Boy oh boy, does Pretty Little Liars know how to play on my biggest fears! Every time someone gets caught in an enclosed space on TV, I lose my breath a little. Not since Cherie got trapped in the refrigerator in that CPR episode of Punky Brewster have I had such a visceral reaction to a character’s desperation when they realize there’s no way out.
Also, can I just mention how much I love town festivals on television? I react the same way to Thanksgiving episodes — I just get all giddy inside. It has something to do with the togetherness, cheesy reunions, game-playing (take that as you will), and lots and lots of eating. Some of my favorite episodes of my favorite shows have been the “fair” or “carnival” episodes. There were at least two episodes of The O.C. devoted in part to the carnival, where the characters all ended up in order to kiss, break up, make up … or at least ride the ferris wheel. In Veronica Mars, a winter carnival plays a part in an episode in Season 2, where Logan flirts with Hannah, Jackie sits in the dunk tank, and a wad of money goes missing.
Anyway, the Rosewood Founders Day Festival does an amazing job of setting up an event filled with gleeful community cheer and juxtaposing it with the constant fear and paranoia surrounding the girls. Mona does her “duty” as yenta/bad friend and gets rid of poor Caleb’s love letter to Hanna. And I’m happy that Samara has stepped in to finally make Emily feel like she is worth coming out for. Not that I don’t think that Paige and Emily are sort of a good match, but it’s too reminiscent of Six Feet Under‘s David and Keith before David was fully out.
I’m really glad Aria took the high road with regard to Ezra’s faux-book page. Because that’s what adults do. Wait, she’s not an adult yet? Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I really don’t think we’ve heard the end of Jackie Molina, that’s for sure. Maybe Jackie is A! (Nah.) And I’m also trying to figure out sketchy cop Garrett’s involvement in all of this.
Thank god the episode didn’t end with Ian staring Spencer in the face with that crowbar. I would have lost it! Although, some comic relief: I happened to be watching the haunted house scene with captioning turned on, and the screen kept saying “[Playfully sinister canned laughter]” while Spencer was traveling through it. That helped me not be scared out of my mind!
Pretty Little Quotes:
~ “All I know is my daughter’s sitting in a dark room listening to Elliot Smith on a loop. I don’t know what happened between you two …” — Ashley
“Would it matter? You were never really my biggest fan.” — Caleb
“Well, that’s because I didn’t want to see my daughter listening to Elliot Smith on a loop.” — Ashley
~”[That guy’s] like a weirder-looking Dan Humphrey.” — my husband, referring to Ezra
Clacked by Rachel Blum-Jose 
on Mar 15, 2011 @ 08:44 EST5EDT
I remember that episode of Punky Brewster! In fact, it’s the only one I ever remember watching. lol.
Incidentally, this was the first episode of PLL I’ve watched. I’m intrigued.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, the CPR episode stuck out to me all these years! Ha ha. Glad you watched PLL – finale next week!