Pretty Little Liars: Last Dance

August 6, 2015 6:44 AM - Season 6, Episode 9

It is prom time at Rosewood High, except for Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer who have been banned due to “security” concerns. The girls’ mothers try to make the best of a bad situation by offering a home prom in Spencer’s barn.. But one to never miss a formal, Charles has other plans in store to make this a night they will never forget. Meanwhile, Veronica, Pam, Ashley and Ella use prom night to touch base on everything that has happened to their daughters.

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#PLLProm
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Fashion Breakdown
In honor of their actual prom and (possibly) last big high school dance, each of the girls' dresses:
Aria
Hanna
Emily
Spencer
Alison

posted by Bulgaroktonos (29 comments total)

I think there was a lot to like in this episode, much of it centered around the moms. I think having them all together was great; they have the same connection as the Liars in that no one else understands what they're going through. It's slightly different but they are all watching their daughters suffer and trying to help them and realizing they couldn't protect them, can't protect them now, and can't do much to help them. Also seeing them all get tipsy and then run off to make a terrible choice was awesome.

Hat tip to Emily's mom for grabbing a last mouthful of wine as they all storm off to the DiLaurentis house to confront Alison's dad. That was probably my favorite moment of the episode.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:50 AM on August 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Oh, and I liked Ali's dress best; I actually thought it was really pretty and her wearing yellow worked for both the fairy tale theme (she looked a bit like Belle in Beauty and the Beast) AND was a nice hat tip to the ugliest yellow shirt the world has ever known.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:56 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Emily looked like the Evil Queen from Snow White which was like kind of okay but also INSANE and I hated Hanna's dress. Why does Hanna always have such ugly dresses for formal events? They also tend not to be that flattering on her. I liked Spencer's dress and I found Aria's dress disappointing in that it was, like, kind of fine. I did not scream reflexively upon seeing it which means it was not good enough.

To be honest, other than Mona/Ali I liked the dresses Charles picked out better than the dresses they chose themselves.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:01 AM on August 6, 2015

The drunk Moms were the BEST. Even aside from the comedy gold, it was interesting and creepy to see them go through the same things their daughters have. How many times have the girls been trapped behind a door that mysteriously shut and locked? They're old hats at it, by now, but the Moms freaked out. It was great.

In terms of building suspense, it was also a nice move, since they could totally kill a Mom right now. Obviously, Ali was just going to chase Charles around the prom until the end of the episode, but anything could happen in the Mom subplot. Presumably Rhys is not Charles, since EVERYONE suspects it and because he would have had to race back to the prom to appear for Ali.

The episode had a bit more deus ex machina wrapping up what they're doing next (Caleb found a job that will pay for Hanna's tuition and an apartment in New York? Please.), but I guess the show needs that to make the time jump work. Obviously, Ezra's doing the right thing going to Thailand, where they desperately need white English professors to build houses, rather than just sending some of that family money he's sitting on.

Aria's dress might have gotten a little more talking up than it deserved. It was fine, she looked like Snow White, but it wasn't crazy. I actually liked Emily's dress the most. It was nicely over the top, but I also thought she looked good. Hanna's dress I didn't actually hate just looking at the dress, but it makes her look really bad, and makes me wonder if Ashley Benson has like done something to the wardrobe people.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:10 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's also crazy that there's one more episode before the time jump, and I think we started to see some early splintering of the group. Aria's going to Los Angeles, Ezra's going to Thailand (because there's nothing Habitat for Humanity needs more than a dilettante English teacher with no skills other than seducing minors), Hanna and Caleb are moving to New York -- that's one couple ending, another couple staying together, and all four people out of Rosewood. I assume we'll get some information on where everyone else is heading in the next episode.

In keeping with my "Charles isn't A and feels really terribly and wants to help them and is also super rich" theory, I wonder if some of these opportunities were set up by the Carissimi Group to help them escape, like Hanna's scholarship money (that she returned) and even Aria's photography contest.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:10 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

I assume we'll get some information on where everyone else is heading in the next episode.

Yeah we still don't know about Emily or Spencer do we? Am I forgetting something?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:55 AM on August 6, 2015

Drunk Mom Detectives would be a great spinoff.

And gah, why does every dance in Rosewood have so many mazes?
posted by yellowbinder at 9:12 AM on August 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

And gah, why does every dance in Rosewood have so many mazes?

This is an amazing question. I love it so much.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:35 AM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, I wanted to float an idea to see if anyone else would be interested (and I totally understand if people would not want to do this, plus time zone logistics might make it impossible anyway) -- would anyone be interested in maybe meeting in chat or something during the final episode before the time jump? I don't think it should be a weekly thing but with this being a big deal (#summerofAnswers) I thought it might be nice to have other PLL-appreciating MeFites with whom to talk as this whole crazy thing goes down.

Possible concerns:
-Time zones
-Not wanting to make everyone in chat read about PLL (although I think on a Tuesday night this would be less of a concern although maybe we could post a MeTa asking how people would feel about it? Also I kind of love making people hear about PLL.)
-People just not wanting to which as I said is totally fine

Would this be of interest to anyone? If not Bulgaroktonos and I can just watch on our couch and I can scream at the television and check out what tween PLL fans are saying on Twitter as per usual.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:05 AM on August 6, 2015

Would this be of interest to anyone?

