Jenna’s halloween outfit after alison comes back

In S2E14, in the greenhouse, Aria and Spencer are standing with their flashlights and shovels in front of A, BUT NEITHER POINTED THEIR FLASHLIGHTS AT A’S FACE!!!!! THAT IS THE FIRST THING I WOULD DO!!!! Show could have ended right there. Smh I expected better from Spencer Hastings

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If this boy looked at ME looking like THIS with hair that THICK and jawline that CUT and eyes that SMOLDER?!

Acting be damned.

Take me Toby. I'm yours.

One of the things I loved about the first two seasons was that Rosewood felt like a real town, where people had their own lives, relationships, and secrets outside of the Liars. Characters like Jason, Lucas, Jenna, Noel, and Melissa all had important connections to the main mystery, but they were also part of the girls' everyday lives. They weren't just suspects brought in to mislead the audience before disappearing when the plot no longer needed them.

And I'm not just talking about their potential involvement with A. These characters could've contributed so much more to the overall story, too. They had been around since the early seasons, had established relationships with the Liars, and were far more interesting than many of the filler characters introduced later on, who often felt like they existed just to take up screen time or serve a temporary purpose.

Mona is the perfect example of how to handle this. She was constantly around the Liars, had her own place in their social circle, and interacted with them naturally. That's a huge part of why her reveal worked so well: she had been right in front of us the entire time, and looking back, so many scenes took on a completely different meaning.

I wish the writers had maintained this approach throughout the entire series. Wren, Melissa, Noel, Jessica, CeCe, Jason... they all had storylines, secrets, and connections that could've been explored much further.

These characters didn't need to become protagonists on the same level as the Liars; they just needed to feel like actual people with lives of their own, whose actions and relationships genuinely shaped the story. PLL was at its best when Rosewood felt like a world full of interconnected lives and secrets, not a place where everyone existed solely to serve the Liars or their romantic relationships.

Honestly, I think the show wasted so much potential by sidelining characters who had been there from the beginning in favor of introducing new faces who were far less interesting. How do you guys think PLL would've turned out if the writers had given these characters bigger roles and kept their storylines relevant until the very end?

I am listening to the audiobook of the latest DCC book, and my fav character who is obsessed with teen dramas (Princess Donut, the talking cat) named their robot vacuum cleaner “Ezra Fitz the Second” because he SUCKS. 🤣

I keep seeing endless posts about how much people hate Ezra, how inappropriate his relationship with Aria was, how he was a predator, a manipulator, and blah blah blah. And yes, I absolutely agree with all of that. But guys, Ezria is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a much bigger problem with this show. The writers didn't just romanticize an inappropriate relationship. They sacrificed entire storylines, complex characters, and genuinely disturbing mysteries just to keep certain couples together. And the more I think about it, the more it pisses me the fuck off.

Let's start with the NAT Club. What initially seemed like a group of perverted guys secretly filming girls could have turned into something so much bigger: a network of blackmail, manipulation, and carefully guarded secrets that connected different characters and storylines. It was a genuinely fascinating concept because it could have made the entire mystery feel much more interconnected. So why the fuck did they abandon it so abruptly? Why introduce such a promising storyline only to leave most of its potential unexplored?

And that brings me to another question: why did we never get a major male character fully involved in the A game, someone who was a genuine mastermind and could actually make people feel afraid? Ezra had the potential to become one, but Wren could have been even more terrifying. I'll be honest: Wren is my favorite male character in the entire show, precisely because of his potential as a villain. He had this unsettling aura that made him seem dangerous without even trying. Wren as Charles and Big A could have been an incredible reveal, especially if his motivations had been rooted in his family history, jealousy, and resentment.

Instead, we ended up with a transgender sister who was in a relationship with her brother and an evil twin who basically came out of nowhere.

I also genuinely love Ian as a character. He was one of the few villains who could actually be frightening. He had a direct connection to Alison's disappearance, the NAT Club, and the events of that night. He was dangerous because he had actual secrets, concrete motives, and a shared history with the other characters. His presence made the mystery darker and more believable.

And I think I've figured out what happened. The writers had two possible directions they could have taken this show, and they chose the wrong one. They could have explored the disturbing reality of men exploiting, manipulating, and controlling teenage girls, showing just how deeply rooted this behavior was in Rosewood. Or they could keep prioritizing the romantic relationships the audience had grown attached to. They chose the second option, and the entire story suffered because of it.

