S05.E20: Pretty Isn't The Point

[AmandaPanda]

Determined to get college tuition money without the help of others, Hanna pushes forward with her quest to win the local beauty pageant and hires a pageant coach to ensure her win. Quickly learning that you have to be more than a pretty face to win the grand prize, Hanna turns to Emily for help. Also needing a little help, Aria asks Andrew to help keep tabs on Mike, whose increasingly suspicious behavior suggests a chilling connection to Mona's death. What Aria ultimately discovers makes her blood run cold. Meanwhile, Spencer decides to help Jonny on a less than legal adventure.

 

Promo:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clips:

 

[lion10]

Looking forward to this episode!

[lorikauai]

From the clip I think Mike definitely has roid rage. And Mona is definitely not dead. The Spencer/Toby/Johnny thing is boring me to death. It does seem like anytime Toby turns his back to work (or be A) she's immediately flirting with anyone with a Y chromosome - Wren, Andrew, sober coach guy, whomever.

[mercfan3]

I think I like Johnny just because he's not Toby. And I'm cool with Spencer not having Toby drag her down. 

 

Also..can I just say..that I love that not only is Caleb the best boyfriend...he's actually the character that has shown the most feministm ideologies. His talk to Hanna after the older dude (forget his name) hit on her..and now this about the pagents. Notice he didn't insult the pagent girls..he insulted the process..the objectifying and judging of women's bodies..(in his Caleb way.) This character is so darn likable. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I love that not only is Caleb the best boyfriend...he's actually the character that has shown the most feministm ideologies. His talk to Hanna after the older dude (forget his name) hit on her..and now this about the pagents. Notice he didn't insult the pagent girls..he insulted the process..the objectifying and judging of women's bodies..(in his Caleb way.)

I know! When I watched that clip, I loved that he didn't criticize the girls or Hanna for doing it but the way that they are viewed as meat. I love that there is one guy who doesn't resort to sexist garbage. I also thought it was interesting that he offered to ask his mom's new husband for a loan. I know it depends on your relationship with whoever you are borrowing the money from, but that can be a really humiliating thing to have to do.

 

While part of me is glad that Hanna is so determined to go to college that she is willing to enter a pageant for the $20K, part of me was like, "Think, Hanna, THINK!" $20K  plus her dad's $10K still leaves her $15K short for her first year and doesn't offer any solution for her second, third, and fourth years of college. There are so many scholarships out there (especially oddly specific scholarships) so I wish she would look for some of those. Although as I was typing that, I realized it would be just like A to create a fake scholarship tailored to Hanna so that she thought she had her tuition covered, only to find out after the semester started that she still owed another $10K or more before she could enroll in classes.

[mac123x]

From the clip I think Mike definitely has roid rage.

 

Yep.  And it's so transparent that I can't believe the writers thought this was a clever "maybe Mike is working for A!" twist.  It's not a red herring;  it's a see-though herring.

[dohe]

While the Thaw case is far, far more famous, Daniel Sickles was the first person in the US to be tried for murder and be found not guilty in the US due to temporary insanity.  I wonder what parallel there would be for Stanford White/Evelyn Nesbit/Harry K. Thaw on the show?  In terms of 3 famous people in their time, not sure any case rivals that. 

Edited February 18, 2015 by dohe

[jay741982]

I think I like Johnny just because he's not Toby. And I'm cool with Spencer not having Toby drag her down. 

 

Also..can I just say..that I love that not only is Caleb the best boyfriend...he's actually the character that has shown the most feministm ideologies. His talk to Hanna after the older dude (forget his name) hit on her..and now this about the pagents. Notice he didn't insult the pagent girls..he insulted the process..the objectifying and judging of women's bodies..(in his Caleb way.) This character is so darn likable.

Caleb is awesome. Hanna really has the best Boyfriend/Girlfriend of the 4. Plus I love Hanna and think Caleb has the best taste cause I think Hanna is the hottest of the 4 LOL

[racked]

A lot actually happened plot wise tonight, but I was so distracted by how hot Emily was in those dance scenes. Shay is just gorgeous.

