S07.E08: Exes and OMGs

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Emily goes up for a position as the Rosewood High swim coach, only to learn that her ex-girlfriend Paige is also up for the job. Hanna is visited by Mrs. Grunwald after she has a vision that the PLLs are in danger. The girls track down the doctor who delivered Mary's baby in order to get answers. Ali decides to go back to work to help bring some normalcy to her life again.

Promo:

[Peanut6711]

If Noel mows down Caleb, he's my new hero!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It looks so overwrought that I'm guessing that Noel running over Caleb is a dream (probably Hanna having a nightmare).

Since Ali's back at school teaching, does this mean we'll finally get that flash forward scene we saw in S6.E10?

[mac123x]

They're probably both dream sequences.  Hanna dreams that Noel Khan runs down Caleb because Noel Khan is the red herring flavor of the month.    Ali dreams about her first day back teaching and zombie Wrollins is coming to get her.  That would explain why she was writing "Mrs. Wrollins" on the chalkboard.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Paige coming back to Rosewood out of the blue and just happening to compete with Emily for the same job is the kind of silly contrivance that makes me wonder if these writers are even trying any more. And I say that as a huge fan of Paige.

Grunwald is coming back? What's the point?

Edited August 11, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[Kate213]

Pretty Little Liars Sneak Peek: Paige's Return Leaves Emily Speechless

http://tvline.com/2016/08/11/pretty-little-liars-paige-emily-reunion-video-season-7-spoilers/

[SadieT]

5 hours ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

Paige coming back to Rosewood out of the blue and just happening to compete with Emily for the same job is the kind of silly contrivance that makes me wonder if these writers are even trying any more. And I say that as a huge fan of Paige.

Grunwald is coming back? What's the point?

Didn't Paige's family relocate to California? So she presumably has no more ties to Rosewood except for her high school girlfriend and yet she's coming back to compete for a high school coaching job? I'm sure there's high schools on the West Coast she could coach at if that's what she wants to do. The writers probably think they're doing something great by bringing back all these old characters during the last season but unless they can be believably tied to the main mystery of the show, it's just a waste of time. And I'm sure Paige isn't going to be involved in any A.D. drama like Jenna and Noel are so she's likely just coming back to create "drama" for Emily with her multitude of love interests, and the last thing this show needs is more pointless relationship drama. Why can't this show let past relationships stay in the past and leave those characters who departed for legitimate reasons alone. 

[GreenScreenFX]

I highly doubt Rosewood has the same competition as a California school. Maybe she wants to return to a familiar scene where she has a chance.

Californians are not inherently better swimmers, but it is inherently supported like none other

[ElectricBoogaloo]

[Mabinogia]

This show loves to pander to shippers. there is no other conceivable reason for Paige to come back. She seemed like a smart girl, she should be doing pretty well in Cali. She wasn't exactly close to her family that she'd just be dying to come home to be close to them. Emily seemed to be her only real friend. So there is nothing pulling her back unless it's to be an obstacle for Emison, Emily's end game or something to do with this mystery plot I don't get at all. What is AD trying to do again? Find who killed Charlotte by harassing some 20-something morons? How exactly is that supposed to work? Oh, I give up. I'll just watch for the pretty hair and weird clothes.

[SadieT]

Why does A.D. think the girls even know who killed Charlotte? It's kind of pointless to torture someone for information they don't have. Unless he/she thinks the murderer is one of the liars themselves and that they're covering for her, but considering they wrongly turned over one of their own as the potential murderer, A.D. should know these girls know absolutely nothing. So is A.D. just hoping the liars will solve the case for him/her, you know because they've been so good at figuring stuff out in the past and have such bang-up detective skills. Why doesn't he/she just try to figure it out on his own instead of tormenting a group of dummies who have falsely accused a dozen or so people of murder over the years. 

[superman1204]

Maybe my standards are too low but I am fine with Paige coming back.  We all know the writers were going to give us filler to pad out this last season, at least they are using a character we all know and like.  IMHO, if we have to see a big Emily/Alison/some other girl love triangle, I would rather the other girl be Paige than that random blonde that works for Ezra.

[Jack Shaftoe]

I am in favour of Paige coming back, I just don't like the reason (or should I say the excuse) that the writers apparently chose. I mean, even her deciding to come back specifically to protect Emily because of the latest murder spree in Rosewood would have been a little more plausible than the two of them just happening to compete for the same job.

Quote

Why does A.D. think the girls even know who killed Charlotte? It's kind of pointless to torture someone for information they don't have.

Even after all the silly twists this show has tried to pull off, I am still amazed that the entire main plot after the time-skip rests on a premise that is so obviously nonsensical.

[Perfect Xero]

Paige coming back to Rosewood at age 23 because a job opened up in her field at a place where she, presumably, has friends and connections seems rather plausible to me (well, as plausible as anyone actually choosing to live in Rosewood can).

Emily having a chance at that job, considering that she lost her swimming scholarship and dropped out of college, is somewhat less plausible, but I do find it rather plausible that Emily would go for it anyway because it sounds a lot better than waiting tables. All it takes is one person in a position of authority who likes her, or her mom, or feels sorry about her dad passing away to get an interview.

[SadieT]

Sneak Peek #2

[Peanut6711]

Why in the world would anyone want to return to Rosewood??? It's a place filled with corrupt cops, pedophile teachers, and an extremely high murder rate for a small town. 