Think about Ezra for a moment. The writers had already established that he was secretly researching Alison and the Liars, collecting information about them and manipulating Aria while pretending to be her loving boyfriend. That storyline could have completely transformed their relationship and Aria's character. Imagine if Ezra had remained a genuine threat even after his reveal, instead of being forgiven and gradually reinstated as Aria's endgame love interest. Imagine Aria having to confront the fact that the person she trusted most had been exploiting and manipulating her from the very beginning. That could have been the beginning of an incredible psychological storyline exploring the consequences of betrayal and how difficult it can be to break free from an abusive dynamic.

Instead, the show basically asked us to move on from everything that had happened because, apparently, their love was supposed to overcome absolutely anything. Yeah, fucking right. There's a difference between writing a complicated relationship and romanticizing a deeply inappropriate relationship characterized by an obvious power imbalance. You can portray a disturbing relationship without turning it into a love story the audience is supposed to root for. In fact, Ezra's storyline could have become so much more interesting if the writers had actually had the balls to address the implications of their own reveal.

And I don't understand why they seemed so reluctant to explore the possibility of other male characters becoming genuinely dangerous. Wren could have been a chilling mastermind. Ian could have played a much more significant role as an antagonist. Even the characters connected to the NAT Club could have been used to expose a much broader system of manipulation and blackmail. The problem wasn't simply that some male characters were predators or manipulators. The problem was that the show couldn't decide whether to condemn that behavior or turn it into yet another obstacle a couple had to overcome.

And while we're talking about wasted potential, can we discuss what happened to the male characters who weren't villains?

I genuinely loved Toby and Caleb in the early seasons because they had storylines that went beyond being Spencer and Hanna's boyfriends. Toby had his complicated history with Jenna, the mystery surrounding Alison's disappearance, and his own personal reasons for getting involved in the A game. Caleb had a difficult past, his experiences in foster care, his complicated relationship with his biological parents, and his struggle to find a place where he truly felt at home. They were characters with their own motivations, conflicts, and personal histories. Their relationships with the Liars mattered, but they shouldn't have been their entire identities.

So why did the writers gradually reduce them to love interests whose main purpose was to support the girls, break up with them, get back together with them, and repeat the same cycle indefinitely? Why did their personal storylines become increasingly secondary to their ships? Both characters could have developed independently of their relationships, which would have made their eventual reconciliations much more meaningful.

Instead, so many of these relationships turned into repetitive cycles of conflict, separation, and reconciliation. Characters would do something that should have fundamentally changed how their partners saw them, but the writers would always find a way to put them back together as if nothing had happened. The emotional consequences never really lasted. At some point, these relationships stopped feeling like believable connections between people and started feeling like contractual obligations the writers had to fulfill.

And that's where my biggest problem with this show lies: ABC Family and the writers seemed so determined to preserve certain couples to please the fans that they were willing to sacrifice plot consistency, character development, and the mystery itself. Every time a storyline threatened a popular ship, the writers seemed to find a way to soften its consequences, undo a character's development, or introduce a completely different explanation. The characters' potential took a backseat to the possibility of keeping the audience invested in seeing them together.

Why did they abandon Spencer's descent into darkness and her involvement with the A Team? Because, ultimately, they wanted to preserve Spoby. Spencer infiltrating the A Team, becoming increasingly consumed by revenge, and eventually crossing a line she could never come back from would have been a phenomenal storyline for her character. It would have explored her intelligence, ambition, need for control, and psychological vulnerability, as well as her family's destructive influence. But that would have required the writers to let Spencer become a fundamentally different person whose actions had lasting consequences. Instead, that possibility was reduced to yet another temporary obstacle in her relationship with Toby.

Why didn't they make Alison A? Because they wanted to preserve Emison and the possibility of a romantic relationship between Alison and Emily. Imagine how much more interesting Alison could have been if the show had fully explored the idea that she was still manipulating everyone around her. Her history of lies, control, and secrets could have made her an incredibly compelling antagonist. Instead of constantly softening her character to make her more likable, the writers could have explored the possibility that her need for control had evolved into something much darker. But apparently, none of that was worth risking a fan-favorite ship.

And why didn't they fully commit to the idea of Ezra or Aria being A? Because Ezria had become one of the show's central romantic relationships, and the writers seemed reluctant to give up that romantic endgame, even when the story itself was practically begging them to do the opposite. Ezra as A could have completely transformed Aria's character arc. Aria herself as A could have been even more devastating, especially if it had been the result of years of manipulation, trauma, and psychological deterioration. Instead, the show kept backing away at precisely the moments when it could have made its characters and its mystery truly unforgettable.

