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Pretty Little Liars- Oh What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me (5×19)

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This weeks Pretty Little Liars focused mainly on figuring out a few things. One, how does Ali become a girl like Ali. What did Mona really know. And if Holbrook isn’t A a.k.a Ali’s evil minion, then who is? Maybe, it’s someone we never even suspected. Cue the dramatic “this person is A” music while showing Mike. But also, look guys, my theory might have definitely been onto something. And if not, what is Mike up to and why is he so shady and rude?

Emily had all of her priorities in check and I just want to start with her because during a time when all the girls are freaking out about A (aren’t they always) she’s over here trying to figure out if Talia is flirting with her. First world problems? But also refreshing cause these are the problems Em’s should be dealing with as a high school senior… not finding out who the masked murderer that’s been trying to bring down her and her friends and land them in prison really is. I’m upset however because I really didn’t want Emily to just jump into another relationship. Guess that’s out of the question. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Paige suddenly comes to visit hoping to apologize for ignoring her girlfriend. Uhh, Paige who?

A girl named Leslie came into the brew looking for Hannah. Apparently she’s an old friend of Mona’s (don’t you hate when people suddenly have all these bffs you didn’t know about?). She’s here helping Ms. Vanderwaal cope with Mona’s death and was thrilled to meet all the girls who remained loyal to Mona. Um, does she know the full story on this one?She said she doesn’t mean no trouble, but can we believe her? No. The last “bff” we met at the brew ended up being CeCe as Spencer smartly pointed out. So who is this girl and what does she really know? It seems she was the last person to talk to Mona the night before her death and even pointed the blame finger at Mike, for being the guy who aggressively made Mona hang up the phone with her so he could talk to her.. No… Mike?

Yes Mike. I hate to say I told you so, but Mike Montgomery was straight up called out this weekend on his shadiness. First, Spencer dug in mommy’s briefcase to find a confidential report on who visited Ali in prison. On that list, Mike. Why is he visiting the girl who supposedly killed his gf? After Hannah told Aria about the encounter with her brother getting really worked up about Leslie’s carrying Mona’s book, Aria knew she had to confront her little bro. But, stalking is easier than actually talking in this town and she got caught. Mike went down to some river front where he eerily left a bag of gummy worms. When she went to go check them out, he confronted her and Aria looked way too scared of a person that’s supposed to be her brother. When she asked why he was here, why he visited Ali, or who the gummies were for, he refused to respond, saying “he won’t let anyone control him again.” Back that thing up Mike. Again? Who previously controlled him? Was that a hint that he was unwillingly part of the A team? That he’s working for Ali? Possibly that Ali made him kill his own gf? She’s twisted like that for sure. And the gummies…. who are they for? Do we know anyone who has a seriously addiction to gummies on this show? If you figure it out, let me know because I swear this is a bigger clue than their letting on! Also, I found it super creepy that instead of being protective of his sister he told her to “be careful going home through the woods.” Really, what do you know?!

SHAY MITCHELL, TROIAN BELLISARIO, LUCY HALE, ASHLEY BENSON

Meanwhile, Spencer and Toby’s relationship was clearly on the rocks. The episode even went full force sans the moral newbie police officer. Which was weird because you think he’d be around when Holbrook returned and than got suspended for damaging the investigation. Seems like his little intel about Holbrook messing with Ali’s DNA tests did the trick. Spencer decided to stay away from her life of crime for a day and instead indulge in some time with Johnny–the guy staying in her barn. I have to admit, this isn’t safe. I don’t particularly like Johhny, but like Spencer, I do appreciate the way his mind works. That whispers contraption he built at the brew was brilliant. He’s pretty genius even without college… but is he too genius? Is he genius enough to be A? Probably not… Rumor has it A was revealed in episode 1 of season 1…But, my theory that he’s Bethany’s brother is totally on point, especially because his sketch was drawn on the back of a “missing Ali” poster. When was the last time you saw one of those posters around? Oh yah, probably when Ali was still missing. He says he got it from the barn, but why that specific poster? Why all the questions about Ali? Why a machine that runs on whispers and records secrets for others to play back? It seems almost deadly in Rosewood…. Unless he’s looking for something. Something about Bethany.

Hannah seems to be the main target of this second season. Caleb was brought into the police station to testify on what he saw at the storage unit. Obviously, their digging around the fact that its taken out in Hannah’s name, Hannah was spotted there and they found a barrel with Mona’s body possibly inside. But the real twist came when got into Mona’s brain and found a tape from Bethany’s therapy sessions in her big book of secrets. Did Mike know it was in there? Is this why he got so crazy about someone holding onto the book? After listening to the tape, one thing was perfectly clear… Bethany hated “that evil bitch.” Still not sure if she’s referring to Ali or Mrs. D. And that “evil bitch” made all the decisions, which means the night in their backyard was no accident… it was a trap. The question, who set the trap for who? This will definitely be something we explore further into the season. (I hope.)

