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Pretty Little Liars S03E19: "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted"

How Spencer continues to be the best, I don't know. But the rest of the Liars really helped her out this week by lowering the bar of excellence.

While Spencer continued her descent into conniving madness, the rest of the group was not only judgmental (Emily) but also participated in sitcom level antics (Aria, Hanna). And then Spencer jumped on Mona and tried to choke her out.

Of the non-Spencer stories, Emily's was easily the most annoying, mostly because Emily was at her most annoying. I expect that moral browbeating from, well, Spencer, but I don't exactly feel it's appropriate for Emily to huff and puff about exploring sexual boundaries, particularly since Andrew is one of the least suspicious men in Rosewood and Paige tried to drown Spencer. I hear you, Em, this isn't like the Spencer Hastings you know, but take Hanna's advice and cut her some slack.

Her storyline was made more frustrating as she became a passive played in the theater of exposition. Emily's basic trait as a passive character makes her a relative ghost as it is, but we basically could've followed Jason searching for the photo after her hot tip and not missed her at all. The message from A (about Jason needing booze for later) was weak foreshadowing even by A's standards, and I could've done without Emily's whimpering while trying to climb out of the elevator, particularly since normally a physical challenge for an athlete like her shouldn't pose too much of a daring obstacle. What happened to our stoic Emily from when Paige was freaking out? I didn't mind the panic after the elevator fell, but shaking like a leaf when faced with the task of sliding out seemed inconsistent.

But at least Emily was caught up in the A drama. Maybe Spencer is handling enough of the A stuff to cover most of the group, but PLL gave Aria and Hanna a break this week as Hanna pursued a doomed father-son relationship for Caleb and Aria found herself possibly involved in an age-appropriate relationship (the horror!).

I was happy that the Jamie story developed further than Caleb getting excited and him not showing up. The episode constantly hinted that Hanna's obsession with establishing a relationship between Caleb and his real father was due partly to her own damaged relationship with her dad, which was fine, though the show hasn't really worked on Hanna's disconnect with her father in a while. Since she doesn't have a whole lot of A nonsense to deal with, it seems like she has a lot of time on her hands to play paternal matchmaker and, in a story that we all knew was doomed, she reared an ugly head when it was revealed Jamie stole from the collection box. Maybe. Unless Ted paid him an advance from the box since that money is for the church and Jamie is now a church employee. Hanna's horror at Jamie pulling out the be-diced five might have been her using a Jump to Conclusions mat.

And then there was poor little Aria, helping out Cece who was trying to help her out. There's speculation that Cece could be the Blonde in the Red Coat and, to me, this might be the closest thing to suggest that (other than a history with Ali). Very early in the series, A seemed like a guiding figure in their lives, even if she was using slightly malicious methods. The goal seemed to be less about needlessly torturing the girls and more about coaxing them through blackmail to let go of their secrets and live freer lives. Aria hanging on to creepshow Ezra is only holding her back (especially with our knowledge that he's probably maybe on the A team), and Cece helping a sister out by giving Aria alone time with Little Fitz, while not as conniving, is in that same vein.

The kiss they shared was almost welcome to me. A sense of relief that there's light at the end of the tunnel (even if that light is the speeding train of a scorned Ezra) made me feel like there's a future for Aria that isn't just her being part of that dysfunctional relationship. I know there are so many Ezria 'shippers out there but, even if you don't think their romance is super creepy, you have to admit that her obsession with him has done nothing but hold her back as a developing character. Her relationship with Ezra (and her dead-animal fashion sense from early seasons) define her.

And then there's Spencer. There was a fear early on that A found that thing Spencer was afraid to lose and all that effort of making her the force of change in the contract between bully and victim would be for naught. Luckily, the writers kept her true to character. The trick with making such a clear change in direction for someone on the show while still being consistent to the character is making sure one can see the distilled virtues and flaws within the change. You have to still see the prototype. And while the threat against her friends would be enough for Emily, Aria, or even Hanna to cower in shame, Spencer leapt on Mona's throat like a mama bear protecting her cubs.

