The Great Gatsby billboard staring at them from above after they get an A text!! Conveniently in this sketchy location for the girls to maybe wonder if there’s a camera in that eye. Okay, maybe they didn’t wonder, but I sure did
Everyone did a solo session with Dr. Sullivan before Hanna does this episode, hmm. Emily might’ve talked about moving to Texas, Aria about her parents cheating or blustering on about something else, but I bet Spencer showed up, brought her homework, and said nothing.
When her mom stops her in school, Aria immediately assumes Ella wants feedback on her teaching. I’m starting to enjoy when Aria is like this to her mom because my opinion of Ella as a parent has sunk compared to my memory of her.
When Caleb makes fun of Lucas’s room being filled with toys, Hanna immediately defends them as collectibles. Hanna probably does get it, given her own 1001 handbags and shoes.
Wren sucks more every time he shows up, he is passing out drugs to his ex-fiance and should lose his medical license.
Sullivan: “I’ve talked with a lot of young people about loss” Maybe Sullivan specializes in teenagers, with a focus on grief. Give the Liars’ parents a half-point for finding a relevant therapist.
Hanna is guarded about saying that a combination of guilt, anger, and fear is what she feels about Ali - so far, the girls haven’t really discussed with each other the experience of being friends with Ali. They gesture to it, like with Spencer pointing out Emily’s easy acquiescence to Ali, but they do not expose their own vulnerability in depth to each other
And I think Hanna would be the least likely to do so with the others
Aria is forced to endure sports and I am forced to endure too many shots of shirtless dudes (in a Philly November? Wear a a shirt!)
At least Aria gets rewarded with getting to ogle Jason. That man’s biceps are gigantic and I did not recall this about Jason
Omg there’s more Emily/Samara scenes at swimming meets. RIP Paige hope you’re oblivious to this
Doubt she is, because Pam Fields is yelling DANBY all over the stands and you know Nick McCullers is going “see if you got anchor you would’ve gotten a guaranteed offer too and not mere interest”.
Nick McCullers exposing the letter lie after doing some digging would’ve been so funny and so bad and both Paige and Emily would have wanted to melt off the face of the planet
Spencer wishes she could sleep over at Aria’s :( Last time she wanted Emily to stay over. Someone be a nice non-threatening sleepover buddy for Spence already :(
Pam is extremely charmed by Samara, who talks about the challenges of glue guns and the delights of crafting (with her mom). Samara gives good parent.
Generally speaking I spent very little time contemplating Samara back in the day, but I appreciate the way she functions in the context of Emily and Pam’s mending relationship
Samara does all do this before a second date though, which, wild. Wild as well is Emily telling her the letter is fake. The unearned guilt must be eating at her.
So, Hanna in 2x04. It is specifically helping Lucas with his Danielle date and him thanking her that drives her back to Sullivan’s office. With every Liar, there’s the damage that Alison does to the girl and there’s the girl’s complicity in Alison’s cruelty, and somehow it is Lucas saying he no longer sees the latter in Hanna that drives Hanna to fully reject the former. As I said above, I don’t think any of the other liars have gotten as far as Hanna does this episode in extricating Alison from herself. Hanna’s the only liar whose present version we’ve seen interact with Alison so far, and there’s no regression to her flashback behaviour.
All of the liars felt chosen by Alison, and all of them had an angle Alison was working. The way Alison comes at Emily and Hanna, I think, is that both girls are experiencing adolescence as their bodies betraying them. But where I don’t think Emily’s personality was wildly different pre-Alison, for Hanna I always get stuck on Mona’s anecdote of Hanna as a child bowing after a successful backflip, even when covered in vomit. A kid happy to get attention, fond of some showmanship, in contrast to the more muted one in the flashbacks. That isn’t all Alison - female adolescence in general gets some credit - but it’s hard to separate it from Alison.
Hanna’s imaginary Alison suggests Hanna is scared of the liars moving on from her. I don’t think this is (as of yet) a fear we’ve seen any of the others express, and it’s a fear that has no basis in the current liar dynamics, so that’s interesting. I do read Hanna as the most guarded in S1 about the gang getting back together. I like that her conclusion here is that this has nothing to do with the liars or Alison (or Ashley, or Caleb, or Mona, or god forbid her dad), that she has herself and always will. Am reminded of a different blonde teenager who replied to “Take all that away...and what's left?” with “Me.”
I thought she was wearing a robe when Lucas came by her house in the morning and I was so thrown that she was wearing the same outfit at Sullivan’s till I realized it was a regular top
Why is Aria so pissy about Mike not playing basketball? The audience knows it’s bad vibes but girl, your parents pay zero attention to what y’all do after school, that’s how you have so many hours to waste in Fitz’s apartment or hang out with your friends you are banned from seeing. Do you want to rock this boat.
Emily wants to call Garrett when they all shadow Melissa and Wren. I STG Emily it worked out with Toby but not all sketchy-seeming men are worth your trust. Glad Aria is a “No” on calling Garrett
As the four liars approach the abandoned barn (1) Emily would like take a photo, to prove to the cops they are honest kids (2) Hanna would settle for not getting murdered (3) Aria wonders if Ian has a gun, because “he’s a bad guy” (4) Spencer is laser-focused on Melissa
Yeah, that tracks.
Best A message of the episode: NOSY BITCHES DIE, painted in red across the wall in Sullivan's office
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26 of 150 // Season 2, Episode 4. #PLL #PrettyLittleLiars
