S06.E09: Last Dance

[tennisgurl]

Sara is the A in the red cloak, I`m calling it. I don't care that it might be impossible, nothing is impossible in Rosewood! I am, at least, convinced she is in on something. Poor Emily and her rotten luck with girls. 

[SadieT]

Did anyone else notice it was a bit weird that Ali was getting choked by A who seemed to have a strong grasp over her and then in the next shot she's running in front of him and asking him where he's taking her?

 

Yeah that was a weird shot. I feel like they were going for a certain horror movie aesthetic where the girl runs terrified straight at the camera while being chased, but Charles wasn't exactly chasing Alison, he was more like leisurely strolling behind her. But I'm guessing after grabbing her from behind, he pulled her out of sight and then was pushing her ahead of him? Or maybe they were out of the school at that point and that could have been a second location where she had no way of getting out of anyway. 

[DigitalCount]

One thing I haven't seen: I LOVED the direction on the first scene, where they're doing cuts between the girls and their moms. What I didn't like was how they were so disconnected throughout the episode, though. It felt like they didn't share too many scenes.

 

I got the same feeling of dread from Sara's weird cryptic comments this past episode, but I can't help it, as I'm something of a contrarian...I ship it. Yeah, I know, it's odd that I'd want someone who hasn't victimized Emily to be her girlfriend, but maybe we could break the streak? I think the last/only healthy thing Emily's had was Samara, and that was barely a fling?

 

"Aria's checking the bathrooms!" By herself? With all those mirrors? Eeeeee...not going down that road.

 

I'm thinking the A reveal at the end was a minion, like maybe Lucas. Can't be actual Charles. And I doubt it's Wren either; there's no reason for Ali to react that way. Did she even know Wren? I'm going with Gabriel Holbrook as Charles, because why not.

[Black Knight]

I rewatched a lot of the episode today, and I noticed that the book on the table in the DiLaurentis house was Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers on a Train." Since Pam brought up the possibility that Charles has only done some of what's been attributed to him, and we have Black Hoodie and Red running around, I'm wondering if the book's a clue as to the exact nature of Black Hoodie and Red's relationship, i.e. they were actually basically strangers who agreed to do things for each other to throw suspicion off.

 

I also noticed that Pam had the strongest reaction to the photo of Jessica with her kids, and she was against looking for any more photos afterwards. Again, probably means nothing, but...

 

I saw ABC Family is replaying select episodes before next week's finale. I kind of don't want to rewatch them (at least not beforehand) as I feel like that'll probably make Charles's identity obvious - that is, it'll be someone who is in all of those episodes. But even though I probably will not rewatch the episodes beforehand, since I know the pilot is one of the episodes being replayed, that also makes me think that Charles is someone we've known from the very start. Wren didn't show up until later in the first season, right? That would also eliminate all other later secondary characters like Holbrook.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Black Knight

[dwmckim]

Wren was in the pilot.  The pilot was basically an adaptation of the first book in the book series.

 

I don't know how much the marathon of episodes will be relevant to the reveals in the finale - but Marlene did give a list of five episodes to rewatch before the finale for clues.  I won't say which ones they are here but will post in the In the Media thread.

Edited August 6, 2015 by dwmckim

[kat165]

I've been wanting to ask this for the past few eps now, but keep forgetting. What is this time jump everyone's referring to?

 

I'm so tired of this show, no longer watch it "live" & usually catch it later On Demand. I have been keeping up but each week it gets more & more difficult. Most eps are filler like Alison walking around, circular & going nowhere. I still like the girls, well, ok, Hanna & Spencer, but that's about all.

 

We've been burned so many times before. Toby's A, no Ezra's A. At this point, we gotta know that whoever we end up seeing next week it will be anticlamic.

[Eneya]

I've been wanting to ask this for the past few eps now, but keep forgetting. What is this time jump everyone's referring to?

The rest of the season will show us years later after the events in the upcoming episode.