[lion10]

Caleb is awesome. Hanna really has the best Boyfriend/Girlfriend of the 4. Plus I love Hanna and think Caleb has the best taste cause I think Hanna is the hottest of the 4 LOL

 

Emily's the hottest to me.  So did Mona stage the attack or not?  She had all that blood in her room and her mother didn't ask what was in the fridge?  Those dance scenes were really hot (why didn't Caleb enthusiastically applaud?) and one of the two highlights of the episode, the other one being Spencer and Johnny breaking  into an art gallery to steal back their graffiti and driving away in their 70s Scooby van.

Edited February 18, 2015 by lion10

[jay741982]

A lot actually happened plot wise tonight, but I was so distracted by how hot Emily was in those dance scenes. Shay is just gorgeous.

She really is! There is a reason she was recently in Maxim. She's a gorgeous sexy woman

[PBGamer89]

So is Mona alive or what?

 

They are building it up to make it seem like she is.

[Artsda]

Emily can really dance. Shay did a great job. 

 

So Mona faked her death, but ended up really dead? Or she's alive somewhere? How did she think joining up with A and putting Ali in jail was going to help Aria etc..? Why would she do this to her family and when she was finally going away to school?

 

Liked Spencer's art heist. 

Edited February 18, 2015 by Artsda

[ottoDbusdriver]

Hanna is SOOOOOO pissed off that she has spent maybe a half a day on some dancing routines, and yet somehow that's good enough for the pageant coach to take her on.  She didn't even get to try any fancy pageant walkin'.

 

Hannah's dance routine in front of the coach kind of devolved from dancing, to angry stripper moves, to some sort of seizure at the end.  Not good.

[PBGamer89]

I hope Mona is really alive.

 

Janel really kills it on this show ans Mona is such a deliciously twisted character.

[GaT]

Unfortunately I can't find the post, but whoever it was that commented that they thought Mona was storing up her own blood to fake her death, congratulations, you called it. At least we don't have to see any more "what is Mike up to?" plot. When Aria told the other liars about Mona, & everyone realized that Alison wasn't A, was I the only one who thought it was strange that nobody said something about A still being out there? They all just concentrated on Alison, you would think that by now they would be on the alert for A.

 

Please let Talia be gone now.

 

Did A take Jonny's work?

[lorikauai]

Seriously? It's like the writers are not even trying. Spencer was all upset last week that Johnny tricked her into vandalizing a building because she "can't get in trouble again" but this week she's got no problem with burglarizing a gallery. Boo hoo Mrs H kicked him out and he has to sleep in his car. And Toby is a bad guy for arresting him. But being A is no big deal.

So they want us to believe Mona was going to help A by faking her death and framing Ali for her murder so she can discover who the real A is and was then double crossed and actually murdered by the real A? And she was going to be the hero to Ali and the Liars. By framing them. And she was definitely murdered because she won't return Mike's calls?

Big surprise Talia is not "just friends" with her husband. This storyline is just plain gross and gets worse every time she is on screen. You can go now Talia.

And Hanna's all hurt because she was told she's not ready for a pageant she decided to enter 5 minutes ago? Kate's name on the list? Classic MonA.

Oh and I called that Mona faked her death. And i don't think she was murdered by A. Maybe she's hiding from A. Maybe she is A. But she's not dead.

[hqtextbook]

Awwww Emily was so great at the end there. The only thing I "ship" on this show for real is the friendship b/w all 4 plls (ok and caleb. caleb is the best). Can Toby, Ezra, Johnny, and Andrew seriously just leave forever now? 

[insubordination]

So Talia's husband has no problem that his wife is banging a high school girl. He came to the cafe and talked to said high school girl to explain that he was cool with it, because he'll love his wife long-term. OK! I guess this is Rosewood, so I shouldn't be surprised. Your spouse is banging a high-schooler. No biggie!

 

Yes Caleb is nice. I like that he didn't feel the need to validate how pretty she is.  I'm glad he's over his alcoholic phase.   I don't think Caleb needs to be doing anything exciting. All his interaction with any of the core 4 liars seem to work, though the actor is not especially charismatic to me.

 

Was bored with Spencer for once.  Didn't care about any of her shit. Why in fuck do the Hastings rent out that space to odd guys who hang around their daughter and push all kind of boundaries?  Do they want to make money that badly? Don't care what Toby's up to either.

 

I like watching Ashley (Laura Leighton). More Ashley please.  I didn't comment last week, but I loved the scenes involving Hannah and her parents.