While Spencer is certainly cunning enough, her manipulative side needs work, and I like that we're seeing her going through these growing pains of being the white-hat version of A. Obviously she has Wren wrapped around her little finger and she came this close to showing an almost nude Andrew her cupcakes, but she has a long way to go before matching the prowess of someone as trained and experienced as Mona.

What's strange is that, just before Spencer leapt into action, it almost seemed like Mona and Spencer weren't even having the same conversation. It was just one of those cartoon battles where the characters pull out bigger versions of their guns to intimidate the other. It left me with the odd feeling that Mona doesn't know how far gone Spencer is, like she's out of touch. Well, she's in touch now.

"What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" wasn't a seminal episode and maybe the closest to filler as this show gets. But any episode that ends with Spencer pouncing on someone is at least worth watching.

– I get that you're hurting, Spencer, but what's up with the cat sweater? You look like a rec center art teacher.

– The question shouldn't be, "Why are you Mapquesting Amish Country?" It should be, "Why are you using Mapquest?" Is Apple Maps THAT bad? When Emily stopped the strip trivia session, am I terrible for thinking, "But, Em, you like cupcakes"?

– Yeah, you should totally make fun of Hanna's decorum and then make out with her at church. Caleb is like school in the summer: no class. OH BURN.

– Glad to see that Bruce, the scary watermelon baby at Cece's boutique, is still adorning the walls. When Aria was asking for something round that could go in the photo, I really wanted her to suggest a watermelon. Just some recognition as to how weird that thing is. Why does no one address the watermelon baby?

– The obvious big question from this episode asks where Jason disappeared to after being incapacitated by the elevator crash. How did he abscond from the hospital? Was he taken? Who on the A Team could carry him? Toby is a strapping young man, but Jason isn't exactly a fragile waif.

– The final hoodie scene where they played spin the bottle with spirits might be the most surreal of all the final hoodie scenes to date. Even more than when one of them was trying to eat french fries with thick winter gloves.

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What to watch on Tuesday, February 12...

8pm, ABC Family
Pretty Little Liars
Spencer lashes out at Mona in "What Becomes of the Broken-hearted." Hanna seeks to reunite Caleb and his father, who had love that's now departed. Emily and Jason know they've got to find some kind of peace mind regarding Ali's trip to the Jersey Shore.

LIVE, 9pm Eastern, Various Networks
The State of the Union Address
President Barack Obama delivers his annual address to a joint session of the 113th Congress, followed by the GOP response from Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Criminally, Animal Planet has announced no plans to counter-program with the State of the Puppy Union featuring an official Kitty rebuttal.

9pm, ABC Family
The Lying Game
Emma deploys deception in order to shine light on Rebecca's falsehood in "Catch Her in the Lie," just in case you were doubting how seriously this series takes the central thrust of its title. Meanwhile, Kristin makes an unsettling discovery, and her support of Alec puts Theresa's relationship with Dan on the rocks.

10pm, FX
Justified
"Foot Chase" picks up with Raylan on the trail of Josiah Cairn, or what's left of Josiah Cairn after his involuntary amputation. Elsewhere, Boyd and Ava set their sights on the upper strata of Harlan County society. I don't ask you for much, show, but please let this scheme depend on Boyd donning a top hat and monocle.

10pm, Spike
Joe Schmo: The Full Bounty
Skylar is communicating with her deceased husband, which raises red flags for Chase in "Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?" On the bounty-hunter-training front, Wanda serves up an unorthodox tutorial on frisking.

10pm, TBS
Cougar Town
"Restless" finds Jules in the throes of insomnia, which seems chemically impossible for someone who consumes, on average, 51 fluid ounces of a depressant every day. In other cul-de-sac goings-on, Grayson is laid low by a roller hockey injury, and Ellie does her damndest to elude Andy's Valentine's Day-inspired friskiness.