[mac123x]

Interesting that Paige and Emily got back together during the time jump.  I guess this was after Em dropped out of college, since Pepperdine and Stanford aren't very close.

 

I have no idea who Hanna was talking to or what she was up to.

 

I totally called it that Aria would have to grovel to regain Ezra.  Maybe she and he and Nichole can run off to another 3rd world country for a menage-a-trois and all 3 die in a tragic accident.

 

Lots of heavy handed hinting that Spencer is Mary's other child.  I mean really, why else was she looking at baby photos? 

Edited August 17, 2016 by mac123x

[ottoDbusdriver]

44 minutes ago, mac123x said:

I have no idea who Hanna was talking to or what she was up to.

What was up with the newspapers on the window ?  It seemed odd that Hanna was making demands from someone she was supposedly buying something from them.  It's an odd way to negotiate.

I'm confused -- are Hanna, Emily and Aria all staying at Lucas' place now ?

46 minutes ago, mac123x said:

I totally called it that Aria would have to grovel to regain Ezra.  Maybe she and he and Nichole can run off to another 3rd world country for a menage-a-trois and all 3 die in a tragic accident.

I'm surprised that Ezra didn't ask for the ring back then and there.  Emily trying to spin it for Aria was just terrible -- Aria was afraid.  Afraid of what ?  Ezra leaving her and her friends and their murderous ways.  It really came across that it was an incredibly assholish move by Aria.

49 minutes ago, mac123x said:

Lots of heavy handed hinting that Spencer is Mary's other child.  I mean really, why else was she looking at baby photos? 

Maybe I missed something here -- was Spencer adopted ? Otherwise, why would she think she was possibly Mary Drake's second child ? That's an incredible conclusion to jump to, and makes no sense at all.

[AmandaPanda]

I couldn't read Spencer's face at the end of the show while she was looking at baby pictures. I mean, the anvils that she's Mary Drake's other child are falling out of the sky every five seconds, but now I'm trying to figure out if she already knows it. It might just be that I'm hoping one of the Liars ends up as Uber A, though. Or AD. Is AD Uber A? I've lost track at this point.

[mac123x]

4 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Maybe I missed something here -- was Spencer adopted ? Otherwise, why would she think she was possibly Mary Drake's second child ? That's an incredible conclusion to jump to, and makes no sense at all.

That's never been hinted at before this Mary Drake storyline erupted like an inflamed boil this season.  However, Mary knows the Hastings's (despite Jessica keeping her away from Rosewood and stuff), Spencer and Mary are wearing the same hairstyle, Mary's 2nd child is the same age as the PLLs, Spencer has a history of mental illness (though it was mostly drug related) and it's just the kind of stupid twist they'd include.

 

5 minutes ago, AmandaPanda said:

Uber A, though. Or AD. Is AD Uber A? I've lost track at this point.

Hanna keeps referring to them interchangeably, so the odds that they are NOT the same person are pretty high.  

 

During her dream sequence, Dream!Ali told them that the leverage she had on Noel was that he was the one who pushed that girl down the stairs at the fraternity party many years ago.  Are we supposed to accept that even though it was a dream?  Because that's a really stupid explanation, since Noel would have had to be about 14.  Maybe that was his older brother's fraternity?

[WhosThatGirl]

I can only hope Ezra goes to Africa and never returns. Ariza can return to being awesome, I don't have to care about this wedding at all- because i know it sure as hell is going to take so many episodes for it and I just can't even with that- so please be BYE FOREVER! WIshful thinking. Aria's wedding dress was sparkly. SO ARIA!

In other news.. Hi, Paige, I guess. I'm pretty ambivent on this but again, I ship Emily with anyone but Alison. I don't understand why people love it? Inculding the actors... it's not healthy. Maybe Ali's a grown up now but she treated Emily pretty bad. It boogles.

So.. are we suspecting the baby pictures are of a baby we don't know yet? i'm not really paying much attention anymore and i should, but..this show is just boring. At the end of this show or whatever, the answers never connect or make sense anyway; it's best to take this show at face vaule and wih a grain of salt.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, I we supposed to believe that the kids in Allison's class came up with that idea to all wear black hoodies on their own -- or did A.D./UberA/EmojiA pay them to do it ?  When has that ever been "the usual pranks" in any school --- ever ?  Maybe at RHS it's par for the course.

I don't understand why all her students were snickering when Ms. DiLaurentis was paged on the PA.  Or why that one student was incredibly disrespectful when they were talking about lies catching up with you and he says "yeah, well you would know".  Who talks to their teacher like that ?

Grunwald's makeup was just terrible -- her neck was a completely different color than her face.

Why would the Principal have Class of 2017 as the top drawer in his filing cabinet and Class of 2012 right below it ?  What happened to the classes of 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 ?  Wouldn't the Class of 2012 files have been archived into storage by now ?

One of the file folders from the Class of 2012 was Lisa Cochran -- coincidence ?  Since it's the same last name as both Doctors Cochran in this episode.

If Spencer was born 1992/1993 in the PLL universe (since they are all 23-24 by now), why were there black and white baby photos in that photo album ?  She wasn't born in the 1960s.

