Post by Tim on Aug 24, 2016 23:50:53 GMT -5
Betty wrote:
Back when Season 2 ended, I remember predicting that Season 3 would be a Shark Jumper for the show. They had just revealed Mona to be A, and they were saying that Season 3 was going to have a completely new feel from the previous 2, which is almost NEVER a good sign with these kinds of shows. I knew just then and there that it was the beginning of the end for the show, and unfortunately, I was right.
The first half of Season 3 wasn't *too* bad. The pointless, unrelated Ezra backstory (ie. his family and long-lost son) that was forced on us this season was pretty awful, but the main mysteries of Allison's missing body and Maya's death were still pretty compelling, and the Liars (sans Aria, of course) were still characterized well. The midseason finale was great, with us learning the identity of Maya's killer (albeit, not A), as well as Toby's involvement with the A-Team. The Halloween episode was also pretty good, with long-time suspect Garrett dying and a pretty awesome showdown with A on the ghost train. Despite my earlier reservations, I had high hopes for the rest of the season.
Season 3B didn't live up to those hopes. Spencer finding out about Toby's betrayal should've been one of the strongest storylines on the show, but instead, all it ended up doing was turning her character into a weak, pathetic shell of her former self. Her mental breakdown was tiring to watch (if well-acted), and the network-mandated retconning of Toby into a "good guy" in the finale only made it worse, with her instantly hopping into bed with him as soon as she found out. Great message there, ABC Family.
And, speaking of the finale, it was the worst ever at the time. They had promised that we would get some answers, such as the identity of the mysterious Red Coat or Big A, but instead, all we got was a maybe/maybe not teaser of Allison in a red coat and a "reveal" that Mona was not only NOT Big A, but that she didn't even KNOW who Big A was! What a waste of an episode.
As disappointing as the latter part of Season 3 was, though, nothing could prepare me for the utter suckfest that was Season 4. Much of 4A was used to pimp the doomed Ravenswood spinoff, stealing time away from PLL's main story, and minor characters who had only been introduced in the past season, like Cece and Shana, were suddenly being elevated to main players in the mystery with no rhyme and reason (and at the expense of more important characters who *had* been there since the beginning, like Lucas and Noel). And, to continue the network-mandated retconning of Toby's character, we were dragged into a boring, pointless storyline about his dead mom that told us nothing except that Keegan Allen should've never been allowed to act.
The only hope for the season came in the midseason finale when the supposedly "pointless" Ezra was revealed to be Big A (which many fans wanted to see), and Allison was revealed to be alive (which many fans also wanted to see). Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned. Even though the 4B promos heavily promoted Allison being there, she was barely in the season, and like Toby, Ezra was retconned into being a "good guy" who was only stalking Allison and the Liars to write a mystery novel. And, the finale, despite being called "A is for Answers" and being a big "Allison Tells All" episode, didn't tell us anything we didn't already know and only introduced more questions and more red herrings. In the end, Season 4 was nothing more than a gignantic pile of filler.
I'm dreading Season 5, and I REALLY hope it's the last season. This show is running out of steam.
The first half of Season 3 wasn't *too* bad. The pointless, unrelated Ezra backstory (ie. his family and long-lost son) that was forced on us this season was pretty awful, but the main mysteries of Allison's missing body and Maya's death were still pretty compelling, and the Liars (sans Aria, of course) were still characterized well. The midseason finale was great, with us learning the identity of Maya's killer (albeit, not A), as well as Toby's involvement with the A-Team. The Halloween episode was also pretty good, with long-time suspect Garrett dying and a pretty awesome showdown with A on the ghost train. Despite my earlier reservations, I had high hopes for the rest of the season.
Season 3B didn't live up to those hopes. Spencer finding out about Toby's betrayal should've been one of the strongest storylines on the show, but instead, all it ended up doing was turning her character into a weak, pathetic shell of her former self. Her mental breakdown was tiring to watch (if well-acted), and the network-mandated retconning of Toby into a "good guy" in the finale only made it worse, with her instantly hopping into bed with him as soon as she found out. Great message there, ABC Family.
And, speaking of the finale, it was the worst ever at the time. They had promised that we would get some answers, such as the identity of the mysterious Red Coat or Big A, but instead, all we got was a maybe/maybe not teaser of Allison in a red coat and a "reveal" that Mona was not only NOT Big A, but that she didn't even KNOW who Big A was! What a waste of an episode.
As disappointing as the latter part of Season 3 was, though, nothing could prepare me for the utter suckfest that was Season 4. Much of 4A was used to pimp the doomed Ravenswood spinoff, stealing time away from PLL's main story, and minor characters who had only been introduced in the past season, like Cece and Shana, were suddenly being elevated to main players in the mystery with no rhyme and reason (and at the expense of more important characters who *had* been there since the beginning, like Lucas and Noel). And, to continue the network-mandated retconning of Toby's character, we were dragged into a boring, pointless storyline about his dead mom that told us nothing except that Keegan Allen should've never been allowed to act.
The only hope for the season came in the midseason finale when the supposedly "pointless" Ezra was revealed to be Big A (which many fans wanted to see), and Allison was revealed to be alive (which many fans also wanted to see). Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned. Even though the 4B promos heavily promoted Allison being there, she was barely in the season, and like Toby, Ezra was retconned into being a "good guy" who was only stalking Allison and the Liars to write a mystery novel. And, the finale, despite being called "A is for Answers" and being a big "Allison Tells All" episode, didn't tell us anything we didn't already know and only introduced more questions and more red herrings. In the end, Season 4 was nothing more than a gignantic pile of filler.
I'm dreading Season 5, and I REALLY hope it's the last season. This show is running out of steam.