SEASON 2 FINALE, 10:30pm Comedy Central
The Burn With Jeff Ross
Nikki Glaser, Al Madrigal, and Ralphie May join Jess for conversations about Valentine's Day and hipsters. Also, Snoop Lion (née Dogg) is the target of a "Friendly Fire" segment.

LATE-NITE:
– Bill Maher, Celeste Anderson, and Jackie Kashian on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Jenny McCarthy on Chelsea Lately, 11pm, E!
– Mike Piazza on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 11pm, Comedy Central
– Oxford American editor Roger Hodge on The Colbert Report, 11:30pm, Comedy Central
– Charles Barkley, The World's Fastest Free Throw Shooter, and Jewel on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 11:35pm, NBC
– Bruce Willis, the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model, and Little Big Town on Late Show with David Letterman, 11:35pm, CBS
– Jessica Alba, Bobby Flay, and Elle Goulding on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 11:35pm, ABC
– Josh Duhamel, Craig Robinson, Christina Tosi, and Boyd Tinsley on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 12:37am, NBC
– Ted Danson and Teresa Palmer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 12:37am, CBS

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Pretty Little Liars S03E18: "Dead to Me"

This is my favorite Spencer.

In the comments on last week's review, there was some backlash against Spencer's reprioritization of passions as she dealt with her first love being party to her very real enemy. She used to be the person who constantly reminded the Liars that they were responsible for figuring out who killed Ali—the chief instigator for clue-getting capers and the brains to Emily's naivete, Hanna's overwhelming adolescence, and Aria's dead-behind-the-eyes looks. While I think that Pretty Little Liars tends to favor Aria, Spencer is the glue that binds this clique together, making sure they keep their collective eyes on the prize. The prize is besting A, which also means finding Ali's killer.

Her about-face is sudden, but with so many ridiculous things happening on this show (Dr. Sullivan's non-sequitor hypnosis suggestion being one of the more laughable ones this week), I feel it's justified, particularly with someone so obsessive and invested. If it were Paige, it would've been a few weeks of poor Emily. If it were Caleb, Hanna would've written him off and maybe keyed his car. If it were Ezra— let's face it, Aria's time will come. But Spencer's the one who's been thinking about it every day, all the time. Had she the space, there'd be a Homeland-esque corkboard wall with yarn and highlighters and tacks (oh, the tacks!) pinning every man and every slightly suspect lady around a giant question-mark'd face to represent A.

So, finding out the love of her life is a henchman for her Osama bin Laden isn't just devastating in that hard break-up kind of way; the history of betrayal breeds a bitter cold in her veins. It's pulling her outside of A's little box.

When Mona spoke to Spencer about the decathalon, Spencer mentioned that none of this is a game to her. Mona, still in character, brought up Toby cheering for her (I really hope that's not a euphemism) if Spencer couldn't make it to the competition and nailed her on not bringing her A game. The conversation was just barely subtextual because it's becoming clear that Spencer isn't into keeping up appearances anymore. She wasn't trying to maintain the allegory of their conversation. She was directly warning Mona. This isn't a game to Spencer, and when something isn't a game, that means no one has to play by the rules.

Thus far, playing A's game has meant the Liars feeling threatened enough by notes and a seemingly omniscient presence that they can be manipulated into doing things they wouldn't normally do. I phrase it like that because not everything A blackmails the Liars into doing is ethically reprehensible. Ezra should probably know that he has a kid, if for no other reason that he can get the eff off the show for a little bit and take stock of a life that contains a lot of statutory rape.

Although, Ezra's probably just using the excuse so he can find somewhere else to dress up like the Queen of Hearts.