Edited August 18, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[Pyewacket]

19 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

why were there black and white baby photos in that photo album ?  She wasn't born in the 1960s

I had a similar thought when they flashed back to the taking of the second baby. That whole story looked and sounded like it came from a soon-to-be-a-Lifetime-movie paperback about evil baby stealers from the 40s or 50s. That said, I'm kind of glad they've gone pedal to the metal crazy. At this point nothing should make sense on this show, it's not their strength. 

[GaT]

Well, at least Aria wore another cute jacket.

That whole thing with the doctor’s office being broken into so she calls up Spencer & gives her the information was just stupid. As stupid as when her father remembered everything about Mary Drake except whether her second kid was a boy or a girl.

I wasn’t interested in Paige the first time around, nothing has changed.

What has happened to Hanna’s hair? It looks like straw. And what was that phone call about? And the newspapers on the window? Since they seem to be implying that Noel Kahn was the one who tortured her, & they've never explained why she was tortured to begin with, I'm guessing that someone wanted her to do something so they tortured her to get her to do it, & then gave her a number to call? I just can't imagine what it would be, but I guess it's something that will make us roll our eyes.

[SadieT]

On 8/16/2016 at 10:26 PM, AmandaPanda said:

I couldn't read Spencer's face at the end of the show while she was looking at baby pictures. I mean, the anvils that she's Mary Drake's other child are falling out of the sky every five seconds, but now I'm trying to figure out if she already knows it. It might just be that I'm hoping one of the Liars ends up as Uber A, though. Or AD. Is AD Uber A? I've lost track at this point.

Yeah that look on her face threw me too. It looked like she knew something. She didn't look particularly upset or confused, which is how I'd imagine someone would look if they suspected they were secretly adopted, but she just looked kind of cold and shady. And what possessed her to break out the old family album anyway? I've been thinking Spencer is Mary's second child since we found out a second child existed, but what would make Spencer think that? 

On 8/16/2016 at 10:35 PM, mac123x said:

That's never been hinted at before this Mary Drake storyline erupted like an inflamed boil this season.  However, Mary knows the Hastings's (despite Jessica keeping her away from Rosewood and stuff), Spencer and Mary are wearing the same hairstyle, Mary's 2nd child is the same age as the PLLs, Spencer has a history of mental illness (though it was mostly drug related) and it's just the kind of stupid twist they'd include.

During her dream sequence, Dream!Ali told them that the leverage she had on Noel was that he was the one who pushed that girl down the stairs at the fraternity party many years ago.  Are we supposed to accept that even though it was a dream?  Because that's a really stupid explanation, since Noel would have had to be about 14.  Maybe that was his older brother's fraternity?

Biggest hint for me is that in 7x01 when Mary goes to the Hastings she weirdly makes that comment to Spencer about her and Melissa looking alike, and then when Spencer asks if they (she and Mary) ever met and Mary says a long time ago but Spencer wouldn't remember... she wouldn't remember her birth. 

That whole thing was so strange and confusing. Now we're getting dream reveals? At first I thought the conversation between the girls in the street might have really taken place but that Hanna later dreamed the Caleb getting hit by a car part, but then we find out they were never actually all together and Hanna dreamed the whole thing, including Alison revealing this long kept Noel secret. But when Hanna tells them all that Noel pushed the girl down the stairs, which she only found out about in a dream, Alison doesn't react or deny it. It actually looks like Alison kind of nodded so I guess that really was the secret she had on Noel? So is Hanna clairvoyant like Grunwald too now and can find stuff out in dreams? It's so confusing. 

 

On 8/17/2016 at 0:22 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, I we supposed to believe that the kids in Allison's class came up with that idea to all wear black hoodies on their own -- or did A.D./UberA/EmojiA pay them to do it ?  When has that ever been "the usual pranks" in any school --- ever ?  Maybe at RHS it's par for the course.

I don't understand why all her students were snickering when Ms. DiLaurentis was paged on the PA.  Or why that one student was incredibly disrespectful when they were talking about lies catching up with you and he says "yeah, well you would know".  Who talks to their teacher like that ?

How would the kids even know that Alison had been previously tormented by a lunatic in a black hoodie? Is that common knowledge? And why the black hoodie now? A.D., as far as we know, doesn't wear a black hoodie, he wears other people's faces. Hoodies were Mona's and Charlotte's thing and even if Charlotte's penchant for black hoodies was made public when the news broke after her reveal, that was 5+ years ago. Alison had already been teaching at the school for a while so if her students wanted to play a cruel trick on her involving black hoodies, it should have happened sooner. A more timely and apt prank would have alluded to her time in the mental hospital. 

And I get that kids can be terrible but a whole classroom full of students willing to do that to their teacher seems like a stretch. A few asshole kids, sure, but that stunt was pretty well choreographed for a bunch of teenagers and the entire class participated in it. 

The snickering I get. That's just immaturity. But a teacher wouldn't be called to the principal's office over the PA like that, especially for a non-emergency. Someone would have just come and got her between classes. 

Anyway, Hanna holing herself up in a weird makeshift bunker to get answers is odd but my guess is she called Noel and is going to question him directly. 

