The TV Chick

I was away for Comic Con all last week (many reports and interviews to come!) so I wasn’t able to write my usual Pretty Little Liars review. To recap, last week is when the Little Liars are dealing with the aftermath of homecoming. And the big news is that Emily told Maya she wants to give a relationship a shot. Love it! In this week’s episode, the girls are getting ready for a memorial service for Ali, and Jason DiLaurentis (Ali’s brother) comes into the picture. He shakes things up and basically takes over the planning. He’s not satisfied with the investigation into Ali’s death and wants to pressure Wilden and the gang to get things done.  In my opinion, Jason is pretty creepy and I don’t like his vibe. Judging from the books, we will see a lot more of him, and there is more than meets the eye.

Jenna wants to speak at the memorial service, and the girls are worried she will spill their secrets. Jenna also tells Spencer that “Alison was done with you. She was afraid of you. Is that why one of you did what you did?” So apparently, everyone is a suspect in Ali’s murder! Suspect number one at the moment is Toby, and the police search his locker. Apparently, Toby called Ali the night of her murder, and she took the call. Oh Toby, you are so misunderstood!

The episode also featured a lot of flashbacks with Ali. I love Sasha Pieterse, so it was great to see her again. One particularly creepy flashback was Ali saying it would be great to die young in a mysterious way. We also see her manipulaitve, cruel ways, and the other girls feeling uncomfortable with it. Spencer is the only one who semi-challenges Ali (Jason points this out to her) and Hanna speaks up but then bites her tongue. I loved Ali in the books and I really enjoy her in the show as well. There is much more to her than just her mean and controlling attitude, and I can’t wait to delve more into her private life. Speaking of her private life, Ian Thomas (Melissa’s ex) shows up to Ali’s memorial, leaving the girls to wonder what’s going on. I won’t spoil too much but if the show goes the direction I think it is, Ian plays an important part in the upcoming episodes and knew Ali fairly well.

Hanna, Sean, Noel and Aria go on a double date because Hanna pressured Aria into it so they could go to a concert. Aria’s friends still think she is in love with someone from Iceland and I can’t wait when they figure out it’s actually Mr. Fitz. Speaking of dates, Emily and Maya go out on a real date and they make out in the back of a movie theater. Something tells me A was spying on them. In any case, I didn’t see this coming and I love that Pretty Little Liars isn’t shying away from two girls kissing. Normally, we might see them go in for a kiss and a quick cutaway but this was some hot and heavy action and I think it’s a brave and applaudable move.

At the memorial service, all the girls speak and it’s very touching. Surprisingly, Jenna’s speech was probably the most moving. She didn’t talk about how she was blinded, she just talked about Ali’s strength. I’m very curious to find out what Jenna knows about Ali that hasn’t been revealed yet. Jason tells Spencer that Ali pinned the Jenna thing on Spencer and tells the girls all about it. Jason also gives the girls Alison’s bracelet–the same one they had found in the woods. Oh A, what are you up to? At the very end, someone (A presumably) smashes a stone in the memorial.

No surprise here that I loved this episode. I really thought the Emily and Maya date was fantastic. I chatted with Shay Mitchell recently and I loved her take on the Emily/Maya relationship. She talked about how other shows are very quick to identify a gay or lesbian character, but Emily is confused, and people can relate to that. I also thought the flashbacks with Ali were great. We definitely got to see a different side to her, one that is perhaps rather dark. There is a reason she acted the way she did towards other people, and it wasn’t just because she was queen bee. If there is anything we learned from Mean Girls (which coincidentally enough, Pieterse compares Ali to Regina George), it’s that Queens don’t last forever and they have plenty of their own insecurities. As dark as Mean Girls was, I think Pretty Little Liars has an even bigger dark side. There are so many secrets, with an overarching mystery that everyone wants to figure out. In that way, I can liken it to Veronica Mars which is one of my all time favorite shows. Because Pretty Little Liars has only had one season and it is different both in structure and the number of lead characters, I can’t say that it has solidified a place in my top 5 shows of all time…yet. We shall see. However, like VM, it certainly stars leading ladies trying to solve a mystery, which I adore.

I am glad that the show is taking the source material and running with it. Because there are only eight books, they are going to have to stray from the stories when they run out. I think that a lot of the characters have storylines that have been set up to go further or in totally different directions from the book, and I’m very happy with that. The big question I have is will A be the same as she was in the books. Only time will tell, I suppose. Whatever the case may be, I very much look forward to it.

Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesday nights at 8 pm on ABC Family.