After a slow start in the winter premiere of the second half of season four of “Pretty Little Liars,” the two most recent episodes have slowly but surely been making progress on the plotline. Episodes 15 and 16, “Love ShAck, Baby” and “Close Encounters,” respectively, have been noticeably more captivating to viewers than the winter premiere was, with more drama, risks, and twists for the Liars. However, the girls’ actions on the show are becoming more repetitive, as they continue to fall into A’s traps and find themselves blindsided time and time again.
Thankfully, the show has increased appeal to viewers at the expense of creating tension among Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Spencer. The distrust evident in the past two episodes foreshadows friendship issues in episodes to come. First of all, the girls are keeping secrets from each other. Hanna tries to hide Alison’s journal from Aria, Spencer, and Emily because she does not want them to know the truth about her hooking up with Aria’s younger brother, Mike. Also hiding the truth from her friends, Aria decides to keep her decision to get back together with Ezra away from the girls, even lying to them about staying at Ezra’s cabin while they waited for Travis to pick them up, claiming that the cabin belongs to Aria’s uncle. The secrecy among the Liars is sure to stunt their progress of helping Alison return to Rosewood, but it does add a much-needed element of drama to the show.
Second, Spencer creates issues with Emily after Emily is instructed to meet Alison alone, and Spencer shows up, causing Alison to run away. Spencer initially claims that she thought Emily was in danger but lets it slip that she was listening to Emily and Alison the whole time, so she clearly knew Emily had no chance of being hurt. Spencer explains that Alison is just trying to reel in Emily’s trust, but Emily is livid because now Alison will not trust Emily enough to contact her again. The controversy between Spencer and Emily captivates viewers and intrigues them to wonder how this conflict of distrust will be either resolved or furthered in the next episode.
Despite the increase in captivation for viewers, there is a downside to the past two episodes. The viewers know that Ezra is A, but the Liars do not. Ezra is obviously supposed to be creepier now that viewers know his secret, but he is overdoing it. Constantly staring at the girls and watching them from only yards away, asking Aria where she and her friends will be when they hang out, sneaking into Hanna’s room to search for Ali’s journal while Mrs. Marin is on the phone, always looking startled or skeptical when speaking to the Liars—Ezra might as well tape a sign to his forehead that says “I am A.” Even after Jake warns Aria that Ezra may be dangerous after he lies to her about visiting a friend in Philadelphia, Ezra awkwardly talks his way out of any trouble with Aria and insincerely assures her that he loves her. For someone who is supposed to be gaining Aria’s trust, Ezra is unconvincing, and he just makes Aria look stupid for continuing to trust him.
Another negative side to the past two episodes is the repetitiveness of scenarios the Lairs find themselves in. After rushing to an empty hotel to stop A from taking Ali, Hanna is the only one with enough common sense to realize that A probably set them up for the hundredth time. And how many times do the girls have to encounter a near-death experience in the woods before they realize they should just not go in the woods? Repetitiveness aside, “Love ShAck, Baby” and “Close Encounters” have proved that the winter premiere was just a fluke and the show can still interest the audience. With a target now on Jake’s back and previews showing Mona’s return, the next episode of “Pretty Little Liars,” airing on Tuesday, January 28 at 8 pm on ABC Family, should be one worth watching.