Edited August 18, 2016 by SadieT

[RachelKM]

So, uh, that happened.  I was pretty bored by all of that.  I'm not sure if it made absolutely no sense (more than usual) or if I was so bored a fugued out periodically and just missed a bunch of stuff.  I did notice the baby picture thing and was aware enough to gather it was hinting (or throwing red herrings) at Spencer being the other Drake baby.  But seriously?  The Hastings women are about as believably related as three people ever cast as family, especially Melissa and Spencer. It would be ridiculous to make Spencer not biologically related.* 

I was utterly confused by Alison's students. I felt bad for her.  But as others noted, how would her students know about her past in sufficient detail to organize a hoody thing?  At first I thought she was hallucinating.  I didn't realize it was a real prank until the scene with the principal. 

I also have to admit, I was mildly amused by the allegedly alcoholic, burnt out, hermit of a doctor who says he handle numerous "problems" for Radley remembering Mary Drake by name and every bloody thing about the treatment he provided her beginning 25+ years ago right up until... the sex of her SECOND child and what became of him/her post hand off. (Completely sober, 100% cogent, responsible doctors rarely remember details of treatment provided from last year without at least reviewing their records.)

I think Hanna shouting at the Liars about the stuff she dream told them they had no way of actually knowing was supposed to be cute, but it was just odd.  I think maybe they're going for full PTSD breakdown with Hanna, which would make sense given what she's gone through.  However, it's reading oddly and I can't figure out [read: cannot seem to pay attention sufficiently to follow] what the show even wants me to think about it.

I like Paige well enough.  But the exposition laden reunion with Emily was sort of blah and I cannot care too much. I will say, of all the longing moments of OTPs montage we were treated to this evening (Hanna/Caleb hallway, Ezria at the airport, Paige outside the window, etc), Paige's was the one I felt most... or at least didn't bruise my eyes rolling them. 

Can't care about Ezzzzzzra.  I noted him only enough to be annoyed that they've dragged Emily full-on into this story to be the Ezria cheerleader, a fact I resent mightily. I also resent that Aria was back to being dull and all about him.

*It's also ridiculous to change the familial ties of one of the Liars this late in the game. But this is PLL, so story reasons are unlikely to sway the TPTB... However, shallow reasons based purely on physicality? That might actually be a TPTB motivator.

Edited to add:  Where the hell was Jason? WTF is with bringing back HotJason one week and then taking him away the next?

Edited August 17, 2016 by RachelKM

[DigitalCount]

5 minutes ago, SadieT said:

So is Hanna clairvoyant like Gruswald too now and can find stuff out in dreams?

The fact that this is a reasonable question to ask regarding this episode says it all, really.

[dwmckim]

I'll admit i tend to get parts of the books mixed up with the show - and this was very much a part of the books...but we've seen Spencer struggle with memories or something in her subconscious.  Most of it on the show has been around her drug episodes.  We had that whole film noir episode that has a peek inside Spencer's head via her long dream.  The other major sequence with Spencer having a dream/something in her mind seemingly trying to wrestle its way free was that whole thing with the girl dancer...that seems to be pointing in that direction.

 

As for the hoodie "prank" - yeah it could be something A could have paid off the class to do but i don't think it's even that extreme.  Only five years separates this class and Ali's - the kids would have been 11-13 during the two years the A game was going on - and around 10 when Ali went missing; being how much she was in the news, many of them would have known her as "that girl" (and the other four as "that girls' friends...again this was a much larger part of the books that the PLLs were national news figures; "Pretty Little Liars" being the name the media assigned to them.  This hasn't been so much a part of the tv show but they were still local news figures - enough to get all the "how us your boobs - A" messages and stuff).  More directly, Alison made lots of enemies being a mean girl in school - i'm sure she has no shortage of classmates with younger siblings that comprise her current class who heard lots of tales from their older sibs about Queen Bee Ali.

Edited August 17, 2016 by dwmckim

[SadieT]

1 hour ago, DigitalCount said:

The fact that this is a reasonable question to ask regarding this episode says it all, really.

Well if Caleb can see ghosts, then Hanna can be clairvoyant. They're a perfect match. 

[Writing Wrongs]

I wish they'd leave the supernatural stuff in Ravenswood. This show is confusing and ridiculous enough.

Meg Foster's eyes will never not creep me out. Always have.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ha, I KNEW that Caleb getting run over by Noel Kahn was a dream! I was cracking up earlier in Hanna's dream when Caleb was insisting that the other girls just wanted to be one meeeeeeeellion percent sure that Noel Kahn was behind everything before they accused him because HELLO, when has that ever happened before? Spencer accuses at least one person of murder every morning before she has breakfast.

Ezra was able to insert his key into the lock of his door, turn the key, turn the doorknob, and open the door without Aria hearing anything. If that's an example of how observant she is, it's no wonder that the PLLs have been kidnapped and ambushed so many times. I can hear that from the other side of my house and she can't even hear that when the door is like five feet away.

What was with Ezra's sweater of sadness? That is the fugliest old man thing I've ever seen him wear on this show.

I used to joke about how the PLLs must get up at the crack of dawn to wander around Rosewood having coffee at each other's houses and then at the coffee shop before they meandered over to the high school to go to class. Apparently five years later, they're still super early birds. First Hanna showed up at Caleb's hotel room to make sure her nightmare hadn't meant he was harmed in any way (and to check on his progress cracking the encrypted stuff). Next Emily went to Ezra's place to talk to Aria about Nicole possibly being alive. Then Emily went to the Brew to meet with Alison who said she had 20 minutes before school started. My high school started at 7:30am so these girls must get up at like 5am. And Principal Hackett has time to stop at the Brew to pick up two dozen pastries before school starts.

