A Pretty Little Liars Halloween
Devin Southard
All right all you cinedorks, it’s confession time. I have been hiding a part of me from all of you, and after some self-reflection and a serious jam sesh to Born this Way, I realize there is nothing to be ashamed of. With that being said I, Devin Southard, actually love Pretty Little Liars. Not in a sarcastic “I know I am far beyond this” way and not in a “middle-schooler that likes anything they’re not supposed to watch” way either. I genuinely love this show. I love that obviously grown women are playing quite possibly television’s dumbest teenagers. I love that I don’t really love any of the main characters because of their stupidity. I love the absurdity that these “high school” girls find themselves in, usually from something dumb they did. And I love that, even though the new season does not premiere until January 8, ABC Family and the PLL crew were kind enough to tide us all over with a special Halloween episode last night.
Unlike previous specials, this episode picks up chronologically not far from where the season finale left us. The special opens with Mona seemingly talking to herself (I mean she is crazy after all), but then Mona gives a combination of bullets and pills to a hooded figure.
Then enter our favorite four leading ladies Aria, Hannah, Spencer, and Emily. Apparently their lives are only in complete and utter misery when cameras are rolling (thankfully) because not much is up with them except plans to go to a Halloween party on a train.
In typical Liar fashion, all of the boyfriends say they can’t come for one irrelevant reason or another, even though you know they’ll be on that train in about 15 to 20 minutes. As you can imagine, this train ride will be anything but a simple Halloween party.
I am going to attempt to have this be as un-spoilery as possible, because any fan who missed this needs to watch it. We find out that Byron (Aria’s dad) probably has something to do with Alison’s death. Someone important dies. If you haven’t heard by now ignore the next two lines because… it’s Garrett. He won’t be missed by many (if anyone), but he does push the story along.
The A-team (no, not that A-Team) finally tries to kill Aria. This much should be expected by this point. With her group of friends, this is more of an initiation right than anything.
And finally, Jason is back. He’s only in the entire episode for about 7 minutes, but he’s so pretty, hence the significance. Did I mention they find Alison’s body too?!
Also, as someone who unabashedly cannot stand Paige (Emily’s girlfriend), this episode tries very hard to redeem her in the eyes of people like me. It most certainly was not via her costume though. I think she was a poor magician or something… not sure, she was kind of a mess… That being said, she does pull some heroics and helps Spencer out of another near-death situation. Considering how many of those Spencer has though, it’s not THAT impressive, but it does help me let go of some hostility I have against her for trying to drown Emily that one time. Don’t worry, they weren’t dating then…
What would a Halloween episode be with having a creepy pale little girl in the mix right? Yep, some creepy girl randomly shows up in Hannah’s kitchen, and of course her mother doesn’t find this unusual at all. Not even when this little girl wanders into Hannah’s room without anyone noticing, and leaves in essentially the same fashion. I’m not sure if she was supposed to be the ghost of Alison or something (Hannah’s mom said she was cold as ice), but I don’t think she should be written off without a second thought. I would guess that her ramblings are clues as to the direction that the ending will take. If that’s the case, then it looks like the writers are going to keep it close to the Pretty Little Liars book series.
As is the case with most episodes of PLL, we are left with more questions and theories than ever. Who was it behind the mask that tried to kill Aria? What the hell were Paige and Emily’s costumes? Frustrating, I know. Fortunately this juicy tidbit has not only gotten me excited for the next season, but it has given me plenty to try and make sense of.
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