the fact that PLL tries to be different and still has the main couples it had at some point in season one but on the other hand, all except Hanna/Caleb have like 456 reasons to break up. And even Caleb's return was totally forced (not as much as him leaving for Ravenswood in the first place but still).

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

Holbrook macks on teenagers too. That is not a surprise. Emily's dad is still the only decent male in Rosewood. It probably helps that he doesn't stay in town often. His heart is too good for that town.

 

Did we ever actually see the Santa that Ali was kissing? I thought we saw Ali with a Santa, then later saw Holbrook dressed in a Santa suit and the girls just assumed it had been him, even though there were several people there dressed in similar outfits.

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allonsyalice

allonsyalice

There were three Santas, Lucas, Holbrook and the one Aria was going to track down before Holbrook got to her. So it could have been Holbrook, but it also might now not have been.

(Confusing, and so basically, no we never found out who Ali was kissing.)

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DigitalCount

DigitalCount

I'm sorry, having Ezra with the rest of the Liars High school age characters was the grossest thing I've seen in awhile. Especially knowing he's been creeping on all of them for the past couple years. Why are they forcing us to accept him? He can date Aria for the tweens (that for some unknown reason) that love them. But don't pretend it's cool for him to hang out with high school age kids without their parents around after he stalk/spied on them. He is still their fricking TEACHER!  I guess they needed him to buy the alcohol.

Haha, remember when he compared Spencer to a safety school? Can't have Aria, so we'll go with Second-Choice Spencer. Freaking Ezra needs to get hit by a bus. It was bad enough that he was hanging out with them like they're his peers, but the idea of a twenty-something man stripping down alongside a bunch of teens for the purpose of sexually arousing their teenage girlfriends was more than problematic.

 

Not much more to say about this ridiculous nonsense other than the thought that if we even get a sniff of Ali's "twin" or if those scenes were meant to reveal Jessica as BW, I'll be super-pissed possibly to the point of quitting. I'm absolutely certain that the twin thing would be the last straw for me, but other idiotic plotgurgitations might qualify too.

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racked

racked

I thought Ezra was still teaching at the high school too. The show has really lost the thread of that plot, because it should be super creepy, and these kids are all 16-17 still aren't they? But they all look the same age and they've been in high school for SO long that I can't even get worked up over the age thing. Ezra being a stalker who wormed his way into this teenage circle to use them for a book though, that was a pretty recent revelation! And they all seem so over it.

Re: Ali and the Santa she was kissing, I did think it was a nice touch that they had Em ask if Ali was kissing a girl or a boy.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

Ezra being a stalker who wormed his way into this teenage circle to use them for a book though, that was a pretty recent revelation 

 

 

And it was an awesome plot twist with so many juicy possibilities and Ian finally looked like he had something to sink his teeth into and the show looked like it finally realized how super creepy Ezra and Aria really are and then it lead to absolutely nothing. Such a waste. And now he's screwing his teenage girlfriend in the same house as his students who are all also screwing because lets face it, you don't dress like that, pose for your significant other on the staircase and then go play Scrabble. It's all just soooooo disturbing. Far more disturbing than anything A has done.

 

The ep itself was a clusterfuck of what the fuck, but everyone looked pretty, the gowns were stunning, the party looked cool if improbable and two of my three favorite "villians" (Mona and Mrs. D) showed up. Now, if they'd have Creepy Milk Drinking Ian (who will never be as creepy as pervy Ezra)  there that would have been perfect.

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cuddlingcrowley

cuddlingcrowley

I thought Ezra was still teaching at the high school too. The show has really lost the thread of that plot, because it should be super creepy, and these kids are all 16-17 still aren't they? But they all look the same age and they've been in high school for SO long that I can't even get worked up over the age thing. Ezra being a stalker who wormed his way into this teenage circle to use them for a book though, that was a pretty recent revelation! And they all seem so over it.

 

 

I'm on the verge of considering the christmas' special non-canon. Nothing remotely relevant happened but on top of that there was the above which was out of character on multiple levels, problematic AND made no sense in the context of the show so I'll just chalk this whole thing up as the cast goofing around and call it a day.

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hqtextbook

hqtextbook

(edited)

 

The hell. No, really.. what the hell was that? And this is.. supposed to be..good and funny? If it was just Paige and the 17-18 year old guys, it would be but there is STANDING THEIR ENGLISH TEACHER!

Yeah it was very gross. What is this show thinking?? For such a progressive show in a lot of other ways, i just dont know why its promoting this borderline abusive relationship as healthy. We see its messed up but what about younger viewers?