 

I also enjoy that Aria has a story linked to her brother, rather than a romantic interest  storyline (oh wait...forgot about awkward Andrew).  It was amusing when Aria said her father would be home soon. When?

 

Not enough momentum in this episode. Move it along show!  No Ezra was nice though. The mention of Jenna just confused me. Had forgotten all about her.

Edited February 18, 2015 by insubordination

[Agent Dark]

Caleb is awesome. Hanna really has the best Boyfriend/Girlfriend of the 4.

Hanna has the best boyfriend AND girlfriend of the 4.  Caleb better watch out because as great as he is, Emily will definitely trump him by winning her girl a cool twenty large. 

 

Ashley normally gives good advice, but I don't think I agree with her "don't get into a relationship knowing it wont go anywhere".  I get she's probably feeling down over the whole Pastor Ted/Jason thing, but Emily is a young adult in the prime of her life.  She shouldn't need to be looking for her ONE TRUE ROMANCE.  Let her have a fling or two.  If that's with a married woman, well granted that's slightly weird, but everyone seems onboard with it so let her have some fun for now.

 

I like the reveal that Mona was planning to fake her death, in that all the signs had been planted and it fits with previous episodes.  However I think something did go wrong (hence the shot of a very dead looking Mona in the boot of the car) and she was double-crossed or ambushed by someone.  I don't think it was Alison either, because that seems too easy and obvious answer to just make Alison the villain.  I've not read (and don't want to read) the spoilers about some upcoming episodes, but I gather there's some interesting twists and turns coming up so I'm keen to see what happens. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

While I applaud Emily for dropping everything to help Hanna come up with a routine for the pageant at the last minute, have these girls never seen a pageant? The original choreography was tame by dance recital standards but too suggestive for the pageant world. And that was even before Hanna started going nuts. Interesting to see Elizabeth the stripper play a non-stripper role.

 

I knew that the pageant coach would latch on to Emily. For most of the episode, I was convinced that A paid the pageant coach to tell Hanna she sucks and to get her as upset as possible. But after she told Emily that letting Hanna actually enter the pageant the way she is now would be a more public humiliation, I thought okay, fine, the coach is probably legit and not on A's payroll because A would have preferred to let Hanna enter, give her a really pointed question during the Q&A, grease the floor before her dance routine, and then finish with pouring a bucket of pig's blood on her during the crowning Carrie style.

 

How did Jonny and Spencer manage to break in without setting off the alarm until he tried to take the last painting? And is that the only gallery in the world without security cameras? I know that Spencer lives in Rosewood so she has a very skewed view of the law and stuff, but how could she not comprehend that breaking into a gallery and stealing Jonny's paintings was illegal? She kept saying that Jonny didn't do anything wrong, conveniently ignoring that breaking & entering and burglary are both crimes.

 

And HELLO, no gloves? They left fingerprints all over the locks and everything. It takes some balls to stroll into a gallery and get indignant about someone selling your vandalism. Dude, you're just lucky that they didn't catch you spray painting the roof, but now you are going to confess to vandalism out of pride?

 

So is there only one tree in the woods behind Mona's house? How else would Aria have been able to find it so easily? The best part of that whole lame storyline was Andrew offering to help and Aria saying, "Great! Could you just follow my little brother?" Seriously?

 

 

 

So Talia's husband has no problem that his wife is banging a high school girl. He came to the cafe and talked to said high school girl to explain that he was cool with it, because he'll love his wife long-term. OK! I guess this is Rosewood, so I shouldn't be surprised. Your spouse is banging a high-schooler. No biggie!

Talia gets worse and worse every week. First she was just an adult hitting on a high school girl, which is par for the course in Rosewood. Then it turned out she was a married adult hitting on a high school girl. Now she's a married adult who is telling her husband that she's just experimenting with a high school girl. Aside from the obvious issues with that, Talia is lying to both Emily and her husband. Ditch her, Emily! You can do much better. Talia always has the same bored look on her face and the same monotone voice. Zzzzzzzz.

 

All the guys on this show suck except Caleb. I am glad that Spencer's mom kicked Jonny out. See ya! I thought it was weird that he made that comment about living in his car with his paintings. So the police didn't make him return them to the gallery?

 

Spencer's mom gets points for kicking Jonny out immediately, but Ashley still wins for best parent of the episode. The advice she gave Emily was perfect.

