Pretty Little Liars: FrAmed
July 29, 2015 6:05 AM - Season 6, Episode 8 - Subscribe

Aria’s big moment of seeing her work displayed in an art gallery is in jeopardy as Ella is determined to keep her safe at home. Hanna is still uncomfortable with the scholarship money and is determined to give it back. The one normal high-school rite of passage the girls are looking forward to is in danger as Rosewood High is considering not letting the PLLs attend prom due to security issues. Meanwhile, the more Alison doubts that young blonde haired boy she sees in the photos and in her memories could become a deranged killer.

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Outfit of the Week
Ezra's palm tree button down and tie look for the art gallery opening
posted by Bulgaroktonos (15 comments total)
 
An interesting side effect of the bunker plot, is that everyone is just talking about A with their parents now? That's a pretty amazing development. It also might be paying off in the form of the Ms. Marin-Ms. Montgomery alliance that was taking shape at the end of the episode. I'd love to see them do something crazy to protect the girls. Too bad Holly Marie Combs can't blow stuff up with her hands anymore.

The phrase "I saw him at the abandoned doll factory."

The move of replacing Aria's pictures with photos of them on slabs was super creepy and nicely surprising. Having the A business a little more out in the open has dialed back the chills a bit this season, but that was nicely done. That said, A and Red Coat sitting together still looked ridiculous.

They're also working the internal conflicts in the group pretty well; Ali's desire to believe that Charles is the little boy she met at the birthday party is consistent and makes sense, as does Hanna's "I know this must really suck for you but..." approach. Hanna being mean is always delightful.

Aria's prom dress is a fashion Chekhov's Gun. "I got it at a vintage store, I made some alterations, it's really perfect for the fairy tale theme...no of course you can't see it." That dress better be the WORST. I'm also generally super psyched for the PLL "Enchanted Forest" themed prom, there's so much potential creepiness/weirdness they can work from that. I'll be on a flight back from a kayaking trip on the West Coast when it airs, so sadly I'll have to wait to see it, but oh man.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 6:20 AM on July 29, 2015


A and Red Coat sitting together still looked ridiculously awesome.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:57 AM on July 29, 2015


Aria's prom dress is a fashion Chekhov's Gun. "I got it at a vintage store, I made some alterations, it's really perfect for the fairy tale theme...no of course you can't see it." That dress better be the WORST.

Yeah, I'm calling Chekov's prom dress as the outfit of the episode even though Ezra's shirt was pretty bad.

I liked this episode better; we all know we're not getting any HUGE revelations this close to the season finale but getting some moderate surprises and creepy moments was good. I think the previous two episodes were failing at convincing me there would be a big revelation instead of succeeding at creeping me out.

Also, BOLD NEW THEORY: Charles is NOT A. Rhys Matthews IS Charles and he's not A and the reason he gave Hanna that check was that he feels really badly for what they've all experienced and wants to help. I am wondering how he got so effing rich and I hope we find out. Also wondering why he bought Radley.

I'm also wondering if Sara will turn out to be Red Coat and she's just dating Emily as a way to get into the Rosewood prom. I know CeCe Drake is the obvious choice for Red Coat but it COULD be Sara.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:08 AM on July 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh also as some mysterious person totally not in this thread pointed out, the Enchanted Forest prom theme is the perfect opportunity for Red Coat to go as Little Red Riding Hood. This prom is going to be AMAZING!

Oh, also, for whom are the six syringes? It could be the six in the Dollhouse but that leaves out Ali. It could be Liars + Mona + Ali because A doesn't care about Sara OR because Sara's Red Coat. It could be Liars + Ali + Sara because Mona's working with A again. Someone did say in the episode "there were six girls in that house" and then there were clearly six syringes so I'm wondering if they were trying to draw attention to the numbers or if I am reading too much into this. So many possibilities!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:12 AM on July 29, 2015


So A is coming for Lt. Tanner? I like that in that I want Tanner to be in more episodes. Because 1) an average looking woman in Rosewood. 2) the way that Tanner went from being an antagonist of the Liars to an ally without changing sides and keeping the role she's had from the beginning was one of the only good pieces of writing on this show.
posted by riruro at 4:30 PM on July 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


Tanner went from being an antagonist of the Liars to an ally without changing sides and keeping the role she's had from the beginning

This is an interesting and neat point that I hadn't considered! Huh!