I know a few people who became teachers and went back to the schools/districts they attended as kids, but they are the kind of people who were not stalked and traumatized by their high school years. Why would Emily and Ali commit to staying there any longer? Now that Charlotte is gone, there is nothing keeping Ali in Rosewood. She should get the hell out of there. Emily said she's testing out of her last college class which she doesn't need to be there either, so I don't understand why she would even apply for that coaching position since it would mean staying there at least until the end of the school year. As for the asshole students of Ali's who decided it would be hilarious to all wear black hoodies, ugh. Kids are the worst.

I hate when people post leading messages on FB so when Spencer sent Aria a text that just said, "Looks like Noel Kahn just did us a favor," without any further explanation, I was super annoyed with her. How about just telling her what actually happened? "I got an address for that doctor!" would have been a lot more informative.

I think that one of the reasons Ravenswood didn't do well as a spin-off was that it's hard to have a supernatural world (Ravenswood) that coexists with a non-supernatural world (Rosewood). It would be like only having vampires in Sunnydale but nowhere else. But I don't mind a little bit of the Grunwald. Psychic powers are okay with me.

If Dr. Cochran gave Mary's first baby to Jessica, why did he give the second baby to child services? Why wouldn't he have given the second baby to Jessica as well? If he did (which is where the show looks like it's going), it's not like he would know that Spencer is that baby and therefore lie to her about giving it to CPS. And why didn't Spencer and Aria ask Dr. Cochran or Mary who fathered the two babies?

Security at Rosewood High is pretty lax if you can break into the principal's office using an ID card. And seriously, what kind of high school keeps five year old student records in the principal's office? That stuff would normally be archived after graduation.

It's a good thing Lucas is still out of town now that Hanna, Emily, AND Aria are staying at his place. Maybe he should rename his loft Hotel Lucas.

What was up with the newspapers on the window ?

I thought Hanna covering the windows (after lying to Caleb about going to New York) meant that no one is willing to get on board with her theory that Noel Kahn is AD so she is going to lure him there and torture him to get him to admit it. I don't think that whoever kidnapped her is who she called or that they made her do anything after she escaped. It sounds like she called someone who she doesn't know very well but who has resources and she paid them to get her the keys to somewhere quiet and out of the way where she can set up her torture dungeon for Noel Kahn. Her exact words on the phone: "The deal's on. I get you the money, you get me the keys tonight and then you forget you ever heard from me - my name, the location, this number, all of it. Do you understand? Good. The less you know, the better." The newspaper on the windows is so that no one can see inside while she's merrily torturing Noel Kahn. I could be totally wrong though.

Where the hell was Jason? WTF is with bringing back HotJason one week and then taking him away the next?

Ali said he was in Philadelphia meeting with a forensic accountant. He's trying to figure out where the money that Wrollins stole went (and if Mary Drake had anything to do with it).

[SadieT]

So apparently people on social media think Alison is pregnant (with Emily's missing fertilized eggs of course) because she threw up at work? I didn't get that from the scene at all, I thought it was pretty obvious that she was throwing up because those horrible little brats in her class rattled her with their A prank and she was scared. But then again, this show is terrible and I wouldn't put it past them to do the worst thing imaginable.  

[Primetimer]

Oh, and an old, new candidate for psycho drama returns to Rosewood, huzzah!

View the full article

[AmandaPanda]

10 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

If Spencer was born 1992/1993 in the PLL universe (since they are all 23-23 by now), why were there black and white baby photos in that photo album ?  She wasn't born in the 1960s.

That bothered me so much! That scene looked straight out of the 1950s. Spencer would have been worth in the mid-1990s. Nothing about that scene said mid-1990s. I get that they want to call back to the spirit of film noir and Hitchcock, but still. 

8 hours ago, SadieT said:

The snickering I get. That's just immaturity. But a teacher wouldn't be called to the principal's office over the PA like that, especially for a non-emergency. Someone would have just come and got her between classes. 

This! Teachers are never summoned to the principal's office in this way because it means leaving a class full of students unattended. Don't leave the kids alone is basically rule #1 for being a teacher, regardless of the grade level. 

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I used to joke about how the PLLs must get up at the crack of dawn to wander around Rosewood having coffee at each other's houses and then at the coffee shop before they meandered over to the high school to go to class. Apparently five years later, they're still super early birds. First Hanna showed up at Caleb's hotel room to make sure her nightmare hadn't meant he was harmed in any way (and to check on his progress cracking the encrypted stuff). Next Emily went to Ezra's place to talk to Aria about Nicole possibly being alive. Then Emily went to the Brew to meet with Alison who said she had 20 minutes before school started. My high school started at 7:30am so these girls must get up at like 5am. And Principal Hackett has time to stop at the Brew to pick up two dozen pastries before school starts.

Security at Rosewood High is pretty lax if you can break into the principal's office using an ID card. And seriously, what kind of high school keeps five year old student records in the principal's office? That stuff would normally be archived after graduation.

If my school doesn't have Thank God It's Danish Day next year, I'mma be super pissed.

Also, unless RHS is graduating classes less than 100 students, there's no way an entire graduating class fits in one drawer of a filing cabinet. By the time a student graduates, their files are massive! 

