S07.E14: Power Play

[ElectricBoogaloo]

5 hours ago, mac123x said:

8 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

First of all, let's just talk about his fidelity issues. He had affairs with Jessica DiLaurentis, Mary Drake, and Bethany Young's mom. Poor Veronica.

Wait, what?  I must've missed when was that established.  I remember that Jessica was stepping out on Kenneth with Bethany's dad, but as far as I recall, Peter only slept with the Drake twins.

Ha, apparently my brain got mixed up with which of Bethany's parents had an affair. It was Jessica's mom and Bethany's dad, so FOR ONCE Peter Hastings is off the hook. For now. He, maybe it will turn out that Peter had an affair with Bethany's mother and they are Lucas's biological parents. Apparently all the remaining answers and twists are going to be "someone we already know did some other shady shit" (as opposed to the show's other MO of "random person who was recently introduced did shady shit"). Run, Paige, run like the wind before MK decides that you're somehow responsible for a murder or the bio kid of one of your friends' parents!
 

[marshmallows]

This show actually gives me a headache. I watched it last night and had to rewind multiple parts because I was so confused. So here I am trying to figure out what the hell is going on lol.

 

WHERE IS MONA? She is seriously the ONLY character left on this show that I care about.

 

I rolled my eyes so hard when Emily was rambling to Paige about staying so they could be together, puhhlease, you have been up Ali's ass since Paige arrived, don't act like you care now, now that Paige is leaving.

 

Rolled my eyes again at their bike scene. It was so stupid, immature, and childish. But, I guess I shouldn't expect much else from these emotionally stunted liars that still think they are in high school.

 

Yay for Aria, switch teams and dump Ezra. This could actually be interesting. Also, we got to see a little bit of crazy eyes from her when she threw her doll piece at the wine glass. I'm liking crazy Aria.

Does Hannah have to roll her eyes and whine all the time? It's extremely distracting.

 

WOW the show really went with the Emily's eggs are in Ali storyline. Again, I expected it, but I was trying to be hopeful that she would just get the abortion. If there is ever a time to get an abortion: Now is the time Ali. It being Emily's eggs and not yours actually just makes it an even more gross violation than you originally thought it was.

 

LOL Pastor Ted is CeCe's dad. Wtf? That literally came out of no where. I completely forgot who he even was.

 

Um, I'm hoping Peter killed Jessica, because his littler story about Mary Drake killing Jessica is nonsensical. Why didn't he just tell the cops she did it? He is a millionaire lawyer and so is his wife. At least if Peter killed her it would be more interesting and make more sense.

 

Not sure why the show is having Spencer hook up with the hot cop just for MK to put her back with Toby. Stop teasing us with an actual functional couple to just put her back with high school ex who just lost his wife.

 

But really? Where is Mona? I missed her these past two episodes. She is extremely underused...

[Peanut6711]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't CeCe die at Pastor Ted's church? What irony. 

[WhosThatGirl]

2 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't CeCe die at Pastor Ted's church? What irony. 

I think you're right. I'm assuming there's only one church in Rosewood. Like how it only had one restaurant until last season when Ashley opened up the Radley hotel restaurant. 

[Black Knight]

I'm not taking Peter's word for it that Mary killed Jessica. I thought it was telling that we saw his conversation with Mary after she came away from seeing Spencer, but not the murder itself or her telling him she'd killed Jessica or whatever. My theory is that Peter thinks his wife killed Jessica, and so he is covering for her by pointing the finger at Mary. As for who actually killed Jessica, I've always felt that it was AD and still expect it to be AD.

So they went there with Emily's eggs. Squicky to the max...but I will say this, it was a showcase for Sasha, and that makes me furious all over again that the show has been wasting Sasha's talents the last couple of half seasons, until the writers finally stopped writing Ali so vanilla. Give her the material, and she's the best actor in the cast. Shay is the weakest actor, and one of the things I like about Emison is that Shay does her best work in Emison scenes. She was nowhere near Sasha's level in the post-reveal scenes, but she was actually good. As for Sasha, my favorite moment was at the end, when Ali was sitting in the chair and the others went to go look at the gameboard. The look on Ali's face just killed - the total despairing disbelief at what AD did to her.

In regards to the posters asking why Ali would be considering raising this baby as a single mother and broke teacher, well, I guess we'll get clarification on her viewpoint next week, but I was struck by the way Ali worded it when she told Emily - she said it's not her baby, it's Emily's. It seems to me that Ali's view is that because it's Emily's baby, Emily should be the one to decide, or at least have a strong say, in whether it gets aborted. And if Emily were to say she wanted Ali to carry to term, then Ali would hand the baby over after it's born and Emily would be the one to raise it. Of course that's not what's going to actually end up happening - Emison is endgame, they will end up raising this baby together - but I think that's what Ali's view is on the situation right now. That if she goes through with the pregnancy it would be to basically act as a surrogate for Emily rather than having a kid and becoming a mom herself.

