Pretty Little Liars Episode 5.12

I’m a little angry with the Pretty Little Liars writers. The past few episodes have been good, but light on material. Not much has actually happened. This episode, however, was too much. There wasn’t a moment where something unimportant was going on, save perhaps the scene of the Christmas decorating, but I’ll get to that. Now, I know this was a summer finale episode, so there should be some bombs dropped, but I truly think too much happened in one hour of television. So let me get into recapping it all…

WARNING!!! SPOILERS FOUND BELOW!! If you have not watched this episode and do not want the twists ruined, do not read below!

The episode begins on Thanksgiving Day outside of a house where Hannah, Emily, and Aria all stand in shock and disbelief. Now we knew from all of the promos that someone was going to die in this episode. So right at the beginning, we are meant to think that it is Spencer who died. But I didn’t believe that for a second. Spencer has too much unresolved conflict and is too important to be killed off quite so randomly. And in my opinion, Spencer is the best character, so if she had been killed off, I would be in mourning, and I don’t know if I could continue to watch the show.

We then flashback to thirty-six hours previously. We see Ali in the police office taking a lie-detector test. With all we know about Ali, we know she has sociopathic tendencies, and honestly, by this point the police should know that too. So a lie-detector test would be ineffective. Sociopaths can pass those tests when they’re lying the whole time. Sociopaths tell so many lies so often that the actually believe what they’re saying. Unfortunately, I know this from experience.

The next scene had me screaming at the television screen, “FINALLY!!!” We know that Ali is no good. She strikes a chord in me that is too familiar. She obviously lives for drama and tragedy. The girls are finally wising up to that fact, and they go to Mona for help. I think Mona is extremely devious, and she is not someone you want to have against you. However, she can be a great asset. Mona is more intelligent and more resourceful than most grown-ups, and the bitch is still in high school. She could go on to be a dictator. We also find out from Lucas that Ali has turned Mona’s army against her. It’s now “Saint Ali” and “Crazy Mona”. This is what sociopaths do, people!

The next scene, I thought, was interesting. The writers used this opportunity to spell out why Ali assembled such a motley group as her best friends. She had all of the important qualities in the different girls. Spencer is the intelligent one; Emily is the loyal unquestioning follower; Hannah is the sycophantic admirer; and Aria is the compassionate one. This combination of personalities is a prefect group for a sociopath. There will always be one there for whatever Ali needs, and she will always have one ally. That is, until now it seems. The sentence is finally spoken aloud: “Ali is A.”

Then we see Toby announcing to Spencer that he has gone through and graduated from the police academy… Wait… What?! He just announced the decision to go to the academy like two weeks ago! There is no way that he could have finished that fast. I go along with a lot of bends in reality in the storylines, but this is one I can’t accept. The writers get an F in believability for that one…

As I alluded to earlier, Mona is a bad bitch. We see her, with the help of Lucas, hack into the police files and get some important documents and a recording of the lie-detector test Ali just took earlier in the episode. I know you’re probably wondering why I would believe that and not the police academy thing. Well, allow me to explain. We have already seen that Mona has the ability to do a lot of things you would think were out of her capacity, so is stealing police files really so far of a stretch? Secondly, it is entirely possible that Mona has a connection to someone, which was alluded to in the episode, that allows her to have access to special high-tech programs for hacking. However, it is not at all possible for someone to enroll, go through, and graduate from the police academy in such a short period of time. It is impossible to bend the laws of time and space; it is NOT impossible to bend the laws of society… Yes, I realize I spend too much time thinking about these things…

The next scene is the one part of the episode that gave up some downtime. We see everyone at Emily’s house decorating for Christmas. This is a bit premature in my opinion, but it was necessary. They are setting up for a special Christmas episode this season. The past few years the special midseason episode has been a Halloween episode, but this year they decided to change holidays.

Next we get to see and hear part of the lie-detector test done on Ali thanks to the footage Mona stole. When questioned about Spencer’s actions the night of the Ali’s disappearance, we hear Ali say, “It was my fault. I pushed her to that place…” This sounds like she’s taking up for Spencer, but she quickly follows that with, “I didn’t kill Bethany Young.” Let’s put this together. Ali says the only person she saw outside of the barn the night of Bethany’s murder was Spencer, and Ali says Spencer was under the influence, and then that she did not kill Bethany… You don’t have to be a genius or a Rosewood police officer to figure out that Ali is suggesting that Spencer killed Bethany. However, Ali never actually suggested that. Again, this is how sociopaths work. They paint and manipulate the picture so you see it just as they want you to.