We also haven't really talked about Clark much -- what do we think is up with him? My guess is "reporter on the trail of a story who is pretending to be a college student to get close to Aria" which is kind of like a flashback to the Ezra book nonsense. Alternatively, if my "Rhys is Charles and he feels badly" theory is correct, maybe Clark is a bodyguard hired by Rhys to protect them? And for some reason he meets with his employer at an abandoned doll factory. As one does.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:36 AM on July 30, 2015


Oh, and for the many devoted followers of these threads, it's Bulgaroktonos' wedding anniversary with his stunning and brilliant wife on Tuesday so normally they'd watch PLL to celebrate their years of love BUT travel plans have gotten in the way so probably next week's thread will be posted on Thursday instead of Wednesday.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:54 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Aria's prom dress is a fashion Chekhov's Gun. "I got it at a vintage store, I made some alterations, it's really perfect for the fairy tale theme...no of course you can't see it." That dress better be the WORST.

I am *so* looking forward to this. I mean, I am a total Aria Outfit Partisan and everything, (Whaddyawant? I was a goth/punk/artsy-whatever back in the 90s, and it was a blast, and I make no apologies) but yeah: Mandy Line better be coming across with something goooood. Like some deliciously unwholesome hybrid of a Rei Kawakubo classic lumps and bumps gown and Bjork's Swan Dress, except maybe with more of a "chicken" or a "dead opossum" theme. Seriously: if at least 30% of the dress is not worryingly perishable, I will be disapoint.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:00 AM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]


So A is coming for Lt. Tanner? I like that in that I want Tanner to be in more episodes.

See, I think we're being set up to see Tanner killed in the finale. IMO, they're intentionally making her more sympathetic right now so that when they kack her, it'll be, like, meaningful.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:31 AM on July 31, 2015


Oh, also, for whom are the six syringes?

My guess is that it's Sara + Liars + Ali. Mona's kidnapping, I think, was strictly a strategic thing for A: A way to position the Liars and Ali so that he could grab them.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:36 AM on July 31, 2015


That's an interesting thought about the syringes. I had assumed Mona was meaningful and Sara wasn't, but if it turned out the other way around that would be a nice wrinkle.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:34 AM on July 31, 2015


Yeah, that would surprise me -- I don't know why A would want Sara more than Mona but it's a possibility.

I think you are totally right and Tanner is going to be killed in the finale. Wow!

Do you have thoughts on Rhys? Do you think he's Charles? Do you think he's A? Do you think he's A AND Charles? Do you think he's A and NOT Charles? Do you think he's Charles and not A? That is what I think!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:18 AM on July 31, 2015


My thinking on the Sara/Mona thing is this:

A kept Sara for several years, even after getting Mona to replace her as an Ali surrogate. Clearly, he didn't want to give her up before the dollhouse was raided. Why should he want to give her up after?

In contrast, once Ali seemed within reach, Mona was dropped into the pit, and she seemed to be in fear for her life. This change, corresponding as it did with Ali's impending arrival, is a possible indication that Mona'd become surplus to requirements. The contrary argument, of course, is that we know that Mona'd been in the pit before, and had a special hatred of it: It might just be that A knew it was an especially effective method of punishment for her.

However, I think the "surplus-to-requirements" reading is supported by the fact that, as of Season 5, we don't have have much indication that a had any real continuing interest in Mona-- at least, not until Mona started nosing around them in response to the Liars' request. Throughout Seasons 4 and 5, A constantly interacts with the Big 4 and even with Toby, but we don't see them doing much of anything with Mona, especially after Ali's return. (Of course, just because we don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen-- But the absence, to me, seems telling.)

I think it's tempting to believe that the sixth syringe is for Mona, because Mona is more interesting and more important to us as viewers-- but I don't feel like we can say with any certainty that the same is true for A.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 7:15 PM on July 31, 2015 [1 favorite]


Do you have thoughts on Rhys? Do you think he's Charles? Do you think he's A? Do you think he's A AND Charles? Do you think he's A and NOT Charles? Do you think he's Charles and not A? That is what I think!

I really like your Charles/not-A theory. It's exactly the kind of twist that the writers of the show seem to dig, and with two episodes left in 6A, I think we've got the perfect amount of time for it to play out.

Which leaves open the question of who Black Hoodie is-- and thereby gives the writers something to do for the remaining 1.5 seasons.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 8:39 PM on August 1, 2015


100% cannot believe that I have to wait until tomorrow to watch tonight's episode. WTF life.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:33 AM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


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