#i didn't see anything wrong with ezria

[keeloves]

Alli might be a bitch but this one of the times I am on her side

#same

[jaggedwolf]

pll rewatch 1x22

get its own post for finale reasons, the show does its first hitchcock homage, and the liars become the liars

getting ezria out of the way: even as fan of vest + tie combos ezra's outfit sucks this episode, he sucks for his useless texts, aria's tantrum at the faculty party is dumb, all of this is so stupid

ok ok the other note is that my friend remarked that when one of the liars goes "who do we know that's interested in younger girls" after the creep videos, none of them even think of ezra in that vein

which is distressingly warped even as it makes sense for these girls' worldviews: spencer does not view ian negatively until A gives them the video of him possibly killing ali, she views him positively in her flashback of kissing him

Spencer is so bad for saying that Melissa's baby might be inhuman but she is so fucking funny for saying "humor is subjective" instead of apologizing. I just really enjoy it when Spencer takes a break from being tormented to be the teenage brat she was born to be

Pam takes ten fucking years to answer Emily asking if her dad is okay and that is wild to me, Pam y'all are a military family and you should know better

why did the writers come up with this Texas plotline by the way, did they ever explain that?

Emily and Samara are exchanging the blandest emails. Why do all these girls email each other so much, the only things I emailed my high school friends about was schoolwork, otherwise it was all about texts

do you think they have negative associations with texting because of A. does only Spencer get tormented via email is she special like that.

Lucas is back! And still miffed about the danceathon ploy. I completely misremembered him already knowing Caleb before he goes on this fetch quest, but no, this is solely a "Hanna should know the truth" move

anw my take on how he tracks him down is that (1) Caleb's cheap-ass bus ride has lots of delays because that is his fucking luck (2) Lucas gets Caleb's number from Hanna's phone before passing it over to Emily

Okay, I make fun of the liars a lot for being super weird about the blind girl (who they are partially responsible for blinding), but most of the time I enjoy it, because of moments like this episode's where Jenna will be like come on bro :/ I'm just a girl who raped my step-brother via threats :/ just a girl who made a mistake and regretted it :/ why you gotta be so harsh bro :/

jenna we all saw you this season still trying to creep on toby when you were back in the same house...

this episode reveals that Spencer and I have very different notions of burner phones, because she bought this

while I would have gone for a nokia brickphone. Then again I think Spencer and I have different budgetary considerations for burner phones. (717 is indeed an area code for southern pennsylvania btw)

The Ian plan is not bad but maybe would be better if they didn't all swivel to stare at him instead of staring at the phone, you know, the means you purchased to communicate with him

All of the liars leave when Mona shows up (w/o busing their trays! Emily and Aria, your parents raised you better than this! Spencer had no tray and Hanna was not raised better than that) and I know it's primarily because they need to plot, but Spencer also clearly finds Mona super fucking annoying and I respect that

Emily when accosted by a cop that she should really trust him goes wow, maybe he has a point, and indeed calls Garrett later. ACAB, Emily, ACAB. (Except Officer Barry Maple, who has never done anything wrong ever.)

Okay so the real reason they made Garrett her former neighbour is so they could pretend he was on this street to see family, when he was actually here to get in on Rosewood men's favorite hobby: underage girls

why does he take off Jenna's sunglasses before he kisses her, that seems unnecessary.

please remember that Garrett's actor was Paolo in The Lizzie Maguire Movie. swear he was less bland in that

The Hannily porch scene is very endearing, Hanna is so delighted at the notion that Emily might have a type

Toby gets Spencer to chill out before she goes off to do her convoluted plan, which is a good dynamic for them

Spencer calls him a "safe place to land", which will come up again, and says she wants him away from danger because of that

firstly, sweet sentiment Spencer, but I do not think asking him to keep Jenna busy is keeping him safe, he would rather wrestle Ian in the woods any day

secondly, thinking about who Spencer feels the need to protect like this - she is protective over all the liars and Toby, but is she more "don't let danger breathe on them" about Toby and Emily?

