S05.E02: Whirly Girly

[mac123x]

Also, I'm throwing Jason in as the latest twin theory. It would explain the inconsistency of his character

And the bad facial hair. If Star Trek is anything to go by, clean shaven = good, goatee = evil twin.

When did Mike get hot? How old is that actor? Should I feel like Ezra?

Cody Allen Christian is 19 years old, so drooling is legal, particularly at the picture on that link.

[mercfan3]

That's what it was..he suddenly had a ton of muscle tone..plus a better haircut. Still felt a little ezra-ish for noticing. 

[M1977G]

 

Also, I just wanted to smack Emily every single time she said "A is dead" or "it's over". How dumb can she be?

I often feel like Emily is the most gullible one of the group, so I found it even more annoying that the other girls seemed to think the same thing.  Shana always seemed like a gopher/enforcer/errand girl for A than the mastermind.  I mean, how can the liars not recognize this?!  And will we ever get an explanation for Shana's creepy skulking around in Ravenswood's cemetery?

 

 

If they just spoke up, this would end.  They bring half this shit on themselves.  Truly.

Yes, but the show would end, too.  That said, self-sabotage and bad decisions for plot lines gets annoying.  My hope:  that Officer Hottie-Hollbrook approaches Hannah to try to get at the truth and that we can get some good answers/intel through them teaming up a little.  I'm not advocating a romance here -- I totally disapprove of romantic/sexual relationships between adults and minors, especially on a "family channel" (I am always creeped out by Ezra and his thing for high school girls.  And Wilden's.  And Aria's dad's thing for his college student, though she was over 18).  However, it seemed to me some of the chemistry between Hannah and Officer H last season had to do with a shared intrigue with solving mysteries.  I'm hoping he proves to be a smarter adult than all the others in Rosewood, who sees through Ali's crap, and is one of few adult male characters who proves not to be a pervert, cheater, or creeper.  I want him to get us some answers!  And I want Hannah to be in on it, in part because Spencer was so snide about her detective skills and interests in mysteries last season.  Hannah is no intellectual, but the girl is smarter than she gets credit for (trying to bury her mom's gun near a frat party excluded).

Edited June 19, 2014 by M1977G

[mjgchick]

Ali vs Spencer is going to snatch my wigs and give me life. I've been waiting for this for 84 years.

Emily on the other hand is going to get burned terribly. Ali is clearly a sociopath and gives zero fucks about anyone but herself.

Aria is so much better with the Liars than she is with Ezra. Its a damn shame that they corner her in a romcom. Say what you want about Toby and Spencer at least they seem to write for her outside of the relationship.

Yes, Mrs. Hastings referenced it in the conversation with Spencer about the photo of the girls and Allie taken at Halloween. Also I think Det. Holbrook mentioned how many weeks it had been since they saw her when that photo was taken. Apparently the second half of last season must have only been a few weeks in their time. I agree though--ridiculous.

That wasn't Halloween. Halloween from the time frame was season 3s Halloween special. That picture they took with the costumes in Ravenswood while they were having some festival thingy. I think and the girls needed the costumes to blend in. I'm going to assume Obama has not even done his second term yet for the girls at this point.

Hanna and Mama Hastings had the best line of the night.

Now that we've seen Mona with Ali and I got to say it was a total let down because Mona's storyline seems so childish to me. So I can't wait for the first Melissa, Jenna, (as well as Jenna with the Liars since Aria killed her girlfriend.) Toby and Paige scenes with her. I really hope Melissa is the one in charge of the justice league because Mona is just cray and delusional if she thinks she can take down the girl who managed to see half of the United States (and probably Canada.) in one day.

[Chaos Theory]

Emily on the other hand is going to get burned terribly. Ali is clearly a sociopath and gives zero fucks about anyone but herself.

