S06.E05: She's No Angel

[SadieT]

Slander? I must have imagined Toby and Garrett behind locked up because of Alison then. I like those recaps for the most part but sometimes there is a certain undercurrent of double standard in them that makes me uncomfortable. Like Mona and Alison being praised and say Jason being called an abuser. And frankly, I'm so not disturbed if an 18 year old hooks up with say 22 year old. My main problem with Lorenzo, Ezra and their ilk is that they put me to sleep because they are so boring. Ian, for instance, was much more of a sexual predator than those idiots but he was never boring.

 

When the cops said she was responsible for getting a bunch of people locked behind bars I honestly couldn't think of who they meant. Then I remembered the glorious sight of Toby in a do rag... but does anyone but Toby and the girls know the truth about the Jenna thing? And Alison didn't directly set Garrett up to take the fall for her fake murder, didn't he just do a bunch of stupid shit to make himself look guilty? I really don't remember much about Garrett because I found him kind of pointless and never considered him relevant to the plot. But it's not like Ali framed anyone for her murder a la Mona, someone legitimately tried to kill her and out of fear she ran and let everyone think her would be killer had succeeded. As a result, a couple of people got falsely accused of murdering her... it happens in Rosewood. 

 

Regardless of what Alison did when she was 15 years old, it's still pretty inappropriate for two police officers to refer to the high school girl they're supposed to be protecting as a "little skank" and joke that they should just chain her to the bed instead of actually doing their jobs and protecting her.

 

And I wouldn't call Jason an abuser, but he wasn't exactly the best big brother to Alison. Didn't Ali run scared to Spencer's house once because Jason was having a party and his friends were barging into her room and harassing her while he got stoned? They never really touched on that again but Alison looked genuinely frightened and upset in that flashback. Obviously it wasn't Jason who was hurting her but he wasn't protecting her either. Also the show made him seem super shady in the early seasons back when everyone and their mom was a suspect in Ali's murder... like that flashback with him and Ali and the field hockey stick? That came off as pretty threatening. Also he was part of the pervy N.A.T. club and apparently spent his days spying on young girls. But now that he's cleaned up his act, he's one of my favorite minor characters and I hate when he goes missing for large chunks of time.  

 

Lorenzo may not be as old as Wilden and Holbrook (at least I don't think he is because they looked like they were in their 30s), and I like the idea of Ali getting a chance at a normal relationship with someone who doesn't know her history, but as a cop, Lorenzo would be pretty familiar with her story, so it's not really a fresh start. Plus he is in a position of power and she's clearly vulnerable at the moment and he's super pushy so, eh...  they should have done better with coming up with a new love interest for her who doesn't come across as a predatory creep. Why can't she meet like a random teenager who works at the local froyo place or something? There has to be a more appropriate suitor for her somewhere in town. But at least the show is consistent with Ali's apparent attraction to cops.

Edited July 3, 2015 by SadieT

[AmandaPanda]

As soon as Emily mentioned Sara getting emancipated, I wanted to scream. And then when Caleb just gave her a job, I almost hit my head into the wall. Can Caleb provide her with a livable wage and health insurance? Is he going to pay for her new apartment? In order to get emancipated, they don't just call a number that you provide them and take the person's word that the person getting emancipated is working for them. You have to provide actual pay stubs. You have to already be living in your own apartment. You don't just go file a paper and get emancipated. It's so frustrating.

[Perfect Xero]

And I wouldn't call Jason an abuser, but he wasn't exactly the best big brother to Alison. Didn't Ali run scared to Spencer's house once because Jason was having a party and his friends were barging into her room and harassing her while he got stoned? They never really touched on that again but Alison looked genuinely frightened and upset in that flashback. Obviously it wasn't Jason who was hurting her but he wasn't protecting her either. Also the show made him seem super shady in the early seasons back when everyone and their mom was a suspect in Ali's murder... like that flashback with him and Ali and the field hockey stick? That came off as pretty threatening. Also he was part of the pervy N.A.T. club and apparently spent his days spying on young girls. But now that he's cleaned up his act, he's one of my favorite minor characters and I hate when he goes missing for large chunks of time. 

 

The problem with Alison is that the show has gone back to MeanGirl!Ali who lies uses and manipulates everyone around her so often that you can't really trust anything involving her. Sure, she seemed upset and said it was about Jason's friends, but we've got no way of knowing what was really going on. It's just as likely that Ali was upset about something completely different and "Jason's friends" was the convenient cover she used with Spencer.