 

ETA:

Ashley normally gives good advice, but I don't think I agree with her "don't get into a relationship knowing it wont go anywhere".  I get she's probably feeling down over the whole Pastor Ted/Jason thing, but Emily is a young adult in the prime of her life.  She shouldn't need to be looking for her ONE TRUE ROMANCE.  Let her have a fling or two.

I'm fine with Emily having a fling if she is the one looking for a no strings attached relationship, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Not everyone has to be the potential love of your life, but Emily is a serial monogamist. And even if she wanted to have a fling, I would still side with Ashley in this - don't go into any kind of relationship, however brief and non-emotional, knowing that the other person is lying to you and that you will get hurt. Have a fling with someone who you have no emotional attachment to so that you don't get hurt!

Edited February 18, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Agent Dark]

I'm fine with Emily having a fling if she is the one looking for a no strings attached relationship, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Not everyone has to be the potential love of your life, but Emily is a serial monogamist. And even if she wanted to have a fling, I would still side with Ashley in this - don't go into any kind of relationship, however brief and non-emotional, knowing that the other person is lying to you and that you will get hurt. Have a fling with someone who you have no emotional attachment to so that you don't get hurt!

I know Emily seems to have that serial monogamist side to her, but wasn't she basically asking Ashley whether or not to go for a "in the moment, knowing that it won't lead anywhere" relationship?  I took that as Emily wondering if she can try something different, that she doesn't have to be looking for a relationship that could lead somewhere.  But Ashley basically told her the opposite?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I thought that Emily was saying, "Talia is a lying liar who lies, but I also feel tingly around her. Should I cut my losses and end things now or just stay on until the wheels fall off?" The problem is that Emily is already emotionally involved so she can't have a fling with Talia. She is already hurt by Talia's deception and she can't make herself stop having feelings for Talia. It's not that this won't go anywhere. It's already doing somewhere because Emily has feelings for Talia (because you know Emily - she always has feelings!) so now the question is whether she wants to ride the pain train knowing that this will end in being hurt and disappointed at least one more time (but more likely several more times) or try to make a clean break now. The whole point of a fling is that it's just for fun and there are no strings attached. You don't get hurt because you aren't attached. It's too late for that with Talia now.

 

Ashley knew none of this so based on the very minimal information that Emily gave her, Ashley is just saying that it's a mistake to go into a relationship knowing that you will be hurt and disappointed.

Edited February 18, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Agent Dark]

Heh, someone needs to remind Emily that Rosewood seems to be a lesbian nexus, and there will be plenty of fish in the pond if she doesn't want to deal with the bullshit of this one girl.  Personally I think the obvious solution is to ditch Talia and ride off into the sunset with Hanna (sorry Caleb).

[jay741982]

Agent Dark No kidding that Hanna has an awesome Boyfriend AND Girlfriend with Caleb and Emily. IF Hanna went Lez with Emily that would be too hot for me lol

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Heh, someone needs to remind Emily that Rosewood seems to be a lesbian nexus, and there will be plenty of fish in the pond if she doesn't want to deal with the bullshit of this one girl.  Personally I think the obvious solution is to ditch Talia and ride off into the sunset with Hanna (sorry Caleb).

Ha, no kidding! Emily is never single for more than a few minutes before another girl sidles up to her. Forget Talia, girl! You can find an unmarried lesbian. Just give it like 5-10 minutes.

 

If we can work out some sort of Hanna/Caleb/Emily polyamorous throuple situation, I'm in!

Edited February 18, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Kaboom 2.0]

Dammit, my post was just eaten up. :-(

 

Caleb and Hanna are still all-win for me. Never thought of those two plus Emily in a polyamorous sitch before but I think I like it. :-)

 

Loved: seeing Mona again although I have no freaking idea how any of her plan, as outlined to Mike, makes any damn sense; Emily and Caleb's supporting Hanna; Ashley continuing to be the one parent in Rosewood that we have seen who is most normal and supportive; no Ezra.

 

Things that made me want to scream and throw something at the tv: Spencer with NO gloves, again!; Spencer and Toby; Talia's crap wrt her husband and Emily; all flashbacks of Hanna's step sister Kate, I just want to bitchslap that face whenever I see it.

 

I'm sure there's more but a tv show should not make me feel this angry and confused.

[Primetimer]

Don't you love it when Spencer totally contradicts herself but it's okay because there's kissing?