Hannah was also targeted by Holbrook, who seemed hella pissed off that he was suspended from his job after having such a promising career ahead of him. When she was pulled over, I knew immediately it was Holbrook and she should just keep going. But Hannah is smart and brave and she marched over to the empty car and was attacked by Holbrook who let her know that he was screwed over by their precious Ali and cut off. Also important, he wasn’t behind all the crap they thought he was. Think abandoned ice cream factory and storage unit. In reality, he spent the last week locked up in a hotel full of old people. But if he wasn’t, who was? And what did his statement about Lieutenant Tanner knowing everything mean? Does she know the girls are being set up? Could Holbrook’s demise actually turn out to be in their favor? 

And the biggest reveal of the night. The blood found in the barrel didn’t belong to Mona. It belonged to Alison. This could mean a lot of things. Is Alison the killer? Is Alison actually dead and this is where the book twin theory comes into play? Does he want to make sure she’s definitely convicted in the murder when it goes to trial?  Is this how Alison is being set up by A? From next weeks previews we know A has all the girls’ blood and he’s willing to use it to frame them when he wants. It’s hard to tell without actually knowing what was in the barrel, but this weeks revelations show that there’s a lot of good stuff coming up! 

What was your favorite moment. Do you think Holbrook is lying? What is Mike up to? And why is he being so shady? Sound off in the comments!!

Other Memorable Moments

  • You know things are crazy when Spencer considers not going to college!
  • Mona’s wish of having control over everyone, but people not knowing they were being controlled weirdly parallels her involvement with the A team. I know that we’re remembering Mona as a good person who died because she knew too much, but let’s not forget Mona also had multiple personalities. Maybe she always wanted to be A? And she clearly really hated Ali, considering how she reacted when Hannah said she might return one day.
  • Seeing Emily bond with Caleb about her relationship problems and Caleb actually understanding and explaining he too his normal “teenage” worries was nice.
  •  “Mona was always thinking… she just wasn’t thinking what we thought she was thinking,”- Hannah. Really, does she even understand if she loves or hates Mona? Someone. Answer. Please! 

 

Photo Credit: ABC Family/ Pretty Little Liars

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    Lizzy Buczak is the founder of CraveYouTV. What started off as a silly blog in her sophomore year at Columbia College Chicago turned her passion for watching TV into an opportunity! She has been in charge of CraveYou since 2011, writing reviews and news content for a wide variety of shows. Lizzy is a Music Business and Journalism major who has written for RADIO.COM, TV Fanatic, Time Out Chicago, Innerview, Pop’stache and Family Time.

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    WATCH: The New ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Is Dark AF

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    WATCH: The New 'Pretty Little Liars' Is Dark AF

    ‘A’ is not messing around in the Pretty Little Liars spinoff Original Sin.

    If you thought we’d seen the last of ‘A’… think again. The masked stalker is back to torment a new group of little liars on the HBO Max series. 

    The ten-episode season will debut Thursday, July 28 with three episodes. Two new episodes will follow on August 4 and 11, with the final three episodes debuting on August 18.

    A new teaser for the series reveals the tone is going to be much darker than the original ever was, and that’s likely thanks to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) who serves as writer and co-executive producer. 

    Check out the teaser — complete with a new version of the intro song “Secret.”

    Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin synopsis: Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in present day, a disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago…as well as their own. In the dark, coming-of-age, horror-tinged drama PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: ORIGINAL SIN, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.

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    We Don’t Need a ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Reboot

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    Pretty Little Liars Farewell, My Lovely

    Pretty Little Liars, which premiered in 2010 on ABC Family (now Freeform), took fans on a rollercoaster ride. The twists and turns were so dramatic and exaggerated, halfway through the show’s 7 season run, many fans began to taper off. 

    Dedicated fans, however, stuck it out despite the fact that the show was rapidly going off the rails. Why? Because they desperately needed to know the identity of “A,” and later, “AD,” once and for all. 

    And the glorious day came on June 27, 2017. As we sat huddled up in front of our TV screens, we were filled with a mix of emotions ranging from confused, misled, and finally, relieved.

    “Relief” is a strange emotion to feel when a show ends. Most fans tend to feel a sadness wash over them when the curtain falls, but with PLLthe finale was a sign that the madness was officially over. 