[TomGirl]

Oy, Maddie Ziegler and her Sia video routine, complete with zombie expression and clawing at her face. Enough already.

[Crim]

Eh, I got no problem with Sara.  I think she's pretty good looking (she looks uncannily like Dianna Agron with that short hair imo), Emily is pretty clearly into it and tbh I'm kinda impressed at Emily's commitment to her Game.  I'm also kinda impressed by Caleb's wingman game too - going to the effort of giving his girlfriends best friend's "girlfriend" a job is some serious next level wingman duties.  Respect.

While I had no problem with Sara as I was watching (aside from the actress being weak, which does Shay no favors), I thought that Emily should really be more careful after cousin Nate; then again, nothing says that there weren't some off-screen checkups, like someone talking to her mother and making sure any of her story was real. I don't really believe it, but still. When I gave it some thought though, it occurred to me that Emily is way into it with a presumably straight girl who has major, major issues right now, and this isn't any better than the other creepy courtships on the show. (But if Sara really looked like Dianna Agron I'd get it, I really would, and I would feel creepy for it.) While Emily isn't coming onto her, she is thoughtlessly supporting and even pushing life-changing decisions concerning her, all the while they are both teenagers who had gone through recent trauma.

 

Is the show going for Emily using Sara as a coping mechanism/displacement/Ali substitute? It might be. Is it being coy about it while everything else is done with sledgehammers? Yes. So... yeah, it's like having the cake and eating it. ABC Fam, this better ain't the beginning of a love story, even if it later goes up in flames that reveal that it was always fucked up, because Ezria was bad enough.

 

The problem with Alison is that the show has gone back to MeanGirl!Ali

Does the show have any legit characterization at this point, except when it comes to the Liars? It's not just Ali's that hasn't been making any sense lately. Everything concerning Mona this episode was so wtf that not even the inevitability of a Twist Reveal can salvage it for me. It was even more jarring that the wtfery of Ali and of Mona collided, as if those 2 are being outsourced to some backup writers who have no idea what the other teams are doing.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Crim

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

Sure, she seemed upset and said it was about Jason's friends, but we've got no way of knowing what was really going on. It's just as likely that Ali was upset about something completely different and "Jason's friends" was the convenient cover she used with Spencer.

 

Indeed. Personally I find it very hard to believe Alison would be so scared of Jason's friends and their drunken parties. All she had to do was tell her parents and they would have put an end to that. I mean, they are horrible parents but it's not like they liked Jason that much either. Or if that didn't work for some reason, she always had the option of going next door to sleep at Spencer's. Or, you know, being Alison, she could have just blackmailed the hell out of them.

 

 

When the cops said she was responsible for getting a bunch of people locked behind bars I honestly couldn't think of who they meant.

 

Me neither but that doesn't mean they weren't right, sort of.

 

 

But it's not like Ali framed anyone for her murder a la Mona, someone legitimately tried to kill her and out of fear she ran and let everyone think her would be killer had succeeded. As a result, a couple of people got falsely accused of murdering her... it happens in Rosewood.

 

It happens but usually the dead don't have the option of saying "it wasn't him who killed me because I'm kind of alive, you see".

 

 

Does the show have any legit characterization at this point, except when it comes to the Liars? It's not just Ali's that hasn't been making any sense lately. Everything concerning Mona this episode was so wtf that not even the inevitability of a Twist Reveal™ can salvage it for me.

 

True. Not the Liars' characterization has been anything to write home about for the past two or three seasons, mind you. But the rest of the characters seem almost bipolar by now due to the endless plot twists being obviously considered more important by the writers than any semblance of consistent characterization.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[M1977G]

I agree that Spencer and Hanna made the episode.  Hanna's outfit with the little yellow skirt, necklace and heels was perfection--fierce and sweet, just like my favorite liar.  Yes, Hanna trumps Spencer by a hair for me, mostly because Spencer can think she's too smart and Hanna doesn't get due credit for her brains.  That said, it kills me when Hanna does stupid shit, like bury a gun she's sure her mother used to kill a dirty cop.  But my two favorite liars were in full force this episode.  I loved Hanna's look of total terror when she thought Spencer was leaving her in Radley with a kneecap in a tub, and that Spencer was just getting something to fish it out.  The total terror and total fearlessness of this show are part of what I love about it.  It seems like many folks were disappointed with this episode, but I have to say, I found it to be one of the creepier episodes.  The dancing thing really creeped me out, and I assume the place looked familiar to Spence because she certainly got around when she was in Radley.  