[raytch]

I rewatched a lot of the episode today, and I noticed that the book on the table in the DiLaurentis house was Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers on a Train." Since Pam brought up the possibility that Charles has only done some of what's been attributed to him, and we have Black Hoodie and Red running around, I'm wondering if the book's a clue as to the exact nature of Black Hoodie and Red's relationship, i.e. they were actually basically strangers who agreed to do things for each other to throw suspicion off.

I also noticed that Pam had the strongest reaction to the photo of Jessica with her kids, and she was against looking for any more photos afterwards. Again, probably means nothing, but...

I saw ABC Family is replaying select episodes before next week's finale. I kind of don't want to rewatch them (at least not beforehand) as I feel like that'll probably make Charles's identity obvious - that is, it'll be someone who is in all of those episodes. But even though I probably will not rewatch the episodes beforehand, since I know the pilot is one of the episodes being replayed, that also makes me think that Charles is someone we've known from the very start. Wren didn't show up until later in the first season, right? That would also eliminate all other later secondary characters like Holbrook.

The marathon episodes were voted by fans as episodes they'd like to rewatch right before the reveal. You can watch them.

I've done a rewatch of seasons 3, 4 and 5 and some episodes of the earlier seasons and still have no idea who A is!

[raytch]

Alison has attended approximately three days of school since her freshman year, but Rosewood High is probably just like, "whatevs. give these girls their damn diplomas and get them the hell outta here so people can stop getting murdered!"

I attended an all girls school so when we had a dance, just about all the dates were non-students so the administrators (principal, assistant principals, deans) stood at the entrance in a line and you had to introduce your date to each one of them and he'd be subjected to a brief interrogation. It was kind of hilarious looking back on it. Don't know why any high school boy put up with it but you could be sure no former teachers or middle-aged cops came to our dances.

Yeah Sara's "no matter what happens" came across as kind of creepy. I almost wanted her to go full on villain on Emily right then and there because Em kind of deserves it for how utterly stupid she's been acting. Everyone's running after Ali because they know she's about to get her pretty little self kidnapped and Emily just stops and turns away to go have a chat with Shower Harvey.

That teacher's snarky reaction to Aria was insane. Like she was mad at the girls for showing up and possibly ruining the party for everyone else by selfishly getting kidnapped and murdered again.

I was thinking Jason too because he's one of the only people I can think of that would elicit such an emotional response from Ali. But a lot about that wouldn't make sense.

Well in Lorenzo's case, they probably just assumed he was their picking up his child. Because he looks old AF.

I think Alison does need to apologize for a lot of what she did in the past. And she has. We've seen her apologize to the girls, to Paige, she even tried to make things right with Mona. There's still a lot of people she owes apologies to but at least we've seen her regretting her past mistakes and attempting to make things somewhat right. She doesn't just get to be a horrible person and then get shot to fix it all instantly like Ezra. But while I think Ali needs to apologize, I don't think she needs to be punished for mistakes she made as an emotionally messed up 15 year old child for the rest of her life. She should be able to forgive herself and move on eventually. I feel like part of her sympathy for Charles comes from her thinking she's this horrible person like him who deserves everything she gets, but she's not a monster or a sociopath like him and I would like to see her realize that and stop worrying about everybody hating her.

I'm convinced the writers threw Spencer's speech to Lorenzo in just to piss off Emison fans and kill any hope they may have had for their ship in the future. All that "Ali's never had anyone in her whole life who saw the good in her or saw her as vulnerable and genuine" stuff is pretty much the basis of the Ali/Emily relationship so those shippers are livid. Marlene even responded to one on twitter and said Spencer meant Ali hasn't had that since jail, but Spencer literally said "in her whole life."

I'm glad Spencer didn't actually get to deliver her valedictorian speech because writing about your boyfriend at graduation is really lame. And not something I'd expect from Spencer.

I love that the girls and their dates showed up at prom to prevent Alison from getting herself killed but once they got there, they were just like, "well, since we're here might as well do some dancing, have a deep discussion about our future plans and make out a little... Ali will be fine."

But yeah, the girls could have gone to prom and the moms could have held a pre-prom party where they all meet at one house to take pictures of their daughters since that's a pretty common thing now, and then after the girls left, they could have broke out the wine and gotten smashed. It would actually make them look less negligent because they would have been under the false assumption that their kids were safe at school under the watch of faculty and police, but instead the girls all snuck off under their watch so they're not looking too great.