 

 

Yeah but that is kinda half the fun and the only reason the relationship is interesting at all to me.  That and both actresses are acting the hell out of it.   Emily and her please love me eyes and Ali and her come into my parlour smile.      Was Emily jealous of Ali's puppy?  Because that is her job.

 

Mona and Ali so need to rumble.  Street fight!  Just think if those two actually combined forces.  The world would be theirs.  All hail the new overlords!

Edited June 20, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ezra and Aria weren't illegal (as far as age of consent in the state of Pennsylvania goes) but if he had sex with Alison back when she was 14, that's a different story. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. They seem to be going with the Ezra and Alison Didn't Do It scenario

Yes they do seem to be retconning the Ezra/Allie physical involvement, and age of consent might protect him to some degree with Aria, but he's still a teacher who had sex with one of his students--I would think if Hollbrook uncovered that he'd at least bring it to the attention of the principal. Also, Ezra's cameras and filming the girls should certainly fall under some kind of stalking laws should Hollbrook uncover Ezra's lair.

I know this comes up several times every season but seeing as we're at our (relatively) new digs here at PTV, I'll just reiterate what has been said in the past about Aria and Ezra's relationship straight from Wikipedia:

 

The de jure (in name) age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16 years of age for sexual consent, but a corruption of minors statute against adults corrupting the morals of minors under 18 years of age exists which makes the de facto (in fact) age of consent in Pennsylvania 18 years of age. However, the corruption of minors statute only applies to perpetrators 18 years of age and older, so it is legal for minors 16-17 to have sex with each other but not with a partner 18 or older.

 

§ 3122.1. Statutory sexual assault.

Except as provided in section 3121 (relating to rape), a person commits a felony of the second degree when that person engages in sexual intercourse with a complainant under the age of 16 years and that person is four or more years older than the complainant and the complainant and the person are not married to each other.

 

§ 3123 Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse

(7) who is less than 16 years of age and the person is four or more years older than the complainant and the complainant and person are not married to each other.

 

When the alleged victim is 16 or older and less than 18 years of age, and the alleged offender is over the age of 18, the Commonwealth may charge the offense of corruption of minors or unlawful contact with a minor, even if the activity was consensual:

 

§ 6301 Corruption of minors.

(a) Offense defined.-- (1) Whoever, being of the age of 18 years and upwards, by any act corrupts or tends to corrupt the morals of any minor less than 18 years of age, or who aids, abets, entices or encourages any such minor in the commission of any crime, or who knowingly assists or encourages such minor in violating his or her parole or any order of court, commits a misdemeanor of the first degree.

   

The crime of corruption of minors is usually a crime that accompanies another "more serious" crime such as statutory rape or involuntary deviate sexual intercourse or accompanies some drug or alcohol use, possession or sale. Tending to corrupt like contributing to delinquency is a broad term involving conduct toward a child in an unlimited variety of ways which tends to produce or to encourage or to continue conduct of the child which would amount to delinquent conduct."

 

The question of whether consensual intercourse with a minor 16 years or older tends to corrupt the morals of that minor is a jury question to be decided by the "common sense of the community."

 

I don't remember when in the PLL time warp Aria and Ezra finally did the deed (although I do remember his hilarious facial expressions during that scene), but as far as I remember, she hasn't turned 18 yet and Ezra is at least four years older than she is, so according to the law, it was corruption of a minor at the very least. If Ezra had sex with Ali before she disappeared, he would be guilty of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse (Ali was 15 when she disappeared, I think?).

[KatWay]

They made it clear though that Ezra didn't have sex with Ali. Based on how incredibly long it took him to do the deed with Aria I can buy that.

As for Aria, well, I feel if you go to the Rosewood police because someone has inapprorpiate sexual contact with a minor they'd probably laugh in your face. They'd have to arrest half the town. Real Life laws have nothing to do with it. Honestly, there's no way Alison would have been released to her family just like that. She'd have to be medically examined and talk to counsellors and psychiatrists etc. She wouldn't just get to go home and get a dog. 