 

I'm so glad that Mona is back, and that she returned with such fabulous shades!  I presume she's not as traumatized as she's pretending to be, though I do not doubt her trauma from getting into way scarier shit than she had intended when she took up her little sinister game back in the day.  Doll houses are pretty much always creepy to me.  One that holds you hostage in that awful yellow ruffle shirt?  No, thank you.

 

I agree with a few others that Sara is probably the one in the hoodie.  I will give the actress the benefit of the doubt and presume that the bad acting is meant to be a hint that Sara is a liar, but not a good one like our beloved foursome.  Emily should resist that ass, but I'm not sure she can.  It will be interesting to see if Ali gets jealous.  I also agree with others that Ali might not be as broken, or as reformed, as she's presenting.  We know she's not trustworthy, and as the one who was not in the doll house, I don't see where/when we saw her hit a breaking point that would really make me believe that Ali was repenting, or scared enough to back off her games.  I don't believe she was Silas's victim, so I don't know what the motive/resolution was in switching from "she's a menace" to "aww, poor Ali."  Btw, what ever happened to Silas?  The last I remember, some vague figure was menacing him in his hospital bed after Hanna and Aria visited him for info they didn't get, while Silas was all bandaged from some terrible fire or something.  Did A kill Silas?

 

Also, while the season's alleged "answers" are pointing to finding out about Charles, and/or who is posing as the banished DiLaurentis bad seed, how does this really connect to A, or A's Army?  Did "Charles" kill Mrs. D?  Oiy, total confusion.

[Perfect Xero]

While I had no problem with Sara as I was watching (aside from the actress being weak, which does Shay no favors), Does the show have any legit characterization at this point, except when it comes to the Liars? It's not just Ali's that hasn't been making any sense lately. Everything concerning Mona this episode was so wtf that not even the inevitability of a Twist Reveal can salvage it for me. It was even more jarring that the wtfery of Ali and of Mona collided, as if those 2 are being outsourced to some backup writers who have no idea what the other teams are doing.

 

I'd say that Caleb has been well characterized and consistent since his early face turn. He went through a rough patch with all the Ravenswood stuff, but it was actually logical characterization given what happened to him on that show.

[cuddlingcrowley]

I think all the parents' characterizations are pretty damn consistent. Same goes for Mona's.

 

I agree on Ali's not making any sense lately though. I enjoyed her through out S5 and got she had been through a lot but now she has lost any and all spark she ever had. I blame the writting exclusively though. Poor Sasha is having to work with some truly terrible material. Not only the whole church thing is as a boring a cliche as you can get, but it kind of makes me sick that the writers are still laying it on Ali about how terriible she used to be at frigging 15 for almost a season and a half now but douche-nozzles like Ezra and Toby getting away with everything they have. The double-standards are insane.

 

But more than anything, I really need for Alison to rise from the ashes, like, yesterday, and have herself a Cordelia Chase moment about being the baddest bitch in town.

Edited July 4, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[mercfan3]

Ali's makes perfect sense if you don't think of her as a psychopath mean girl. 

[cuddlingcrowley]

Ali's makes perfect sense if you don't think of her as a psychopath mean girl.

 

 

I personally have always seen Alison as this flawed young girl. But she also used to be such a bigger-than-life-figure, resourceful, intriguing, bold, charismatic and ruthless. Now, all I'm getting from the character is "traumatized young girl". That's all there is to her character, lately, imo. I see nothing of the Alison from before, even as late as season 5. There's next to no personality there. It's like when the writers took away the mean girl thing, they took away everything else.

 

I'm not frustrated because she's affected by what she's been through. I'm frustrated because I believe the writers can do so much better with her in a way that's true to her development AND interesting to watch, but I've been getting the uncomfortable feeling they're intentionally underusing Sasha... for reasons. The poster who observed her being stuck between Ali's house and porch hit it dead on. Her role in the show has become extremelly limited.

