Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Sweet Sixteen
Joshua Pleming
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Every teenage girl looks forward to their sixteenth birthday, but in Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Season 1 Episode 3, it's less of a rite of passage and more of a matter of life or death.
While this season of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School has definitely kicked things up a notch, the series isn't skimping on the teen angst and what it means to be a girl in high school, even if it's just summer school.
At least the one good thing they have working in their favor is that they seem to rarely be entirely by themselves.
It's a horror trope that, thankfully, has been axed since the previous season.
As the show becomes fully immersed in summer, the story shifts focus from violent slayings to real teenage problems, like cute boys. If only someone had told them that the problem never truly goes away.
Although Noa's case might be slightly different, it seems like her main issue is Jen, her former juvie roommate and possible lover.
While it hasn't been explicitly said, it's pretty obvious that the relationship between the two girls goes much deeper than circumstantial friendship.
Oddly enough, Noa doesn't seem all that bothered by Jen's presence, considering that she's working with her.
If anything, Noa has remained considerably chill since Jen appeared up in Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Season 1 Episode 2.
Then there's Tabby, who is still reeling from her PTSD caused by Chip, but at least it appears that his mom has stopped bothering the poor girl.
Still, it does suck that she can barely get through a day without something thoroughly triggering her.
Imogen: You did the right thing, Tabby. If you ever get uncomfortable, no matter what the situation, you should always gp. Leave. Immediately.
Tabby: God, when am I going to be able to just like a guy? Date a guy. Without having PTSD?
Imogen: Right there with you.
It seems like a weird time for the writers to introduce a new love interest, especially one that's more or less precisely like Chip on paper.
As the review for the premiere said, never trust the love interest unless they have killer mask replicas.
That's a trope usually reserved for the innocent.
Imogen: You did the right thing, Tabby. If you ever get uncomfortable, no matter what the situation, you should always gp. Leave. Immediately.
Tabby: God, when am I going to be able to just like a guy? Date a guy. Without having PTSD?
Imogen: Right there with you.
Faran is having quite the start of her summer gig lifeguarding.
First, the guys continuously undermine and disrespect. So, she takes Henry's advice, even though the ballerino sounds slightly sexist.
However, if it was good enough for Faran, it's good enough for us.
Maybe try being a little less of a hardass and more of a regular person—you know, one of the guys.
Henry
Then, after taking said advice and trying to put her best foot forward with the guys, one of them drops the ball, and a little girl almost drowns.
However, the kid didn't even cough up any water, and the mom was right there.
Sadly, Faran's time as the cool boss was very short-lived, and she had no choice but to fire the lifeguard practically on the spot.
While the situation was hardly life-threatening, the next one certainly could be.
As Faran said, "This is life or death."
She said a mouthful there.
Too bad she wasn't talking to Mouse at the time. It might've helped the girl stay on high alert because, wow, did she cut it close to this episode.
Even if she got off a little easily in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, trapping her in a burning building was a lot.
What's worse is that Mouse's poor, sweet grandmother was somehow tricked into delivering the girl to the wrong address, where Bloody Rose awaited the birthday girl.
Messing with the granda, who has memory issues, is just dirty. That was a low one, Bloody Rose.
Rounding out the main group is Imogen and her shoehorned arc of boy troubles.
While hot shirtless guys can be distracting in their own right, it seems a little far-fetched that after everything she's gone through, her mind would be anywhere near the thoughts of boys.
Imogen, due respect, get over yourself. It's summer. I'm single. I'm hot. I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now and just because you're some kind of prude, don't ice my game.
Johnny
Seriously, who is this guy?
Johnny, as the character's nametag so vividly states, has not been seen once in the entire show but is practically treated like a series regular.
He even manages a cameo in one of Imogen's hallucination dreams.
Imogen: I saw her. This bloody, horrorfying face. A face I never want to see again.
Johnny: Jesus.
Imogen: I know it's crazy, but Johnny, I want to go back out there, Make sure she's not there.
Johnny: You want me to come with you?
Imogen: No. No, I need to do this on my own.
All I'm saying is that it seems like viewers are being force-fed this new character to give Imogen something to focus on work and keep the story moving.
At least Kelly has avoided any run-ins with Bloody Rose and has more or less taken a vow of sort-of-celibacy since Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Season 1 Episode 1.
She's even hanging out with the girls at Mouse's surprise party towards the end.
She's certainly come a long way since being her psycho sister's henchwoman in the previous season.
The most apparent glaring change from last season to now is the girls' moms' utter absence.
They get, at best, one scene per episode, and it's not even all the moms.
I know the plot is now focused on a new killer, but it's still all tied to Angela Waters and everything the moms did in high school.
It seems strange that the focus has completely shifted to the girls who have barely earned their titles as "liars."
While no one was butchered in this episode, Mouse did come close to at least dying by asphyxiation.
If this season wants to up the stakes, there will need to be quite a few more bodies in the count.
After such a strong premiere, let's hope the action doesn't start to taper.
Which of the pretty little liars do you think is next on Bloody Rose's list?
Why could they be targeting the girls while also killing people barely connected to them?
Drop a comment below to let us know, and be sure to check back again when we review the next episode!
Joshua Pleming is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow him on X.