 

My personal headcanon is that Ella and Ashley both went out with Pastor Ted because he's the only guy in town who is interested in women his own age.

[Bort]

I know this comes up several times every season but seeing as we're at our (relatively) new digs here at PTV, I'll just reiterate what has been said in the past about Aria and Ezra's relationship straight from Wikipedia:

That Wikipedia entry should be its own pinned post that we can refer people to whenever the subject comes up, instead of having to repost it over and over again.

[larapu2000]

Ezra and Aria weren't illegal (as far as age of consent in the state of Pennsylvania goes) but if he had sex with Alison back when she was 14, that's a different story. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. They seem to be going with the Ezra and Alison Didn't Do It scenario.

This bums me out.  Not because I relish the idea of men cavorting with underage girls, but because I relish those kinds of storylines on television shows.  

 

Isn't the body in Allison's grave pregnant?  Isn't that what the missing autopsy page was about?  This show has gone on way too long with too many unresolved threads, so it's hard to keep track of what part of what mystery is being revealed.  

 

If Melissa wasn't in London, was she in NY?  Or was Wren lying about that?  With Wren physically being in London, I guess that leaves him out of being A.  Unless Toby is lying.  About everything.

[Chaos Theory]

I wouldn't mind if the show wanted to redeem characters like Ali and Fitz but from what it looked like on Wirly Girl it is like they are turning Ali into a pussy. She was the town mean girl and now she is scared of her own shadow.

[Crim]

The more I think about it, the more this season bums me out. Ali is a wimp, Mona is a Mean Girl, and Ezra is a hero who was looking for Ali to get Aria back (but wait! wasn't he looking for Ali this entire time? wtf? double WTF that Ali herself reassures Aria about Ezra. Ali is an Ezria fan. Ali speaks for the tween audience. Just. no.) and got shot in the line of duty.

[superman1204]

 

They made it clear though that Ezra didn't have sex with Ali. Based on how incredibly long it took him to do the deed with Aria I can buy that.

The thing is if Ezra didn't have sex with Ali, what was he getting out of the relationship.  I mean seriously, Ali isn't even into literature and being all pretentious like Aria is.  Ezra and Ali have literally nothing in common.  I get that Ali was interested in Ezra because he was a college guy and she probably thought she could use him to make herself more popular or mature, but a guy only likes a girl because they like her as a person or they want to have sex with her.  I honestly don't know what is weirder thinking that Ezra was into Ali because he wanted to have sex with her or because he thought she was a fun person to hangout with.  She was fourteen.  How emotionally underdeveloped is Ezra?  I am probably putting way too much thought into this show, but they kinda made this a major storyline, so I don't know why they didn't think this through.

[Mabinogia]

Ezra is just pretentious enough a writer to have liked Ali solely as a muse. After all, she was his very own Holly Golightly. *blech*. Anyway, I think when he first met her he wanted a piece of that but then found out that "that" was jailbait (though this might be when he realized he had a thing for little girls and went for the first teenager that looks and acts like a little child but was more or less legalish, bonus points, she was Ali's friend) and was then looking at her as the star of his Great American Novel. He probably couldn't believe his luck when she "died" because BAM, instant plot for his crappy book.

 

Ali pimping Ezzzzzria was nauseating.

 

I am very, very sad that Mrs. D is dead. I loved her and thought she was a far creepier Red Herring than anyone since Ian (RIP Ian, I still miss you and your creepy milk drinking terribly) Oh, now I want to watch the PLL spinoff - Hell, PA where all those killed off go to frolic and play and laugh at how completely inept the Liars have been.

 

Curious about the dog. Makes no sense Mrs. D would get one. If she did, I'm pretty sure she'd go to a breeder, not a shelter. She seems like the purebred type. So it's got to be A so it's got to be so they would find Mrs. D's body, but why? My guess, waiting for Ali to get there so she'd be there to see her Dead Mama, buried, just like she was.

