Pretty Little Liars S02E20: "CTRL:A"
The Lying Game S01E17: "No Country for Young Love"
Happy Valentine's Day, teen drama fans! Love was in the air during Monday's episodes of Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game—though the pairings often weren't ideal. And, of course, there was plenty of heartbreak. Like last week, PLL continued to move the plot forward with a deepening mystery and solid character moments. The Lying Game, however, is still wasting time on some its dullest storylines. Can this series pull things around in time for the season finale? In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I'm going to break these reviews up into couples. Cute, right?
Pretty Little Liars did give us more on Ali's secret life as Vivian Darkbloom, but I'm sure you don't mind if I just focus on the 'ships.
Holden/Aria/Ezra
Well, okay, this isn't so much a couple as a love triangle waiting to happen. That is, if it hasn't already. Weirdly enough, I've warmed up to Holden in past weeks, to the extent that I don't want Aria simply using him to see Ezra. He's obviously a decent guy, and he's better suited to Aria than Ezra, if only because he's the right age. Not saying I want to break Ezria up—perish the thought—but it would be nice if Aria were feeling some actual temptation. Besides, all the sneaking around Aria and Ezra have to do is also starting to get to me, and I'm not even (technically) a part of that relationship.
The revelation of Holden's heart condition is a bit of a soap-opera cliché, but I like the depth it adds to his character: It sort of explains why he's taking part in risky martial arts, and it gives us a chance to worry about him instead of just feeling suspicious about his motives. The episode also made Aria more sympathetic for the first time in a while—was anyone else feeling like she was too Ezra-centric? It's nice to know she actually cares about the guy she's turned into her alibi.
Hanna/Caleb
Even when Hanna's being kind of dumb, her heart is in the right place. How great was it to actually see her get Caleb out of a jam—and using a computer, no less?! Of all the liars, Hanna is the one who gets crapped on the most, which is maybe why I find her the easiest to identify with. I also think she and Caleb have the strongest relationship: I genuinely might care about them more than I care about Ezria, which—I know—is kind of hard to take. But they love each other so much! And the fact that Hanna was finally able to rescue Caleb puts them on equal footing.
Emily/Maya
Sigh. And here's a relationship I once had a lot of faith in that I now wish would just go away. Emily deserves better than Maya—I don't know how else to say it. It's not the joint, which I could care less about, but the mood swings and the lying and the impossible ultimatums. Maya asking Emily to choose between her and the swim team (not to mention her friends) was an unfair thing to do. And given Maya's behavior lately, I'm shocked that she'd think Emily would even entertain the notion. I love having a lesbian couple on this show, but I can be patient and wait for Emily to find someone more worth her time.
The Lying Game S01E17: "No Country for Young Love"
Before I get to The Lying Game's hook-ups and break-ups, I'll quickly say how disappointed I was in the lack of fallout from Emma's big revelation to Mads. I mean, seriously, are we not going to spend more time on this? We're just going to move on with Mads a part of the investigative team? Weak. I will say, however, that the scenes involving Emma, Mads, and Thayer were the episode's strongest. And now onto the macking.
Sutton/Ethan
Once again, let me note that the scenes on Ethan's dad's reservation are almost all terrible: They are really slowing this series down, and I wish we hadn't wasted two episodes getting to know Ethan's grumpy dad and his horses. But the Sutton/Ethan stuff was almost worse, because I just don't buy it. I don't believe that Ethan would suddenly come around to Sutton, even if it seems like she's now a more caring, empathetic person. It's still Sutton!
More to the point, I'm not sure how the audience is supposed to take any of this seriously, when Sutton is still very obviously manipulating the situation. All the shots of her lurking in the distance—she's the villain here, right? Everything she has done in her time with Ethan has been designed to seduce him, and she clearly feels no remorse for any of it. Yeah, yeah, she had Ethan first, but she also kept their relationship secret and generally treated him like crap. I don't blame Ethan for moving on to Emma, but I do blame him for giving Sutton another chance.
Emma/Thayer
Ugh, this bugs me, too, but for different reasons. After I insisted that nothing was going to happen between Emma and Thayer, The Lying Game went ahead and disappointed me with a lingering moment that suggests something will. Are Sutton and Emma really going to swap romantic interests? This is dull and lazy, the worst combination. Thayer is kind of pathetic, and I only warmed up to him recently when he started standing up to Sutton. The fact that he would suddenly latch on to Emma because she's around makes him spineless again. Can't this guy just be single?