at no point does anyone mention the car that t-boned Spencer and Melissa or its driver like, was it a phantom car, are Rosewood PD falling down on even this

Veronica gets some good mom points in comforting Spencer and telling her the crash wasn't her fault and that Melissa knows she cares

S1!Spencer is all about guilt so she takes this as her cue to nobly walk to the church to get Melissa's phone, only to get fucking jumpscared for her trouble

I really love the sequence from when Ian shows up till when the liars find Spencer at the top of the tower. It escalates so well, the tension ramping up, there's a phone call that forces the liars to simply listen as Spencer begs for her life and Ian recites how he's going to construct Spencer's suicide (and would have anyone believed the remaining liars if he'd succeeded?)

Spencer Hastings while being violently thrown about: Uh, Alison didn't die of blunt force trauma, she died of suffocation. ILU Spence never change

And she really gets thrown about! Jeez, someone escort her to a hospital checkup after this, there's probably a fracture somewhere in there

Love the liars fussing over Spence while she clings onto that wooden post. They immediately go "do not worry about having killed Ian, you are so fucking valid" and Spencer has to be like "no, I know it sounds like a traumatized mind coming up with shit but there really was a random hoodie that showed up"

That pan down to the body swinging and that being what set off the bells....still sick

Officer Barry Maple cannot believe these teenage girls lied about a fucking body, cue the entire town going whisper whisper whisper because they're all at the goddamn church

Even Noel Kahn. My dude, don't you have dudebro things to do that are more fun than this.

you know I bet Paige isn't at the church I bet she's at home stressed out about swimming or whatever. this is going to be my take on Paige for a while: that she has minimal awareness of the plot drama the liars are enmeshed in. Bet she didn't even know they got interrogated about rat blood trophy.

I forgot they have "I'm Not Calling You A Liar" play us out. Perfect song choice, but amusing solely to me, because: it is the first credits song for Dragon Age 2, and a long time ago someone asked me for a Hanna Marin crackship and I proffered Hanna/Fenris. Imagine the Liars in Kirkwall....

Our final A message of the season: It's not over until I say it is. Sleep tight while you still can, bitches.

[sunnys-rewatch-blog]

S2, E4

"Blind Dates"

I don't think my sudden lack of activity was super devastating to the Tumblr community, but nonetheless I feel I owe my regular readers an apology for my inactivity over the last few days. I got into writing on another project and wasn't watching episodes as fast. I wanted to make sure I got something up before my last day off this week ends. I hope it's worth the wait!

Where did Spencer get $2000 in one weekend?

At least with Ella moving back in I won't have to see Aria's parents' drama on my screen for a bit.

I want to like Ashley, I think the show wants me to like her, but she's such a weak person. I hate how her justification for everything she says or does when it comes to Hanna is "well, everyone else is doing it." That "herd mentality" is obviously lost on Hanna and going to therapy isn't just something you do because everyone else is doing it. I wonder if Ashley even understands why they're doing this, or if it was just the popular consensus and she didn't have the personal strength to dissent. For the record, I'm not saying it's the wrong decision, but kids/teens are going to catch on to things like that, Hanna knows the motive is "just to keep up appearances" and that's probably why she isn't taking it seriously. Not to mention that Ashley comes off so self-righteous and pushy, and knowing that her motive is so fucking weak just pisses me off. It's one thing to follow the herd by yourself because you don't want to stand out, but it grinds my gears to watch her try to force it on her kid- on someone who ultimately doesn't have a say in the matter. It's fucking gross.

I also really think the therapist did herself a disservice by making this dramatic a suggestion so early into it, and by taking it to their parents without posing it to them, first. I wouldn't be going out of my way to schedule appointments with a professional who did this, either. These girls already felt like being sent to therapy was punitive, or at least were doing it more as "damage control." Then, after only one full session, she's talking to their parents behind their backs about something she never brought up with them to see if they might do it of their own free will. A treatment plan isn't supposed to be something that's done to you without you at least having an opportunity to understand and consent. I think it would have been more helpful to develop rapport with the girls and then bring it up to see if they might agree to it voluntarily. Going about it this way just makes it more punitive, and frankly, I wouldn't feel safe talking to a therapist who's conspiring with my parents to make things worse. It also allows for too much room to misinterpret what's being said to take your treatment plan to a third party to have them decide on it, which I'll talk more about later.