 

The best thing about this show is still the girls' friendship. Without that I would not be watching. But even if they resolved a few mysteries I'd still watch for the girls, so get on with it show! Who is A? Who killed Ali? Who was Mrs. D protecting? Do Jenna and Toby's parents really exist, or are they stuffed and mounted in a nice nature scene in the basement because Toby took up taxidermy while Jenna was playing her flute (it was the flute, right?)? Why is A wasting so much time and money torturing teenagers? Who does A do for a living that he/she has unlimited time and money (because I want that job!)?

 

All these questions and more will NEVER be answered on any episode of Pretty Little Liars *bangs head against wall*

[Chaos Theory]

Should I feel like Ezra?

 

 

Is that a thing now?  Or maybe Should I just move to Rosewood and be done with it?

[mjgchick]

I guess I'm the only one who thinks Ali is purposely acting like a wimp and I don't think she really cares for Aria and Ezra getting together. If the show was really pimping them out wouldn't they just let Spencer do the pimping? (Or is she still pissed at Ezra for being a creep and snitching about her drug use? I hope she is because he crossed a fuckin line after another.) If not Spencer then Emily or something.

Oh and one thing I liked how Spencer tried to shield Jason. It showed how much older Troian is from the actor playing him also. lol But it must suck to be him.

[scarletregina]

I also agree with everyone who has suggested that Ali's concern for the girls is a ploy. We know she's very manipulative, and this is likely just another example of that. She wants to gain their trust again because she wants something from them. I truly wouldn't be surprised if she was the A that was taunting the girls after MonA.

 

 

[M1977G]

 

Ali vs Spencer is going to snatch my wigs and give me life. I've been waiting for this for 84 years.

Love this!  Makes me wish I had a wig to get snatched, too, cause I can't wait to see how these two rumble.  I mean, Spencer threatened to take a shovel to Ali's head--that girl don't play.  

 

 

from what it looked like on Wirly Girl it is like they are turning Ali into a pussy. She was the town mean girl and now she is scared of her own shadow.

Yes, but often bullies and mean girls are that way because it's their way of dealing with serious insecurities, abuse/trauma, and/or childhood dysfunction.  For 4 seasons, I've wondered if we ever were going to find out what happened when Ali was younger to make her so manipulative, abusive, petty, and criminal.  To me, that has been one of the biggest mysteries of the show I'd like solved.

 

 

How emotionally underdeveloped is Ezra?

A key question, and I think it ties directly to my musings about Ali's f-ed up childhood.  I think Ezra had one too.  His mom is a manipulative control freak, and his brother was super creepy.  Apparently, creepiness is a Fitz(gerald) family trait.  Maybe some crazy past connection between Ali's mom and Fitz's family?  Did Mrs. D have a love child with Mr. Fitzgerald too?  

 

As for all the statutes about sex with minors and corrupting them in the great state of PA, I don't really care if it was illegal.  Screwing your high school student is immoral (not to mention creepy), as is spying on high school girls, which he admitted he'd been doing for years.  I love this show--guilty pleasure galore!--but Ezria always has and always will turn my stomach.  

Edited June 21, 2014 by M1977G

[OwlMilk]

Hanna's underwear line was good but Ashley's "All cheese melts" had me cracking up like a fool.

"All cheese melts" was my favourite part of this entire episode. There were quite a lot of other funny lines in it, too, most of which have been posted in the quotes thread. And I loved not only Aria asking when Ali had time to get a dog, but Mr. DiLaurentis asking, "Whose dog is that?" Um, apparently it's your dog, but no one bothered to inform you of this fact.

[jjjmoss]

I was reading the Vulture recap and when I was dwelling on Jessica's discovery, I realized how ridiculously jam-packed the death schedule has been this semester for the PLL.

 

Lyndon James died shortly before Halloween, since A was looking at a flyer for the Halloween train and getting her tickets. Garrett died on that train. And Wilden, Jessica, and Shana since then. Yet we're only in November - maybe early December at the latest.