The point is that A is playing a game and the Liars, though constantly resisting A's attempts to control them, end up falling into the traps anyway, just like Aria suggested early on in the episode. But Spencer is repulsed by the game now. Trying to pick up on clues A leaves for you is trifling. What do you do to thwart the person trying to manipulate you with threats of exposing lies? You tell the truth. And you tell the truth (or a version of it, the version you believe) in such a dramatic and inopportune way that you burn everyone around you with how barefaced you are.

I don't know if Pretty Little Liars will continue on this track where Spencer is able to operate outside the reach of the A's long arms, but I hope it does. Nothing-to-lose Spencer is the shot of that the show didn't know it needed. When she opened the door and found ruins, I almost cheered. Because it meant Spencer has absolutely nothing more important in her life than to bring this A syndicate to its knees.

Which may mean bringing Alison to her knees (PHRASING). For the first time since Season 1 (correct me if I'm wrong), someone brought up the idea that Ali might not only be alive, she might also be the one in charge of the A team. I've been loyal to the soap-opera rule that, unless the audience sees a body, the character in question is not necessarily deceased. While we have a long way to go before proving Alison is the woman in the red coat, she seemed to be everywhere else in the episode.

Obviously she was in Emily's vision during her time at the Circus of Psychiatry ("So you see the weapon—now cluck like a chicken!") but I saw her more in the Caleb/Jamie storyline. Caleb visiting his childhood home provided very little for me. I know the big win for the story is that Caleb might know who his father is, an absence he's been whining about more often than Art Alexakis from Everclear. But Jamie being his father doesn't add anything to Caleb for me, doesn't make me like him more or make me interested in his backstory.

What it does do is connect the story of an absentee father who watched over his son in secret to the story of a possibly living Alison Di Laurentis. Hanna and Jamie batted around the idea of a person disappearing but not being able to come back because lives move on. Alison was a shepherdess to the Liars in life, except instead of keeping them alive and leading them to greener pastures, she used them to cut her teeth on elaborate mind games and tarnished their reputations with a history of manipulation and general horribleness to her common man.

If Alison isn't dead and she has been watching her friends from afar, she's watched them hold onto her memory but move forward with their lives. Emily, Aria, and Hanna maintain their position that "Ali was our friend" without further examination into whether or not that's true. Spencer, in light of Toby's betrayal, is more like Caleb. She only remembers the bad times and the abandonment. With Toby involved in all this, it makes her question everything she's been obsessed over.

I hope the show maintains this thread and keeps Spencer on the fringe of A's game, if only because everyone else's storylines right now are so dull.

– "Are her bones holy relics?" Spencer, while being the one who maintained the hunt for Ali's killer and the attempt to thwart A, has never really gotten along with Ali. It's interesting for her and the rest of the Liars to diverge so much. Emily (who crushed on her), Aria (who shared terrible secrets with her), and Hanna (who worshipped her popularity) do, in fact, treat Alison like a fallen messiah sometimes.

– Wes, though smarmy at times, doesn't seem nearly as creepy as the rest of Rosewood (and certainly not as creepy as his brother). That makes the number of boys in town who aren't total creepshows two: Wes and the guy who showed compassion for Spencer when Mona won emperor of the decathalon.

– Dr. Sullivan's non-sequitur, from Emily pouring her heart out about the feeling of killing a person to the question of hypnotherapy, was hilarious. "So I plunged the knife in and I could feel the life drain out of him—" "Hey, do you like pie? I was just thinking of pie." How about listening instead of suggesting kooky ways to have Emily provide exactly the same information she's giving you now?

– Also: of COURSE Emily is suggestive enough to be hypnotized. And then suggestive enough to conflate what happened on "that night" with her idea of how Alison was murdered. Emily killing Alison almost made her interesting for a brief shining moment.

– Is Caleb so messed up that he would destroy a baby picture of himself? Who tears up baby pictures? Why would you be afraid that he would do that?

– I'm not sure I understand the implications of Spencer carving a name onto Toby's mother's tomb. Because he's next? Because she wants to get him into some kind of trouble and everyone would assume Toby wrote his own name? Am I missing a necessary literary illusion here?