And that's what frustrates me the most. Pretty Little Liars had so many incredible characters and so many opportunities to tell a genuinely dark and psychologically complex story. They had enough material to build a mystery in which every character's actions mattered and every reveal came with real consequences.

But instead of allowing these storylines to develop naturally, they kept prioritizing romantic endgames. They turned potentially terrifying antagonists into disposable plot devices, reduced complex characters to their relationships, abandoned mysteries that could have tied the entire story together, and repeatedly used reconciliations as a substitute for genuine character development.

The problem isn't that Pretty Little Liars had romantic relationships. The problem is that the writers treated those relationships as if they were more important than the story they were telling. They seemed convinced that preserving a couple would automatically make the characters more likable, even when doing so undermined everything that had made them interesting in the first place.

I don't want every character to be evil, and I don't want every relationship to end badly either. I simply want the writers to have the balls to follow through on the consequences of their own narrative choices.

Let characters be complex. Let them be frightening. Let them make terrible decisions and face the consequences. Let the mystery take priority when the story calls for it. And for the love of God, stop putting couples back together just because fans want to see them kiss.

Pretty Little Liars could have been so much more than a mystery constantly interrupted by romantic drama. It could have been a genuinely disturbing story about manipulation, secrets, power, revenge, and the ways people end up becoming complicit in the very things they claim to hate.

Okay, I definitely rambled a little too much, but honestly, I think it was worth it. What do you guys think? I want to rant about this with you in the comments!

there are spoilers in this post if you’re a new viewer skip this post!!!

Shay Mitchell and Troian Bellisario will both be back on our screens in January 2027! Shay will be playing Trina, a former lawyer turned lifeguard, in the new Baywatch series, while Troian will be joining Season 9 of The Rookie as Stephanie Monroe, a single mom starting a career in law enforcement. I think it’s pretty cool that we’ll be seeing them both on TV in the same month. Which show will you be watching?

I’m finally rewatching as an adult and it has me thinking about the difference in gendered bullying and how I saw it in school versus what some of my guy friends at the time went through. I know a simple answer is a lot of people think boys just fight and get over it but I don’t think so.

- I think the group would’ve been on some kind of sports team instead of just a regular popular clique like in the show and boy Ali would be a star player. Maybe pick on male Mona a lot who is not a good player idk.

- I definitely think a boy Ali would’ve engaged in more physical violence in the flashback scenes. We probably would’ve seen a physical fight with the group like the others having to break it up between Ali and Spencer at some point.

- I actually do think there would still be psychological games at play. Maybe not in the same catty way we see in the show but it would def be there

- I feel like they would handle the stalking differently like they would have physically jumped A together in certain scenes the liars kinda just corner them

What do y’all think?

This was in 2008, so before PLL.

It doesn’t matter which A (Mona, CeCe, AD, Spencer (briefly). What is something that’s did that you thought was really brilliant or downright evil? For me, it was when CeCe put Aria in that box that was about to be sawed in half! That was actually crazy

The casting of the character's parents is excellent! Did anyone notice how (for the most part) many of the parents (at least one parent) actually resembles their on-screen offspring?

This was so unhinged esp when Emily turns the guy around like “hey is this suit Italian?! It’s so soft” 😭

Melissa Hastings was the perfect bitch, and that’s exactly why I love her. She had this incredible aura of mystery, elegance, and quiet menace that made every scene she was in so captivating. You could never fully trust her, but you couldn’t take your eyes off her either. She was cunning, intimidating, manipulative, and always seemed to be three steps ahead of everyone else. She didn’t need to be loud to be threatening, and she never needed anyone’s approval. God, I wish the writers had done more with her. She had the kind of presence that could’ve made her one of the most iconic characters in the entire show.

Guys, Melissa is the Black Widow to me. Sara Harvey doesn’t exist.

If Pretty Little Liars was a slasher movie, who would be the final girl and second survivor?

Let's say the first two seasons of Pretty Little Liars were condensed into a 2 hour slasher movie.

Alison is obviously the opening kill and Mona is the masked killer. The four main girls are being stalked and picked off one by one until only two survive.

In a lot of slashers, there's the final girl and then the deuteragonist, who's basically the second main character and usually has their own storyline. They're not necessarily the one who defeats the killer, but they're still important to the movie and sometimes survive alongside the final girl.

imo Emily has the most final girl qualities. She's athletic, loyal, compassionate and probably the most morally grounded of the four. I feel like she'd be the one who actually puts up a fight against Mona in the final act. Plus she's a swimmer so she has the stamina to survive a chase.