Their junior year was comparatively casualty-free; there's just Ian and then Maya at the very end.

Edited June 21, 2014 by jjjmoss

[mjgchick]

And if you've been watching Ravenswood Caleb's doppleganger soul mate died and he died for a hot minute as well.

[Crim]

Their junior year was comparatively casualty-free

That was MonA's time. The murder business boomed after her fall from grAce.

 

Speaking of which, are we supposed to take her Red Coat CeCe in Radley story as a lie (officially, I mean) or is it a retcon/forgotten? Or, of course, Ali could be wrong about CeCe, but with CeCe gone, there wouldn't be much point for the show to explore her possible double crossing.

[FozzyBear]

"All cheese melts" was my favourite part of this entire episode. There were quite a lot of other funny lines in it, too, most of which have been posted in the quotes thread. And I loved not only Aria asking when Ali had time to get a dog, but Mr. DiLaurentis asking, "Whose dog is that?" Um, apparently it's your dog, but no one bothered to inform you of this fact.

"All cheese melts" should have been the episode title. Seriously, it's a meta-commentary on the whole show. All cheese melts. All lies unravel. All sins haunt you. Given enough heat all cheese melts.

I think Ali is playing everybody. My biggest clue is the Alli/Emily dynamic. I don't believe for one second that Alli actually discovered her true love for Emily, but she's sure acting that way. Every moment with Emily Alli is giving off a serious "I may be in love with you" vibe. And Emily is eating it up. She's already become Alli's loyal solider. My guess is that Alli tries to turn Emily and Aria against Spencer and Hannah. That's how I'd play it. Manipulate Emily and Aria, attack Spencer and Hannah.

I hope the writers are thinking something similar.

[emma675]

@FozzyBear, I've always thought Emily has been pretty stupid when it comes to Ali, so it wouldn't surprise me if she eventually dumps the girls and sides with Ali.

[mercfan3]

I dunno, from what we've seen, Aria was the most difficult for Allison to manipulate. She resorted to blackmail (something she didn't have to do with the others). Although, when Aria gets on her "burn the world down" mentality, Allison looks like a proud mama. 

 

Not sure if any of the girls, other than Emily, would go for Allison's crap anymore. Perhaps Hanna, because I still think there is a net of insecurity there. Spencer, wasn't difficult for Allison to manipulate...but she was also the one most likely to strike out against Allison.

 

Still, I think Alli needs all four of them, and I doubt she'll try and break them a part. 

 

I'm not sure whether she's acting or genuine. On the one hand, anyone who has been through what Allison has been through would come back a little more appreciative of those people she cared about. And I do think she cared about the girls. (Like a child cares about her toys..). There also might be some lessons learned. She went through a traumatic event..and someone who tried to kill her is still out there. 

 

I also don't think Ali played games for no reason. Those reasons for why Ali was the way she was, I think are still the biggest and best mysteries of the shows. (We've been hinted at abuse, perhaps her knowing too much information..etc..). So my impression of Ali was never that she was some psychopath..but rather..yes..she's a Regina George..but when she was especially cruel..it was out of fear. 

[mjgchick]

But Ali did blackmail Spencer with the Ian/Spencer kissing and then she cheated for Spencer in the presidential thing and used it against her. Blackmail is Ali's main weapon. Even her threatening to out Emily. Hanna was the only one she was able to use her insecurities to keep them close. Girl is as manipulative as it comes.

Also are we even sure Ali has went through stuff? I don't trust anything she says unless she's the real Ali who her twin if the show goes by the twin theory was trying to kill her.

[mercfan3]

Ali played Spencer against her sister quite often. I'm not saying she didn't use blackmail against the rest of them, she just didn't have too. The only time we ever saw Ali manipulate Aria was with blackmail. 

Edited June 25, 2014 by mercfan3