2 hours ago, SadieT said:

So apparently people on social media think Alison is pregnant (with Emily's missing fertilized eggs of course) because she threw up at work? I didn't get that from the scene at all, I thought it was pretty obvious that she was throwing up because those horrible little brats in her class rattled her with their A prank and she was scared. But then again, this show is terrible and I wouldn't put it past them to do the worst thing imaginable.  

Women on TV never get to throw up out of nerves. It always means there's a baby coming. It's like the most obvious and annoying trope ever.

[mac123x]

11 hours ago, Pyewacket said:

That whole story looked and sounded like it came from a soon-to-be-a-Lifetime-movie paperback about evil baby stealers from the 40s or 50s.

I immediately thought of Stolen Babies, the based-on-a-true-story TV movie about a woman in the 1940s who ran a black-market adoption ring.  Yes, it was on Lifetime.

[Lady Calypso]

I find myself less inclined to watch the episodes, so I've resorted to skimming through clips online. 

I always liked Emily/Paige together, so I'm kind of hoping that these are hints that they'll end up together. Alison/Emily never did anything for me and they're much better off friends. 

Yeah, PLL? A teacher being called over the PA? That's not how it works. Usually someone comes to the class to get them, so that that person can fill in while the teacher's away. This show is getting dumber than it already was.

I feel bad for the Classes of 2013-2016. They don't seem to exist.

Hanna's psychic now, apparently. Ok. 

So, about a season ago, I would have been upset at Dream Caleb being hit by Noel Kahn in his car. This season? I was cheering Noel on and had a similar shit eating grin on my face. There's clearly going to be some time before I like Caleb again.

Also, Emily can shut up with her Ezria cheerleading. I don't care. Go away. Let Aria be with Jason, let Ezra hook up with Mary Drake and spend time in their creepy stalker lairs, and I'll be happy. 

It would be a nice twist if the Mary Drake baby wasn't Spencer. But maybe Marlene decided that because people figured out the answer too quickly, she changed up the person at the last minute for a twist. Maybe it's Nicole. And the baby daddy is Byron. 

Boom, mystery solved.

Everyone's A.D. Everyone suspects everyone. It's just a rehash until Noel doesn't end up being A.D in two episodes. 

Alison could be pregnant, and I'm annoyed. It's probably with Emily's eggs, just for the hell of it. Hey, Alison was drugged up in Welby. It's entirely possible. But maybe the twist is it's Aria who's pregnant. 

This show. It's now more fun of thinking of the scenarios that could happen.

[Snappy]

i ws lways intrigued by Meg Foster's eyes. I have chosen to ignore all the inconsistencies and stupidities, of which there are a million, in hopes of whiling away an hour on Tuesday night. I just wish the PTB would give us back the old, sassy liars. They were more astute "in high school" than as adults.

[CraftyHazel]

29 minutes ago, Snappy said:

i ws lways intrigued by Meg Foster's eyes. I have chosen to ignore all the inconsistencies and stupidities, of which there are a million, in hopes of whiling away an hour on Tuesday night. I just wish the PTB would give us back the old, sassy liars. They were more astute "in high school" than as adults.

So was I.  She was stunning in her day, with those icy eyes and that dark hair. 

[mercfan3]

Teachers were called over the PA system at my school. I don't think that it's that abnormal in a small school. 

So I was thinking about AD..and it struck me. Duh, its Caleb. Orphan. Total personality change. Spencer's "best boyfriend ever" clue. He's handing out new phones to the girls (cause that ain't suspicious..if it were anyone else...) But then I remembered that he found his birth mother..of course they can retcon it, but I thought for a second they were going to really put Caleb on the Toby/Ezra level and then fake redeem him with plot holes. But there's still hope they won't. 

They are heavily suggesting it's Spencer, so we know it's not Spencer. 

Anyway, I don't like crazy pants Hannah. And I didn't quite figure out what she was planning. I guess it's for next week. 

[tennisgurl]

Kind of a boring episode, all things considered. Stuff happened, but nothing really HAPPENED, you know?

So Ezra runs off to find his missing girlfriend in the deep dark jungles of Columbia (at least they are not just calling it "South America" anymore), which apparently is filled with armed militias that hold Americans prisoner for YEARS without letting anyone know that they're there, kind of killing their weight as a hostage. But whatever. It gets Ezra off my screen, so that is something at least. And of course Aria has to beg for forgiveness, and give up her trip money to help her fiance find his missing girlfriend. Actually, did I miss something? Why does he need to go? I mean, I guess I get wanted to get to her as soon as possible if she is alive, but what does he expect to do? Run into a camp of armed militia (or something?) people and find his girlfriend? Arent the police on it? Isn't it all over the news? Again, whatever. Its gets Ezra off my screen. 

Of course the night the mystery baby was secreted out of the mental hospital there was a thunder storm. Of course. Though, honestly, I can get behind ridiculous stuff like that. Noir influenced creepiness and weirdness is an improvement over boy drama. 

Paige is back! Not going to lie, I liked Paige, and I am glad that she might be back. I hope that Emily actually finds a decent girlfriend, including getting back with Paige. Anything but the creepy stuff with Alison. 

