TV Shows, Pretty Little Liars Charlotte Denise TV Shows, Pretty Little Liars Charlotte Denise

"Through A Glass, Darkly" Review

Pretty Little Liars

Season 5.14

“Through A Glass, Darkly"

It’s been three months since Mona Vanderwaal was viciously attacked in her home on Thanksgiving Day.  The Winter Premiere picks up right after Mona’s memorial service and starts with a boom, or shall I say “the slap heard round the world”, as Alison appears to offer her condolences to Mona’s mother.  If Ali wasn’t already crazy, Mrs. V slapped a few screws loose for sure before Hanna leads her away.  

Hanna has become close to Mrs. V and receives two important gifts that belonged to Mona. Bungee, the stuffed dog, and  the book Terminations by Henry James. I can’t wait to see what clues are held within each one! Finally, someone else (besides us) confirms that Hannah is playing dumb. Thanks to Mona in flashback, we know that Mona thought Hanna was “smarter than Spencer Hastings”. 

Hands down the best scenes for me, were those with Mrs Grundwald. She meets Hanna at Mona’s crypt to use her gift of insight to shed light on who Mona’s attacker was, and delivers lines almost as creepy as her eyes: “Each one hated the other because each one feared the other…each one knew something about the other.” Who is the other one Mrs. G? (My likely suspects Mike, Paige, CeCe, the girl at the zoo with the distorted face, or the girl who was with Mona behind the frosted glass at the hair salon.) 

Spencer learns why she was arrested for Bethany’s murder. Jessica DiLaurentis gave a statement to Detective Wilden that she saw Spencer in her backyard with a blond girl dressed in Ali’s clothes on the night Alison went missing. Wilden hid the statement in his files to no doubt continue his passion for extorting money for keeping secrets.  Good thing they found it, because Bethany’s parents went to a judge to have Spencer’s bail revoked in order to send her back to jail. This eventually sends Spencer and Emily to Jason DiLaurentis to persuade him to tell the truth that his father would not tell about Ali’s whereabouts on Thanksgiving Day.

Ezra has purchased The Brew and seems to be converting it into a coffee and book nook. It’s here that Ezra invites Mike to come assist him with his bookshelves so that he can ask him how he is dealing with Mona’s death.  Mike is not in a sharing mood, which prompts Ezra to share the most insightful statement of the evening…”You aren’t acting like you lost someone”. Hmmm…Mike what secrets did you and Mona really have? 

Meanwhile, Aria visits Caleb to get help with hacking into Oberlin College’s website to find out why her application was rejected.  She spies Mona’s computer and learns that Caleb’s attempts to break Mona’s codes have failed.  So why, why, why Caleb, would you give Mona’s computer to a technical amateur like Aria!?!?! Of course, it was to give the masked black-hooded-one a chance to “find” Mike’s phone, call Aria to meet him/her at the The Brew, in order to plastic wrap Aria against the wall and steal said computer!!! 

Aria later tells Emily that it was Ali who attacked her and swiped the computer, to which Emily asks, “Are you sure it was Ali?” Aria’s answer, “ Who else could it have been”, let’s us know for sure that Aria is not sure.

Speaking of Emily, let’s all do the happy dance, because Paige left for San Francisco!!! Or did she??? With no tears or I love you(s) at the airport, and Paige acting more sketchy than heartbroken, I wonder if she really got on that plane.  When I watched Jason DiLaurentis watch the hidden camera footage of Mona’s attacker, I immediately thought of Paige, not Ali!

However, Jason confesses that Ali was not with the family during the time that Mona was killed and that it could be his sister in the video. This confession sends Ali to jail for her orange jumpsuit fitting! The girls can move on with their lives now because A is finally behind bars!!!! Absolutely not, because A puts on a fireworks display to end the episode!!! Hanna was right again. You can’t send fireworks from jail!

In typical PLL style we are left with more questions than answers. 

UnAnswered questions of the week:

  • How did traces of Mona’s DNA get in Ali’s car? (and when did Ali get a car?
  • What kind of temporary assignment is Gabriel Holbrook on? (here-to-fore to be called Detective “ShadyBrook” because he is definitely shady, and more than likely Beach Hottie! [credit to Antuan Beard for the nickname])
  • Who are Bethany Young’s parents?
  • When will we see a photo of Bethany Young?

Hopefully, we will get answers to these and other questions next week. Until then...keep your friends close and your secrets closer!


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TV Shows, East Los High Kevin Sampson TV Shows, East Los High Kevin Sampson

East Los High: Season 1 Critique

Since I’ve been looking for more shows and movies with diverse content, I recently decided to give “East Los High” a viewing. If you have Hulu Plus you probably have seen promos for the web based tv series between whatever you’re watching. I could excuse it away with I study what works and what doesn’t in the screenwriting of these shows (which I do), but honestly I have a guilty pleasure soft spot for soap melodrama. So that means turning a blind eye to some of the poor acting and contrived storylines to take the ride. If you’re ready to enroll and attend a class at East Los, you’ll get a lesson or two in love, violence, and revenge...and you don’t want to be tardy.

Jessie (Janine Larina) & Jacob (Gabriel Chavarria)

“East Los High” follows Jessie (Janine Larina), a good student who is socially awkward. She and her friend Soli (Noemi Gonzalez) are two peas in a pod. What could pull two best friends apart? A boy of course. Jacob (Gabriel Chavarria) is the high school stud that every girl wants to be with. His attention turns to Jessie after his girlfriend Vanessa (Tracy Perez) is caught red handed cheating on him via cell phone footage.

The show brings cultural music and dance into the lives of its’ teens through the Bomb Squad, the high school dance team. The squad is led by Vanessa and Ceci (Danielle Vega). Vanessa is your classic queen B, who runs the girls with an iron fist. That fist is actually Ceci, a vocally unfiltered, untamed teen with plans to take down the queen.  

Vanessa (Tracy Perez) & Ceci (Danielle Vega)

What would a soap be without a stranger moving into town and shaking things up? Maya (Alicia Sixtos) comes into town to escape the past, but of course, that past follows her and puts a lot of people in danger. With the stage set, the students of East Los High deal less with tests and studying and more with their interactions with one another. Whether they’re hooking up, trying to avoid danger, or trying to tear each other apart, there is always something going on.

Numerous times while I was watching the show I kept thinking “this feels like a PSA for sexual health.” It actually is, but by the time you realize that, the message has already been delivered. The key to understanding the show is knowing who is really pulling the strings. Population Media Center (PMC), a nonprofit organization that creates serialized content to promote social change, is the creator of the show. Frankly, I think PMC is a genius for creating the show. “East Los High” puts the various outcomes of teen sexual experiences (or lack there of) at the feet of its’ viewers and asks them to make the decision for themselves. It also supplies viewers with online resources to help. It basically delivers medicine encompassed in dessert like your mom used to do.

Season 1 is clunky in its’ writing and very melodramatic most of the time. After finishing Season 2 I can say everything gets better, although it could still benefit from less foreshadowing...it’s entertaining. Like most online series, if you can get past the first few episodes, you’ll get invested in the characters and melodrama as you binge. It’s the kind of series that you love to hate at times, but with a worthy message for teens that may be the only “talk” they have...it’s worth supporting.

Check out my Top 5 characters of Season 1!

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