Edited July 4, 2015 by cuddlingcrowley

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

Not only the whole church thing is as a boring a cliche as you can get, but it kind of makes me sick that the writers are still laying it on Ali about how terriible she used to be at frigging 15 for almost a season and a half now but douche-nozzles like Ezra and Toby getting away with everything they have. The double-standards are insane.

 

Remind me - who was the person that Ezra or Toby blinded and then mocked? The names of the friends they've treated like trash for years for shits and giggles? The idea that Alison is being treated unfairly is hilarious. If she weren't given the Karma Houdini status (albeit with constant additions to her sob story, aimed at generating sympathy for her) she wouldn't have been given the time of day by the Liars, a treatment she so richly deserves. Instead, the Liars vacillate between being hostile and friendly to her, depending on the current needs of the plot.

 

 

Ali's makes perfect sense if you don't think of her as a psychopath mean girl.

 

So it makes sense only if you pretend that half of her scenes didn't happen?

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

I don't believe she was Silas's victim, so I don't know what the motive/resolution was in switching from "she's a menace" to "aww, poor Ali."  Btw, what ever happened to Silas?  The last I remember, some vague figure was menacing him in his hospital bed after Hanna and Aria visited him for info they didn't get, while Silas was all bandaged from some terrible fire or something.  Did A kill Silas?

 

Who are you talking about? O.O CYRUS maybe? XD

Edited July 4, 2015 by Giuliano Lanzilli

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

I personally have always seen Alison as this flawed young girl. But she also used to be such a bigger-than-life-figure, resourceful, intriguing, bold, charismatic and ruthless. Now, all I'm getting from the character is "traumatized young girl". That's all there is to her character, lately, imo. I see nothing of the Alison from before, even as late as season 5. There's next to no personality there. It's like when the writers took away the mean girl thing, they took away everything else.

 

I'm not frustrated because she's affected by what she's been through. I'm frustrated because I believe the writers can do so much better with her in a way that's true to her development AND interesting to watch, but I've been getting the uncomfortable feeling they're intentionally underusing Sasha... for reasons. The poster who observed her being stuck between Ali's house and porch hit it dead on. Her role in the show has become extremelly limited.

 

it was me, and I said between her living room couch and church. Anyway glad to see we almost always agree!

[DigitalCount]

It was pointed out to me on tumblr that if Aria saw a black hoodie in a negative, then it's probably (aka definitely) not a black hoodie in real life. Stay perfect, Aria.

[raytch]

Remind me - who was the person that Ezra or Toby blinded and then mocked? The names of the friends they've treated like trash for years for shits and giggles? The idea that Alison is being treated unfairly is hilarious. If she weren't given the Karma Houdini status (albeit with constant additions to her sob story, aimed at generating sympathy for her) she wouldn't have been given the time of day by the Liars, a treatment she so richly deserves. Instead, the Liars vacillate between being hostile and friendly to her, depending on the current needs of the plot.

So it makes sense only if you pretend that half of her scenes didn't happen?

So you're saying Ezra luring Aria into an illegal relationship from day 1, keeping tabs on her, her friends, and practically anyone she's in contact with is not as bad as the shit Ali pulled when she was 15?

Or Toby working twice with A is nothing?

He was Mona's side kick in season 3 and basically was in on all the A shenanigans all that time. When he stole the lair in season 4 to get information on his mother he took away the biggest resource the liars had.

Here's the thing, Ali was no better, but Ali was also a 15 years old girl who was taught no better by her mother.

Ezra and Toby are adults and no matter how you twist it they should have known better. Every character on this show has done questionable things, but in the end it boils down to one thing. Some are adults and some are teenagers who did not know better.

At least Ali is paying for what she did. She's been through hell and back. She wasn't in the dollhouse but she was in jail. She had to run away from everything she knows and hide for 2 years. We don't know what happened to her back when everyone thought she was dead but she was a 15 years old surviving on her own and trying to fight back someone with obviously a much bigger agenda than she could have imagined.

Let alone everything she's come to learn about her parents and Charles in the past few episodes.

I understand that she's not the most likeable character on the show, obviously she has a lot of issues but at least she's dealing. Ezra's redemption was taking a gunshot for the girls, and Toby got to have some very romantic sex after crying in a motel room about driving his girlfriend to a major breaking point.