That prank was so freaking ridiculous. The whole class dresses up in stupid hoods and sits silently for God knows how long just to scare Ali? What kids put that much effort into just screwing with a teacher? And how many asshole kids are in this school? Come on?

Edited August 17, 2016 by tennisgurl

[lorikauai]

Dear Caleb, please leave town like Toby and Ezra. 

I'm sure Paige is just back to be a potential Mary Drake baby. Now we just need Mona and Lucas back. What about Mike? Or is he too young? 

I loved that Ali was dressed like a typical girl (jeans!) in the beginning of the episode, but of course that was just Hanna's dream. Even Hanna wants to fix Ali's wardrobe. 

[Jack Shaftoe]

The scenery chewing was off the charts in this episode, especially in the case of Grunwald. Hanna's hysterical woman act got old in the first five minutes. You would think that after accusing wrongly the first dozen people, the Liars would stop jumping to conclusions all the time.

Alison infodumping about Noel pushing a girl down the stairs was so meta. I could totally hear Marlene laughing and saying "You want answers? Here are some answers (that make no sense)". If his family bought the girl off, Alison would have nothing to blackmail him with, one would think. Also, when are they going to remember that Mona dated Noel Kahn once and probably knows a lot about him?

That doctor was unintentionally hilarious. He casually admitted to a bunch of crimes and didn't give the Liars any useful information. "Oh, I totally remember that baby, even how much it weighed but I totally forgot whether it was a boy or a girl". And how many babies were born in Radley if they needed to have an OB/GYN on call? That fedora in the flashback just killed me. It's not like Mary gave birth in 1956, dear writers.

Paige and Emily dated for years back in college? First, I call bullshit on this never being mentioned until now, obviously the writers only came up with it once they decided to have Paige make a return. Second, I can imagine the outrage in certain Alison/Emily shipper communities with some glee (that I am not proud of :)). Third, how on Earth would Paige be hopeful for the Olympics? She was nothing really special as a swimmer in high school, sure she won a scholarship but it was never mentioned or even implied that she was among the Olympic hopefuls or one day would be. Not that I won't take any excuse for her to stick around, don't get me wrong. Until they ruin her too, the way they have ruined most other characters, that is.

Those brats in Alison's class sure can use a dose of the old Alison.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Jack Shaftoe

[Peanut6711]

5 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Yeah, PLL? A teacher being called over the PA? That's not how it works. Usually someone comes to the class to get them, so that that person can fill in while the teacher's away. This show is getting dumber than it already was.

Ms. Dileurentis being called over the PA was most definitely eye roll worthy.  The show's not-so-subtle reminder that Allie is still a bad girl.  And is the principal so busy buying danishes that he doesn't know when one of his faculty members is returning from a medical leave? It took him at least several class periods before he called Allison in. And then he couldn't wait till the class was over and she had a free period to interrupt??? Of course this is the same guy that employed Mr. Fitz so....

Quote

I feel bad for the Classes of 2013-2016. They don't seem to exist.

Nor does that classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020 that should be there currently. 

16 minutes ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

 And how many babies were born in Radley if they needed to have an OB/GYN on call? 

Yes, that was a head scratching moment.  If some of these people spent years in Radley then were the patients having sex with each other?

18 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

If Spencer was born 1992/1993 in the PLL universe (since they are all 23-23 by now), why were there black and white baby photos in that photo album ?  She wasn't born in the 1960s.

I would have been in high school when the liars were born and our yearbook photos are even in color. We might not have had digital photography but we had color!

[Perfect Xero]

I thought that the rather disturbing implication of the on call OB/GYN was that someone or someones involved with Radley was raping the patients.

13 hours ago, SadieT said:

So apparently people on social media think Alison is pregnant (with Emily's missing fertilized eggs of course) because she threw up at work? I didn't get that from the scene at all, I thought it was pretty obvious that she was throwing up because those horrible little brats in her class rattled her with their A prank and she was scared. But then again, this show is terrible and I wouldn't put it past them to do the worst thing imaginable.  

I admit, Alison being pregnant was my first thought when she was shown throwing up, I didn't think about Emily's eggs though, I guess it's possible that something was done to her when Rollins was drugging her.

Also, Noel Kahn has evil powers he made Grunwald's brain bleed and he managed to enter Hanna's dream like Freddie Kruger!

Edited August 18, 2016 by Perfect Xero
Noel Kahn

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If Spencer was born 1992/1993 in the PLL universe (since they are all 23-23 by now), why were there black and white baby photos in that photo album ?  She wasn't born in the 1960s.

That bothered me so much! That scene looked straight out of the 1950s. Spencer would have been worth in the mid-1990s. Nothing about that scene said mid-1990s. I get that they want to call back to the spirit of film noir and Hitchcock, but still.

Now, see, if it had been Aria looking at black and white baby photos of herself, I would have assumed that she had scanned the original color photos and then photoshopped them to be black and white so that they looked more artsy.

[SadieT]

8 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

I thought that the rather disturbing implication of the on call OB/GYN was that someone or someones involved with Radley was raping the patients.

I admit, Alison being pregnant was my first thought when she was shown throwing up, I didn't think about Emily's eggs though, I guess it's possible that something was done to her when Rollins was drugging her.

I thought the same thing and was kind of surprised they'd hint at it so casually. It's probably not what they intended to suggest but going off the doctor's words that he was busy at Radley because female patients often got "in trouble" and weren't treated very well, definitely made it sound like they were being raped. 