Read the story

[Peanut6711]

So many incidents in last night’s show just seemed to point out what a hot mess these girls are.

Hannah—oh geez, that dance she did in those clothes and with the heavy eye make-up made her look like a deranged football player.  And the pageant sample questions she couldn’t answer—shouldn’t that be a clue to Hannah that maybe ‘A’ is the reason she got into these colleges and even if she had the money to go there she’s not going to be able to cut it academically???

Aria—Has ‘A’ induced ADD so bad she can’t concentrate on a single subject. And while it was nice to get a break from high school teacher love, she came across totally unhinged when Andrew asked to help and she sent him to follow her brother.

Spencer—Should be smart enough to know that “neighbor boy” is trouble, not to mention she’s been doing this ‘A’ crap long enough to know that it was probably a set up and to wear gloves when breaking into somewhere. Nice little print she left there above the lock. Does Mrs. Hastings not better vet her boarding applicants?

Emily—Well she rocked those dance moves and I feel a little bad for her because Talia is wishy-washy and seems to be playing her. Talia’s husband’s take on the relationship was a twist I didn’t see coming. Letting his wife experiment?...Next I’m expecting him to request to watch them. Or maybe he'll just rent the video version from Ezra.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It's hilarious that I found it more shocking that Talia's husband was okay with her experimenting with a high school girl than it was to find out that Mona faked her own death.

Edited February 18, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Captain Asshat]

Things, not related to the plot, that stood out to me in this episode:

 

• Hanna's shirt was misspelled, if it's actually French and using the accents. The word is "garçon, not "garcon," with an accent over it. Yep, this is so nitpicky, it shows that I'm clearly hate watching at this point.
• Of course Andrew is tops in all the classes, at 25, he's taken them all multiple times.
• Why did Johnny, who specifically asked for a toolbox (not random tools), first look for it in a drawer? What was he seeking, Carpenter Smurf's toolbox?

 

Things related to the plot: Does anyone in this town *not* know about A at this point?

Edited February 18, 2015 by Captain Asshat

[kitmerlot1213]

I was extremely impressed by Ashley Benson--she is an accomplished dancer just like Shay Mitchell, so the fact that she could make Hanna look as awkward as she did was kind of brilliant.

 

I also loved Emily standing by Hanna and helping her with all of her crazy plans--that's a good friend and Caleb continues to be the best boyfriend ever.  

 

I need to see Mona back on my screen--the character and actress rock :)

[KatWay]

As much as I don't care about the love interests (except Caleb), I am also really over the fact that any time one of the girls breaks up or is on the rocks with their respective significant other, they turn to someone else like five minutes later and hook up with them. Dear show, girls can stay single for longer than a day or two. They also don't get over relationships super easily and latch on to the next best person available. I know it's a lot to ask for realism from PLL, but it's really been bugging me for a while.

 

How lazy are these writers that they can't think of any plots that don't involve the girls and some romantic entanglements? I mean, it's not like there's a murder mystery going on.

[cuddlingcrowley]

Eh, hate to say I called Talia's "my husband is my best friend" bullshit as being bullshit but I totally did. I'm so glad Emily took the blinders off and right in time for Alison being revealed as innocent. Bring on the Emison! Good riddance, Talia!

 

On that note, I absolutely loved how the writers went about this. As most of you, I was convinced Mike had absolutely nothing to do with A and his behavior would be given some unsatisfying explanation like "roid rage" and that would be that. But not only was he was detrimental to the reveal that Mona faked her death but he did a great service to the narrative by retaining the mistery of whether she's actually dead in a belivable manner!

 

Bonus points for the writers for doing that Mona fainting scene way back when that leads credibility and build up for this entire storyline. A++++, writers! Well, done!

 

Hanna's crazy dance will go down as one of my favorite pll moments of all time! These writers know their characters in a way that very few tv show writers know. They could have easily took the lazy, superficial way out and had Hanna not be as good a dance as Emily and that would be that. But instead they went all they way and did a character piece and I was so happy. We also got a gorgeous Hannily moment! 

 

Personally I think the obvious solution is to ditch Talia and ride off into the sunset with Hanna (sorry Caleb).

 

 

Indeed. And I know Ashley Benson is game so what the hell is MK waiting for?