    The journey with the liars is one we’ll never forget, but let’s face it – most fans are not clamoring for more, especially not a mere three years after the finale. Heck, some of us are still trying to piece that ending together in a way that makes any rational sense. 

    We’re living in a time where reboots are hailed by TV executives as a sound and sure-fire idea. There’s plenty of examples of success: Dynasty, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Charmed, and Roswell, New Mexico. Even revivals that have honed a place in society with shows like The Conners and Fuller House both leading the pack. 

    Pretty Little Liars PlAytime

    PRETTY LITTLE LIARS – “PlAytime” – After Noel Kahn’s abrupt death, the Liars try putting their lives back together again in “Playtime,” the first of the final ten episodes of Freeform’s hit original series “Pretty Little Liars,” airing TUESDAY, APRIL 18 (8:00 – 9:02 p.m. EDT). Fans can catch up on where the Liars left off with an all-day marathon of season seven starting at 11:00 a.m. EDT and running up to the one-hour spring premiere at 8:00 p.m. EDT. (Freeform/Eric McCandless)
    SHAY MITCHELL, LUCY HALE, TROIAN BELLISARIO

    But the one thing that these reboots have in common is that the original shows aired a decade or more ago. The key to a successful reboot is nostalgia; they aim to hook the original fans while also appealing to a brand new generation. 

    Reboots may either reimagine a familiar story with a modern spin and new characters or reunite fans with characters years later a la catching up with friends years after college. 

    It’s obvious that PLL does not fall into the category of a show that warrants a reboot. Not yet, at least. There’s no sound argument when one could argue that enough time has passed to try to take a stab at this overly complex teen mystery drama once again.

    One of my biggest gripes with the PLL reboot, which was officially announced as an HBO Max original, is that it doesn’t center around the original liars. 

    I’m firm in my belief that had it not been for the popularity, relatability, and dynamic of Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Belissario, Sasha Pieterse and Shay Mitchell, the show wouldn’t have found a cult-like following or lasted as long as it did. The ladies made the show worth watching and managed to sell us on every single outrageous storyline. 

    Many of us stuck with the series because of our love for the liars. But the reboot, billed as “set miles away from Rosewood” in a new town, with a new set of characters, strips the very identity of PLL. 

    How can you have a show without any involvement from Aria, Emily, Hannah, Spencer, and Alison? They are the pretty little liars. There is no show without them. No one is interested in watching a new generations of teens get tormented by threatening cyber-stalker who knows too much about their life, which was fun to watch partially because it paralleled the rise of technology and the fears surrounding privacy that came along with the emergence of social media.

    Even if the ladies considered (and I use that term loosely — they are over here working on their careers and expanding their families, after all) returning for a reboot, not enough time has passed for a proper reunion. 

    There’s been talk of a potential movie sequel involving the original liars, and truthfully, that’s an idea fans of the original could get behind. It would be a one-time thing, it wouldn’t overstay its welcome or feel forced, and it would hopefully gives fans the follow-up they’ve been dying for. 

    Earlier this year, Hale said she wouldn’t “rule anything out” but ultimately, they’d “need a little more time to pass.”

    “I feel like we would get more out of it if we were, like, 10 years down the road,” she explained to Entertainment Tonight, adding that she’s protective of the show. Hale worked with Roberto Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa on the short-lived Katy Keene, so I’m truly curious to see what she thinks about this upcoming reboot. Note: none of those involved with the original have weighed in or commented yet.  

    Honestly, much of the pushback that I’ve seen about this rumored reboot is for that very reason — fans, even the ones who thought the finale came out of left-field and was a total dumpster fire — are also super protective of it. We don’t want anything or anyone to taint the show’s legacy. 

    We also cannot ignore there’s the fact that PLL’s Marlene King attempted her own reboot of sorts shortly after the series concluded and even centered the storyline around two familiar faces, Alison DiLaurentis (Pieterse) and Mona Vaderwaal (Janel Parish), to drum up support and interest from the core fandom. That didn’t work.

    PLL: Perfectionists lasted a whole ten episodes before Freeform pulled the plug leaving any fans that submitted themselves to yet another A-like mystery in the dark. It’s a shame the series wasn’t give a real chance because it had potential if it stayed true to the books and veered away from trying to make it so much like it’s predecessor. In this case, a complete overhaul could’ve worked if done right. 

    And it’s probably better if I don’t mention Ravesnwood, the second PLL spinoff that centered around Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn), which saw a lot of people seeing dead people in the neighboring town. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the show’s ten-episode run, but it’s yet another example of the franchise trying to reinvent the wheel and failing miserably. 

    If King couldn’t make these shows work while PLL was at its height, maybe it’s because the audience needed to take a break from the world of A?