So Emily will tell Ali not to have the abortion, and she'll ask Paige how she feels about being a second mother, and Paige will think the whole thing is nuts while Ali will resent the Paily relationship because it makes her feel like nothing more than a vessel. The instant Paige says or does something wrong, Emily will seize the excuse to break up with her, and Paige will hop back on her stupid bike and pedal off to her new job in Iowa. I hated that bike race scene so much.

[SadieT]

18 hours ago, marshmallows said:

 

I rolled my eyes so hard when Emily was rambling to Paige about staying so they could be together, puhhlease, you have been up Ali's ass since Paige arrived, don't act like you care now, now that Paige is leaving.

 

Rolled my eyes again at their bike scene. It was so stupid, immature, and childish. But, I guess I shouldn't expect much else from these emotionally stunted liars that still think they are in high school.

 

That Emily/Paige bike scene felt so out of place to me. The race, the reminiscing about shit no one knows or cares about, the silly music, the camera panning in a circle as they kissed, the over the top laughing afterwards… it was like for 1 minute, Emily and Paige were on a completely different show. It was just kind of weird. Also weird how nothing Emily has said or done up until that point suggested that she had any interest in Paige as more than a friend, but suddenly she was hoping for another chance and taking a break from being stalked and blackmailed to ride bikes and make out in the street with her ex-girlfriend like a couple of school kids? It'll never cease to amaze me that these girls still find time to date and engage in all this banal romantic nonsense while a villainous omnipresent psychopath torments them and destroys their lives.  

Edited May 12, 2017 by SadieT

[Jack Shaftoe]

Quote

That Emily/Paige bike scene felt so out of place to me. The race, the reminiscing about shit no one knows or cares about, the silly music, the camera panning in a circle as they kissed, the over the top laughing afterwards… it was like for 1 minute, Emily and Paige were on a completely different show.

I think it made sense... if one accepted the ridiculous premise that Paige would really be dumb enough not to leave Rosewood for a better job on the off chance that Emily can actually choose between the women who keep pursuing her romantically and her choice will be Paige.

Quote

So Emily will tell Ali not to have the abortion, and she'll ask Paige how she feels about being a second mother,

Upon hearing which Paige should get on her bike and ride it all the way to Iowa.

Quote

Run, Paige, run like the wind before MK decides that you're somehow responsible for a murder or the bio kid of one of your friends' parents!

I can totally see Marlene thinking that having Paige plot the murder of Alison's unborn baby would be the prefect way to resolve this awkward love triangle. Run, Paige, run, indeed.

[mac123x]

9 hours ago, Black Knight said:

I'm not taking Peter's word for it that Mary killed Jessica. I thought it was telling that we saw his conversation with Mary after she came away from seeing Spencer, but not the murder itself or her telling him she'd killed Jessica or whatever.

To be fair, Jessica wasn't murdered in the standard PLL way with a shovel or a car.  Someone swapped her low blood pressure medication for Peter's high blood pressure medication (or vice versa, I don't remember who had which disorder).  I think Peter's flashback showed us that Mary broke into the Hastings' house and 1) stole Peter's medication 2) had that creepy scene from season 4 where she was standing behind Spencer and 3) ran into Peter downstairs. 

At the time, she covered it up with "Oh, Spencer is wonderful, blah blah" to make him think that was why she was there.  After Jessica's cause of death became known, Peter figured out what Mary did.  That's the story he told Spencer this episode.  Whether it's entirely true or not is a different story.

[tennisgurl]

Oh my God, they really went there. I guessed this was coming the second Emily's eggs were stolen, but I was REALLY hoping that not even this show could possibly be that ridiculous. However, I should never underestimate the levels of insanity that is PLL. Alli is pregnant with Emily's baby. That's a thing that's happening. I cant decide if I should be laughing hysterically over how absolutely batshit crazy this is, or if I should be cringing at how totally gross it is. Maybe both?

I so wish that school wasn't out, so I could talk to my students about this. The thoughts that a bunch of late teens/early 20s girls on PLL are always entertaining (they all think Aria/Ezra is super gross) and I enjoy getting their take on this...development. Also, congratulations show, you actually made me feel bad for Ali. Her being forced to buy baby stuff after deciding to terminate the pregnancy is pretty nasty, considering Alis issues with the baby, and then the flashbacks to her getting wheeled through the hospital to get impregnated, that was super creepy. I'm sure by next week I`ll be irritated with her again.

I will totally take Emily and Paige over Emily and Ali any day of the week, no matter how silly their bike rides are.

