OK, confession time: I love "Pretty Little Liars."
Yes, it is cheesy, and melodramatic, and on occasion there is some very bad acting happening. It is also probably intended for teenage girls. But as a guilty pleasure show, it hits all the right marks - twisty, ridiculous plots, angsty characters, forbidden romances... and on top of that, it is occasionally even funny and clever. Really.
It certainly is not a show for everyone. But it is a lot of fun.
Last night's first season finale followed in the grand tradition of shows like "Lost" by supposedly answering one mystery while actually opening up about five more. In theory we learned the identity of Allison's killer. But his story didn't quite match up, and I'm not convinced that he wasn't covering for someone else. And who showed up to kill him? On top of that, it became even more obvious than before that the mysterious "A", who has been harassing the Liars via text message, email and lipsticked mirror all season, is most likely not the same person as Allie's killer.
Everyone on this show seems sinister. Even the Liars themselves, on occasion. And there is a whole lot of older male/teenage female hooking up on this show, which just lends to the general air of ickiness. How can you not feel suspicious of a 20-something male who feels the need to sex up 15 and 16 year old girls? Really, anyone on this show could potentially be the all-knowing A, or Allison's killer. No one would be that surprising at this point.
One of the things I love about "Pretty Little Liars" is that solving Allison's murder is complicated by the fact that almost everyone hated her. The girl was a psycho, blackmailing people left and right, toying with the emotions of both friends and enemies and even notably blinding someone. So even the Liars are easy suspects in her murder. And every time they try to go to the police with some new piece of evidence, they end up somehow implicating themselves. As a viewer it's not hard to see why: there is almost a "Crucible" vibe to these four pretty, popular girls crying "Murderer!" at every turn. If we weren't seeing it from their point of view, it would seem pretty suspicious.
I will say, this show has treated some characters better than others, and the finale was successful in showing all of the Liars to their strengths. Aria is always less interesting when she is mooning over her inappropriate boyfriend (and high school English teacher) Ezra, so watching her call him out for being a jerk and then spend the rest of the episode actually be a good friend was refreshing. Spencer is always awesome, but she had plenty of opportunities to run the spectrum from cute and romantic to terrified but still badass. (Although, really, Spencer, you never run UP the stairs when trying to escape a madman. Horror 101.) Hannah and Emily had less to do, but did enough in the time they were given, and since they have both had quite a bit of screentime lately due to Hannah's up-and-down relationship with bad-boy Caleb and Emily's attempt at starting a relationship with closeted Paige, their storylines still felt like plenty.
Where they go from here is anyone's guess. One of the reasons I actually enjoy this show is that I never know what is going to happen next. There are a few characters who you just know are bad, but who is behind each threat, and what crazy twist will happen next, is definitely still a juicy mystery.
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