– The writers made a big deal about asking for ID when the hoodie was trying to buy booze, so I guess they're cramming down our throats that one of these hoodies is a grown-up (or has a fake ID). You have to assume this one is Ezra, right?

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Pretty Little Liars S03E17: "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Inferno"

Things you want: pizza, friends, lazy Sundays, puppy parties, accolades on a job well done, safety.

Things you don't want: poverty, bitter disappointment, to be hit with a sock full of quarters. And last on that list: Spencer Hastings coming after you with nothing to lose.

Time had come for one of the girls to break down. With everyone's everything caught in the balance of A's schemes, from the "caped crusaders" trying to rescue Hanna and Emily to Aria and Spencer's creepy men probably and definitely, respectively, party to a large-scale bullying plot against them, the Hastings girl was probably the last one that A wanted to come knocking on the door.

Someone's house is going to burn down by the end of the season.

Troian Bellisario was a different person in "Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Inferno," like a real human who didn't belong in Rosewood. Of the serenely perfect caught in the whispers of guilt and secrets, it's easy to look like the gritty, jaded bag lady in town: Just don't wear makeup and constantly say the things the audience has been thinking for years. In the world of PLL, that's tantamount to wearing a tinfoil hat and pooping on the sidewalk.

I'm glad it's Spencer for so many reasons. While disillusionment would suit each Liar differently (Hanna would clumsily try to get even, Emily would come off pouty, Aria might kill an actual bird with her bare hands), Spencer is the only one who seems like an actual threat to A's evil empire. Technically, she always has been, what with her obsessive nature sucking the other girls back into the fold from their coital distractions, though their stumbling two steps behind A has never amounted to getting the better of their enemy.

That's why Spencer's breakdown is so interesting. It gives her new purpose. The fact that she has nothing to lose (her family is absent, Melissa might be in on everything, Toby is a hoodie, Mona is chief decathlete) means she has new perspective on tackling her A problem. What's left to expose for Spencer? She was right when she told Aria that, hey, maybe if they stopped lying and keeping secrets from everyone, A wouldn't have anything to fuel the witch-burning. She even went a step further: "I think we should stop blaming A for everything that goes wrong in our lives and start blaming ourselves." Aria's counter: A is not their tough-love life coach.

Allow me to digress on that topic. In the beginning, there were times when A did seem like a life coach, just someone that wanted the Liars to unburden themselves of all the dark secrets they harbor and to keep them humble. It was always in the worst way possible (there's no need to make a former fat girl shovel cupcakes into her mouth), but it progressively got more malicious and mean-spirited as the bullying continued to the iteration of A we're under currently—one that actively hurts, maims, and kills people. Is A your tough-love life coach, Aria? Maybe in another time s/he was.

Back to my point, however, of Spencer's breakdown being interesting. It was an act of contrition. She actively said, "Maybe we deserve it." While coming to terms with how she was sleeping with the enemy, A transformed from a faceless sociopathic entity to something more nuanced and capable of reason. If Toby could be part of it, how bad could it have been? That's flawed thinking, since Toby is a creepshow, but the admission that there might be a lesson here to learn was a different direction for the girls. It led to Spencer re-examining her options and reaching out for help beyond the resources of her softheaded friends.

In fact, this episode was full of honest acts betraying their Liar titles. Emily and Aria put their heads together and realized, after a brief visit from our MIA Watermelon Baby boutique owner Cece, that maybe they shouldn't just hold on to every piece of evidence, that it's time to incorporate other agents of justice—the professional ones—to help out. When Hanna showed up and questions Emily's motivation, she replied that she was doing so because she can end this. It's no longer about containing the damage caused by their bully. It's about ending it altogether and going on the attack though less sketchy means than their DIY bumbling. How were they to know that Wilden might be in on it, too? Oh, right, because he has a penis.