Edited by hqtextbook
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dwmckim

dwmckim

Did we ever actually see the Santa that Ali was kissing? I thought we saw Ali with a Santa, then later saw Holbrook dressed in a Santa suit and the girls just assumed it had been him, even though there were several people there dressed in similar outfits.

Well, yes and no!  I didn't tape the episode so i can't confirm whether or not there were any shots were Holbrook was turned around enough to where the audience could see it was him.  But, there were photos that were included in press packets that clearly showed Ali kissing Santa Holbrook.  So it might have been a late minute editing decision when finishing the episode's post-production to not totally reveal it, but it was at least Holbrook when the scene was shot.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

I just wish we got to see the first day back to school after Christmas Break. "Hey Mr. Fitz. Here's that picture of you and your students in their boxers. I was gonna post it on Instagram but then realized you'd probably get arrested so I went old school and had some prints made."

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Giuliano Lanzilli

Giuliano Lanzilli

How come they even let Sasha show up at the table read, with what her weight balooning by the hour? Her arms and legs are definitely fat and her face has turned into a soccer ball with a triple chin! I mean, let's be honest here, there's being healthy/toned/not stick thin (as in Lucy and Shay) and there's being plain overweight and Sasha very well falls into the second category.

I remember on DH Marcia Cross complaining about how "they paid her not to eat", not so subtly implying that she would binge on pasta when the show wrapped, so I'm just wondering why the same rules doesn't seem to apply on PLL. I don't mean to be cruel, but at the same time I'm neither naive nor blind, so...

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hqtextbook

hqtextbook

Sorry but I completely disagree! Sasha is not only well within normal weight but she is absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes the outlandish drop-dead beauty of the people on the show kind of re-calibrates our base-line beauty standards? Thats the only explanation I can see for anyone thinking Sasha isnt perfection!

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mac123x

mac123x

Regarding Ali's dream-sequesnce flashback to the two dresses:  I assumed the second dress was for the girl who wound up buried in Ali's grave.  It was an idication that Mrs. D had been having an affair with her father for a decade, and that it was common for Jessica to give the same gift to Ali that she gave to Bethany.  In otherwords, a justification for why they were dressed alike on the night of her murder.  So while Bethany and Ali aren't literally twins, Ali's mother treated them as such.

 

I'm on the verge of considering the christmas' special non-canon. Nothing remotely relevant happened but on top of that there was the above which was out of character on multiple levels, problematic AND made no sense in the context of the show so I'll just chalk this whole thing up as the cast goofing around and call it a day.

 

One relevant thing did happen:  they found that letter proving that Ali knew Bethany.  I sincerely hope that they made multiple photocopies, scanned it and stored it on servers located throughout the world, and faxed a copy to Spencer's attorney and her parents, otherwise it went into the fire as soon as everyone was outside looking at A's Christmas lights.

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Crim

Crim

(edited)

@StarsFallen, I'm taking the "why is Ali back" topic to http://forums.previously.tv/topic/1844-past-seasons-talk-a-is-everywhere/#entry673755

 

The letter is relevant, but not only because it proved Ali knew Bethany. The letter suggests that Ali called Bethany there and gave her the yellow top, a situation ripe for the murdering shenanigans that occurred later. It furthermore complicates (possibly in a "did we have her say that? ooops, I guess we did." PLL way) the setup we saw from Ali's PoV, with Mrs D receiving that phone call, asking Ali to stay inside as if fearing for her safety, then watching as Ali was clobbered and burying her to cover for her clobberer - which 100% fit with Bethany escaping, trying to kill Ali, and Mrs D protecting her, but not so much with this episode. Not just the letter, but also the Ali and CeCe talk (and CeCe is, imo, someone Ali would not lie to about this and/or possible someone who already knows the truth about Ali's relationship with Mrs D anyway) suggests that Ali thought of Mrs D as a protector - another point in favor of the flashback being a lie and the letter being real. Of course, the show might still have both the letter and the flashback be real, with Ali planning something else involving Bethany, and them both getting attacked by the same person who Mrs D protected for reasons to later be invented revealed. Still, the letter is interesting.

Edited by Crim
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ladyrott

ladyrott

I will agree with everyone that the costuming was absolutely gorgeous on the girls.  Those dresses were just incredible, especially Emily's ball gown.  I could live without Aria's tutu looking thing on the skirt, but it fit with what the character would normally wear (and obviously, her creeper teacher boyfriend knows her SO well, he picked out the perfect dress).  If Ezra wasn't there, I would have found the scene with the SOs in their boxers adorable.  Having him standing there with his students took it from "awww" to "OMG! GROSS!" in 2 seconds.

