S05.E03: Surfing the Aftershocks

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Alison struggles with the death of her mother, as the Liars try to navigate through her new lie. Now being forced to live through Ali's latest lie, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer try to cover their tracks, while simultaneously trying to piece together what happened in New York. Hanna and Aria have to close loose ends with the two people who know the truth about Ali's story - Mona and Ezra. Spencer and Emily try to find out the truth about Jason and his whereabouts the night they were in New York. Meanwhile, Hanna starts to examine who she really is - Hefty Hanna or Queen Bee Hanna - now that Ali is back.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfh5FqbsLUw

[Crim]

I wonder who (supposedly) killed Mrs D if Spencer, Queen of Crazy Theories, is all "you gotta be kidding me". Is it Blind Jenna thing? CeCe's Evil Twin? Unnamed Extra from Mona's Army? The dog? Zombie Wilden?

 

Has Hanna been Queen Bee Hanna much since season 1? It's hardly Ali's return that would jeopardize that.

[lorikauai]

It will probably be someone lame like Mr D, since they were getting a divorce. I just hope it doesn't get pinned on Ashley again.

[Peanut6711]

Hanna and Aria have to close loose ends with the two people who know the truth about Ali's story - Mona and Ezra.

Did I miss how Mona knows what happened in NYC since she was clearly in Rosewood at the time? Did she hack Ezra's numerous creeper cams???

Edited June 18, 2014 by Peanut6711

[lorikauai]

Did I miss how Mona knows what happened in NYC since she was clearly in Rosewood at the time? Did she hack Ezra's numerous creeper cams???

Maybe a text from Shana? Shana had a whole flash mob assembled. Half of Rosewood probably knows the girls were actually in NYC. Or Ezra? Or Noel? Or Ali herself? Mona knew to assemble her "army" so she was clued in while it was happening.

[M1977G]

 

Did I miss how Mona knows what happened in NYC since she was clearly in Rosewood at the time? Did she hack Ezra's numerous creeper cams???

She got a phone call from an unknown person.  Just before Mona holds her revenge assembly with Lucas, Paige, etc. (she's already in the meeting room), she's on the phone and says, "You need to stay on top of this.  We need to mobilize."  Then she hangs up and tells Lucas that they're in NYC.  It definitely could have been Shana on the other end of the call, since she wasn't dead yet, but who knows?

Edited June 19, 2014 by M1977G

[ottoDbusdriver]

Meanwhile, Hanna starts to examine who she really is - Hefty Hanna or Queen Bee Hanna - now that Ali is back.

 

Or just call it what it is -- retcon Hanna week.

 

What was that abomination of a shirt Aria was wearing in Ezra's apartment -- a skull with a rose in its mouth.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ?

 

They are totally positioning Papa Hastings as having this big secret that he has to bully people around to protect the secret in order for the producers to misdirect people that he might be involved with 'A' -- and it will likely turn out to be some utter nonsense that has nothing to do with 'A'.

 

Have the police even bothered to dig up the body in Alison's grave and maybe run some DNA tests on it (since they didn't do DNA or even dental tests when they first found "Alison's" body to confirm if it was Alison in the first place).

 

New swim team girl seems like a plant -- by 'A', maybe ?

[Peanut6711]

This week's episode felt largely like a time filler. Did we learn anything new or useful???

[GaT]

This week's episode felt largely like a time filler. Did we learn anything new or useful???

Do we ever learn anything new or useful?

[mercfan3]

Yea, it seemed like time filler to me. But I actually think it was just backbones to the story this season. (Ali trying to figure out who tried to kill her. Who killed Mrs. D., Ezra/Aria, Paige/Emily/new girl/Ali, Hanna's insecurities.) 

 

I want to know whatever Melissa has to tell, but I expect it'll be disappointing. 

 

The girls relationship with Mona confuses me. Sometimes they hate each other. Sometimes they are friendly. (This is post figuring out she's A.) I suppose they mean little to her now that Ali is back, but still it's weird.

 

I want Paige to tell Emily about the meeting and Melissa. 

 

Hanna..all queen B's look the same. 

 

I love that Ali returned to form. Her little bitchy comment to Hanna, trying to figure out who tried to kill her. I like that. I wish I knew why she actually acts like a friend to Aria though. To me, that's one of the most fascinating relationships. 

Edited June 25, 2014 by mercfan3

[mjgchick]

Wow that episode was boring and I would've rather watch paint dry. Oh but Ali had to get a little dig in on fat Hanna. Why are they wasting precious time on a returned Ali? The more she champions for Ezra the more insincere she sounds.

Jason wants Spencer to leave it alone then plants some doubts in their father. SMH. That whole family is messed up and need their own show at this point.

I wonder what Ali was talking about with Ezra. I always zone out his scenes no matter who he is with.

