PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: Orange is the New Pretty

Warning! If you have not yet seen this week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars, “I’m a Good Girl, I Am”, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around last night’s episode of Pretty Little Liars. It felt like the first fifteen minutes flew by and the rest of the episode was a roller coaster ride. And I can’t for the life of me figure out who ‘A’ really is. I know there were clues but for the life of me I couldn’t see them.

The biggest question that has been gnawing at me since Ali’s trial began is this: if there’s no body, how can there be a trial much less a conviction? Ali was convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING was proven! The body in the barrel was never tested beyond ‘oh well, there’s not enough left of it so we’ll just assume that it’s Mona’. There was no hard motive for Mona’s murder. Even Leslie said that kids in school are mean and fight among each other and say mean things. So how could Ali and Mona being on opposite sides of the school hall be enough for a murder one conviction?

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Mike was not allowed to tell what he knew. His testimony could have, at the very least, planted reasonable doubt in the jury. That would have been all Ali needed. Also, Aria was a fool to think that keeping her brother out of the trial could actually work. Aria doesn’t always think things through. In the end, it wasn’t her brother that was arrested, and he was hurt anyway.

I gotta be honest, I’m doing a bit of a slow burn over this conviction. I mean come on, we’ve all watched police/criminal/legal shows on TV, and when there is no body, there is no case, especially for murder one.

Another thing that has me scratching my head is why Andrew is suddenly, from out of no where, a thing? He’s been on the show all of about 30 seconds (I exaggerate) and now he’s sneaking around like he’s working for ‘A’. Leslie too! She was on one episode and suddenly she’s taking the stand as a surprise witness. To what? Who is she? Yes, yes I know, she says she’s Mona’s oldest and dearest, but from out of the blue? It makes me wonder if the writers are just randomly throwing people at us to try and confuse us about the real identity of ‘A’, which we don’t know anyway. Haven’t we got enough suspects? The randomness makes no sense at all.

What was on that piece of paper that Ali handed off to Hannah? Did anyone get a good look at that? Did it mean anything at all or was it just like Andrew and Leslie – a meaningless piece of nothing produced to throw us off. Or something. I don’t know.

Cody Allen Christian as Mike Montgomery
Credit: ABC Family/Eric McCandless

Now let’s talk about Tanner. Who’s side is she on? Justice’s? Because if she were, she’s a pretty lousy friend of the scales. Her investigation was a joke. She gathers a box of “evidence” but won’t believe her own eyes when she sees Mike. It’s almost like she’s picking and choosing what she’s going to believe instead of digging for the truth.

And finally, the episode ended with Aria, Emily and Spencer all being arrested. What will they be charged with? Hannah was already suspected of being Ali’s accomplice, what will they charge the other girls with?

The writers of this show have never let me down yet, so I must believe that it will all make sense next week as we watch the season finale, “Welcome to the Dollhouse”.

Other questions to ponder:

– Why doesn’t anybody listen to Caleb, the voice of reason?
– With all the girls in jail, how will ‘A’ amuse her/himself?
– NOW will all the parents come out from the various cracks they’ve been hiding in?
– Where is Mrs. Vanderwaal? No one except the Liars notice that she hasn’t attended the trial and hasn’t been seen anywhere.

Feature image: ABC Family/Eric McCandless