Not that it matters, but I wonder if "A" actually secured Emily's scholarship.

A double date doesn't sound bad. Not like Hanna has anything else to do.

Wren casually confirming that Ian's still alive. Wtf.

Besides jumping the gun on these teenagers, though, I do like this therapist. She's kind of out of my age range, but she's hot. And something about the way she talks and carries herself makes me wanna spill my guts to her. Either this actress nailed her role or I'm extremely suggestible, and tbh I always feel a little uncomfortable in therapy. The way she talks and generally doesn't seem too pressed about the girls meeting up makes me think her suggestion wasn't meant to be as serious as the parents made it, which is another reason she should have at least tried to run it by them first. There would have been less room for misinterpretation and more of an opportunity for them to ask their questions and get answers directly.

I know some of the anti-Ezria viewers were big Jaria shippers. I think I casually ship it. It's hard to be all-in on it, although that's probably by design. Jason did some weirder shit than drugs that was never explained and seeing the two of them on screen together still isn't much more interesting than seeing Ezria on screen. There is a nostalgia angle with them that I like and I think maybe Jason having a history of knowing Aria for as long as he did could have helped characterize her better, even if it was on a platonic level.

Maybe a weird observation, but Samara has some similarities to the therapist in terms of personality. They never explored this in a satisfying way, so if I want answers then I'm gonna have to do it, I wonder if that's one of the things Emily liked about Alison. She was intuitive and seems to know how to ask leading questions. It's likely that Emily might not be able to articulate this.

Why does this "take care of your sister" note on the Hastings' door remind me of that episode of Victorious when Trina got her wisdom teeth out and Tori had to take care of her while the Vega parents left for the weekend?

So, Danielle is bi, too, I guess.

Emily might have drafted that letter, but she had absolutely nothing to do with all the Danby merch and stuff that got sent to her house.

Is this "interaction" with Alison legit, or is this just Hanna's inner-mind theater?

[sunnys-rewatch-blog]

S1, E15

"If At First You Don't Succeed, Lie, Lie Again"

The opener for this episode is a lot. On the list of phrases I never thought I'd hear is "strung out Powerpuff Girl," but here we are and I must have heard it before. It would be nice if she actually looked terrible and not like she has a fresh face full of morning make-up.

Holy shit, 50k in the hole! I forgot it was that much, damn! Ashley really did steal more than a pair of sunglasses.

Paige just casually walks into the locker room while half the girls on this swim team are naked and starts passing out boxes. The visual is like if your parents decided to host Christmas morning in the bathroom while you're shaving. I hope there are condoms in those tiny-ass boxes.

Forgot how much sass and snark they crammed into Caleb, too.

Oh no, not more Ezria drama. Goddamn, "A," if I have to sit through any more of this painful boredom I might just lose my mind.

Hanna didn't even ask "How much?" before she addressed this envelope. Who's doing shit like this for less than $1500? Actually, me- or at least I would hope. I would turn Ezra in for free and let Noel take the fall.

There is not one bit of intrigue to this relationship outside of the teacher/student angle. I don't even feel that much chemistry. Ezria is nothing but constant drama, there isn't anything cute or fun or sexy about it as a hook. If you didn't get wholly invested in them from just watching them make out and probably hook up in a bar bathroom, you're pretty much fucked every time they're on screen.

Paige needs to leave her hands off of other peoples' intimates. What is wrong with her??

My subtitles thought "Shawn" was "John."

"Why is this called meat casserole?"- do they do this shit in middle-class cities, too? In school districts that house two-lawyer households, the kids can't even have good mac & cheese or something?