Thank God for this thread, because when Sydney showed up, I had absolutely no clue who the hell she was. It was like "Its me! What a twist!" "...who are you again?"

[mac123x]

57 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I so wish that school wasn't out, so I could talk to my students about this. The thoughts that a bunch of late teens/early 20s girls on PLL are always entertaining (they all think Aria/Ezra is super gross)

This gives me hope for the next generation.

[AftermathTV]

The Paily bike ride scene was supposed to feel like an alternate reality before the rug got pulled out with Alison finding out the bomb shell. It can either be interpreted as an unnecessary cruel poke at the Paily fanbase or as their romantic send-off/tribute scene.

I'm going to consider it the canon ending for Emily's ships. Paige will probably leave to Iowa very pissed when she finds out the abortion isn't happening. And she should, because there's no excuse for Emily to keep that if she's serious about Paige. Even if it was Uber A's doing, Emily has power over it now. 

I can't imagine how tragic of a betrayal Paige must feel, that the most important girl in her life that inspired her to come out to her family, will decide to raise a baby with the woman who drove her towards suicide.

I quit PLL for a chunk of S5 when it looked like A. Mona was dead B. Paige was removed Emily's life and C. It was obvious Alison was going to be innocent/become a protagonist.

B and C are happening all over again. Mona discovering the board game in the next episode, and the shortest time it's ever taken to unmask A are the only reasons I'll still be here. Cut to the Liars having a 4-way wedding and then move into some damn major player deaths.

[SadieT]

57 minutes ago, AftermathTV said:

Paige will probably leave to Iowa very pissed when she finds out the abortion isn't happening. And she should, because there's no excuse for Emily to keep that if she's serious about Paige. Even if it was Uber A's doing, Emily has power over it now. 

I can't imagine how tragic of a betrayal Paige must feel, that the most important girl in her life that inspired her to come out to her family, will decide to raise a baby with the woman who drove her towards suicide.

 

I don't think Paige really has a right to be pissed off about what another woman does with her body or to feel like the betrayed party in this scenario when both Alison and Emily were grossly violated and robbed of their agency (and bodily autonomy in Alison's case). And it's not really up to Emily to decide to keep the baby or not, because again, it's Alison's body. As an egg donor, Emily forfeited her right to make those decisions. Of course this isn't a normal situation and because Emily and Alison care for each other it complicates matters, which is obviously what AD wants, but it looks like both Alison and Emily will make the decision together since it effects them both and if Paige wants to stay in Emily's life, she'd just have to accept that.  

I do think Paige will leave when she realizes Emily is conflicted about her feelings for Alison and about the baby, and I expect that to happen sooner rather than later, which is why the bike scene seemed like such a silly waste of time to me. But then again 90% of this show is a silly waste of time.

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 5/9/2017 at 10:00 PM, SadieT said:

I knew the baby story was going to go in this direction but it was still pretty gross to watch it play out and to hear Alison describe how she was strapped down to her bed in Welby and couldn't stop it. And the scene of Ali having to register baby gifts for a baby she had at that time decided to abort was just kind of sad.

If Ali hadn't looked up while storming out of the store, she wouldn't have found the puzzle piece -- what would have happened then ?
Ali completed the task, but wouldn't have found the puzzle piece.

On 5/9/2017 at 11:29 PM, Artsda said:

So Emily being the egg donor was obviously going to happen, question is who is the sperm donor?

My money is on Charlotte/CeCe/Charles.

On 5/10/2017 at 11:08 AM, Writing Wrongs said:

I can honestly say that I have no idea what's going on or what the end game is supposed to be. I've lost track of most of the previous plots.

You are not alone.  It's like this show is just put together at random.

Here's some other questions:
-- What if that thumb is from Archer Dunhill's identical twin ?
-- How did no one notice that immense gameboard being lugged across the street from the Hastings house to Alison's house ?  And why is no one concerned that AD was inside both of those houses ?  What else did AD do ?  And why do none of these places have security cameras ?
-- What is the deal with Sydney and her chat with Aria about being 'winners' and 'losers' or being on the 'winning team' or 'losing team' ?  Who cares ?
 

Edited May 16, 2017 by ottoDbusdriver

[CurlyATX]

Throughout the entire series, especially with Cece/Charlotte being "A" and now this "AD", I am just so confused as to WHY!  In the former's case, really what had the girls done to warrant all this torture?  Now with AD, I really don't get why he/she is attacking the girls so much, especially Ally (a forced pregnancy? really??)

This whole Aria joining the A team seems like a horrible retread that we saw in the Dark Spencer Saga.  I know I'm supposed to suspend my logic and disbelief at the choices the girls make, but if they were just honest, none of this would happen. 

Finally, Lucas knew Charlotte?  And yet Hannah still is staying at his house?