[FAU]

Wow that episode was boring and I would've rather watch paint dry. Oh but Ali had to get a little dig in on fat Hanna. Why are they wasting precious time on a returned Ali? The more she champions for Ezra the more insincere she sounds.

Jason wants Spencer to leave it alone then plants some doubts in their father. SMH. That whole family is messed up and need their own show at this point.

I wonder what Ali was talking about with Ezra. I always zone out his scenes no matter who he is with.

 

Ali is just a huge disappointment, her whole scared/victim schtick is already old and propping Ezra up only makes it worse.

 

First Jason and now Mr. Hastings, who's next?

 

Yea, it seemed like time filler to me. But I actually think it was just backbones to the story this season. (Ali trying to figure out who tried to kill her. Who killed Mrs. D., Ezra/Aria, Paige/Emily/new girl/Ali, Hanna's insecurities.)

 

That seems to be pretty much for each episode.

Edited June 25, 2014 by FAU

[Writing Wrongs]

I wonder if Emily thought Hanna was coming out to her. LOL

[mercfan3]

Ali is just a huge disappointment, her whole scared/victim schtick is already old and propping Ezra up only makes it worse.

 

First Jason and now Mr. Hastings, who's next?

 

 

That seems to be pretty much for each episode.

Nah, the first few episodes set the plots for the season..the next bunch (Until two episodes before the finale) are red herrings, then two episodes before the finale they start getting obvious about what the "twist" is. 

[superman1204]

I am kinda torn on this episode. 

 

I liked Hanna's flashbacks.  They really haven't shown us anything about what the girls went through between Alison's disappearance and Aria's return to Rosewood.  Also showing Hanna's insecurities and her transformation into queen bee gave the character a little more depth.  Don't get me wrong I love Hanna, but I feel at times she starts to become a series of one liners and this episode was a nice change.  Lastly, I loved when Mona first approached Hanna and Hanna was eating cupcakes, because back in season 1, MonA told Hanna to order Hefty Hanna's favorite treat and made her eat a bunch of cupcakes to get back some of the lasagna box money.  I know its a tiny detail, but it was cool that the writers used a small detail like that to connect season 1 to the current episode.  I know my standards are low.

 

On the other hand, I hate everything relating to Ezria.  Serious, their entire relationship was built on a lie, and not a little one.  'I'm obsessed with your dead best friend' should be a deal breaker.  It doesn't help that Alison randomly wants to get them back together.  How is Ezra's only flaw that he is too romantic?  He is a stalker, with a thing for teenage girls.  Even if his heart is the right place (which I highly doubt), he is a man-child, who nearly ruined Aria's life.  Also, how is it, that we are looking at Ezria inevitably getting back together, but Paige can't get a second chance.  I know they are keeping Emily available so Alison can play with her emotions, but still the contrast just drives me nuts.  The lying, controlling, student-dating teacher is getting a second chance, but the over protective lesbian girlfriend isn't.   Not that Paige is the perfect significant other, but by Rosewood standards, the girl is marriage material.

 

Lastly, was I the only one who thought the opening scene was meant to make us question Alison.  Emily said that it was a huge coincidence that Alison just happened to wear her mom's dress and Spencer dismissed her, saying their lives are filled with coincidences, but as Spencer leaves Emily stays behind and seems to be unsure.  Maybe the writers are trying to foreshadow that Emily will be the one to discover some huge secret about Alison.  Alison could have had this all planned out, and wearing the dress was Alison's way of saying she had won.  It actually makes sense if Alison's mom was really protecting whoever tried to kill Alison.

Edited June 26, 2014 by superman1204

[beetlesoda]

Ezra is perfect apparently, as long as you get shot everything is all right. I think his redemption vs Ali's possible redemption is very interesting (if they are leaning towards that)

 

Alison is/was horrible I know but you can make the case that she was a teenager and kinda psycho. What's Ezra's excuse? but instead he's automatically redeemed, they even have Alison propping him up and making ezria seem like some once in a life time relationship. With Alison you're constantly reminded of what a horrible person she is (and she is no questions asked) on the show and when the writers talk about the show. But with Ezra it's like everything he did is completely washed away, the writers don't even mention how creepy he was with the book and the cameras, and knowing Aria's age they talk about Aria and Ezra like they're soul mates.

 

I like what they're doing with Alison, love that they're not whitewashing her and keeping her pretty much the same you either like her or you don't they're not trying to make you like her at all. they give you some feel sorry for Ali moments but then she ruins it a few seconds later by being Ali but now you get to see how she ticks. I find it interesting though that they chose to not do the same for Ezra (but I get it the whole is Alison A thing is going on people need to not trust her). I thought it would be a while before Aria forgives him but now everyone's practically pushing her towards him because he's a romantic great guy. I knew this was gonna happen the moment I found out he was shot, I do hope he gets question again this season regarding his activities and all he knows and how long he's known.