 

I was extremely impressed by Ashley Benson--she is an accomplished dancer just like Shay Mitchell, so the fact that she could make Hanna look as awkward as she did was kind of brilliant.

 

 

I was very impressed by those scenes for many reasons and this is one of them. AB was truly brilliant. That couldn't have been easy.

 

Also, Caleb being so meh about the girls dancing reminded me back of the time I was convinced he was gay and was bound to have an affair with Lucas. Caleb is a great pal but as a boyfriend he's a wetblanket as much as the rest of the boyfriends on this show.

 

Last, but not least, oh Jonny, I miss you already! The juxtaposition of Emily and Hanna dancing to Bang Bang and Spencer being a Boss as she stole art made my life! I don't think I've loved her,  IN YEARS, as much as I loved her during this episode. The kiss between her and Jonny was the perfect way to end this storyline and props to Troian for how she played the moment Spencer realized she has been cheating on Toby with Jonny this entire time. 

 

Speaking of Toby, I have nothing against Keegan personally. I read an interview where he talked about his book and he seems like a really sweet, cool guy, but MOTHER OF GOD how unlikably can you play a character that even when I don't intelectually disagree with what he's doing, I just want to punch his face. Repeatedly. Not only that, but Spencer is the one going around cheating on him, breaking the law and forcing Toby to chose between her and his job and YET, somehow, I still feel like she's on the right. What has this show done to me?

 

All in all, another amazing episode. Season 5 is shapping up to be one of my favorite seasons. I don't think I've enjoyed this show this much since season 1. I feel like the writers finaaaaaaaaally learned to balance plot, characters and love interests.

Edited February 19, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[Chaos Theory]

Let's make a MonaClone!

This episode makes me want to ship Emily with Ashley more then ever.

Spencer is at her best when she is breaking the law. To bads for Tobey da cop. I like Jonny anyway. Bye Jonny. Your just lucky the Hadtings didn't let you rot for telling Spence she didn't have to got to college.

Watching Hanna dance was like crack! Oh my god was that amazing!

The complete and utter lack of Ezra has made Aria interesting. It has also made her a target for A but that is beside the point...into the woods I go...without a flashlight or a buddy.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[lion10]

Emily—Well she rocked those dance moves and I feel a little bad for her because Talia is wishy-washy and seems to be playing her. Talia’s husband’s take on the relationship was a twist I didn’t see coming. Letting his wife experiment?...Next I’m expecting him to request to watch them. Or maybe he'll just rent the video version from Ezra.

 

He'd have to wear an Alison mask and wig for Emily to be on board with that.

[apgold]

 

Why did Johnny, who specifically asked for a toolbox (not random tools), first look for it in a drawer? Was he seeking, Carpenter Smurf's toolbox?

 

And then A was in Mike's room with a wrench of some sort?  Although for him to be A is just really random, who is this guy?

 

Hanna's dance was awesome - I expect to see lots of animated gifs of that for sometime to come.  How sweet of Emily to offer to do the pageant and give her the money if she wins.  What a great friend she is.

 

So if Mona was taking her own blood (another one of her talents) no wonder she fainted during the Xmas auditions.  Would love for her to still be alive but her plan made my head hurt.

[cuddlingcrowley]

So if Mona was taking her own blood (another one of her talents) no wonder she fainted during the Xmas auditions.  Would love for her to still be alive but her plan made my head hurt.

 

 

I had to rewind because I was confused as well, but it seems framing Alison was A's plan which Mona only went along with so she could gain A's trust in order to take them down. Alison getting framed was just a means to an end. I'm sure she'll love learning that!

 

The person playing A is obviously a dude and I think the show was actually making point that it was a dude in their last scene, so who do we think it is? Ezra? Toby? Andrew?

[Crim]

^ It's probably just an A minion.

 

Oh wow. So many surprising things happened in this episode! Wait, no, they didn't. Except for the Spencer storyline, which was surprising... due to being ridiculously unbelievable.

 

Talia's husband was just marking his territory: he knew Talia wasn't there, knew he'd find Emily, had his speech prepared. Gross, and also really sad. Talia really is a horrible, self-centered mess. Emily, you've been here before. Just walk away.

[gesundheit]

Hannah's insane dance was basically one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

 

An Ezra-free episode! What did we do right to deserve this??