[Crim]

You are right about the parents. I'll rephrase: "does the show have legit characterization for people who are (mysterious) players in the A game?". The writers have always moved pawns in the interest of plot twists (and plot tumors...) but lately it's either that they care less about consistent characterization or that the liberties they took just piled up to a nonsustainable degree. I also include here the fact that no explanation is given for stuff like Jenna presumably still being out of the game (even though she claimed she did it only because she was afraid of Ali, which surely... was no longer an issue while Ali was arrested), Melissa being back with Wren, Andrew writing that hateful journal yet not being challenged when he whined about his frustration at failing to save them and their not being grateful for it (or whatever bullshit that even was).

 

I don't think that Mona made sense this episode, namely:

First, while Mona was shown as afraid of Ali before, that was (a) when she knew Ali was lying about something due to an unknown agenda and was possibly working with/being A/Red Coat/someone, (b) before she was actually tortured by A to a degree that should really put Ali's mean girl bullying in some perspective... and ( c) before Ali also became a victim. I understand that Mona fears Ali's retaliation, but this was so over the top in the context of A still roaming around that I don't even buy it as acting.

But, more importantly, the Leslie and Radley scene. Why would Mona get the file for Leslie when Leslie, as a former Radley patient herself, could have taken it? Why would Mona go at the same time as the Liars and how could she possibly get herself caught? The speculation that Mona wanted the Liars to catch her in the act so that she can "reluctantly" show them the file doesn't work for me: Mona could have outright told them about getting the file as insurance/preemptive blackmail material against Leslie, who had publicly threatened her. Also, what would Mona gain by this deception instead of openly working with the Liars? Was Leslie blackmailing her to get the file and this was the only way she could keep it? But Leslie wasn't there to see the scene; what, was Mona wearing a wire?

Edited July 4, 2015 by Crim

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

So you're saying Ezra luring Aria into an illegal relationship from day 1, keeping tabs on her, her friends, and practically anyone she's in contact with is not as bad as the shit Ali pulled when she was 15?

 

Yes. Has any lasting damage been done by Ezra? Other than to viewers' brains, I mean. I don't think so. Compare that to Alison's list of victims - Jenna, Toby, Paige, Mona, Lucas, all the Liars, etc...

 

 

Or Toby working twice with A is nothing?

He was Mona's side kick in season 3 and basically was in on all the A shenanigans all that time. When he stole the lair in season 4 to get information on his mother he took away the biggest resource the liars had.

 

Oh, come on. A knew where that van was and could have just stolen it himself. We still have no clue what Toby actually did in 3B other than chasing Lucas and scaring Hanna. I hated the whole storyline then, still do but unless the show gives me a flashback of Toby doing something of the magnitude of the Jenna thing, I will remain convinced that he hasn't done worse things than Alison has.

 

 

Here's the thing, Ali was no better, but Ali was also a 15 years old girl who was taught no better by her mother.

Ezra and Toby are adults and no matter how you twist it they should have known better. Every character on this show has done questionable things, but in the end it boils down to one thing. Some are adults and some are teenagers who did not know better.

 

I very much doubt Jessica taught Alison blinding people and mocking their disability is the right thing to do. At some point one has to stop pointing the finger at the parents. Some people just relish hurting others. And contrary to what most TV tells us, they do not necessarily need to have a Freudian excuse.

 

 

At least Ali is paying for what she did. She's been through hell and back. She wasn't in the dollhouse but she was in jail. She had to run away from everything she knows and hide for 2 years. We don't know what happened to her back when everyone thought she was dead but she was a 15 years old surviving on her own and trying to fight back someone with obviously a much bigger agenda than she could have imagined.

Let alone everything she's come to learn about her parents and Charles in the past few episodes.

 

A cause and effect turn of events is required in order to have a situation in which somebody is paying for what they did. Well, unless one believes that their cosmic karma is coming back at the them with vengeance. The way things are going, it seems quite likely that A targeted Alison because A is even more of a sociopath than she is, not because she had done anything legitimate to piss him/her off. Sort of like Mona's excuse for going after the Liars because they"stole" Hanna from her. One can claim it was karma for say letting Toby take the fall for Jenna's thing, but to me, it was more like Mona having more issues than the New York Times.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[methodwriter85]

I feel like they could show me Charles's skeleton and have me talk to the people who took his organs and I STILL would doubt that he's really dead.