[Spencer Hastings]

You can't just say "Maybe we should just tell her" in front of Spencer Hastings and then not say anything.  I can't believe she let that go.

 

The only thing I liked about this episode was Hanna's story.  Wilden mentioned seasons ago that Hanna morphed into the new Ali after she disappeared.  Also, I got confused at the beginning of the episode because I thought I was looking at Hanna in Ali's bed.  You can't have two long haired blondes, show.

[GaT]

 

I want to know whatever Melissa has to tell, but I expect it'll be disappointing.

Melissa can't tell until the writers actually think something up, based on previous seasons, we may never find out.

[lorikauai]

I liked the Hanna/Mona flashbacks. I can understand why Hanna might be having a bit of an identity crisis after being mistaken for Ali.

Ali pushing Aria back toward Ezra is creeping me out. Ali doesn't do something like that unless there is something in it for her. I hope the show is not suddenly trying to make Ali a victim and Ezra a good guy. That just doesn't work for me. We now know that Ezra knows more than what's in the manuscript he gave Aria, based on his conversation with Ali. So why hasn't he given Aria that information?

I never know what to make of the Hastings drama or even how much of it is related to the central story. I do think it is odd that Melissa and Mr. H seem to have paired up and are keeping secrets from Mrs. H and Spencer. It seemed like Mrs H and Melissa were close in the past.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When they showed the previouslies at the beginning of the episode, I could not stop laughing at Aria's "I kilt her!" How did I not notice that last week?

 

I know the PLL are teenagers and we've seen them wear some questionable things to funerals in the past but man, was Hanna's dress short. I love that the most appropriate funeral attire was Ali wearing the dress that her mom wore to Ali's own funeral.

 

Even though Jason was trying to help calm the situation, when he said they were already late for the funeral, I was like uhhh, when you are the immediate family of the deceased, you can be late. They're not going to start the service until her husband and kids are there.

 

When the principal said he would protect the PLL from the press but there were limits to what he could do, I thought wow, how big of you. Rosewood is a weird place with no rules, but I know at my high school, people couldn't just wander onto campus, let alone photographers and reporters. It's not like the principal was doing them a huge favor by continuing to not let photographers harass students while they are on campus. That's kind of your job, dude.

 

Ugh, Princess Aria can't handle having a conversation with Ezra to make sure he isn't going to, you know, tell the truth which would reveal that Ali and the PLL are all lying? Yes, your precious feelings are more important than taking five minutes to make sure he doesn't tell the police (or lord knows who else) what really happened. I'm glad she finally managed to suck it up and go talk to him.

 

Alison: Don't tell Ezra that you killed Shana.

Aria: Okay.

[five minutes later]

Aria: Ezra, I killed Shana.

 

I'm so tired of the Ezria propping though. I don't care how helpful he's trying to be. They are not an example of twu wuv. They are an example of a gross abuse of power and manipulation. He deliberately approached Aria, who he knew was in high school, to do research for his book about her dead/missing teenage friend. GROSS. Then he proceeded to have a relationship with her while he was her teacher. GROSS. And totally inappropriate.

 

Why didn't Hanna or Aria bother to ask Mona how she knew that Ezra was back in Rosewood? I'm assuming he's not skipping down Main Street since he's recovering from being shot, so it's not like she ran into him at the coffee place or the grocery store.

 

At first glance, I thought Cindy the new girl staring at Emily was Jenna. I actually loved when Emily told her to quit staring at her and that yes, she was friends with the dead girl who isn't dead anymore. I like feisty Emily. I was immediately suspicious of Cindy. She wants Emily to watch her swim and give her feedback? Isn't that the coach's job? I have mixed feelings about Donna LaDonna so I am withholding judgment on this character for now.

 

They did a good job making Ali and Hanna resemble each other early in the episode so that I could see why someone might mistake one for the other, especially from farther away or if you didn't know them, so when the funeral director assumed Hanna was Ali, I wasn't surprised (I really wasn't surprised at all considering he had never met either of them and he was expecting to meet a blonde teenager). The makeup people did a great job plumping up Hanna's face and giving her a little bit of a double chin in the flashback too. Ha and I loved all the kids at school in t-shirts and jeans watching Mona and Hanna walk down the hallway in heels.

 

I feel like my world is turned upside down when Melissa starts seeming rational.

 

One thing I really like about the Aria killed Shana storyline is that unlike Serena Van Der Woodsen's "OMG I KILLED SOMEONE!" story which turned out to be not true at all, Aria really did kill Shana. There was way too much blood for Shana to survive. I know it's PLL where dead people don't always stay dead (case in point: Alison) but if Shana survived after a head injury with that much blood loss, she should buy a lottery ticket.