I think that's a great idea but also have a conflict and so ask that you save the best remarks and paste them all into a comment on the finale's episode post.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:11 AM on August 6, 2015

The book club used to dominate chat for the book events, right? If so, there's a precedent.
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:30 AM on August 6, 2015

Yeah, I'd been thinking about it anyway and then I saw this comment from LobsterMitten:

(Just briefly, about the debate - Fanfare's not the place, we don't really do live event over there and it's not really for liveblogging. Chat is explicitly for liveblogging during events -- knock yourselves out with as many "whoa!" type short comments as you want. And a thread on the blue would also work, with a somewhat higher bar than Chat for comments.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:42 PM on August 4 [8 favorites +] [!]

And I figure the PLL finale is way more important than presidential debates.

Anyway, didn't want to distract from conversations about this episode which I am also really excited to discuss (OMG PLL Moms forever) but I thought I'd float the idea.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:43 AM on August 6, 2015

Spencer: She's hoping to meet Charles!

*thunderclap*

This show sometimes. This show.
posted by riruro at 4:26 PM on August 6, 2015

And gah, why does every dance in Rosewood have so many mazes?

I know I already mentioned this but I keep thinking about it and it is maybe the best question anyone has ever asked.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:41 PM on August 6, 2015

I mean I don't think any of my high school dances had even ONE maze.
posted by yellowbinder at 7:06 PM on August 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Important Buzzfeed quiz for any PLL mom fans. People who aren't PLL mom fans can leave.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:12 AM on August 7, 2015

I got Mrs. Hastings (because I am awesome) EVEN THOUGH they didn't explicitly ask "do you get drunk and barge into people's homes?" so I think this quiz is basically magic.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:17 AM on August 7, 2015

Thinking about putting this result on my resume.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:17 AM on August 7, 2015

Did you notice that in this episode, they really hammered: (1) How DiLaurentis-like Rhys looks; and (2) How Jason DiLaurentis is actually Peter Hastings's son?

Do you suppose this is a hint that Rhys is actually Peter's? Maybe even Peter and Jessica's?

I really hope not, because that would be a weak-ass, faux Bronte dance of bullshittery, but I really got the sense it was being set up.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:07 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I got Veronica Hastings too!

Well, okay. I got Pam Fields the first time I took it, but that was clearly machine error, so I took it again, and yay!
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 12:13 AM on August 8, 2015

That's such a Hastings thing to do. I got Pam too but I decided to ignore it in hopes it went away. I'm such a Pam.
posted by yellowbinder at 12:26 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

If I can figure out a way to live stream the show without using ABC Family's service, I will be all over watching the show in Chat! That sounds marvellous!
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 2:01 AM on August 9, 2015

Do you suppose this is a hint that Rhys is actually Peter's? Maybe even Peter and Jessica's?

This is a very intriguing possibility! On the other hand, in that case Spencer would probably be a target almost as much as Ali, right? Maybe not -- you're definitely right that they spent a lot of time harping on 1) how much Rhys looks like Jason 2) how Jason's dad is not Mr. DiLaurentis. Maybe it's some other illegitimate child and all the liars just have like fifty half siblings running around? What would be the repercussions of Rhys being Mr. Hastings' kid if he is Charles? What if he's a DiLaurentis-Hastings but NOT Charles?

I'm also still thinking about the two dresses Ali found in that memory; is that just a case of her memory being faulty or is there actually another little girl? Did her mom buy something for Bethany? Was it for CeCe Drake? We've got at least one more DiLaurentis boy (Charles) and the possibility of another one (Rhys) but some evidence that there's also another girl, plus all the stuff about how CeCe and Ali could have been sisters. How many DiLaurentis children are there, anyway? Does anyone have any theories about the second dress? If it were another set of boys' clothes it would make perfect sense but it was a dress, right? So what's going on? I can't stop thinking about it.

So excited that we might have live PLL chat for the finale! Do we have to warn people or anything before we take over or should we just show up? I don't really know the etiquette for this.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:33 PM on August 9, 2015

I checked with the mods to make sure this would be okay and they said it should be fine as long as we are courteous to anyone else in there. I'll try to check in this evening to give regular chat users a heads up and hopefully we'll all be able to meet in chat tomorrow at 8:00 Eastern? SO EXCITED!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:51 AM on August 10, 2015

Okay, I've checked in with people on chat and it sounds like it would be okay with them!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 4:49 PM on August 10, 2015

Maybe I'm the only one still reading this but seriously all I can think about is tonight's finale. I think that it is a travesty that I have to be at work today instead of fast-forwarding time.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:30 AM on August 11, 2015

Some food for thought while you wait.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:44 AM on August 11, 2015

That article is really thoughtful and interesting and is giving me a lot to consider. Still working my way through/digesting but there's a lot of great stuff in there. Also really enjoying the phrase "A+ fucked up television".
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 5:56 AM on August 11, 2015

I think their points about Toby are pretty solid and I definitely think Charles is tied up in his mother's death (Marion, I want to say?). I don't know how I'd feel about that but it would sort of make it better that Spencer keeps making out with other people. That said, it would make me sad when I think back to early Toby who was really nice to Emily when they went to that dance together. I don't THINK he's Charles and it would make his relationship with Spencer super problematic, plus how would he keep them all in the dollhouse when he was on the police force? That doesn't make sense. But I suppose it would be okay? It would be a crazy twist, at least. Hey remember back when he was sleeping with Jenna?

Also definitely buy Melissa being Black Widow. I never really understood her; what did she actually DO? I thought she was just sort of a random creepy antagonist and I don't feel like I really have a handle on her role in the show.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 6:07 AM on August 11, 2015