For those of you who DO care, here's the schedule for the week, because yes, I have a schedule made. I'M SO EXCITED.
TV WEEK on The Best Of Intentions
Today - Pretty Little Liars
Tuesday - Sept 2014 Premieres
Wednesday - Oct 2014 Premieres
Thursday - Fall 2014 New Shows
Friday - Netflix Binge-able TV Shows
So let's get started.
I watch Pretty Little Liars with a friend and she was out of town, so we actually just finished the last few episodes of the 1st half of Season 5 last Thursday. Since then, I've decided I have a lot of say, which is usually the case with PLL. Last time I really talked about them, I didn't really have a lot of good things to say, so let's see what's changed.
Things I'm Loving
- The Liars don't trust Ali. Oh I can't tell you how much I love this! I'm surprised how much I love it, because we've spent 4 seasons with the girls either thinking Ali is A or searching for Ali, but this makes me so happy. Ali is a manipulative bitch and there just isn't a nicer way to say it! So I think I'd be more annoyed if the girls continued to just blindly follow her lead and trust her. Now though, they are questioning her and her motives and there's a whole new dynamic.
- That we've come full circle. In the beginning of the show, we were lead to believe, as were the Liars, that Ali was A. Now the girls are again thinking that Ali is A. It feels a little like in the beginning when I first fell in love with the show, but it also feels new and exciting.
- Emily. I'm an Emily fan when she isn't being an annoying pushover constantly. There were a few episodes early this season where I saw that Emily start to come back out and I wasn't happy, but she fixed her mistake and now we have a strong and sometimes sassy Emily and she's much more fun.
- Spencer. I always like Spencer. The girl has a lot of shit going on. Her family is freaking nuts. She's really into getting answers though and so she kind of spear heads a lot of the things that happen in the show and I like her.
- Toby becoming a police officer. HOLY HELL, YES! I'm just picturing the awesome ways they can incorporate this into the storyline! Because having someone on Team Liar inside the police department has so much potential and I love it so much! Especially because…
- Spencer got arrested. I love it and I'm glad. I feel like the storyline HAD to go there and I think I. Marlene King made the right decision in going through with it. Obviously, I don't really expect Spencer to go to jail, but just her being arrested is going to change things in the show. Whether it's with her sister (#MelissasSecret) or with the rest of the Liars OR with Ali.
- Noel. Ahhh, I want to know more about this situation! I feel like we were teased with it just a little and now he's gone missing again, of course. Noel turning on Ali and teaming up with The Liars could make for some dang good TV!
- *SPOILER* Mona dying. I actually really liked the Mona character, but her death and the way it happened changes the game. I'm so glad the show "went there" and I'm so glad it was Mona. Mona was an odd character, especially this season because you found out that all Mona really wanted to do was protect herself from Ali. The end. So when she finally starts to really, really help the Liars this time, it made her death matter more than it would have otherwise.
- That the show has been extended for at least 2 more seasons. I think that news has made a huge difference in how the show is written and how I watch the show. First of all, now that I know the show is going to continue for quite some time, my hopes aren't up. Which means when they have a "big" reveal, I know it's not what we think it is. Also, I think the writing and the story lines have gotten so much better and so much more streamlined. One of my biggest complaints about PLL was that there were far too many story lines happening at once and it was exhausting to keep track of it all. Now you can see where a lot of the story lines are connecting and all fit into the big picture, instead of being 2389 sideline stories. This isn't 100% better, but it's come leaps and bounds from where it was. I think that now that I. Marlene King knows she has time to tell her story, she's not rushing story lines and throwing random shit in the story.
Things I'm NOT Loving
- Aria. She is my least favorite character x1000. I don't always have good reasons for this, but I just really don't like her. Everything she does annoys me. Especially when Hanna came to her saying she was borderline sexual assaulted and Aria starts victim blaming and I wanted to throw something at my TV. So even when Aria does things that aren't annoying, it's hard for me to be unbiased and appreciate her because I dislike her.
- Hanna. I used to love Hanna, LOVE HER, but she is being irritating at the moment. I really feel like her character development has gone backwards, not forwards and that always irritates me. She's never been "the smart one" but she was starting to become less obnoxiously "the blonde one", except that this season she's back to being "the blonde one" and just saying stupid shit. I don't mind the hair or the clothes or whatever they're trying to do to Hanna's character as far as that goes, but I really don't like making her just a complete idiot.
- That Ezra wasn't technically A. Ugh, I know I was in the minority, but I really liked that reveal and I really liked that twist! I should have known and deep in my heart of hearts, I did, I knew he couldn't have really been A. So even though I like where his character is now and where his character might be heading, I still can't let go.
- That Jason is MIA, again. I mean, why? His character could bring so much to the show, so I don't understand why he just shows up for an episode and then disappears again. Annoying.
- Anything to do with Jenna. Her storyline bores me now. They kinda tried to make her relevant again for some reason during a few episodes this season, but then she wasn't in like 6 episodes after that. So I don't understand that and honestly, I don't care.
- Caleb and how they explained the Ravenswood connection. This is my #1 problem with PLL currently. I halfway acknowledge that this problem isn't really I. Marlene King's fault. She really thought Ravenswood was going to continue, so when it was canceled, she had to do a lot of back pedaling and a lot of fixing to bring Caleb, a fan favorite, back to Rosewood and back into PLL. However, I don't love how things have gone down. First of all, if you didn't watch Ravenswood, then I'm sure you didn't really need an explanation, because as far as you know, he left and now he's back and that's that. BUT, if you did watch Ravenswood, then you know a lot had changed for him and he learned a lot about himself and his history and Ravenswood ended with a huge cliffhanger. So right there is a huge list of things that need explained for those of us who did watch it. So while I'm sure the writers wanted to answer those questions for all of the Ravenswood watchers, they also didn't want to disrupt the people who didn't watch Ravenswood. I. Marlene King was/is in a tight spot and I respect that. I feel like she didn't really have a plan for how she was going to handle that situation at first, so she brought Caleb back and made him a drunk. Then turned Hanna into a drunk. I want to point out quickly that they are high school kids again, in case you've forgotten. In the Season 5 Mid-Season Finale, they finally kind of gave us an ending to Ravenswood and explained Caleb's alcoholic behavior. I didn't really think it was good enough, but whatever.
This isn't really a complaint or a compliment, but have you ever noticed how unlike high school kids these characters are? I know it's a TV show, but at this point it isn't even remotely believable that these kids are in high school. Also, the parents on this show are a total joke. JOKE. I guess at the end of the day though, I don't really care, because it doesn't really matter, but every episode my friend and I comment on it, so I'm adding it here too.
That's it for TV Week, Day 1! Hopefully I see you around tomorrow, but before you go I'm taking a poll all week this week, so I want to know:
Do you put noodles in your chili?
Then if you could also tell me where you're from, so I can add that to the poll.
Thank you x1000!