Edited July 5, 2015 by methodwriter85

[raytch]

You are right about the parents. I'll rephrase: "does the show have legit characterization for people who are (mysterious) players in the A game?". The writers have always moved pawns in the interest of plot twists (and plot tumors...) but lately it's either that they care less about consistent characterization or that the liberties they took just piled up to a nonsustainable degree. I also include here the fact that no explanation is given for stuff like Jenna presumably still being out of the game (even though she claimed she did it only because she was afraid of Ali, which surely... was no longer an issue while Ali was arrested), Melissa being back with Wren, Andrew writing that hateful journal yet not being challenged when he whined about his frustration at failing to save them and their not being grateful for it (or whatever bullshit that even was).

I don't think that Mona made sense this episode, namely:

First, while Mona was shown as afraid of Ali before, that was (a) when she knew Ali was lying about something due to an unknown agenda and was possibly working with/being A/Red Coat/someone, (b) before she was actually tortured by A to a degree that should really put Ali's mean girl bullying in some perspective... and ( c) before Ali also became a victim. I understand that Mona fears Ali's retaliation, but this was so over the top in the context of A still roaming around that I don't even buy it as acting.

But, more importantly, the Leslie and Radley scene. Why would Mona get the file for Leslie when Leslie, as a former Radley patient herself, could have taken it? Why would Mona go at the same time as the Liars and how could she possibly get herself caught? The speculation that Mona wanted the Liars to catch her in the act so that she can "reluctantly" show them the file doesn't work for me: Mona could have outright told them about getting the file as insurance/preemptive blackmail material against Leslie, who had publicly threatened her. Also, what would Mona gain by this deception instead of openly working with the Liars? Was Leslie blackmailing her to get the file and this was the only way she could keep it? But Leslie wasn't there to see the scene; what, was Mona wearing a wire?

What if Leslie wanted to retrieve her file and Mona offered to do it for her to try to make up for all the harm she caused?

She knew the liars were going there so she wanted to avoid them getting caught by Leslie and causing further trouble.

I don't know if she was wired but with A's omnipresence and everything that happened to her in the dollhouse, it would make sense that she didn't want to take any chances. She told the liars what they needed to know and basically pulled a plausible deniability with Leslie. She did go to get her files, but the liars were there at the same time and she was caught off guard.

Mona is brilliant really. With the Leslie and Bethany connection she gave the liars a part of A's motives to hurt them.

Now all they have to do is corner Leslie and find out everything she knows. She can answer a lot of questions like :

- When Cece went to Radley as Ali, did she do that to see Bethany?

- was Bethany really talking to Ali throughw letters or were those forged on both sides?

- Did Bethany break free that night to get back at Ali or just to meet her?

- Was Bethany set up by Charles to be the body replacement for Ali after she was taken to the dollhouse? Or was she in on Charles' plan and her death was an accident?

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

Now all they have to do is corner Leslie and find out everything she knows.

 

I wouldn't count on it. The Liars are yet to really press Alison, Mona, Toby, Ezra or Melissa for information, what makes you think they'll be any more successful with Lesli?

 

It would be hilarious if Bethany turns out to be the key to everything, despite the show never having shown even a photo of her yet.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[Crim]

I wonder if not having a picture of Bethany is significant because of who she is (Sarah, or a twin, or just obviously a DiLaurentis due to family resemblance) or because the writers wanted to keep that option open and have only recently decided (well, hopefully they already have) who she is supposed to be.

 

she was caught off guard.

Mona is brilliant really.

This was my point though. That's the inconsistency I was talking about. Right there. Sure, anyone can make mistakes. But the show chose, again, to base a plot point on a pretty unlikely event. This is why there is so much speculation. It's a vicious cycle: the show throws ambiguities and twists, the audience speculates, the show reveals a bit more and removes some red herrings, but the audience still hasn't had anywhere close to enough answers partly due to the accumulation of questions the writers maybe never clearly asked themselves, yet this is (used to be?) part of the show's appeal, so the writers do it again and again. 6 seasons later the list of abandoned plot lines and mysteries is far longer than the summer of answers, and the chance of answering them (even in a Year of Answers) coherently is nil.

[mercfan3]

I thought Mona wanted to be caught by the liars, and is probably being  watched. Just like when Spencer was A..she couldn't openly do things against A..but she could try and help the liars figure things out. 