[Kaboom 2.0]

I actually dozed off several times during this episode. :-(  I'm going to rewatch it but I did like the flashbacks to Hefty Hanna and Mona's makeover of Hanna (I'm a sucker for flashbacks especially if they are done well). And did I miss Noel Kahn?? I heard him mentioned but didn't see him.

I cannot say this enough, Aria and Ezra are just WRONG on every damn level and show, you cannot force me to change my mind about that. Ali pushing for Ezria is just weird and you know she's only doing it because it will somehow benefit HER.

 

Ali continues to be a horrible person imho, I want to see what she's trying to accomplish by acting the way she is and saying the things she's saying.

[mac123x]

Dear Lindsay Shaw’s hairdresser:  it took several seasons, but you’ve hit paydirt.  She looked fantastic last night, much better than the short hair with bangs from season 1.

 

Speaking of hair, who were the two people behind the smoked glass watching Hanna get her hair dyed?  One looked like Mona but I couldn’t tell who the other one was.

 

You can't just say "Maybe we should just tell her" in front of Spencer Hastings and then not say anything.  I can't believe she let that go.

 

Yeah, I thought Melissa was basically egging Spencer on with that statement.  She wants Spencer to know whatever that Huge Big Secret That Mom Can Never Know is.  I also think Papa Hastings was trying to preempt Spencer’s usual obsessive truth-seeking with his “you can’t lie about something if you don’t know about it” comment.  Don’t think that’s going to work.

 

One thing I really like about the Aria killed Shana storyline is that unlike Serena Van Der Woodsen's "OMG I KILLED SOMEONE!" story which turned out to be not true at all, Aria really did kill Shana. There was way too much blood for Shana to survive. I know it's PLL where dead people don't always stay dead (case in point: Alison) but if Shana survived after a head injury with that much blood loss, she should buy a lottery ticket.

 

I’m pretty well convinced she isn’t dead.  Based on the opening sequence (shamelessly stolen from Twilight) of Ali lying listlessly in her bed as the sun rises and sets repeatedly, several days have passed since NYC, yet there hasn’t been any mention of Shana’s death other than by the PLLs.  No news reports from New York (Aria checked headlines).  No mention of her death or disappearance at Rosewood High School. 

Hell, she supposedly died in the theatre owned by the Fitz(gerald) family, but Ezra hadn’t heard.  Detective Sean Farris hasn’t asked Ezra about it, even though he knows that Fitz was in NYC that night and mysteriously “mugged” while a student at his school wound up dead in the theater that his family owns, and in possession of the gun that was used to shoot him.

 

She’s either not dead, or someone removed her body and cleaned up the scene before the police got there (Spencer called the cops on one of their disposable phones).  Probably Ultra-A, who is so shadowy and mysterious that he/she doesn’t even have A-tags at the end of each episode.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Speaking of hair, who were the two people behind the smoked glass watching Hanna get her hair dyed?  One looked like Mona but I couldn’t tell who the other one was.

The first one was definitely Mona. The second one had long blonde hair so I assumed it was Ali since Cece is now in France. I don't know what they have to say to each other after their conversation at the mausoleum the week before. I'm going to be so annoyed if they teamed up just to manipulate Hanna to change her hair.

 

Is there anyone else with blonde hair on the show that it could have been? Ali, Hanna, and Cece were the main blondes but since we also have the revolving door of secondary and tertiary characters, I'm probably just forgetting someone really obvious.

 

Please say it was Noel Kahn in a wig!

[Shangrilala]

That episode was boring.

 

The only interesting part to me was Hannah wondering why Mona made her into Ali. 

[mercfan3]

The funny thing for me...even if the show is trying to make Ezra look like a good guy..he's coming off as a creep.

 

Last season, he was creepy because he was obsessed with two teenage girls. The things he did showed that. He was stalking one because she was his muse, and now he's trying to "help" the other because he "loves" (is obsessed with) her. I agree with Ali, I don't think he's like Mona in that he was never trying to hurt the girls. But he's still creepy as hell..and everything he does..even the nice things..aren creepy.

 

Also..his whole "If I have parts of the book, I'd use it to help Aria.." Look, the worst thing Alison ever did to him was lie about her age (which...he doesn't seem to mind teens anyway..) and she's looking through that book to find something to help her not stay killed. If Ezra was such a nice great guy he would have helped her. 

 

Not sure why Aria/Ezra is Ali's OTP though. But like I said earlier, I find the Aria and Allison relationship fascinating because Allison and Aria actually appear to have a decent friendship. (I mean, for Ali..) Ali would do things for the benefit of Aria (Try and help her get Noel Kahn, for example.). It's just a really different dynamic. (Granted..considering the men that Ali has been linked too, Ezra probably does seem like a great guy.)