But even Hanna, after she returned home from her lesbian bar adventure, was incredibly forthcoming about her actions and motivations. She spilled on everything just short of A still being around and kicking, but that much information without playing the skulky get-out-of-my-beeswax teenager was a nice change of pace. Combine that with Aria's act of faith last week by burning the diary pages to show she believed Byron and you have some girls who might be all growns up. Well, they still look like babies, but at least they're making some progress.

– Why can't Emily's mom and dad be in the same house at the same time? Wait, when was the last time we saw them together? Hmm.

– Aria wants to know whether Meredith can be treated at a facility far, far away. Of course not, silly. That girl is going right to Radley for lessons in going from cray to criminally cray.

– That flashback to juvenile hall was ridiculous. Why was Toby dressed up like Prison Mike?

– Spencer was full of good points. Why should you care about Ali? The more you talk about her, the more horrible she seems. She blackmailed everyone, treated people like garbage, and cultivated an abrasive personality so poisonous that it passed on to people by mere association. What are you all honoring here?

– It's not often I get to talk about good acting on this show with so, so many laughable, embarrassing, awkward performances (I'm looking at you, Detective Wilden). Troian Bellesario, however, nailed that I-want-to-get-out-of-the-car-but-I'm-still-crying-put-on-my-makeup-let's-go-no-I'm-crying-again scene. But the award for best performance goes to Ashley Benson and her "I'd have it made if I were gay" adventure. The information gleaned from her story could've been expressed in ten seconds but, if the writers had been more ruthless about what went into the episode, we wouldn't have gotten to see all those examples of the things that make Hanna great: accepting the Flirtini, going into stealth mode, handing over her ID knowing full well she was going to get kicked out. And then afterward, Hanna's mom: "What's a pink drink? Is that code for something gay?" Beautiful.

– I love that, even at a young age, Byron and Ella thought Aria was flighty enough to walk right into the fireplace.

– There was a time when I would've cheered for Ezra ditching Aria on the street. But now it smacks of Toby leaving Spencer a while back and it doesn't feel as sweet. He's still creepy and probably the worst member of the A Team—if he is, in fact, among them. I kind of hope he is for his sake. Without criminal insanity, he's just awful. So awful.

– Blowtorch to Hanna's bobblehead? That seems unnecessary. But good news: It looks like someone made a design for Pretty Little Liars Bratz dolls!

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The Following S01E03: "The Poet's Fire"

So last week we ended the episode with a man in a goofy mask lighting another man on fire. My biggest problem is that nothing about it was "romantic" or even personal. After meditating on how Carroll personalizes his crimes, this joker kept his identity hidden and basically killed from a distance. Not that I'm defending one kind of killing over another. It's all bad. Kids, don't kill. But, within this storyworld I'm just looking for a little consistency.

"The Poet's Fire" revisited the coda murder by filling in some of the blanks for us: The killer was a kid named Rick, he liked fire, and he was singling out the trifecta Carroll blames for his downfall. The show itself pointed out a quote: "The generous Critic fann'd the Poet's fire. And taught the world with reason to admire." It was used as sort of an explanation for the fiery death of one of Carroll's most vocal critics and, yeah, it definitely mentions fire. The quote seems to be about how a critic can drive an artist to do something more fantastic, so that can also apply here. Ryan Hardy culled the quote from his memory and made the connection that generated the lead to get them off and running. "That's Poe." Except it's not. It's POPE. As in Alexander Pope, a poet and critic who died 65 years before Poe was born. You also know him as the guy who created the inspiration for the mightily titled Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

If we really wanted to, though, we could reason our way out of this pit (by the by, Kevin Williamson tweeted the quote earlier today just to make sure we'd remember it). Let's start with Parker asking a very solid question in the beginning of the episode: What is this cult about? She listed off the way other cults promoted the "family" over the individual and she realized, even without our omniscient vision of all situation, that this isn't the case for this Poe clan.