 

I took the Ali Christmas gift memory thing to be about Mrs. D and Bethany.  Nothing else even crossed my mind (regarding twins, etc.) until I came to these boards.  I know it's silly considering everything else, but it bothered me when Mrs. D essentially said "you need to lie about this or daddy will leave us and it will be your fault".  I was sitting here thinking that is NOT something you put on a child's shoulders....then I remembered what show I am watching.  LOL

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DigitalCount

DigitalCount

Heh, I was so thrown by the awfulness of Ezraboxers that I forgot something else that was funny to me: Aria puts the money in the Salvation Army guy's bucket and he gives them an A message? Why would something like that be left up to that much chance?

 

Of course, it was Aria who put the money in, so perhaps it wasn't chance at all, but that would require me to think about this show and that's in the past now.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

(edited)
I love how at this point they don't even bother grilling the Santa about who gave him the message to pass along.

 

 

It was pretty hilarious how blasé they were about getting that snow globe, because yeah, what charity doesn't give away snow globes for a dollar donation. lol (it was a snow globe, right? This show is so ridiculous I might have made that part up, but in my head it was a snow globe he gave her because it was obvious to A at least weeks ago that Aria would be walking down that street on that night and that her charitable spirit would overcome her at that moment and she would have cash on her (who carries cash anymore?)

 

It reminded me of the movie Clue, (one of my all time favorite movies) when the house guests get so used to stumbling upon dead bodies that they just kind of shrug and move on to the next room. If this were a show with any depth I would say it is showing that these girls are being broken, that they are slowly being defeated buy the relentless inevitability of A. But having watched this show since the very beginning I know it was just that the dart landed on Santa...with a snowglobe...in the street on the great big dart board of ideas.

Edited by Mabinogia
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bettername2come

bettername2come

I'm not sure I followed Spencer's train of thought here: "When you're out on bail for murder, NOT celebrating Christimas just seems like the right thing to do". Ehm WTF? Shouldn't it be the opposite? Shouldn't that be ALL THE MORE reason to celebrate?

I think her point is, "There are murder charges against me. I'm not really feeling the Christmas spirit. Bah humbug." Which is reasonable.

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Mabinogia

Mabinogia

Thanks StarsFallen. This is a snow globe heavy show so I wasn't sure if I got my snow globes mixed up. Not that there are tons of snow globes, lol, but I recall someone collecting them, and Ali giving Emily one once with some kind of hidden message, seriously, if I were these girls I'd be tearing apart every bagel I got before I ate it. There are messages EVERYWHERE!!!!

 

And yeah, until told otherwise, I'm going with the Truman Show theory. Everyone in town is in on it, and only the girls are clueless for the benefit of the viewing public. This is actually a reality show, we just don't know it yet. lol

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emma675

emma675

(edited)

I finally watched this last night and I hope there is never again a PLL Christmas episode. Stick with Halloween, PLL! You do that holiday justice.

 

I literally cringed away from the tv in embarrassment over the boxers scene. How uncomfortable must that have been for all of the actors? I cannot believe adult writers penned that scene and they actually filmed it.

Edited by emma675d
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Law Mom

Law Mom

While it's probable that the letter proves Ally knew Bethany, it could also be the case that someone just wants us (and the Liars) to believe that. I mean, a strange man hands Hanna a treasure map allegedly from Dead Mona that leads them to this letter. Sounds legit.

 

Also, how many times did they mention they never found Mona's body? At least twice, maybe three times? That can only mean one thing. Mona ain't dead.

 

Is it relevant that the matching dresses were yellow, like the matching shirts? Perhaps someone was making a point.

 

I hope Mike had a merry Christmas, wherever he was.

 

And finally, Mabinogia, your snow globe Truman Show theory is brilliant. Even if you are wrong, you should be right. Can you imagine?  No one really died! All the dead people were just acting. Everyone comes back in the last ep--Ian, Jessica, Garrett, Mona. 

 

My personal snow globe theory is that they are paying homage to St. Elsewhere. For those who don't remember, it was a regular medical hospital show, but at the very end of the series finale there was this bizarre scene that made it seem like the entire show was the figment of an autistic boy's imagination as he stared at a snow globe of the hospital. So maybe the whole series is the hallucination of a crazy person, like Mona, or Ally's thoughts as she lay dying under the gazebo.

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Bort

Bort

Or maybe her TWIN is dead.

*dies*

Yeah, like maybe Mona is A again and she just killed off her own twin to fake her death and... Lord help me, that actually sounds plausible for this show...

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