Edited June 25, 2014 by mercfan3

[apgold]

 

Not sure why Aria/Ezra is Ali's OTP though.

 

Because IMK wants them to be!  I wish Ezra would go away.  Since he's not A anymore, he's gone back to being super boring and super creepy.  He needs to find some friends his age.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

After Aria confessed to Ezra that she killed Shana and he stood up very slowly, I was hoping he would finally give her some good advice and say, "Aria, NEVER say that to anyone ever again!"

[OwlMilk]

Dear Lindsay Shaw’s hairdresser:  it took several seasons, but you’ve hit paydirt.  She looked fantastic last night, much better than the short hair with bangs from season 1.

 

Speaking of hair, who were the two people behind the smoked glass watching Hanna get her hair dyed?  One looked like Mona but I couldn’t tell who the other one was.

 

I agree about Lindsay Shaw's hair. She looks like a totally different person than she did in Season 1. In a good way.

 

I assumed the two people behind the smoked glass were Mona and Ali, but I certainly prefer ElectricBoogaloo's suggestion of Noel Kahn in a wig.

[Crim]

The one thing that I liked in this episode aside from the awesomeness that the Hastings always bring (I'd watch a show of only Melissa and Spencer.) is the idea that Mona only crushed on Hanna after turning her into Ali which, hello!, fits what we've seen of Mona creeping over Ali that night at the motel and is all sorts of fuckin' fantastic.

 

I thought the 2 people behind the glass were Mona (definitely) and Ali and that made no sense except in a symbolic way.

 

I wish Hanna made a more radical change though. It sounded like she would, but next episode the differences are just minor.

 

Ali, you are wonderful. Please stop talking about Ezra. He is too romantic? I cannot take you seriously.

[FAU]

One thing I really like about the Aria killed Shana storyline is that unlike Serena Van Der Woodsen's "OMG I KILLED SOMEONE!" story which turned out to be not true at all, Aria really did kill Shana. There was way too much blood for Shana to survive. I know it's PLL where dead people don't always stay dead (case in point: Alison) but if Shana survived after a head injury with that much blood loss, she should buy a lottery ticket.

 

Shana really never matter only just another minor character who bites it in this series and for Aria to angst about killing someone which is a step up from GG's cop out.

[KatWay]

Paige looked great this episode. I hope they're not setting up new swim girl as a new love interest for Emily, because, well, downgrade much? I wasn't a huge fan of the acting either, unless I was supposed to think that she was clearly a spy for A with the very studied questions and fidgeting looks and so on.

 

Everything Ali says and does continues to feel shady to me.

[Chaos Theory]

Did we learn anything new or useful??

 

 

We learned how to build a Hanna.  

 

 

I really don't understand Emily these days.  I am strongly in Paige's corner.  Emily has always had her blinders on when it came to Ali and basically asked Paige to help out someone who had tormented her for years.  I might have paused at that myself.  Now Emily is vilifying Paige and and can't forgive her while she is able.  Oh Emily.  

 

Aria has gotten interesting now that she has killed a guy.  Ezra has gotten boring again now that he is no longer a bad guy....uh....no longer a lets go with evil mastermind built on the girls destruction.  Lets go with that.  

 

<----Edited to the liars have been to so many funerals how do they keep track of which dress they wore to what funeral?  God forbid they get caught wearing the same one twice.  Fashion no no.  

Edited June 25, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[lion10]

 

Paige looked great this episode. I hope they're not setting up new swim girl as a new love interest for Emily, because, well, downgrade much?

 

I think Sydney looked better than Paige in this episode, though she did look fantastic.  Not a whole lot happened in this episode, did it?  It was kind of creepy that Mona purposefully tried to turn Hanna into Alison.

 

Did anyone else get a major lesbian vibe from Mona (and Hanna) this episode?  

[GaT]

 

<----Edited to the liars have been to so many funerals how do they keep track of which dress they wore to what funeral?  God forbid they get caught wearing the same one twice.  Fashion no no.

Did you ever see the movie Clueless? If not, just watch the beginning of Iggy Azalea's video for Fancy. I'm sure they have special software just like that to help them keep track of what dress they wore to whose funeral. Of course being the liars, I'm sure that A regularly screws with their files & that's why they occasionally end up at a funeral wearing leather jogging pants under a pink princess ball gown, or as Aria would call it, casual wear.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I hated that Ezra's explanation to Aria about why he came back to Rosewood is that he had nowhere else to go after being shot. Well, where were you planning to go before you got shot? Try going there now. Wouldn't it be terrible up take a vacation and recuperate on a beach in Hawaii? Oh yeah, I forgot that would be torture for emo literary wanker Ezra since he hates the beach and sand and fresh air. And obviously his whole cover story about being a poor pauper teacher isn't true if he's had the resources to buy all that creepy surveillance equipment.