[CloudySky]

Btw, what ever happened to Silas?  The last I remember, some vague figure was menacing him in his hospital bed after Hanna and Aria visited him for info they didn't get, while Silas was all bandaged from some terrible fire or something.  Did A kill Silas?

 

Pretty sure the last we heard the liars wanted another go at him for info but found out Cyrus was moved to the ICU after taking a turn for the worse. Presumably due to A. We don't know whether he pulled through.

 

Has any lasting damage been done by Ezra? Other than to viewers' brains, I mean. I don't think so.

 

Yeah but that's only because he's gotten a pass from the writers. Realistically, Aria should be pretty messed up after finding out everything she did about him. Especially considering the daddy issues she already had. Even the other liars considering they built up the confidant/thrustworthy authority figure relationship between them and Ezra that season.

Is knowingly seducing a 16-year-old girl who you'll be in a position of authority over to pump her for information and stalking her and her friends and surveilling them whilst ignoring that they are in some seriously dangerous trouble worse than a teenager pulling a prank that goes horribly wrong? One is an adult doing a buttload of illegal shit who has yet to pay for his crimes or even have it acknowledged that what he was doing is criminal. The other is a minor who did something with terrible consequences. And although she has yet to pay for that specific crime and Toby taking the fall, she more than paid for it in other ways including jail time for a crime she did not commit.

 

She's no angel ;) Her demeanor this season makes sense to me. But it's boring and I wish she could be more involved with the others.

[mercfan3]

People don't want characters to get instant forgiveness. Look what happened with Toby and Ezra..viewers got annoyed at how easily they were forgiven.

 

So now we have a character who genuinely feels terrible for her past, is acting like it, is being punished for it, and is actively trying to redeem herself..and people think it's boring and want the development to hurry up. 

Edited July 6, 2015 by mercfan3

[raytch]

I wonder if not having a picture of Bethany is significant because of who she is (Sarah, or a twin, or just obviously a DiLaurentis due to family resemblance) or because the writers wanted to keep that option open and have only recently decided (well, hopefully they already have) who she is supposed to be.

 

This was my point though. That's the inconsistency I was talking about. Right there. Sure, anyone can make mistakes. But the show chose, again, to base a plot point on a pretty unlikely event. This is why there is so much speculation. It's a vicious cycle: the show throws ambiguities and twists, the audience speculates, the show reveals a bit more and removes some red herrings, but the audience still hasn't had anywhere close to enough answers partly due to the accumulation of questions the writers maybe never clearly asked themselves, yet this is (used to be?) part of the show's appeal, so the writers do it again and again. 6 seasons later the list of abandoned plot lines and mysteries is far longer than the summer of answers, and the chance of answering them (even in a Year of Answers) coherently is nil.

 

I get all your frustrations and while I do share most of them, I think with all the Marlene giving fake facts as spoilers on more than one occasion, has led the fandom to no longer believe her.

It's the Summer of Answers, though we deserve a year of those and we're overdue for some real definitive answers, but I've been noticing that a lot of people don't believe what the show gives them anymore. Like in premiere when Sara Harvey was revealed, everyone speculated she's Bethany because nothing is true on this show.

I'm not saying Marlene hasn't lied or defending her, but what I'm saying is there's a huge problem between the fans and the show runners.

A lot of writers have confirmed that Sara is Sara and yet the theories keep coming.

So it's also a matter of not accepting the answers we're given. I'm using Sara/Bethany because it's the most controversial, but anyway my point is, I think people shouldn't be speculating and doubting too much, just take the answers that are given and try to crack with the facts that we already know. The questions marks left are probably directly linked to A and thus can't be answered without giving an identity.

With only a few episodes away, I think what we're getting are the final answers, except for the Charles being dead or alive, that is the liars (and us) speculating, because again, it has to do with the direct identity of A, and it's what we'll be finding out in the last one or 2 episodes this summer.

 

Back to Mona. Like someone said, it was similar to A-Team!Spencer. She had to have the liars figure it out rather than tell them to make sure everyone is in the clear. I think her smirk while talking to Leslie in the end gave the whole thing away: she wanted to get caught.

 

I wouldn't count on it. The Liars are yet to really press Alison, Mona, Toby, Ezra or Melissa for information, what makes you think they'll be any more successful with Lesli?

