Kat with a K

Pretty Little Liars 1.11: "Moments Later"

"Got a secret; can you keep it?" Pretty Little Liars is back! This was originally a summer show, and a lot of us tuned in to get our fix of teen drama while shows like The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl were on hiatus. I'm curious to see how it holds up when it's on right along with those shows. It's certainly not as good as either of those, but it makes for a fun 42 minutes of TV. My main question continues to be how long they can possibly drag out the central mystery, and what they'll do after they solve that. There's certainly enough else going on that I think they could keep a show going without the question of A, but I worry they'll be afraid to do that.

Overall, I thought this winter premiere was a solid return for the show, and it did its duty: it got me eager to see the rest of the season. The girls' hair continues to be shiny, the guys continue to be hot, and the music - helmed by the incredible Chris Mollere - continues to be good. For some more spoilery thoughts about this episode, click through to read the full post.

Hanna's "accident:" Hanna's mom has never been the best parent, but it seems so obvious that Hanna is hiding something that I had trouble buying that she didn't pick up on it. Also, wouldn't you think Hanna's dad would come visit? Hm. Other than that, I thought Hanna's fear in the hospital was well done, and her scene with Lucas was pretty adorable. He's so obviously better than Sean, but it makes sense that Hanna, with her focus on popularity and image, wouldn't really be able to see that.

Aria: Against my better judgment, after this episode I'm completely rooting for Aria and Ezra. I think it does really make a difference, to me at least, that when they met they didn't know about their imminent teacher/student relationship. It's hard to see where they can go from here, though. Is Aria a senior? I can't remember. If she is, I guess they can get through this year and then openly become a couple when she's in college. But, of course, this is a TV show, so the reasonable, undramatic thing won't happen. Also, where was Aria's father? For once, I did not spend the episode looking at Chad Lowe and thinking "Man, you look like your brother."

Emily: I'm enjoying the character of her father, and I like how the coming out storyline is being handled so far. And I was glad Maya wasn't really around, because she's annoying, and Bianca Lawson has been playing the same age now for at least eleven years and it's starting to bug me. I also liked Emily's obviously mixed feelings about Toby, and I'm curious to see where they take that.

Spencer: Oh, poor Spencer. And seriously, Ian, marrying Melissa because you have inappropriate feelings toward her sister does not seem like a good idea. Sigh.

A: Oh, I don't know. I think I need to read some recaps and refresh my memory about exactly what went on at the end of the summer season. But I thought it was ridiculous that just seeing Noel writing on a car made the girls immediately think he was A. The message wasn't signed or anything. So I think Noel is obviously a red herring, but I don't have a theory at the moment as to what's actually going on. Well, actually, my theory is that it's some minor character who's always around but presented in such a way that we don't really see/think about him/her. But I don't know who that person is.