That theme ran throughout the episode. The nature of the cult itself is not to be proud of their collective, but to stride around in the shadows. They are boastful of their individual achievements for a greater cause, but the cause isn't being part of the organization.

The focus on indvidualism is what makes the non-Carroll storylines more intriguing. I'm not the first to make this comparison (nor will I be the last) but it operates like a fundementalist terror cell. And just like any group that's made of like-minded but independent individuals and not brainwashed drones, the Poe clan is subject to splintering through its own dynamic, and violently so, based on the nature of its members.

There it is! That adolescent drama you thought Williamson was going to leave behind!

The kids are the ones who are most susceptible to this (Lennie, I mean Jordy, seemingly has a dependent devotion only to Carroll and not so much to the clan). They gather at the Poe Killers HQ, writing on the walls and training themselves to do dastardly things to other people, even each other. As they grow, crushes and bonding develop and we have love triangles and renegades in the midst.

Most of that revolves around Paul. Emma is too crazy, too much of a Carroll protege to take her mind totally off the mission and think of herself. Paul is the third wheel, the one who's most likely to spin out of control—and who did, in trying to keep his sexuality closeted. And kidnapping a girl after beating her unconscious? That's what real men do.

Rick also fell out of line, but he's always been a loose cannon according to the 70 flashbacks we saw throughout the episode. The fervor he had for his wife, though he didn't really have a chance to explore it during his short run on the show, faintly suggested the juvenile love in Natural Born Killers. Just a couple of kids trying to make it together and maybe light some people on fire.

Some of that is attributable to their ages, so close to their college years. Obviously, that's how most of them got into this situation in the first place, by being in Carroll's class. One of this week's flashbacks had Carroll giving his students his advice for writing, which later translated to advice for killing. Basically, do what you want as long as you're willing to deal with the consequences. Create your own moral code and write your own stories that adhere to it. That's the basis of this cult: Everyone enrolled to be graded by Carroll.

There's this horrible pretense of Poe, but maybe its complete bastardization of the works can be blamed on the premise. This is Carroll's graduate-level program. These are grad students who have to find their individual "voices" in place of their theses. It makes much more sense that way. Emma is the best student and has the most romantic and gothic of the stories thus far, considering that she killed her mother with a knife mid-cutdown and buried her in the wall. Her situation is the most reminiscent of Poe's work. But not every grad student is very good, and Rick came up with fire. It was stupid; he just likes fire. It had nothing to do with the class and the teacher would totally see through it but was willing to let the students explore.

So, really, the fire and the misattributed quote could just further indicate that the group dynamic is immature and Hardy leapt incorrectly to that quote because— okay, I'm out of excuses. The show needs to drop the Poe thing pronto if it's not going to do it right.

While the episode overall was more exciting and intriguing than the first two, the show still has a ways to go before it becomes compelling. I'm still holding out hope, folks. I'm willing to be convinced.

– Hardy was less annoying in this episode than he has been previously. I'll attribute that to the many, many flashbacks that kept his sadsack persona off-screen.

– The idea that literally anyone could be part of the cult makes things a little more interesting but also primes us for some possible deus ex machina escapes. Hardy's got everyone cornered. Oh no! Every cop that's behind him is also part of the cult! Everyone gets away! They just have to be careful to not abuse their sleeper cell power.

– I get what Jordy was trying to do by eating the gauze but it doesn't make it less funny-looking. You big goofball!

– We're going to have a secret hostage in the basement storyline. Does that mean Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher live next door?

– Throughout the episode, I noticed a lot of juxtaposition of Riley against everyone else on the case, particularly in the office situations where Riley was in the foreground and everyone else was crowded in the middleground. It put his complexion into focus. Then he became a pawn in the marriage that murder built and now, suddenly, we have the whitest cast on television.

– Gay chicken will never not remind me of Scrubs.

– The sneak peek featurette for this week's episode led me to believe that Carroll is consciously working to find a place in Hardy's lonely life as he works this case. I don't feel like they're getting to be best friends or anything. But maybe that's because I've never bonded with anyone over a good scotch.