Edited June 25, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Jack Shaftoe]

First episode that didn't annoy me a lot in quite some time. Not that anything apart from Paige's scenes was any better than merely mediocre but compared to the previous dozen or so episodes it's quite an improvement.

 

Paige's scenes were great and she looks fantastic now. Time for Emilty to wake up. On the one hand, I like it that Paige is mature enough now to not get in line and go after Alison with murderous intent, but on the other I kind of wish she would do just that - and would succeed.

 

I really wish Mona would freaking shut up once in a while. 

Edited June 26, 2014 by Jack Shaftoe

[kiddo82]

Jason wants Spencer to leave it alone then plants some doubts in their father. SMH. That whole family is messed up and need their own show at this point.

I would watch that show all day every day on loop. The Hastings are in a class with the Ewings as far as crazy TV families go.

I agree that I want to be excited about Melissa's secret but my spidey sense is telling me it will be that she forgot to pick up the dry cleaning or something.

I also echo those who are frustrated that no one seems to care about the dead, knocked up, mystery girl in Ali's grave. Come on, Hollbrook, you seem so on the ball.

Edited June 26, 2014 by kiddo82

[Chaos Theory]

Jason wants Spencer to leave it alone then plants some doubts in their father. SMH. That whole family is messed up and need their own show at this point.

 

 

I smell a spin-off  Pretty Little Hastings.    Game of Hastings?  or just Hastings!  It says it all doesn't it? 

[kat165]

I thought Paige looked awful & am puzzled why everyone thinks she looked so good. Her hair was a huge rat's nest or like it had been in chlorine all day. I usually go for the scruffy look, but her hair looked all kinds of weird. But def an improvment over the bangs and short hair she had when we first met her.

 

This ep was kind of boring. And I got an "up to something" vibe with Ali when she was talking to Fitz. She seemed to be threatening/warning him in a vague undertoned way. I couldn't figure out what was going on there.

 

In the beginning with Ali on her bed I too thought it was Hanna. I'm really beginning to dislike Ali. At first I was excited that we'd see more of her because the actress is so good, but everything is so vague and sinister and seems to go nowhere I kept falling asleep.

Edited June 26, 2014 by kat165

[FozzyBear]

Does anyone think that the weird new swimmer girl is...interesting looking?

[cuddlingcrowley]

Holy cow, that was incredible!! It gave me so many of the things I didn't even realize I've been missing about this show. I'm sorry for those who were fans of Ravenswood, but its cancellation might have the best thing for PLL since we're having MK and Co. focusing their sole attention on it again and man it shows!

 

I loved the season 1 feel with so many interactions happening at the school and how the mystery plot related to it, just giving it that extra dash of awesome, and not completely taking over the episode or disappearing entirely for the sake of boyfriend drama. I want to make special note of the scene where Mona is trying to convince Aria to sign Ezra's card and Hanna swoops in out of nowhere and tells Aria to do it, because she gets it. It was soooo awesome and it was a scene centered around signing a frigging card.

 

This show.

 

Speaking of which, SO MUCH MONA!!!! It's like the golden age of this show all over again, when she was our A. With this episode and the promo for the next one I sorta feel her character has sorta taken over Jenna's role from the first couple of seasons, this menance the girls had to interact in their day-to-day life but she's ten time scarier because we KNOW she's evil and what she has done to the girls while Jenna was always a very ambiguous character.

 

I feel the show really needed a tangible antagonist like that again and I think the writers' decision to make the theme of this season to have A out in the open now while Ali/the liars are the ones who have to hide in plain sight was truly inspired and is the gift that keeps on giving.

 

About Alison, I'm really enjoying having her as a regular character on the show especially now that she's acting more like herself again. Her interactions with the girls were great as per usual but the scene between her and Mr. Hastings was by far my favorite one of the night. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the scene between Alison and Ezra which was pretty weak (no fault of Sasha tho).

 

I'll say I oficially believe Alison is manipulating Aria and Ezra probably so she can gain access to his research and God knows what more. Her pro-Ezra/Ezria speech where she's been trying to rewrite history so that Aria believes Ezra is this harmless romantic fool who did "all the watching and listening" to protect Aria makes very little sense as far as Ali's character goes (regardless of how much she has changed) AND as far as what we learned about Ezra last season and how he conducted himself when his secret was out.

 

I don't even think it's out of the real of possibility that they might be working together. Ali delivers him Aria and in turn he gives her the A research. And now that he knows Aria killed Shana he has a way of trapping her to him. Oh Aria, of all the stupid decisions you could have made...heck, i wouldn't be surprised if there was a part of her that knew what she was doing. Just like I wouldn't be surprised if Ali was expecting she'd do just that.