After they see all of the police files, the girls realize that Ali is no longer a person of interest, but Spencer is. The police have a theory that Spencer killed Bethany Young to get in favor with Ali since Bethany had some damaging information on her family. What the girls do not know is why Spencer is now a suspect. What evidence do they have against her? Whatever it is, it seems to reside at Radley. Mona and Spencer decide to impersonate nurses and break into Radley with the help of the other girls and Lucas. They seem to be looking for evidence, as if there is anything left to find, but they are interrupted by Holbrook who has a strange conversation with Aria. When will these police officers learn protocol and not talk to minors in an accusatory fashion without a guardian present? Yeah, I know… Where’s the fun in that?

While the others are at Radley, Emily contacts Ali as a guise of making up after their argument when in reality, she is keeping Ali busy. Of course, Ali, being the evil genius she is, quickly figures out what’s going on and leaves angrily. As she walks out of Emily’s house, we see Paige. Isn’t it nice how Paige often seems to be in the right place to see something juicy? Sometimes I wonder if Paige is actually stalking Emily…or maybe she’s just a peeping Tom… Anyway, Paige sees Ali leaving the house and getting into a car with the twins from The Shining. That is the only way I know how to refer to these girls. Who in God’s name are they? And where did they come from? We’ve seen them for a total of 2 minutes on screen, and I can’t remember them ever being referenced. Although… There are 3 million characters in this show, so maybe I’m just forgetful…

Spencer was supposed to meet Toby for a celebration for his graduation, but instead she was breaking several laws and breaking into an insane asylum. Toby calls Spencer as they are leaving Radley, and while they are on the phone, Spencer hears Toby get into a horrible car crash… Is that supposed to teach me not to talk on my phone while driving, or not to have a girlfriend who is involved in heavy stuff like Spencer? I’m really not sure… Again, this is a cheap trick of the writers who want us to think that Toby is now the one who has died.

Literally right after a commercial break, we see that Toby is just fine, save a few broken bones. We now know it is Thanksgiving Day, and the girls are at the coffee shop. As they discuss the events of the previous days, police officers come into the coffee shop and arrest Spencer for the murder of Bethany Young.  Who didn’t see that coming?

The final big scene was a bit upsetting to me. I feel the director gave away what was coming. We see Mona say good bye to her mother, and the look on her face tells us that she knows she’s about to die. Mona calls the girls, and says she has proof that Ali is A. We also see a girl with blond hair walk slowly up the stairs and into Mona’s room. Next we see Hannah, Aria, Emily, and Ezra enter Mona’s house, and there’s blood everywhere. The next scene is back to what was the beginning of the episode, and Holbrook announces that Mona’s body is nowhere to be found, but by the amount of blood in the house, they are sure Mona is dead. I will admit, I thought at first that Mona would become the new Ali—that she wasn’t really dead, and we would see her again. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. We see her quite dead body in the trunk of a car. For once I was completely surprised, unpleasantly, I might add.

In a last bit of symbolism, we see Mona’s killer replace the baby Jesus in the nativity with the creepy Mona doll that we have seen before. Mona died for the sins of Aria, Spencer, Hannah, and Emily. She died so the might live to fight Ali and whoever else may be part of all of this. I thought this was an interesting touch to the end of a fast paced episode.

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode, but like I said, I feel it had too much for one hour of TV. I truly hope the writers decide to keep going down this road. We now see Ali as a monster, and over the next seasons the girls need to take her down. It’s a great avenue for the storyline to go. We’ve seen them trying to find her killer and now trying to help her for the past five seasons. Now they realize they’ve been helping the wrong person. However, I have a feeling, as things go on Pretty Little Liars, they’ll flip the script a few more times on us. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Let me know what you think of my recap and discussion. Do you like the way the story is going? Are you upset that Mona is dead?

Real Housewives of Melbourne (RHOMelbourne) Episode 105

This episode starts out with Chyka and her husband, Bruce, on a date. Chyka tells us how they are both so busy with their jobs that they have to schedule time together just to have dinner. During dinner, they discuss some of the gossip surrounding the other women. They discuss Janet and her new man, who is only 35 years old. Bruce then attempts a joke by saying that Janet is only 36 years old. What he doesn’t mention is that Janet is actually celebrating the 36^th anniversary of turning 36 years old. Chyka also mentions how she is giving advice to Ben and Jackie about their new alcohol business. At the end of the date, Bruce brings Chyka to an amusement park that he rented out just for the two of them. They ride the carousel holding onto each other. Now that’s a classy way to end a date.