 

I really wish Emily would just tell Talia what her husband said. This is one of those TV tropes that drives me nuts. If she says nothing, Talia has plausible deniability that her hubby is just in denial about the end of their relationship (uh, and who could blame what with the fact that she's still married to him) and she was under the impression that they were free and clear to pursue other relationships. I don't know if Talia outright lied or not, but it is a situation Emily should run from.

[GaT]

I knew that the pageant coach would latch on to Emily. For most of the episode, I was convinced that A paid the pageant coach to tell Hanna she sucks and to get her as upset as possible. But after she told Emily that letting Hanna actually enter the pageant the way she is now would be a more public humiliation, I thought okay, fine, the coach is probably legit and not on A's payroll because A would have preferred to let Hanna enter, give her a really pointed question during the Q&A, grease the floor before her dance routine, and then finish with pouring a bucket of pig's blood on her during the crowning Carrie style.

 

 

Unless the public humiliation plan is for Emily. In that case, A played them again.

[lorikauai]

As much as I don't care about the love interests (except Caleb), I am also really over the fact that any time one of the girls breaks up or is on the rocks with their respective significant other, they turn to someone else like five minutes later and hook up with them. Dear show, girls can stay single for longer than a day or two. They also don't get over relationships super easily and latch on to the next best person available. I know it's a lot to ask for realism from PLL, but it's really been bugging me for a while.

 

How lazy are these writers that they can't think of any plots that don't involve the girls and some romantic entanglements? I mean, it's not like there's a murder mystery going on.

 

This! x 1000

[Crim]

I really wish Emily would just tell Talia what her husband said.

She did say the first important part, and Talia didn't deny it. The conversation died right there.

 

Emily: "You told him I was an experiment, a one-time thing."

Talia: "I didn't know where this was going."

Emily: "It's going nowhere. I'm not into girls because it's trendy."

T: "I don't think of you that way."

E: "This relationship now has three people in it, Talia. And you've been lying to every one of them."  - and then she goes after Hanna.

 

I thought this was well done and quite clear. Emily said her piece, and the critical moment was right there at the first exchange: Talia didn't deny telling her husband it was an experiment. What she is saying is that it got more serious - but she didn't let her husband know this. Or maybe she indirectly did, by talking so much about Emily, which is why the guy went to Emily to passive agressively stake a claim. Emily told Talia about what happened. At this point, this is out of Emily's hands.

 

Talia sounds like a habitual liar through omission/obfuscation: she didn't say she was married, then she described the marriage as "best friends who are still together", told her husband it was an experiment, then got more serious (allegedly) about Emily and kept talking about her, but let it go at that, is all too content to keep her relationship with Emily a secret (Emily didn't even ask why she seemed to care so much about Ezra not knowing) even as they work together and she talks to Emily's mother and becomes part of Emily's life. And, most importantly, never seems to see anything as a lie - she just didn't mention something for whatever reason. It's actually quite a bit of an interesting play on Ali as a liar, and Ali playing head/heart games with Emily. They are completely different people (I find Talia more repugnant, honestly, because of her wide-eyed pretense of startled innocence and regret), but got Emily in the same corner. Don't be a sucker, Emily.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Crim

[lorikauai]

I've known women just like Talia, well aside from the pursuing teenagers part. But the juggling two relationships part while minimizing the role of each to whomever she's with? Yep.

[Jack Shaftoe]

What the hell was this? Hanna's plotline, I mean. I am seriously starting to wonder just what drugs the writers are taking or if they read each other's scripts at all. First, Hanna is suddenly super smart and now she can't say a single word about banal questions like the US foreign policy? She is shaken by wicked step sister Kate participating? And she turns to dancing for no reason whatsoever?

 

Spencer also got a lobotomy in this episode . Please, please, let this be the last we see of Jonny "I make Ezra seem bearable"! It takes a very special kind of idiot to vandalise a private property and then whine about their work being stolen. Why would want to keep that ugly painting in the first place? Nothing of this plot made a lick of sense even if we ignore Spencer sudden complete change of opinion regarding going on a crime spree with that idiot. Officer Toby cracked me up, though, when he didn't bother confiscating the van with the evidence.

 

Emily was awesome once she finally spent some time outside of the Brew. And extremely hot, too. Mmm, those long legs. Yummy. Though I found the connection between Pam and Talia utterly unbelievable. And Talia? Don\t let the door hit you on the way out.