 

With all that said, that story Ali told about her Mom taking her to funerals was pretty creepy but I can picture Mrs. Dilaurentis having done something like that and it explains a lot. What was with Ali staring at that painting and running to the bathroom? Was she... uh...purging?

 

About Hanna, I CANNOT DESCRIBE MY LOVE FOR THE MONA/HANNA FLASHBACKS! i AM UNWORTHY OF SUCH GLORIOUSNESS!!

 

And I heard someone mention this was the gayest episode of PLL's history and you got that right! I was questioning what was reality during the Hanna/Emily scene and for a minute there I thought we were about to see Hanna coming out as a bisexual. Alas, it didn't happen but the dialogue was absolute gorgeous all the same.

 

Also, for a minute there I thought were going to see a Hanna and Mona rekindling their old friendship, with Hanna realising what Mona did for her yadda-yadda-yadda (turned her into a Alison clone) so she had to be grateful regardless of Mona being a ninja who terrorized her and her friends for years. You just know lesser shows would have gone there without even blinking.

 

Thank baby Jesus what we got was some truly, truly beautiful character study which i'll confess I was somewhat skeptical when I first heard about. But sign me up for ALL THE HANNA IDENTITY/SOUL SEARCHING, That has been always the most brilliant parts of this show, from all the way to her therapy sessions in season 2 and in a lesser way, her discovering a love for mystery novels and an aptitude for picking up details.

 

On another note, I don't think I've liked Spencer as much as I've been liking her this season for a heck of a long time (which is terrible to say). The writting for her was so on point it was ridiculous. So many crazy snarky one liners and the tiny moment her father shared with her over pretzels hurt my heart. These two always shared a similar sense of humour and it was a nice callback to earlier seasons. I also loooooooooved Spencer being uncharacteristically blunt with her suspicious and Melissa cutting in the conversation and going from butting heads with Spencer to wanting to include her.

 

And then we got Mr. Hastings seemingly gasliting Spencer but then it turned out he might actually be really protecting her. That was gorgeous. Along with the scene between Spencer and Jason (my, the writers remembered these two are siblings?) I'm ready to wish Spencer never interacted with anyone besides her family ever again. I want to make special note of Jason's line about wanting to be right or wanting to happy. That was such a great commentary to Spencer's character (which i related to a lot) and I loved her answer because it's so true.

 

Last but not least, I thought the Paily scenes were all great even though I've always been more inclined to shipping Emily with Alison or Hanna (let me dream). I especially loved the scene they helped the new girl whose name I can't recall but whose actress I fondly remember from The Carrie Diaries. Hi, Donna Ladonna, welcome to our little show!

 

Introducing new characters is always awkward. You can either fall in the trap of showing them too little and the audience is indiferent (Samara and Shana, probably). Or you go the heavy handed route (my mind always goes straight to Caleb's debut episode which was cringe worthy). I feel the writers found a great middle ground with this one and I intrigued about what will come next for her.

ETA:

 

Does anyone think that the weird new swimmer girl is...interesting looking?

 

 

Ha! I know what you mean but the actress looks almost plain compared to her character in the Carrie Diaries. But over there she also had the lovable personality to balance everything out.

 

About Lindsay Shaw's hair, sorry I'm not a fan, but to be fair it might have more to do with the fact she just seems way too thin lately, which is throwing me off. I was a fan of her first hairstyle with the bangs because she kinda looked like a character from a soap opera and I dug that, so what do I know! 

 

I just did a quick read of the thread and my opinion of this episode seems very unpopular...this is awkward. I'll go...over there.

Edited June 26, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[lion10]

I'm pretty sure it's Sydney's lips. They're fuller than the average white girl's. I like her looks though.

I love the complexity of Hanna and Mona's relationship. It can either be looked at as a genuine friendship between two bullied girls or it could be looked as a partial manipulation on Mona's end of Hanna just to show Alison that she was replaceable. The ultimate "take that" to someone like Alison. Or it could be that over the years Mona's become deeply infatuated with Hanna which manifests itself as extreme possessiveness.

You could point to Mona's joke about being willing to do Hanna in a dress she was wearing, Mona hiding Caleb's letter, and of course, her motivation for being A. Honestly, if the show had Mona isolate Hanna and then try to kiss her, I wouldn't be surprised.

PLL excels with interpersonal relationships.

Edited June 26, 2014 by lion10

[mercfan3]

Yup, and another layer was added to that. Is mona obsessed with Hanna..or obsessed with Ali..and made herself her own Ali doll (Hanna.) 

[cuddlingcrowley]

Yup, and another layer was added to that. Is mona obsessed with Hanna..or obsessed with Ali..and made herself her own Ali doll (Hanna.)

 

 

I thought that was really well done as we basically got see Hanna come to that realization through out the episode. No wonder she looked so incredibly sad just before every flashback.

