Final Thoughts From the Pretty Little Liars Series Finale

Here are my thoughts from last night's 2-hour series finale:

1. I was very disappointed by the way the first hour of this finale was essentially wasted. Other than Spencer (Troian Bellisario) getting clonked on the head by Mona (Janel Parrish) at the very end, the entire first episode consisted of relationship talk, wedding proposals and PG-13-level sex scenes. The writers could have used that time a little more productively, perhaps introducing us to Spencer's twin, Alex (also Bellisario), sooner so her story didn't seem so rushed.

2. I have mixed feelings about the whole evil twin reveal. It was, admittedly, a clever move, especially when it was tied in with some earlier head-scratching scenes that made me question how Spencer seemed to either be in two places at once or move from one place to another at superhuman speed. However, I also felt a little cheated. Rosewood has so many potential bad guys to choose from and it was a little disappointing it wasn't someone we've met before (though, technically, I guess we've met Alex too).



3. I will, however, give myself a little bit of a pat on the back because I was almost correct about Wren (Julian Morris) being A. D. He wasn't the one tormenting the PLLs. But, he was involved.

4. Am I the only one who gets the feeling, had this series lasted beyond this season, we'd find out Spencer was related to most of Rosewood? I honestly was expecting Mary (Andrea Parker) to tell Spencer she also had a half-brother named Toby.

5. Speaking of Toby (Keegan Allen), now that we know Alex's efforts were, in part, due to her obsession with him, shouldn't we be questioning whether Yvonne's (Kara Royster) death was really an accident? Officially, they got into a wreck because of a deer. But, it does seem a little too fishy to be a coincidence.

6. Did they really do that cliche "which twin is the good one" routine? That just seems like such a lazy move considering that has been done in just about every evil twin scenario since the dawn of time (or, at least since the dawn of movies/television).



7. I did like the way the writers managed to give all the major characters a happy ending, including poor Mona (who, as I predicted, would be a pariah even after saving the PLLs again), who got to stay her crazy self by torturing Mary and Alex. Even Jenna (Tammin Sursok) got to end the series on a high note by figuring out Spencer wasn't Spencer and saving the day. Of course, the whole "everyone has kids, is pregnant or will be adopting" ending with the PLLs was, once again, a little predictable and cliche.

Final Opinion: As I said before, I hated the first hour of this episode and wish the writers would have used it to move into the A. D. story sooner so that part of the finale didn't seem as rushed, especially since the bunker she built under Toby's house seemed like it could be a story in itself. That being said, with the exception of who Charlotte's (Vanessa Ray) father was, the episode did bring closure to Rosewood's unsolved mysteries and, while a bit cliche, the happy ending was a good way to end the series.

My Grade: B

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: Role Play (2023)

Movie Review: Mean Girls (2024)

Movie Review: Upgraded (2024)