“Pretty Little Liars” is an American teen-mystery drama TV series based on the popular novel series written by Sara Shepard. The show first appeared on ABC Family in June 2010 and is currently on its fourth season on Tuesday nights.
PLL is set in the fictional town, ROSEWOOD, Pa. and follows the lives of four best friends: Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario), Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson), Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell), and Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale).
At first glance, the four girls seem to lead normal, typical teenage lifestyles in high school. The girls strong friendship quickly falls apart after the disappearance of their other best friend and leader of their group, Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse). A year after her disappearance, the four girls start to receive messages from a mysterious sender who goes by the name “A” who threatens to expose their secrets. They want to believe that Alison herself is sending the girls text messages as a sick joke, but after her body is found, the girls start to realize that “A” is someone else who knows all of their secrets, some secrets that only Alison knew.
Each time they gain more information and the closer they get to solving the mysterious “A”, “A” also leaves behind clues for the girls to solve the disappearance of their friend. In later seasons, the girls find out that “A” is more than one person. Throughout the show, “A” sabotages the girls and are put to the test by risking their lives, and the lives of their loved ones.
In the current season, the girls find themselves in all sorts of unfortunate adventures. The season first starts out with the girls working with a former foe and former “A” member, Mona Vanderwaal (Janel Parish), to track down the other members and/or leader. Spencer’s boyfriend Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen), shares a deep secret about the death of his mother and while the girls try to find more information, “A” almost kills Mona. Hanna worries about her mother who may have a dangerous secret regarding the death of a detective, Darren Wilson (Bryce Johnson). Aria’s ex-boyfriend and English teacher, Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding), tries to find out where he fits in her life. Later, Spencer and Toby go to the infamous town, Ravenswood, to try to figure out the death of his mother, only to discover disheartening news that she did not commit suicide but that she was murdered.
In the summer finale, the girls go to Ravenswood where they make a shocking discovery that their deceased friend, Alison “Ali”, is still alive. At the end of the episode, Ezra Fitz is shown looking through “A’s” stuff, signifying that Ezra may in fact be “A”.
Pretty Little Liars aired again Jan. 7. After finding out that Alison is still alive, the girls try to figure out who was actually in the coffin that they found.
“Love ShAck, Baby” aired on Jan. 14. This episode depicts the deceptive theme of the show. What makes this episode great is that it is filled with secrets each character lives with the lies that the girls keep from each other and the unsettling presence of “A.” The show unravels when Hanna tells the other girls that she found Alison’s old journal. When Alison appears in Emily’s dream, Alison references how “they” are after her. This signifies how there is more than one person involved and that whoever is a part of “A” is not going to stop until Alison is captured. When the girls take a road trip and end up having car trouble, Aria remembers Ezra’s log cabin. Aria knows that her friends would not approve of her associating with Ezra so she tells the girls that it’s her “uncle’s” log cabin.
More secrets unravel when Hanna and Emily go back to their car and Spencer and Aria stay behind to find some blankets in the linen closet. The girls hear a loud noise and they both go to the door only to find the door locked. When Aria looks through the keyhole, she sees a mysterious dark figure (Ezra) walking around the room. When Hanna and Emily run back and open the door, the four girls notice that Alison’s journal is gone.
When Aria gets home, she calls Ezra, who is busy at a gas station, and lies to her about being home all night The end scene shows the greatness of the unsettling presence of “A” when the four girls receive a text message from “A” that said, “Looks like I’m winning. Thanks for the tip. –A”. To the girl’s dismay, they realize that they have just given “A” all of Alison’s secrets and where to find Alison and rush out the door.