Next we see Janet entering her jeweler’s store. Earlier in the season we saw Jackie tell Janet during her psychic reading that Janet would be getting rid of some of her jewelry. Janet took matters into her own hands and decided to melt down her old wedding rings and make a new ring for herself. She got rid of the negative energy from her failed marriages in hopes of creating a new ring celebrating her independence. We see the jeweler pull out the new ring complete with a diamond big enough to be used as a murder weapon. The other ladies better watch out.

Jackie meets her husband, Ben, at an art studio. Ben gives us a Fifty Shades of Grey moment when he seductively blindfolds Jackie and leads her into the next room. Unfortunately, the only thing Ben shows Jackie is a piece of art that will be used as the label of La Mascara. Jackie proceeds to drip paint and glitter onto the portrait resulting in what looked like a bad acid trip.

On to Janet’s birthday party… Jackie and Andrea are first to arrive. Of course Andrea brings up the Gina vs. Jackie feud that has now been going on for the last five episodes. Jackie seems to be over it, but Andrea is salivating at the drama. Janet and Chyka arrive followed shortly by the fabulous Gina who always makes an entrance. Jackie and Gina are seen laughing and enjoying themselves as they sit next to each other eating birthday cake. Jackie and Andrea go to the bar to refill their champagne, and Andrea again stokes the fire talking about how out of line Gina has been. When they return, Andrea decides to passive-aggressively bring up how someone she knows has been acting child-like and aggressively. She asks the group if they think it is appropriate to bring something like that up to the person. Much to Andrea’s disappointment, the ladies say that that is a conversation that should be had in private. As Andrea is prone to do, she ignores what the women have just said and begins to scold Gina in front of everyone. Andrea says, “You bring barrister life into your personal life,” and she calls Gina aggressive. To call Andrea a “hypocrite” is an exercise in understatement. How can you call someone out for ruining a housewarming party by bringing up drama while in doing so you too are causing drama and ruining Janet’s birthday party? Maybe it’s a good thing Andrea’s nannies raise her kids. I would hate to see logic like that be taught to another generation. After the scolding, Gina and Janet excuse themselves to the bathroom. We see Gina’s words as subtitles, and she calls Lydia a… well let’s just say “bitch with a capital C”. We then hear Andrea say that she is certain Gina was talking about her… At least we all know that everyone’s world and life revolves around Andrea. Aren’t you happy to know that?... The ladies relocate to the Love Machine, a nightclub, for “gay and drag queen night” where Gina tells us she feels “at home” with the makeup and big hair. Janet ends the night with a nugget of wisdom. She says, “All birthdays are significant…If you’re not going to have another one, it sucks, cuz you’re dead!” Wow… Someone crochet that on a pillow immediately.

In other news, Andrea is writing a book about being a “working mum”. I wonder if Andrea’s checklist for her nannies includes “write my book”. I have a feeling they might have more experience in that department… Andrea has assembled a focus group, and she gives them one of her infamous checklists. When the ladies of the focus group start giving Andrea negative feedback, she gets extremely passive-aggressive with them to the point of insulting them.

During a scene in which Janet and Gina are having dinner together, Janet calls Lydia “brainless”. This is juxtaposed with a scene where Lydia is discussing art and says that the Louvre is in London… Coincidence? Gotta love those editors.

At Andrea’s house we see Andrea and Jackie gossiping about what was said in the bathroom at Janet’s birthday party. Andrea discloses that she called Gina to confront her about talking about her book in the bathroom, something she says she heard from Janet. Gina says that she was talking about Lydia’s book, but again, Andrea is convinced that she is the center of everyone’s universe and Gina must have been talking about her.

At the end of the episode, Janet brings Jackie to a “Ladies that Lunch” event. I’m sure Jackie would have rather given Gina another psychic reading than be there, but she put on a brave face. Janet says what we already know, that Gina was not talking about Andrea in the bathroom. The look on Jackie’s face says what we’re all thinking. What is the truth and who’s lying?! This story is getting too convoluted…

This episode and the next episode are building up the tension and storylines for an explosive trip coming later in the season. They might seem a bit boring right now, but they are necessary for what is to come. Buckle up everyone.

