Pretty Little Liars Review: Lions and Tigers and Bitches, Oh My!
Is Emily really dead?!?
Pretty Little Liars concluded "There's No Place Like Homecoming" with a scene that was suspenseful in its concept, but not as much in its execution.
I was very much on the edge of my seat as the girls gathered together and learned Toby's major secret - he was sleeping with Jenna!!! - and then tried to track down Emily to warn her. But the subsequent chase scene between her and Toby was clumsy, and the final image was more ambiguous than intriguing.
She just... fell?
They also cut to a random shot of Jenna standing around the fun house mirrors at one point. Sometimes, the show mistakes randomness for mystery. It can just tell a good story and not have to worry about throwing unexpected images at viewers. All that said, I obviously can't wait to tune in next week and see where this all goes.
As for other developments, Maya isn't growing at all on me. I don't buy her relationship or her feelings for Emily. I simply roll my eyes every time she opens her mouth.
Conversely, I very much like the idea of Mona threatening Hanna. It's nice to see the latter evolve a bit and realize what it's taken for her to rise to the top, only for her underling to make it clear that she won't let Hanna take her down again.
But my favorite new character is clearly Lucas. He cracked me up with every self-deprecating line. He reminded me of Steve Carell in The 40-Year Old Virgin, a dork who knows he's a dork and comes across as attractive and cool for having such confidence. Make his dreams come true, Hanna! Invite him to bed some time!
I don't buy anything about Spencer's family, though. Melissa seems utterly one-dimensional, exceedingly cruel to her sister at all times for no reason. Give us some background on this individual if you wish for her to play a key role on the show.
In closing, Aria and Ezra still bore me. It's not a fun storyline if he's simply a nice guy who gives romantic speeches and apologizes to her after every fight. This would be far more intriguing if we actually saw a dark side to Mr. Fitz and Aria had to deal with that, as opposed to a mere crush by an older man.
What did you think of the episode? Let me remind those that have read the books: NO SPOILERS from them, please! It's not fair to viewers. You may discuss spoilers in our forum section dedicated to them. Thanks!
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
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July 18th, 2010 12:09 PM
let me just start off saying this show is amazing!! i dont really think that emily died and i also dont think jenna is blind either...i dont like spencer's sister she is a real jerk. i also love ezra and aria they are so good together! i dont think it should be a huge deal cause technically they met b4 he was her teacher and if he wasnt her teacher it wouldnt b that bad. :) Pretty Little Liars RULES!!
July 17th, 2010 9:56 PM
I dont think Toby's Ali's Killer they just jumped to the obvious conclusion and as for Emily and Toby's Relationship they should leave them alone they cant tell her who she cant hang out with if she thinks hes good then leave it go. And yes hes practically a Alie but that doesnt mean hes going to do any thing. and at the end i think A changed the population number for someone else all though i dont actually know.
July 15th, 2010 8:06 AM
@isabell Dont worry your english is better than mine and i have lived in america all my life, not to mention the fact that i am american LOL ;)
July 15th, 2010 6:51 AM
so, this show needs some serious re-wrintings but anyway, I like Maya and Emily together (can't stand Toby, he is too creepy) and go for it Hanna, at least Lucas won't say no to you (it's okay not to be ready, but it's also okay to be ready)
July 14th, 2010 7:11 PM
When spencer goes to the fotrune teller, the woman says that there is a couple who's not a very good match and she says: "there is darkness in him". What if it was Aria and Ezra she was talking about, and that there is "darkness" in Ezra? (SORRY for my bad english, i'm from sweden)
July 14th, 2010 4:33 PM
oh...and I think the 901 free at last thingymabob was about him having to be in that place. wasn't he in like a young offenders place or something? anyway, I think it was his room number, or some sort of number assigned to him when he was there. I think it was just coinsidence that it was the date of allisons disappearance
July 14th, 2010 2:53 PM
okay. for starters : @candy - it was clearly supposed to make you believe that emily is dead. but who's to say it is emily. whats to say she didn't trip over someone else's dead body?
this is how it goes for me this week.
aria : I like her and fitzy. I love him aswell XD I liked his speech to her. but thats about it. I just want her to tell her friends about him, and they can help her. they like & trust him, so why wouldn't they let her go for it?
hanna : I liked her story this week. her realisation of how bitchy mona is. and her liking that geeky guy, it was just nice. also showed her old side again. and when he did the "I can't do this with you" I thought it was going to be one of those, sean told him, so he thought he'd tease Hanna about it. but the way it turned out was good.
spencer : I really like spencers character. hate her family though. and I didn't like the alex dude, or whatever he was called. I like her with wren. mind, I think it's just the english-ness th
July 14th, 2010 1:46 PM
@tyluv3 I, too, was CRYING AN OCEAN when Ezra gave Aria his speech. He is so sweet and I so wish they could work out. Its just NOT going to. I think they should pull a soap move and AGE her 2 years LMAO! They could then be together! haha
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Pretty Little Liars.
July 14th, 2010 10:01 AM
@ candy
I guess it's just a typical twisty cliffhanger thing :) but nice done...I find this show so creepy
July 14th, 2010 9:58 AM
This show is so my summer fling :) I really love this show in a way I never expected...
Hannah: I like the upcoming Mona storyline. I don't get why they're friends anyway, Mona acts like such a bitch. And I'm pretty sure she'll give Hannah a really hard time...keep it going :)
Spencer: I actually grow to like her. At the first she was the one character I couldn't relate to, maybe because the whole Wren thing was kind of rushed. But in this episode I liked her with the whole dating story. And I hate her sister. So win win!
Aria: I don't know. Ezra and her are sweet and I think she's an interesting character, but I don't know...maybe next week I'll find her story interesting again....
Emily: Uh Maya is back...Enough said about that...
Toby: Damn so early? I read about this a while ago on google and I really liked Toby the last two episodes and I kind of hate that twist, espacially so early (and thank God it's the only spoiler I've read). Clearly is he didn't killed Ali (bt