If I even mention “Pretty Little Liars” to anybody, I will most likely hear something along the lines of this in response: “Wait, please don’t spoil anything, I’m like two seasons behind!”
Seemingly everybody has given up on the ABC Family drama, currently in its fifth season, but I am proud to say that I have been watching the show religiously since it premiered in 2010. I was at first captivated by its mysterious premise. Who was A? How did Alison di Laurentis die? On top of that, there was scandal among the four protagonists, Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer, that surpassed any teen drama that I had seen.
Five years later, I am still captivated by the show but for an entirely different reason: the show has gotten so ludicrous that it’s completely hilarious to watch. If you gave up on “Pretty Little Liars” a few years ago, read on for four reasons (*with some light spoilers*) why you should give it a second chance. It is just pure gold.
1. Everybody is A. I was given the shocker of a lifetime when I learned that Mona was A in the second season finale. But it was later revealed that Mona “gave up the game”, and let somebody else become A, whose identity has since remained secret. The show has given the audience a ton fake reveals (normally during mid-season finales) that are later totally disproven. Remember when Toby was A, but then half a season later we found out that he actually wasn’t A, he was just working for A to protect Spencer. And then Ezra was A, but then half a season later we found out that he actually wasn’t A, he was just writing a book about Alison’s death and had taken to stalking the girls for plot ideas.
2. A has gotten more and more outrageous. At first, A was pretty mild. He or she would send the girls mysterious texts from unlisted numbers or hide creepy messages in their lockers. There was that one time in Season 1 when Ian almost pushed Spencer to her death off of a church bell tower, but A basically did nothing at first that made the girls fear for their lives. As the show has gone on, however, A has put the girls in near-death experiences almost every episode. It’s strayed away from heart-pounding suspense and has just become outrageous and unbelievable. Just a few weeks ago, Aria and Spencer got trapped with liquid nitrogen in a freezer in an abandoned ice cream factory that A led them to, but Emily saved them just before they froze to death. Didn’t see that one coming.
3. The show has completely no concept of time. Alison first disappeared Labor Day of 2009, but the show picks up one year later. The first two seasons take place during one year, from September of 2010 to spring of 2011, while the girls are juniors in high school. That’s believable enough. But half of season 3, the entirety of season 4, and half of season 5 take place between Halloween and Christmas of 2011! It’s like the writers just forgot to advance time in Rosewood. Since the girls are now technically high school seniors, college applications are sort of relevant to the plot. But how can the girls even think about college or homework when they’re being chased by a deranged killer every day? Plus I find it extra hilarious that Troian Bellisario, who is playing seventeen- or eighteen-year old Spencer, will turn 30 in October. (ed: SHOCKING)
4. Characters just disappear and reappear as the actors’ contracts allow. Remember when Mike, Aria’s little brother, left the face of the Earth for a few seasons and is now playing a major role in the show’s plot? And whatever happened to Jenna? Or Lucas? Or Wren? Or Melissa? They have all been accused of being A at one point or another. And does Emily live alone, because her parents haven’t been relevant since at least 2013? And then there was the time when Caleb left because he had a new spin-off show, but then his show got cancelled after like seven episodes so he came back again.
While the mystery and the drama of the show aren’t as appealing to me anymore, I don’t think that I will ever stop watching “Pretty Little Liars.” The show’s complete ridiculousness and the immense “danger” that the girls find themselves in is too insane to miss out on. So I recommend that everyone who once watched “Pretty Little Liars” to catch up on it as soon as possible. And get ready, because the show recently got renewed for a sixth and seventh season! Maybe the girls will graduate from high school by then.