And you didn't think the plot could thicken.
I mean, the plot is already stupid thick. From the myriad organizations
that are out to either exploit or exact revenge on our Liars to the
highly suspect authority figures creeping around Rosewood, everything is
dangerous. It's no wonder Emily, as Paige put it, is numb to the danger
that constantly swirls around her. I'm numb to it just watching.
It wasn't until this week that I realized how much I'd been so lulled to
sleep by the formula of the show that I didn't realize what it'd been
sneaking in. Last week, we talked about how our perspective has shifted
from seeing things through the eyes of the Liars, our perceived victims,
to expand to the "A Team" (or "A Army," as they were termed in this
episode) so we can see what they're up to when the Liars aren't looking.
What at first seemed like a careless erosion of narrative mode seems a
little more calculated. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Last week we also talked about how the boys appeared more victimized,
scaredy-cats the whole lot of them. But with two conversations, we see
why the expanded point-of-view makes sense. There are more victims.
We learned some information that we didn't know before, like how Byron
didn't do anything wrong (probably) and how Meredith is straight-up cray
and how Ella might be a bad mother (just check up on the sick kid—just
once), a lot of the information we already knew and we just had
confirmed. We know Mona and Toby weren't the only ones on the A Team and
that they were under the thumb of someone else (probably since the
first Halloween special but definitely since the end of Season 2, when a
presumed "Vivian Darkbloom" visited Mona at Radley). But hearing their
conversation gave us confirmation that they might be bad off, too. They
are victims of a different sort: Mona is forever cursed with being the
fall girl of the A Team and Toby has to deal with being a hood while
being with Spencer.
"They need to understand that she's in charge," Mona said. At first that
felt like she and Toby had some scheme to demonstrate themselves as
just hatchet men for a mightier, more evil commander and that they're
just as put upon as the Liars. Spencer's "minions" is a good term for
them: They're underlings for a despicable person who holds something
over them. After watching the episode, it probably refers to A finally
getting proactive again instead of sitting back and phoning it in.
Literally.
But I can't shake the feeling that the Eyes of A (from which we saw more
shots than usual this episode) purposely didn't warn Toby about Spencer
being around. A was only able to bust up those two through threats for a
short amount of time. The surefire way to punish Spencer is to show him
as her greatest enemy. That was a broken woman we saw slide down his
front door. Though we didn't see Toby for long after the discovery to
see where his head is at, you have to wonder if that was an A two-fer
there. Shatter the world of two kids with one ill-advised B & E.
Last week's female stoicism also eroded in Aria's basement as she,
Emily, and Hanna waited to brain Byron with a lead pipe and a golf club.
Aria "Thank the space baby she's not pregnant with a creepster!"
Montgomery has spent the last couple episodes sick and drugged by a mad
woman, a handsome villain with a methodical and diabolical plan for the
Montgomery house. It only further proves my point that Radley is Arkham
Asylum and Rosewood is the stomping ground for crazed nemeses and
baroque schemes. How else can you explain Mona sipping wine like she
just outwitted The Batman?
With Aria shaken by being held captive for days on end, Hanna shaken by
being the victim of the first A attack in some time (not counting the
Mona fire, which might have been well-intentioned), and Emily living a
life of being so shaken that she's nonplussed, the Liars went from cocky
to literally backed into a corner with crazed celerity. They went from
focusing all their attention on Mona to suspecting everything around
them again: Byron, Meredith, now Toby. Hanna is even dubious about what
Caleb's up to, though not in it harming her so much as it harming him.
It puts everyone back on edge and makes us remember that, even though A
maybe seems like she's going to sleep on you, there's still some punch
left in her and that uppercut can come at any time.
I feel rope-a-doped. This was an important episode for the series to set
up the season to come. Everyone in this town is about officially
implicated except Andrew from the academic decathalon and Ella. And
maybe she would be, too, IF SHE'D VISIT HER SICK DAUGHTER. I mean,
seriously, Ella. Take some time out from knocking uglies with the
coffeeshop owner and be around for the kid. Mike's weekend, my butt.
This whole show would be moot with some parental supervision.
– Now all the Liars have had dreams about Alison giving them
information, Emily and Aria under duress. I don't have trouble with a
subconscious helping a character put the pieces of a mystery together
but Alison tends to blur the lines of what a character already knows and
what a character would actually learn from Alison being there in front
of her. Although she did say "knowledge is king" was said by some old
fart. I choose to believe that old fart is Kool Mo Dee.
by: www.tv.com
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