    Which brings me to my next point… Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa. You may not know the name, but if you love teen dramas, you’re familiar with his work. He’s the brains behind The CW’s successful and oftentimes disturbing teen thriller Riverdale.

    One fan on Reddit noted that “PLL walked so Riverdale could run,” and let’s be honest, plenty of fans (and critics) have called the show a hot mess. However, that’s what we’ve come to love about Riverdale; it’s wacky, weird, and only tolerable when you suspend all disbelief.

    He’s also proven himself in the reboot-realm with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. CAOS is an entirely different ballgame; it’s a dark twist on the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch that pulls much of its inspiration from the Archie comics. It offers up an entirely new world featuring new takes on some beloved characters. Not to mention Sabrina wrapped its run in 1996 meaning enough time has passed; the world was ready for the Spellman’s once again. 

    As I mentioned, CAOS is ending with its upcoming season while Aguierre-Sacasa’s other series, Katy Keene, was cancelled after just a season at The CW. 

    I’m not questioning Aguierre-Sacasa’s qualifications — I’m a fan of his shows — but I don’t think jumping into and revamping a still-fresh franchise is necessary right now.

    Apparently, neither does Twitter. One person commented that he should “stick to one show and make that good.” I’d prefer HBO Max gave Katy Keene another try rather than investing into this PLL reboot. 

    The reboot seems to be hoping to capitalize on the the original fandom (the brief teaser features the same imagery as the original right down to the logo), but the fandom has opposed a reboot from the start. And they’ll be further alienated with the reboot’s description of a “horror-tinged, coming-of-rage” version.

    Aguierre-Sacasa’s strength lies within creating shows permeated with twisted mysteries that have a campy, horror vibe, which is tonally different than the psychological mind games we’ve come to expect from PLL

    There’s room for another teen thriller, obviously, but maybe it would be best to leave the franchise alone and call the show, which is shaping up to be its own entity anyway, something else entirely? “Original Sin” minus the “Pretty Little Liars” would have given the series a fresh-slate without any comparisons.

    Here’s the show’s description so you can decide for yourself: “Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart. Now, in the present day, a group of disparate teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin their parents committed two decades ago. as well as their own.”

    I’ll watch merely out of curiosity and because I’ve made television my job, but man, I haven’t even had time to miss PLL yet. 

    If you really need to feel the PLL-void in your life, the best thing to do is just stream the original episodes, because I think we can all agree that some things are better off left alone… at least until enough time has passed to revisit them through a new lens.

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    ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Cast Reunites for a Podcast that Involves Drinking and Rewatching Episodes!

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    Pretty Little Liars Cast Including the Moms Reunite for Podcast

    The moms of Rosewood got out of the basement just in time to start their own podcast!

    Go mamas! 

    All jokes aside, Holly Marie Comb (Aria’s mom Ella), Lesley Fera (Spencer’s mom Veronica) and Nia Peeples (Emily’s mom Pam) are reuniting to rewatch episodes together and offer some commentary. 

    Honestly, I’ve always wanted to know what the moms of Rosewood thought about what their daughters were up to/involved in, especially since half the time, it didn’t seem like the liars even had parents! 

    The podcast, titled “Pretty Little Wine Moms” (yes, ladies!) means that they will be sitting down with their favorite drinks and breaking down one episode at a time. Since they were a part of the production, they’ll be able to add in behind-the-scene tidbits. 

    Here’s where things get super fun — each week’s episode will have a new special guest that joins in for the chat. 

    According to Digital Spy, guests will range from other cast members, writers, directors, and producers. 

    This month alone the podcast will feature Shay Mitchell (Emily Fields), Brant Daugherty (heads-will-roll Noel Kahn), and Torrey DeVitto (Melissa Hastings). 

    In September, the lineup includes costume designer Mandi Line, writer/producer Bryan M. Holdman, Ashley Benson (Hannah Marin), Lucy Hale (Aria Montgomery), Sasha Pieterse (Alison DiLaurentis) and Tyler Blackburn (Caleb Rivers). 

    I love how much support the moms are getting from the cast and that the cast is finding new ways to keep this fun and twisted show alive! 

    Of course, we cannot wait for the mom-circle to be completed with a guest appearance by Laura Leighton (Hannah’s mom Ashley)!

    The idea for the podcast came to Lesley where she was bored at home during COVID. She invited her co-stars to appear on her podcast with her husband, Ned Mochel, and fans were so thrilled that the moms were back together again, they figured why not roll with it?

    We’re so glad they did. 

    And we cannot wait for the mom’s to spill some tea! Maybe they’ll finally tell us how they got out of that basement…

    Here’s a snippet of how I envision this podcast in my mind: 

     

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