I loved the scene between Alison and Spencer too, brief as it was, because like you said, there's a really interesting dynamic between the two of them I would have liked to see it explored more.

But I got a kick out of Spencer's disbelief that Alison would think that. Not like Spencer ever framed her for a murder she didn't commit or called her a horrible human being, both while presumed dead and while falsely incarcerated. Don't get me wrong, it would be totally understandable if Spencer didn't like Alison because Ali's done some pretty messed up things to her in the past, but Spencer shouldn't be acting like she's personally wounded by the mere thought that Ali could even think that. As much as Spencer has a reason for disliking Alison, Ali has a reason for thinking Spencer dislikes her.

But I think Spencer's actually feeling kind of guilty for how she's treated Alison since she returned. There was that scene early in the season when she thanks Ali for saving them and Ali brushes it off and says Spencer would have done the same for her and Spencer looks kind of conflicted, like she's not sure if she would have, and then there's Spencer going out of her way twice now on Ali's behalf when it comes to Lorenzo. Plus all that stuff she said to Toby and Lorenzo about Alison having changed and not being the same person she was in the past. She's really the only one of the girls who have made an active effort to be supportive of Alison since her release from prison and during the whole Charles mess.

It was way too heavy. It's a good thing Sasha's so young because that much makeup on any of the other girls probably would have aged them even more.

I was at work when I wrote the comment and was trying to be as brief as possible. But yes. ITA with every word you said about Ali.

[raytch]

So the Liars aren't going to uncover anything, it seems, Charles is going to uncover himself for reasons. I don't like the sound of that.

This is my biggest problem with the show at this point. I wanted to see the liars who broke out of the dollhouse owning up and bringing their A game this season to take this psycho down.

I also wanted A to own up to everything he's done but it seems like we're not even getting that because of some sob story he's going to tell us about his life.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

What's Worse Than Being Barred From Prom? Being Drunk, Middle-Aged, And Trapped In A Basement / This prom is pretty sucky for all involved, but the dresses are interesting.

[kat165]

Thank you, Eneya. That actually sounds interesting!

 

Love the title's of Tara's post on the ep. I needed some amusement after watch this.

[missbeckydee]

I wasn't paying the closest attention...can someone please tell me why Lorenzo showed up at the high school prom when he was invited to the sad barn prom? Did they throw in a text to him when they discovered Ali was at school?

[raytch]

I wasn't paying the closest attention...can someone please tell me why Lorenzo showed up at the high school prom when he was invited to the sad barn prom? Did they throw in a text to him when they discovered Ali was at school?

I'm guessing Toby informed the police and that's how he knew?

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm guessing Toby informed the police and that's how he knew?

 

Except Lorenzo was on suspension.  Hmmmmm.   That seems awfully suspicious on 2nd thought.

[mercfan3]

I wasn't paying the closest attention...can someone please tell me why Lorenzo showed up at the high school prom when he was invited to the sad barn prom? Did they throw in a text to him when they discovered Ali was at school?

 

He said he went to the barn and when no one was there, he tried this one. Same as Caleb. 

[DigitalCount]

He said he went to the barn and when no one was there, he tried this one. Same as Caleb.

And Sara. Apparently these people know their significant others very well; they all knew that the girls would end up at the prom anyway, and none of them were worried about more kidnappings.

[mercfan3]

I'm surprised Caleb didn't flip out. Bad enough they went after Ali who was lured by Charles, but they were with Ezra and Toby..that's got "Kidnap me" written all over it. 

[missbeckydee]

He said he went to the barn and when no one was there, he tried this one. Same as Caleb.

Thanks! I knew I must have missed it. Every time Lorenzo opens his mouth I just hear, "blah blah blah blah..."

[Wheels08]

I just watched the episode again and Lorenzo said nothing about going to the barn and then trying the real prom when no when was at the barn.

But I still highly doubt he's involved with Charles or the A team in anyway.