Edited June 26, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[lorikauai]

@cuddlingcrowley I enjoy your enthusiasm. I agree I am very suspicious of the relationship between Ali and Ezra. I found it interesting that she kept trying to push Aria toward Ezra and when that didn't work she told Aria not to confide in Ezra about Shana. So immediately Aria goes running back to him. Nice move Ali.

I rewatched last night. What was it about the painting that made Ali leave the room in the funeral home? Anyone have any ideas? I was also trying to figure out who was with Mona at the salon? Ali? Cece? Hanna's stepsister? Who else could it be? Jenna or Melissa in a wig? A twin? Ugh this show, you have to be prepared for any crazy possibility.

[cuddlingcrowley]

cuddlingcrowley I enjoy your enthusiasm. I agree I am very suspicious of the relationship between Ali and Ezra. I found it interesting that she kept trying to push Aria toward Ezra and when that didn't work she told Aria not to confide in Ezra about Shana. So immediately Aria goes running back to him. Nice move Ali.

 

I rewatched last night. What was it about the painting that made Ali leave the room in the funeral home? Anyone have any ideas? I was also trying to figure out who was with Mona at the salon? Ali? Cece? Hanna's stepsister? Who else could it be? Jenna or Melissa in a wig? A twin? Ugh this show, you have to be prepared for any crazy possibility.

 

 

Thank you, lorikauai, I understand what is like to grow frustrated with tv shows as much as anyone but I can't help but love this one for better and for worst. 

 

I know most are wary of Alison in regards to Emily but I feel Emily is the one she's the most genuine with, while Aria is definitely the one I think should watch out for because I think she's the most expendable to Alison. And Alison already managed to manipulate her to perfection.

 

The whole thing with the painting was definitely weird and at this point I'm thinking it served to trigger Ali to purge for some reason, be it a reminder of another time she came ot that funeral home (if that's the case, i doubt the writers will elaborate further than what they've done with the story about Mrs. Dilaurentis being a freak about death) or something else we'll find out in the future.

 

I instantly thought of Ali when the person came up behind Mona. I don't think whoever it was is necessarily working with Mona. They could just have randomly ran into each other pervying on Hanna so as of now I'm thinking Ali. 

Edited June 26, 2014 by cuddlingcrowley

[Mabinogia]

I am assuming it was Ali with Mona watching Hanna but I don't think they were together so much as they ran into each other. I believe Mona with her little army so it seems too soon for her to be working with Ali. I expect there to be a war between Mona and Ali over control of Hanna with, hopefully, Hanna finally telling them both to fuck off.

 

I forgot about the painting! I'll have to rewatch...okay, rewatched...then checked the web and someone said they thought it was a painting from Ezra's moms gallery so I tracked down the ep and it is. It is on the poster that announces the event The Osgood Museum presents 27 major works from the Collection of Lyle and Frances Springer. Who just so happen to be Ezra's grandparents. Now, if the show has any sense of it's own history, Ezra claims that all those paintings were his families, kept in his families home for their pleasure blah blah. Interesting it should upset or bother or at least affect Alison so strongly. Oh, how I wish this meant there was a lot more to Ezra and Ali's relationship than they want Aria to know. I just want them to go full on perv with him instead of trying so hard to keep him the romantic hero of Aria's dreams.

 

I love Spencer's response to Emily thinking Ali's dress was a coincidence. "they grow on trees, like coconuts, waiting to fall on your head when you walk under them" (I botched the end a bit but that's the gist).

[Kaboom 2.0]

That painting Alison reacted to at the funeral parlor looked so damn familiar, I knew I had seen it before, I started flipping through some of my art books and exhibition books last night. I think it's a version of Isle of the Dead. A mysterious standing cloaked figure on a rowboat being rowed bya an oarsman, both with their backs to the viewer, facing the island, and there's a coffin on the boat in front of the standing figure.

For a split second I thought the mysterious figure that joined Mona at the salon to spy on Hanna had on a fake nose. I still can't figure out who it is.

[Crim]

For a split second I thought the mysterious figure that joined Mona at the salon to spy on Hanna had on a fake nose.

The gloriousness of PLL is that we can type this kind of lines with a straight face. And probably so could the writers. I mean we had pets as deux as machina. Repeatedly. This show knows of no place too crazy and ridiculous.

 

Next episode we find out (a theory about) who killed Mrs D, right? And Spencer is surprised? Maybe it's "revealed" that Mrs D just fell on a shovel while she was ruminating at the place of Ali's non-death.

[AmandaPanda]

Did anyone else get a major lesbian vibe from Mona (and Hanna) this episode?  

 

I pretty much always get a major lesbian vibe from them. I've always been convinced that Mona is in love with Hanna and Ali.