 

Mike - why are the girls buying his story just like that? It makes (some sense) if you are a viewer and know how TV shows have a propensity of resurrecting characters but in-show his explanation was crazy. Why would Mona trust him so much? He is dumb and rather unstable. And she already worked for A+ without apparently learning anything useful.It drives me insane how the Liars are all "X is A! J'accuse!" based on almost no evidence at all, then some new information comes up that proves very little too and they are all "we are most certainly wrong, Y is A, poor X!"

 

And if they really bring Mona back, I swear to Zeus, that I would seriously consider dropping this trainwreck. Eye-candy, hate-watching and the occasional moment when the characters behave like when the show was good can only help so much.

 

 

Speaking of Toby, I have nothing against Keegan personally. I read an interview where he talked about his book and he seems like a really sweet, cool guy, but MOTHER OF GOD how unlikably can you play a character that even when I don't intelectually disagree with what he's doing, I just want to punch his face. Repeatedly. Not only that, but Spencer is the one going around cheating on him, breaking the law and forcing Toby to chose between her and his job and YET, somehow, I still feel like she's on the right.

 

Keegan isn't much of an actor (understatement alert!) but he is obviously being directed to play Toby that way, just like he was told to make those hilarious evil faces in 3B. No idea why they decided he should play his character that way - with the scowling and threatening looks and the monotone voice. Did they write some of these scenes for Wilden or Garret once upon a time and decided to recycle them? I wouldn't put it past those writers.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[Law Mom]

The faked death with the saved blood was figured out so long ago I almost forgot it hadn't been revealed yet. Is it safe to assume Mike was the pretend killer in the video? If so, that was a pretty last minute plan. Mike said he learned about it three days before Thanksgiving and they argued about it for days.

 

Some comic moments with Johnny being surprised at Spencer's B&E skills. However, did it not occur to them that all art galleries have alarm systems? Because that was my first thought. I did like the wire cutter tie-in from a few episodes back, clever.

Also, how is Johnny claiming ownership to the paintings? He painted someone's property without permission, they gave it away, the recipient is selling it. He might be upset about the lack of attribution, but he did not own the physical pieces.

 

I like how normal Andrew seems to be. Hope he doesn't winding up getting creepy and then dead.

Poor Toby, even when he sneaks in some important Tanner info, Spencer can't cut him a break. He was pretty much telling her once again that he is a Rosewood cop for her benefit and she won't play along.

 

Usually I am so sick and tired of Emily's moodiness, 90% of which is of the sulking variety, but I thought she was pretty awesome in this episode. Love these friendship moments!

 

So the Barn of Secrets is open for rent again. If this were real life, here is what I would suggest. Hanna should get a job, rent out the barn, apply for emancipation, and qualify for financial aid.

[Jack Shaftoe]

By the way if Mike knows so much about A he should be treating Aria a little better. Not that she has suffered much from A compared to the other 3 Liars but still.

 

Are we expected to believe Mike just happened to come by the blood drive and act all sketchy for no reason? Why not just have A taunt the Liars with pictures of the blood vials and then have Aria randomly come across Mike's creepy blood memento at home? 

Edited February 18, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[Mabinogia]

I had to rewatch the dancing Hanna scene because I was distracted by how hot dancing Emily was, and I'm a straight girl, but DAMN is Shay Mitchell hot!

 

Glad to be rid of Talia, if we really are, but what the fuck was the point of that storyline? I mean, I get the point of Johnny. He was there to make Spencer question if she really wanted to go to college, and to get her burgle on, and to force the fight between her and Toby for which I will be eternally grateful to Jonny because anything that comes between Spooby is good with me.

 

I don't care how improbable it is, I hope Mona is alive. I love Mona. Girl is dedicated, collecting her own blood for weeks (months?) that is some serious dedication to the cause.

 

I am shocked to learn that I like Aria. Ezra free Aria is fun to watch. I also adore Andrew. I liked him before and like him now that he's back. So odds are, he will be A, or a garden variety Rosewood Creeper.

 

Overall I thought it was a great episode. That could just be because it marked the end of Talia (hopefully) had no Ezra, and featured Hanna and Emily dancing (and BFFing) and Spencer using her mad criminal skills and loving the hell out of it. You could tell she was just enjoying herself there. That is what she lacks with Toby, any sense of fun and enjoyment.