[Lii]

I just watched the episode again and Lorenzo said nothing about going to the barn and then trying the real prom when no when was at the barn.

But I still highly doubt he's involved with Charles or the A team in anyway.

I'm with you, I think Lorenzo is on Team Red Herring with Spencer's drug dealer and Mona's glasses girl frenemy.

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

So the girls were such a security risk to the Rosewood prom that they were barred from attending, but then no one stopped them from coming in and dancing with their significant others? There's no one checking tickets at the door? 

 

THANK YOU!!! One of the countless things not making a lick of sense on this "allegory" (for lack of a better word) of a show! -.-

[mercfan3]

Crashing school dances was relatively easy if you just waited an hour or so after the dance started. Granted, this was always if it was held somewhere else. But still, one of the more believable aspects of the show. 

[GaT]

I thought we were going to see A/Charles's face. WTF, show?

They're saving that for the finale. Whoopie. After all this time, it will probably be someone we've never even seen before.

[Lii]

They're saving that for the finale. Whoopie. After all this time, it will probably be someone we've never even seen before.

For sure. After all, didn't they think we'd be all about the Charles reveal, too?

[NFluxForever]

Oh dear God, I just realized something. If Clark is a cop , then why the crap was he at the prom in the first place? The Liars (as well as Alison) were supposed to be banned, so it couldn't have been to keep an eye on them. That means he had to be either a) there to keep a look out in case Charles crashed it, which good luck on that considering no one knows what the hell he looks like; or b) there because the police thought the Liars would show up anyway and if that was the case, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THEM BEING BANNED?!

Also Aria's dress was totes uggz and made her come off even more pretentious than usual. Shocking, I know.

Ugh. Stupid show.

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Oh dear God, I just realized something. If Clark is a cop , then why the crap was he at the prom in the first place? The Liars (as well as Alison) were supposed to be banned, so it couldn't have been to keep an eye on them. That means he had to be either a) there to keep a look out in case Charles crashed it, which good luck on that considering no one knows what the hell he looks like; or b) there because the police thought the Liars would show up anyway and if that was the case, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THEM BEING BANNED?!

Also Aria's dress was totes uggz and made her come off even more pretentious than usual. Shocking, I know.

Ugh. Stupid show.

 

I'm pretty sure the writers themselves forgot the liars had been banned at some point through the episode! That would explain the lack of stares/murmurs/whispers from the other Rosewood students at the ball, the lack of people checking tickets at the entrance and this thing you pointed out, along with A having two tickets to a prom the liars weren't supposed to be attending (unless this happened prior to the moms getting the letters). Stupid show indeed!

[raytch]

I'm pretty sure the writers themselves forgot the liars had been banned at some point through the episode! That would explain the lack of stares/murmurs/whispers from the other Rosewood students at the ball, the lack of people checking tickets at the entrance and this thing you pointed out, along with A having two tickets to a prom the liars weren't supposed to be attending (unless this happened prior to the moms getting the letters). Stupid show indeed!

Well, the A Twitter account pointed out that not all the A tags are chronological and there's a reason why we keep seeing the gloves because apparently it's only at times where they're needed. I have no idea what's all that means but it can definitely be that the tickets scene is something that happened way before the liars were banned.

[WhosThatGirl]

There was one teacher who told them to leave. But that was it. I don't understand why Clark was there being undercover. I guess they thought Charles would attend anyway even though the girls had been banned and Charles would figure that out anyway since Charles figures everything out. It's confusing.. this show is confusing. 

 

I liked Aria's dress and thought it went with the theme well. 

[mercfan3]

Clark was probably told to keep an eye on Ali..or..Ali knew he was a cop and set it up..she did tell Spencer she "knew what she was doing"

[raytch]

Clark was probably told to keep an eye on Ali..or..Ali knew he was a cop and set it up..she did tell Spencer she "knew what she was doing"

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think you're giving Ali too much credit.

I think TPTB just put him there so he could be exposed as an undercover cop before the finale...

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Did they ever clarify why Lorenzsouuu was suspended? Was it because he went to the arcade without informing his superiors or because he let Alison steal his ID card to tamper with evidence?