Justin/Laurel/that guy from her band whose name I haven't bothered learning
Worse than the reservation scenes were any of the scenes involving Laurel, who is increasingly on this show to plug her band. I don't know how much more of it I can take. I like the actor and I even kind of like the music, but it's out of place and so glaringly designed to sell albums that it really turns me off. And now there appears to be something going on between Laurel and her bandmate because—well, I don't know. She broke up with Justin (finally), and now I guess she needs a new boy to lust over? Come on, Lying Game. Make Laurel relevant to this story so I don't have to keep hating on her every week.
Rebecca/Alec
This is the only relationship I'm into at this point, and that has little to do with romance and everything to do with Rebecca's hidden agenda. What is her end game, and how long do I have to wait before the reveal that she's Sutton and Emma's biological mom? Whatever the case, Rebecca is obviously playing Alec, and I like that. He's done so much behind-the-scenes manipulation on his own that it's refreshing to see him on the other side of it. Also, how pissed is Ted going to be when Alec pops the question? Oh, you know it's on the horizon. My bet is on a season finale proposal.
So once again, I wish you and yours (or just you, which is totally valid) a lovely
Valentine's Day. And I remind you that the key to any relationship is honesty—or being a really, really good liar.
I am so disappoint with Ethan for jumping back in the sack with Sutton! I mean for a while he was doing a good job of resisting her and reminding her he's with Emma, I mean forgodsakes he tries to video chat Emma just so he can tell her he loves her! and then him and Sutton are in bed five minutes later. and i was surprised the episode started with them telling mads about it, you think they woulda shown her not believing her, then going to find thayer and then getting involved in the plan.
and i have absolutely no trouble believing that alec killed derek.
I'm not here for Ezria, they are so annoying. I much prefer, Haria(?) or would it be Ariden(?) - whatever. For me, the love story of the show is Hanna and Caleb, they have a strong genuine relationship. As for Maya, she needs to go - what once was a great lesbian love story has become annoying and ridiculous. GO AWAY.
What happened to the Jason/Aria story? Why do Jason's plotlines get completely revamped every half-season? I'm asking only because I find Holden a lame alternative to Ezra - if Aria, who seems over-mature emotionally for her age, finds a serious, older guy like Ezra attractive then Holden might be too childish an option. As another serious, older guy but NOT her teacher, Jason seemed a better alternative. That said, Jason/Spencer family drama is more compelling than another love triangle at this point - Spencer has put in some outstanding scenes in the last two eps, and that plot is linked directly to the core story which makes it even more interesting.
Also interesting: Aria actually chose to skip the urgent meeting with Ezra - which was to discuss his transfer to Louisiana (I think?) in order to watch Holden, which tells me a split is probably imminent.
Hanna + Caleb = Love :)moreless
The only couple I actually love is Hanna/Caleb they are so perfect together and seem so strong/stable, but I loved Spencer/Tobey they were really cute too
Lying Game was DARK: the scenes were dark, the stories were dark. Lack of interaction between characters. Not one scene between a twin and the Mercers. Everyone seemed angry. Just DARK.
I no longer trust Thayer. Going over the season to date, we don't know enough about Thayer, where was he when Derek was murdered? We don't know whom Derek was meeting in that parking lot and it might have been Thayer. He shows up at the Mercer house just as a white box with black bow is found at the back door. He knows all the Twins information. He was quick to accuse Ethan of Sutton's disappearance. He shows up, surprise, at the Mercer home in Sutton's bedroom when Emma is there.
I really like Hanna and Caleb, best couple in both shows. Also, well now Ethan got arrested so I expect things to move much more
I couldn't agree more about the lack of fallout. What the hell? Seriously anti-climactic. And you're dead on about Sutton/Ethan. It's not even a little believable. But the real question is, who outed Ethan?
Was I the only one screaming "ZERO! ZERO ,YOU DUMB B***!" at the TV when they were trying to remember the last digit of Caleb's password?
That, my friends, is a sign of good TV :D