Kat with a K

Pretty Little Liars 1.3: "To Kill a Mocking Girl"

I have to say, I'm still somewhat less into this than I'd hoped I'd be. But I'm enough into it - or at least parts of it - to keep watching. And man, everyone's hair is really pretty. Anyway! Episode 3 thoughts after the jump.

I'm finding myself rather bored by Hanna and Emily. Hanna's situation with the cop is creepy, sure, and the thing with Sean seems like it could go somewhere interesting but hasn't, yet. And really, I kind of like Sean. But Hanna herself is . . . meh. We need to actually see more of the insecurities and Daddy issues that are driving her, instead of continuing to talk around them. Emily continues being just too perfect, and I really don't like Kendra Emily Bennett Maya for reasons I still can't pin down. I guess we need to see more of Emily herself as a multidimensional person, rather than Perfect Swimming Girl with this One Big Issue.

I find Spencer rather more interesting; her issues mostly stem from the pressure her parents put on her and her lifelong rivalry with her sister, but she isn't blameless. She bears some responsibility for her problems, and seems to realize that, which makes her more sympathetic, in a way, than a plain old victim would be. But kissing Wren and stealing the paper were both undeniably wrong. (Incidentally, she didn't even read her sister's paper before she turned it in? Really? I don't believe that.) I sort of feel like her parents are overreacting to the Wren thing, but maybe not. I can't really decide how I think they should have reacted.

And Aria. Oh, Aria. My favorite. I still kind of love her with Ezra, even though I know I should think it's wrong. I'm not sure whether she realizes how closely her situation mirrors her father's. I mean, sure, so far as Aria knows, at least, Ezra doesn't have a girlfriend or wife and family or anything, so in that sense, Aria is perfectly reasonable to carry on her relationship while objecting to her father's relationship with Meredith. But they're still both teacher/student things. In any case, I find myself rooting for her and Ezra to somehow make it work, although I can't imagine how the show could really make that believable, anyway.

There were many fewer messages from A this episode, which was fine, I guess, although I think the messages work well as a framing device. I do still want to know what happened to Alison, and who's behind the messages, but I hope it doesn't get dragged out too long. If the show can resolve that mystery and move on to other things, I think it has a chance of thriving. Otherwise, it's Gossip Girl meets How I Met Your Mother, but without the better parts of either, and it will get old very quickly.