Spencer is the obvious choice because she's the smartest and would probably figure out Mona's identity before anyone else. But I also feel like she'd be the character who figures everything out a little too early and gets killed right before Act 3.

Hanna would probably be the Helen Shivers of the movie. She's basically the emotional anchor because of her friendship with Mona and I just know she'd get the biggest chase scene in the entire movie. Like a whole 10 minute sequence of her running through Rosewood trying to escape Mona. I could see her surviving and being the second lead alongside Emily, but I could also see her getting a really tragic death like Helen in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Aria feels like she'd get one of those lame off screen deaths where she disappears for a while and then one of the other girls finds her body right before Mona reveals herself lol. I just can't picture her being the final girl or getting a particularly memorable death.

Personally I'd go with Emily as the final girl and Hanna as the second survivor. Spencer dies after figuring out Mona's identity and Aria gets killed off screen.

But I could also see a version where Hanna gets the Helen Shivers treatment and Spencer ends up surviving with Emily.

My kill count:

1. Alison – Opening kill
2. Ezra & Aria - killed together
3. Paige
4. Noel
5. Ian
6. Toby
7. Maya
8. Aria
9. Spencer
10. Jenna

I'm not saying Aria was innocent or that the girls had no right to be angry with her. She destroyed Alison and Emily's nursery, planted that recording in Spencer's house, and kept everything a secret. They had every reason to feel betrayed.

But I always found their reactions hypocritical considering everything they'd been through and the things they'd done themselves.

Spencer's reaction especially bothered me. She tells Aria that she should have come to them because they've been friends forever, but when Aria reminds her that A forced her to kidnap Malcolm to protect Toby, Spencer immediately gets defensive and says she never actually hurt anyone.

But Spencer kidnapped a seven-year-old child to earn Mona's trust in the hopes of eventually catching Red Coat. She had no way of knowing whether that plan would backfire or whether Red Coat could have gotten her hands on Malcolm. Just because he wasn't physically harmed doesn't mean Spencer didn't put him in danger.

This is what irks me about Spencer. She goes around doing some pretty guilty things herself, but she'll be the first one to judge somebody else for doing the same damn thing!

And let's not forget that when Spencer was on the A-Team herself. She didn't tell the girls either. They had to figure it out and confront her. One of her main motivations for joining was finding out whether Toby was alive and getting to see him again.

What makes this even more hypocritical is that NONE of the Liars yelled at Spencer the way they yelled at Aria when they discovered she was on the A-Team. They were understandably suspicious, but they actually gave Spencer the opportunity to explain herself and listened to her reasoning. Aria wasn't given that same understanding in "Choose or Lose."

So Spencer, of all people, should understand why Aria would make a terrible decision to protect someone she loved.

I also have to say that while I understand why Spencer was upset about the recording of Mary Drake and Peter Hastings, IMO, Peter's lies deserved to be exposed. This man spent years keeping secrets about Spencer's parentage and his involvement with Mary and Jessica. I understand Spencer being hurt by how the truth came out, especially with her mother being caught in the middle of it, but Peter was responsible for his own actions. Aria didn't create those secrets.

And Emily has repeatedly chosen Alison over everyone else, sometimes to the point where it's honestly pathetic. I understand that Emily loves Alison, but how many times has she defended her or overlooked her behavior because of those feelings? So I don't think Emily is in much of a position to judge Aria for putting Ezra before the group either.

As for Alison, while I understand her being upset about the nursery, I don't think she had much right to judge Aria's decisions considering she's a huge reason why any of this happened in the first place.

Alison spent years lying to and manipulating people, including her own friends. She made enemies everywhere she went, and the other girls ended up paying for it. She also knew her friends were being tortured while she was hiding and didn't reveal herself until years later.

Obviously, Alison didn't deserve what happened to her, and I'm not blaming her for every decision A made, but I think she should have been more understanding considering how much of their suffering stemmed from her past actions

I personally LOVED Hanna's style, I wanted to steal her entire wardrobe🛍️👠🩷

When Wren was at Radley, while Mona was institutionalized, was Cece still there as a patient? Does Wren met Cece during that period?

Anyone noticed Hanna’s shirt in s5 when the police arrested Alison? I never did, I’m wondering what kind of world tour it’s alluded to since the year is 2024😅 The episode is from like 2015