Things the Show Gets Right: A Positivity Thread

[bettername2come]

The series gets more than enough snark for its relationships, thirty-year-old teenagers and slow progression of its mysteries, so I thought we should have a thread to talk about what we DO like about the show.

 

1. Caleb. He's cute, not creepy, not A, and he generally makes good decisions. Best love interest on the series.

2. The old school horror and film noir references that pop up. The show normally handles these very well, and the cast looked really good in black and white.

3. Humorous dialogue. Spencer and Hanna get the best snark, especially when it's friendly snark directed at each other.

[hqtextbook]

The friendship between the plls!!! probably 95% of why I watch the show. I love their unconditional love, no-filter dialogue, and how they drop everything including their boys when one of them "SOS's"

[AmandaPanda]

People laugh at me when I tell them that PLL is a feminist show. I think this show has the best depiction of teenage female friendships, though. They're there for each other constantly and aren't afraid to be honest with each other. It's such a relief to be able to see a show that passes the Bechdel test in basically every single episode.

[hqtextbook]

 

passes the Bechdel test in basically every single episode.

Not only does it pass the bechdel test (and most episodes fail the reverse test!), but there is none of your standard girl vs girl bitchy hs drama. Like nobody is trying to steal anybody's boyfriend, nobody cares who is popular, nobody is threatened by another girls appearance. I guess they are too busy trying to survive :). But this kind of interaction in a hs setting between girls is not something you see on tv ever! This show is totally feminist and its awesome. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

1. The Liars friendship. I love it so much that every time the Liars quarrel I get anxious for a quick reconciliation.

2. Eye candy. Talk about living up to the "pretty" part of the show's name.

3. The cinematography in general. PLL looks much better than many a more expensive show.

4. Often it seems that the show creators are aware how silly the plot developments so they go for refuge in audacity. Like the whole Toby is now a cop deal - let's make it happen in a week for extra lulz. Or maybe, I am just saying that so that I wouldn't regard the writers as complete fools...

5. Ashley Marin. And her love affair with wine.

6. The humour. One of the main reasons I preferred early mean girl Mona to evil supergenius Mona - she was so much more fun: "Oh, please. I am, like the horse whisperer."

 

 

Like nobody is trying to steal anybody's boyfriend, nobody cares who is popular, nobody is threatened by another girls appearance.

 

To be fair, Mona and Alison, for instance, cared a great deal about being popular. Hanna too, in the early episode of season one. But yes, as much as it sounds like damning with faint praise, it is great to see for once a show about a group of female friends where nobody is interested in someone else's boyfriend (or girlfriend).

[DigitalCount]

The best thing was how CeCe looked so sad and lame for assuming that they even remotely cared about that nonsense. Yes, sometimes the show works.

[Crim]

To be fair, Mona and Alison, for instance, cared a great deal about being popular. Hanna too, in the early episode of season one.

True, but aside from Ali (then and now), they weren't engaged in popularity bitch fests and/or love triangles with each other, so even when Hanna cared about popularity in season 1 or what it meant when Ali returned, this didn't pull too much focus or take too much air time because it was still just one Liar's storyline.

 

And yes, when there is romantic drama, it is with people that are not current, past or future love interests for the other Liars. PLL would rather introduce and retire new characters than recycle them as love interests, which is something I really like about the show.

Often it seems that the show creators are aware how silly the plot developments so they go for refuge in audacity. Like the whole Toby is now a cop deal - let's make it happen in a week for extra lulz.

It was hilarious in a facepalming way, but I think it makes sense that they went for the approach that allowed the least on-screen development, i.e. since it happened this fast, we didn't have awkward updates about his training/progress/anything via his conversations with Spencer or Spencer talking to someone about him. So instead of cringe-worthy material over multiple episodes, they bit the bullet and jumped the shark, and now it's happened and we can start to forget how silly the whole Cop!Toby thing is. I don't think they could have handled this storyline in a satisfactory manner; I don't think anyone could have, with PLL's timeline and Keegan not being off the show for entire seasons.

 

I'm seconding/third-ing the old movies references and the cinematography. Even if I quit watching at some point, I will still follow the show to see if they ever try to top the blatant, ripoff-tastic Hitchcock "homage" in the latest special. I hope they try to do Rope the next time; I don't even care who has to die for it.

Edited December 23, 2014 by Crim

[Bort]

And yes, when there is romantic drama, it is with people that are not current, past or future love interests for the other Liars.

There WAS whatever that was with Hanna and Wren but it (A) barely got past the flirting stage and (B) Spencer didn't seem to give a shit anyway, and she does refer to Wren as an ex-boyfriend -- which I think is hilarious in and of itself. Really Spencer? You made out a few times with your sister's ex-fiancé (the first time when he was still actively engaged to Melissa) and he's your ex? Okay then.

[hqtextbook]

There WAS whatever that was with Hanna and Wren but it (A) barely got past the flirting stage and (B) Spencer didn't seem to give a shit anyway, and she does refer to Wren as an ex-boyfriend -- which I think is hilarious in and of itself. Really Spencer? You made out a few times with your sister's ex-fiancé (the first time when he was still actively engaged to Melissa) and he's your ex? Okay then.

(C ) Hanna literally said the words "a friends doesnt date her best friends ex" when telling wren that their kiss was a mistake and wont happen again. I loved that. Hanna is the best. 

Edited January 3, 2015 by hqtextbook

[larapu2000]

I feel like they know how creepy and horrible Ezra is and that they make him say and do things that are creepy and horrible, just to please me. And I think it's the same way with all the men in Rosewood, the show is just like "these girls are never meeting a nice guy EVER, all men are murder-y in some way."

I don't want to sound creepy myself,but I fucking love incest storylines. I love that they went there.

[bettername2come]

Whoever's picking out the music is on point - A chooses some really great songs. "Don't Fence Me In" "Walking After Midnight" were used creepily and hilariously. And the same for "Every Breath You Take" over an Ezria love scene. "Teddy Bears Picnic" is now deeply disturbing. I've had "Give Us a Little Love" stuck in my head on a continuous loop since the last episode. Although my favorite non-creepy song use on the show is "Jar of Hearts" when the girls' parents made them split up, just for how they took a breakup song and made it fit perfectly with the friendship.

[AmandaPanda]

One of my favorite things about the show is its references to Hitchcock films. I'm a big Hitchcock fan, so I always get a kick out of the numerous homages. They're so well-done.

[Writing Wrongs]

As I'm doing my re-watch, I think the thing I like most is their friendship. I love how one can text S.O.S. and no matter what drama the others are involved in they drop everything to respond. I wish I'd had friends like that.