There’s a scene at the end of 7x02 where someone comes into Alison’s room at Welby, injects her with something and wheels her bed out of the room and through the halls of the hospital and through a pair of double doors. We don’t see this person, just their gloved hands so it wasn't Rollins because we had already seen Rollins openly torturing and drugging Ali so there was no reason to conceal his identity. This is after the liars of course turn her over to A.D. and they get a text from him/her saying “Ali’s mine now” and start to suspect A.D. has access to Ali in Welby. Also I just rewatched the scene and the music they play over the end where she's being wheeled through the hospital sounds so familiar, like a lullaby I can't place. (scene starts just after the 3 minute mark of this video if anyone's interested). If they’re really going with the A.D. implanted Emily's fertilized eggs story in Alison storyline, and I hope to God they don't because it would be a gross violation of Alison's body and way too dark and ridiculous, this could have been when it happened. We never find out who took her or where they took her or what they did to her. I had originally thought it was just Rollins taking her somewhere to drug her up some more, but he would have just done that in her room like we'd seen him doing so there'd be no reason to make a big production out of the scene. 

Edited August 18, 2016 by SadieT

[Lii]

1 hour ago, SadieT said:

I thought the same thing and was kind of surprised they'd hint at it so casually. It's probably not what they intended to suggest but going off the doctor's words that he was busy at Radley because female patients often got "in trouble" and weren't treated very well, definitely made it sound like they were being raped. 

There’s a scene at the end of 7x02 where someone comes into Alison’s room at Welby, injects her with something and wheels her bed out of the room and through the halls of the hospital and through a pair of double doors. We don’t see this person, just their gloved hands so it wasn't Rollins because we had already seen Rollins openly torturing and drugging Ali so there was no reason to conceal his identity. This is after the liars of course turn her over to A.D. and they get a text from him/her saying “Ali’s mine now” and start to suspect A.D. has access to Ali in Welby. Also I just rewatched the scene and the music they play over the end where she's being wheeled through the hospital sounds so familiar, like a lullaby I can't place. (scene starts just after the 3 minute mark of this video if anyone's interested). If they’re really going with the A.D. implanted Emily's fertilized eggs story in Alison storyline, and I hope to God they don't because it would be a gross violation of Alison's body and way too dark and ridiculous, this could have been when it happened. We never find out who took her or where they took her or what they did to her. I had originally thought it was just Rollins taking her somewhere to drug her up some more, but he would have just done that in her room like we'd seen him doing so there'd be no reason to make a big production out of the scene. 

For sure if she got the Emily's baby storyline that would be when she got knocked up. 

So, quite often when one has a mental illness and is in the midst of an episode, they act out sexually. Patients in mental hospitals are separated by gender for this reason, and even in a short-term ICU ward there are always people who try to get around the supervision and have sex in one room or another. Like even in competently-run mental hospitals this is a thing. In a hospital like Radley, where there was no security, no supervision, and patients were left so completely to their own devices that they could make basement lairs, construct ludicrously realistic masks, break out on the reg, carve things in tables and vandalize board games, and push people off the roof or out a window - there is no way in hell patients wouldn't be having unprotected sex constantly. I thought this was the poor treatment Dr Drunk Dude was talking about. Of course, it's This Show we're talking about, so maybe I'm totally looking in the wrong direction, because This Show does not do realism. 

[joelene]

Isn't A's motive wanting to know who killed Charlotte? Why would s/he pull stunts like impregnating Alison for no reason? Or have the Alison/Emily shippers leaped into PPL reality. Could probably happen at this point. 

[SadieT]

14 minutes ago, joelene said:

Isn't A's motive wanting to know who killed Charlotte? Why would s/he pull stunts like impregnating Alison for no reason? Or have the Alison/Emily shippers leaped into PPL reality. Could probably happen at this point. 

Because the writers probably think it's a shocking twist? When I first saw people freaking out about it I thought it was stupid. That there was no way the writers would go there because it's such a terrible idea, and I honestly still sort of believe that, but at the same time I realize that they could go there because it easily fits into the plot that we've seen unfold. We know A.D. took Emily's eggs last season and we know Alison was taken somewhere in Welby by someone and presumably had something done to her. Plus when it comes to PLL I find it's always best to imagine the worst possible scenario and then work your way backwards.

I still don't think the writers would give any of the girls a baby because pregnancy and babies sort of impede story-telling in a way, but then again it's the last season and these writers have a pretty messed up idea of what's considered romantic, as demonstrated by Ezra's entire existence, so maybe they think this is some great epic way to bring Ali and Emily together. I don't know, I'm just throwing some theories out there, but for my own sanity I'm gonna stick with believing Alison threw up simply because she was scared/nervous, and not because she was impregnated against her will. 

[Mabinogia]

I'm guessing making Ali vomit was the writers way of getting people talking. Since the show pretty much sucks and most of us stopped caring who A is long ago, you know, after the first half dozen A's were revealed, they need to do shocking things to get buzz.

Honestly, again, watched the whole ep, couldn't tell you what happened. I know Aria send Fitz away and looked at her instant dress and Spencer looked at some baby pics and Paige is back and Ali vomited. That's about all I got. Oh, and Noel Khan has the greatest evil smile of all time!