Edited August 10, 2015 by Giuliano Lanzilli

[Lii]

Also, since when do cops in Rosewood get suspended for incompetence? They don't get suspended for hiding evidence, or dating high school girls, or murdering each other, or sexually blackmailing Hanna's mom, or in general all the shit Wilden did, but all of the sudden sucking at your job is a suspendable offense? And if so, are there any cops who are not currently suspended for this? Is this why there is a "new faces" program to import new cops from other places who might be actually competent? And does this mean there is something in the water in Rosewood that sucks the competent out of any police officer who enters the city?

[WhosThatGirl]

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think you're giving Ali too much credit.

I think TPTB just put him there so he could be exposed as an undercover cop before the finale...

I agree. I honestly don't think TBTB for this show ever know what they are doing, with anything. I don't think they expect viewers to have questions. So supposedly on Tuesday, we will find out who Charles is- like I care ANYMORE- who Red Coat is and who Black Widow is? I highly doubt any of these questions will be answered. I really do not care who Charles is, either way it's a grown adult male who has been running around and doing awful things to teenage girls for years. It's messed up and the show is going to somehow try to make me feel for him and I'm just like, "no".

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Does anyone else think it's a little convenient that Alison managed to stay AWOL for two years, letting everyone think she was dead, and now it seems like she can't go 5 minutes without getting busted (by Tanner at the precint, by the girls with that photo placing her at the prom)??? Everything in this episode DID hinge on people passing the Idiot Ball around, after all! XD

Edited August 10, 2015 by Giuliano Lanzilli

[fitzcarraldo]

I have no hope it'll be good. I'm now just pissed they only discover A's identity because they revealed themselves. Same as Mona. The liars just stayed idiots who can't figure out anything.

[M1977G]

 

I really don't see how one episode is supposed to answer all our questions. Even if we ignore all our questions from before

So well put.  It's not possible, and the writers aren't even going to try. I'm with others thinking that Rhys isn't Charles.  He's showing his face way too easily, though it's a pretty face, and since I can't have Noel Kahn, I don't mind glimpses of some other pretty boy.  The idea floated above that Rhys and Clarke are cops working together isn't crazy, but I do think fooling Charles to hire a DiLaurentis look-alike to fake-head up the Carisimi Group seems like a stretch.  Which probably makes it perfect for this show.  Clarke is a bad and creepy undercover cop.  Did he jam the dark room door shut with Aria inside just to meet her?  His creep factor might have just gone up in my mind.  If he works for Rosewood PD, then that is perfectly appropriate--trap a high school girl who's been kidnapped.

 

The moms were funny, and awesomely like their daughters, but also foolishly like their daughters.  Sure, Veronica, charge into the basement because you hear a noise, and drunkenly confront the man who was cuckolded by your husband and his wife.  I thought a few seasons ago that she was behind this, or at least involved in Jessica's murder.  I'm not so sure about that anymore, but I still think it's plausible (Veronica has been on the show from the start--she has excellent motive--she has access to court records and police files--she had a nervous breakdown, hello Telltale Heart).  At the very least, Veronica knows more than what she's told viewers or the drunk moms, and I'm suspicious of her getting tipsy and dropping half-secrets to the crew.  Leading the ladies down to the basement to all get trapped together seems like a good deflective cover if Veronica did kill Kenneth and bury him in the basement.  Just saying.

[krimimimi]

Gotta ask - a bunch of folks have commented on the teacher who got in the Liars' faces about being at the prom, despite their banning. Do we know that was a teacher? Was she recognized or called by name? Because she reminded me of a volunteer parent chaperone. Parents have fewer problems spouting their agendas, where administration might give faculty massive grief. Plus that whole "ban them at the stake!" thing seemed so much more like a parent-driven move, concerned for their own children's safety.

And it fits with her not actually doing anything about removing them from the premises, because zero actual authority, Moms. Pfft! I find teachers (especially older ones) have more experience making stuff happen even in the absence of actual power and tend to be less ineffectual. Or they get eaten alive early on and change careers.