 

It would be hilarious if Bethany turns out to be the key to everything, despite the show never having shown even a photo of her yet.

 

On the contrary, i think the dropped story lines are the key to everything, there's no way they could've known they're getting renewed for that long, so they had to drop those story lines until it was time to give the whole story. So you have Marion, Bethany and the night of endless yellow tops... I would also add the lodge fire at the end of season 3, that episode still makes no sense no matter how many times I try to watch it.

 

Yeah but that's only because he's gotten a pass from the writers. Realistically, Aria should be pretty messed up after finding out everything she did about him. Especially considering the daddy issues she already had. Even the other liars considering they built up the confidant/thrustworthy authority figure relationship between them and Ezra that season.

Is knowingly seducing a 16-year-old girl who you'll be in a position of authority over to pump her for information and stalking her and her friends and surveilling them whilst ignoring that they are in some seriously dangerous trouble worse than a teenager pulling a prank that goes horribly wrong? One is an adult doing a buttload of illegal shit who has yet to pay for his crimes or even have it acknowledged that what he was doing is criminal. The other is a minor who did something with terrible consequences. And although she has yet to pay for that specific crime and Toby taking the fall, she more than paid for it in other ways including jail time for a crime she did not commit.

 

She's no angel ;) Her demeanor this season makes sense to me. But it's boring and I wish she could be more involved with the others.

 

THIS!

I wanted to reply to this post but honestly couldn't find a way to explain it because it's already that obvious to me.

Ali was a minor which for me, automatically gives her a second chance at things. It doesn't cancel out the bad things, but it does give her the benefit of the doubt.

We've seen how terrible both her parents are, and her mom constantly telling her to fight fire with fire and smoke her enemies out, also the whole 2 dresses incidents, I believe Ali not knowing better, because her parents are freakin monsters. 

Some people don't like Ali and believe that she'll be the seed of Satan no matter what. That's fine, after all we all identify with different characters. But to say that Ali blinding Jenna is worse than what Ezra did to Aria/the liars is just beyond my comprehension, really.

The writers have the biggest role in making this seem like it's no big deal, but that scene with Emily and Ezra (when she tells him she's giving her homework to a "real" teacher) was extremely painful, because you could see he was someone she trusted and looked up to. Worst part is, he wasn't blackmailed into doing it, it was why he got to know them all along.

 

As for Toby, he doesn't stand a chance in comparison to Ezra, but when push came to shove, he made a deal with the devil twice.

We still don't know what he's responsible of, maybe we never will as this seems one of the taboo story lines on this show since Spoby was on again by end of season 3, but what he did doesn't matter as much as that he did it twice (even though it turned out pretty badly the first time).

Edited July 6, 2015 by raytch

[SadieT]

THIS!

I wanted to reply to this post but honestly couldn't find a way to explain it because it's already that obvious to me.

Ali was a minor which for me, automatically gives her a second chance at things. It doesn't cancel out the bad things, but it does give her the benefit of the doubt.

We've seen how terrible both her parents are, and her mom constantly telling her to fight fire with fire and smoke her enemies out, also the whole 2 dresses incidents, I believe Ali not knowing better, because her parents are freakin monsters. 

Some people don't like Ali and believe that she'll be the seed of Satan no matter what. That's fine, after all we all identify with different characters. But to say that Ali blinding Jenna is worse than what Ezra did to Aria/the liars is just beyond my comprehension, really.

The writers have the biggest role in making this seem like it's no big deal, but that scene with Emily and Ezra (when she tells him she's giving her homework to a "real" teacher) was extremely painful, because you could see he was someone she trusted and looked up to. Worst part is, he wasn't blackmailed into doing it, it was why he got to know them all along.

 

 

Totally agree with you and CLOUDYSKY regarding Ali and Ezra but I'll respond in the Alison thread cause I don't want to go too off course here. 

[crazycatchick]

Alison was so blah in this episode. I understand a redemption, but can't she at least have some of her attitude and not be so weepy all the time?! When she was with Lorenzo on her porch I really wanted a "you know you want to kiss me" thrown in there!

So how did Aria ditch her dad and go to the trash heap with Clark? Was he waiting in the car?

Sara can go at anytime. I think it's the actresses sing-song baby voice. I do love Lesli though. She is obviously a nutter. Can't wait to see what Mona has in store for her!