Also, I'm genuinely glad no one gives a fuck that Emily is gay except her mother and the closeted bully. The other girls just found out a couple episodes ago and Spencer's ready to throw down with some bitch making negative comments. Pam Fields causes more than enough drama for this whole show.

Aw, no condoms for Emily.

I feel like this conversation about Justin Bieber, specifically referring to him as "the Beebs," really fucking dates this show.

Does no one ever notice Aria wandering around Ezra's apartment complex? Coming in and out of his room? Or are we to believe counting to 50 really works every time? If everyone here is so lazy about their secrets, it's no wonder how "A" finds everything out.

Jason is a weird dude. I would have loved to see Jason and Ian as a couple.

"You walked out on me, Ella, remember?!"- Byron, you had an affair with a university student and used your kid daughter to cover it up, then forced her to move out because you all of a sudden decided to care about the kids and "didn't feel right leaving them." You have no room to be talking about your arrangement like that, in fact, you shouldn't even be talking at all. Shut up, you piece of shit.

So, the real elephant in the room is...just an episode or two ago, "A" was all "Team Ezria!", so why now do they suddenly want this exposed?

I love how Spencer and Alison have this fight that's basically a heated argument with some casual philosophical debate thrown in.

We never do find out why all of these characters cooperate with "A".

[sunnys-rewatch-blog]

S1, E11

"Moments Later"

I didn't know Noel had any vested interest in Hanna.

We could have had about as much drama if it was Shawn who was with Aria. Just pointing out that this was unnecessary.

For the record, I'm really not trying to jump on the morality train with Ezria. I'm not against objectionable romances, and a hundred people have hammered on this point better than I have the mental fortitude to do. They're just so. Fucking. Boring. Even knowing what's actually going on, that Ezra is another name on the list who met Alison before she went missing, adds nothing to their time on-screen. If anything, it's even worse, because nothing really ever comes of that knowledge and this was actually the stupidest way he could have gone about exploiting Aria for his fucking book. I would have way more interest in this ship if they actually portrayed it as a darker, more dangerous thing. Ezra feels like a plot distraction, and most of Aria's time on screen is with him. I don't care what they're doing, I want to know what's going on with this mystery, damnit!

Aww, Mona came to visit Hanna! She absolutely does have something to feel guilty for, though.

I really can't decide whether LucasxHanna or MonaxHanna are my favorite side ship.

Just now realizing that an absurd number of people kept the Ezria secret.

Who even brought Alison here? How did she know about all this? It kinda looks like she got in under the guise of a candy striper (are those even still a thing?) but besides that she isn't disguised at all. I would give so much to see these scenes in her POV.

"Telling the truth to the wrong person at the wrong time is what got me where I am"- with tears in her eyes, she said it. Boy, am I glad that's never fucking explained. There's so much build-up I guess they couldn't decide on a worthy follow-through.

"I mean, you totally mess me up, and I feel miserable sometimes"- me in my last relationship. It took me way longer than it should have to figure out something wasn't right. The writers really stamped "RED FLAG" all over this relationship and then called it true love.

Ezria is kind of like Twilight, but without the vampires. Maybe Marlene should try her hand at erotic fiction. Worked out pretty well for E L James, and I know there's an audience out there for tacky, cheesey lesbian erotica with a hefty dose of kink. Sad, single bitches like me would eat that shit up.

Emily's dad getting her to come out. I am still in my feelings. "It's who she is" that fucking line, I wish my own father had said that. And watching Pam Fields act as a vehicle for my own mother's bullshit, I could just scream. Why do I put myself through this?

Ian and Melissa just got married? That was a short engagement.

How long does Hanna need to be in the hospital? I have broken my leg twice, recovery is usually on an outpatient basis, and I was never given that much medication. Of course, I was also never hit by a car and there were other injuries. I'll just pretend that's the reason. It's also more difficult than I remember to determine the passing of time in these episodes. I have absolutely no idea how long this has been, from start to finish.