– I really wanted Hardy and Parker to ask Jordy one more time where Joey was and for him to sing the theme to Carmen Sandiego to block out their noise. I would've accepted either the cartoon or the game show.

– They used that "We know you're watching, Ryan" bit a few too many times. We get it. You want everyone to know you know that Ryan's watching. Rub it in, why don't you.

– The show IS exploring new ways to get disturbing imagery onto broadcast TV at 9pm. Probably the most disturbing to me was teaching a kid to kill a mouse by asphyxiation. I'm not one who normally says media is responsible for what kids do in their non-TV-watching time but, just as much as it was an image that successfully evoked a response, it almost seemed like a lesson. Parental discretion, indeed.

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Pretty Little Liars S03E12: "The Lady Killer"

Wow, okay. I trust we've all had time to decompress?

As promised, Pretty Little Liars' midseason finale did not hold back: a character death, a character's life in jeopardy, the reveal of Maya's killer, and the unmasking of the second "A."

Well, maybe. I'm not so certain about those last two.

Nate makes sense as Maya's killer, but do we think he actually did it? As I've said before, his motive is clear—and now we know he was definitely a homicidal psychopath—but that doesn't link Maya to Alison at all. Her death couldn't have just been about Nate's insane jealousy: In the video Nate showed Emily, Maya talked about the mess she'd gotten herself into, and only then mentioned separately that her stalker had found her again.

Of course, it's possible that "A" just got lucky, and Nate taking Maya out of the picture was serendipitous—just like Nate inadvertently got Garrett out of prison by taking the blame for Maya's murder.

When it comes to Nate, PLL's writers might have dropped too many hints, because I don't think any of us were that surprised by his reveal as the stalker. If anything, I was annoyed that Emily was so dense as to believe him—didn't his creepy behavior in last week's episode merit keeping some distance? It also felt a little absurd that she agreed to go away with him without ever having met the rest of his family. You know better than that, Em.

But enough about Nate. Let's talk about Toby. That last scene between Mona and Toby was pretty killer; I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking we wouldn't get a peek under that hood. The reveal of Toby was the first major gasp moment Pretty Little Liars has offered in a while. But do we really believe he's bad?

Here's the thing: It totally makes sense that Toby would try to infiltrate the "A" gang in order to protect Spencer and her friends. So, yes, Toby could just be undercover, faking it. I don't know, though—does the timeline really make sense? If Toby is only pretending to be the second "A," how long has he been doing it? I don't think Mona would really buy the idea unless he's been in it for a long while. Honestly, I can see it going either way, and given how much PLL fans love Toby (and Spencer/Toby), I would not be surprised if this is all just a trick. I'm just saying, I'm not convinced.

If Toby isn't playing both sides, though, who called Emily to warn her about Nate? The mind, it boggles.

All speculation aside, the midseason finale was a fun and stressful episode. The scenes of Emily and Nate in the lighthouse were some of the scariest Pretty Little Liars has ever done, and the in media res opening was definitely effective. (I really thought Caleb was going to die. Now I'm 99 percent sure he'll pull through.) I'm glad that the next episode we're getting is a Halloween special, because I really just want Pretty Little Liars to up the creep factor. The relationship stuff is great and all, but I like getting spooked.

Normally this show's midseason finales leave me wanting more, and I'm always frustrated that I have to wait several months (only two in this case) for the next episode. But there was something satisfying about this. I'm content to wait it out for a while, even if it means endless speculation about Toby's true loyalty. Let's sit back, catch our breath, and wait for Pretty Little Liars to help us celebrate Halloween.

QUESTIONS:

– Okay, have at it: Is Toby really the second "A," or is he playing Mona?

– Did Nate actually kill Maya?

– Caleb's going to be okay, right?

Pretty Little Liars "The Lady Killer" Photos

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