Pretty Little Liars Episode 5.11

Today’s blog post is discussing the most recent episode of Pretty Little Liars. I have watched Pretty Little Liars from the beginning. And in the beginning it was entertaining and even moderately believable. A girl goes missing and eventually turns up dead. The girl’s friends, who were her accomplices in illegal activity and who were with her the night she went missing, start getting threatening texts from a mysterious stalker named “A”. Intriguing, right? Well it was, but with the addition of a million different characters who flip flop from psychotic to sympathetic, this dramatic thriller has turned into a soap-operatic circus. Every week I’m more and more convinced that David Lynch is secretly directing all of these episodes. Kyle MacLachlan is waiting in the wings for his cameo… However, I keep watching the show because I just want to get some answers. I’m too invested to turn back now. Will we ever find out who “A” is or are? Probably not… But let’s get into this week’s episode.

Most of the episode titles have been either puns or clever stylizations with the letter “A”. So what wonderful and fun title did the writers have for us this week? “No One Here Can Love or Understand Me”… Really? That sounds like the beginning of a “Dear Abby” letter…

This episode furthered three of the thousands of ongoing plot lines. First of all, we have the main storyline dealing with Alison. Is Alison still playing games and toying with everyone in Rosewood? Of course not! She just ran away and magically lost all of her sociopathic tendencies, pretended to be dead, and then made up a kidnapping story to cover her ass when she rose from the grave. But she’s totally normal now… Thankfully the other girls are finally wising up to the fact that Alison can’t be trusted, and they want to tell the truth. But wait! It’s never that easy. They are taunted by A with a photograph of Alison visiting Hannah in the hospital in season 1. They decide, with this evidence, they can’t possibly come clean… Ummm… But why? At the time, the girls were convinced that Hannah was dreaming because Alison was thought to be dead. Just tell the truth. And furthermore, are we supposed to believe that A was in the hospital room taking pictures of Alison’s visit without either Alison or Hannah seeing him/her? Considering that photo was a full on headshot of Alison (I mean, she could take that to a modeling agency…), I’m pretty sure whoever took it would have been seen… Anyway, at the end of the episode, Lt. “Jerry curl” Tanner drops the bombshell that one of the girls has decided to come forward with the truth. But who? We’ll find out next week…

The second major plot line in this episode was the murder of Alison’s body double, Bethany Young. Melissa leaves a recording for Spencer where she explains what she claims happened. Melissa says that she saw Spencer dragging a shovel away from what she thought was Alison’s dead body lying next to a perfectly dug grave. She cares for Spencer so much that she just has to cover up this horrible crime. So she dumps the body into the grave and buries it. However, the body was actually Bethany Young wearing Alison’s clothes, and Bethany was still alive. Somehow Melissa manages to choke out a line from The Tempest while she’s confessing to murdering someone. However, I don’t buy it for one second. Melissa never thinks of anyone but herself. She knows Spencer was under the influence that night. I think Melissa killed Bethany thinking it was Alison, but she’s trying to make Spencer believe she was covering for Spencer to get her support and sympathy. That’s just my theory.

The last plot line in last night’s episode was dumb and a cheap conclusion to an already bad story. To those of you who did not watch Ravenswood, I offer you my congratulations for not having wasted a good chunk of you life. It was a ridiculous and poorly acted supernatural soap opera. Of course, it lasted only one season, and ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Since Caleb was a main character of Ravenswood, the producers decided to use this episode to tie up some loose ends from that train wreck of a show. And even that was done poorly… Since Caleb has been back in Rosewood, he has been drinking like a frat boy, even though he is an emo, misunderstood hipster; I don’t think he realized the paradox. Hannah, with the help of Spencer and a slightly sexually tense scene between Caleb and Toby, tries to have an intervention and find out what is bothering Caleb. To all of our shock, Caleb is moody and refuses to talk about it… But then ten minutes later spill the entire Ravenswood story to Hannah complete with a swarm of fireflies representing spirits… Seriously? They truly just threw that entire idea and show into the trash. That’s where it needs to be, but what a waste of time and money. And of course, as Caleb is spilling the entire supernatural and over-the-top story to Hannah, she just sits there and acts like everything he is saying is normal and makes perfect sense… I truly watched the entire scene with my mouth open in disbelief. I’m so glad that story is over.

The summer finale airs next week. Apparently, someone will die… They act like this is big news. Someone always seems to be dying in these finales. Well, we will see what happens. Let me know if you liked my summary and discussion and if you’d like me to do next week’s episode. Tomorrow you can read my fashion blog, and next Tuesday I’m thinking of covering Rich Kids of Beverly Hills and Real Housewives of Melbourne.

Feedback is always appreciated. Leave a comment. :)