PLL: Original Sin: Summer School is canceled, and the Bros are finally free. It’s been a good ride, but all good things, etc. We’re escaping Mona’s basement and you’ll never catch us again. Also, at the end of this short episode, please enjoy a short reading of Chapter 1 of our new book, Game On, Trouble.

Greetings, mystery lovers! This special solo pod is PLL-free. That’s right, with Book 4 in the Trouble: Girl Detective mystery series due out in two weeks, JT thought it would be fun to do a virtual reading. If you’ve never checked out the books previously, here’s a chance to see what they’re all about, with no spoilers since this reading is of the first book. Please enjoy the first three chapters of My Name is Trouble, read by your old pal Benji.

Please enjoy this off-the-rails podcast where we are joined by Kaitlin of the Riverdale Register podcast to discuss the Ti West movie X, and several other topics related to horror movies, Pretty Little Liars, Longlegs, the TV and film industry, and anything else that strikes our fancy. JT is on painkillers and Kaitlin has covid, so we’re kind of all over the place here, lol!

In s02e08 “Final Exam” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen becomes a jealous girlfriend and bashes Johnny’s head in with a pipe wrench after finding bodies in the Creamery freezer. Not crossed an important relationship milestone when she asks Jen to help her hot-wire a car. Faran saves Kelly with the worst CPR you’ve ever seen, and later karate kicks Bloody Rose in the face. Mouse’s plot-line still consists of refreshing SpookySpaghetti dot com twice a day, and updating the other girls on new developments at her leisure. And Tabby gets to be the Final Final Girl in one of the lamest killer reveals ever broadcast—and that includes Principal Clanton last season, so that’s saying something!

In s02e07 “The Bogeyman” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen demands proof from Therapy Anne that she’s not Bloody Rose, so Therapy Anne tells her  bizarre story about how Archie Waters maybe killed her son. Mouse tries to fool the denizens of Spooky Spaghetti with a fake Angela Waters video, forgetting that the internet is full of terrible people with low cunning. Faran needs a pep talk from her mom to tell off Coach Rhodes and quit her job because she’s never been so self-actualized. Tabby is surprised when Wes quits, and decides to make her own horror movie about Season 1. And Noa finally dumps Shawn, and then acts like she’s the wronged one when he gets mad about her cheating.

In s02e06 “Hell House” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen is outraged to learn that the stupid Redemption House plot line is happening in her old house. Noa inexplicably wants to choose Jen over Shawn, but then she learns Jen is back to her thieving ways. Mouse helps Ash set up a Pride pool party in response to the lame hell house. Tabby is concerned about Wes being missing, until she finds a bunch of horror stuff at his apartment. And Faran tells Greg and Henry off, and then learns that Greg is an ally, because he has a cousin, who lives in Riverdale, who is gay.

In s02e05 “Friday the 13th” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen is getting more and more unhinged, and it’s unclear whether it’s a pharmaceutical reaction, or she’s just being a #Girlboss. Tabby realizes she hasn’t gotten to soapbox in a few episodes and rectifies that situation, and then plans an outdoor horror movie fest with Christian. Noa cheats some more, and then throws metaphorical rocks at Jen like she’s Nymeria the Direwolf to make her leave. Mouse doesn’t have much of a plot-line here; she reads the internet, I guess. And Faran beats Greg at arm wrestling, and then dumps Henry because seeing him speak in tongues gave her the ick.

In s02e04 “When a Stranger Calls Back” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen poorly recreated the end of Sixteen Candles with Johnny. Tabby is still saddled with an assault trauma plot-line from season 1. Mouse suddenly remembers she inspired the whole stupid Spooky Spaghetti thing. Noa blows off work for a montage with Jen, and then gets her actual boyfriend to hand over two grand to bail her ass out of jail, and then cheats on him. And Faran, the strongest (and dumbest) Sinner faces her incredibly contrived “Final Girl Test.”

In s02e03 “Sweet Sixteen” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen salts Johnny’s game and then poorly pastiches Mulholland Drive. Tabby gets creeped out by Christian’s weird basement of masks. Noa has to cover for Jen stealing from Pinball Pizza. Faran is prompted to consider if she might be a humorless prig, but thankfully comes to the realization that no, she is perfect, and it’s everyone else who must be the problem. And Mouse gets tricked into attending the wrong surprise party with like 10 minutes left in the episode because the writers remembered that something should happen on this show.

In s02e02 “Summer Lovin” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen gets very melodramatic because she can’t sit with her friends in summer school. Noa gets a head start on the bisexual cheater trope with the girl from Do Revenge. Tabby meets a new guy Christian at work, but is reluctant to share her short film and love of horror with him. Mouse spends more time on Spooky Spaghetti. Kelly introduces the concept of technical re-virginity. Faran remains perfect and flawless and unbothered and always winning and being the best.

We’re so back! In s02e01 “Loose Ends” of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin: Summer School, Imogen insists on keeping the baby plotline on the show. Tabby is angry, and taking it out on Chip’s terrible mom. Faran remains a contradiction of motivations, but at least they killed off the ballerina thing—and Madame Giry too. Noa is getting sick of Shawn’s mom’s lip about her living rent-free (literally) in their house for six months, and draining her son’s precious bodily fluids nightly. And Mouse has become obsessed with the Spooky Spaghetti website and their urban legends about Archie and Rose Waters, despite knowing it’s all made up. Oh, and Kelly became a Riverdale character.

Well, this movie sucked. In preparation for Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, we watched the 1981 film Student Bodies, which the PLL:SS season stole its first poster from. And it’s really bad and not worth watching or disgusting. In better news, you can preorder our new book!

Hola, amigos. It’s been a while since we rapped at ya. Since Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is about to come back for a second season, now titled Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, we thought we might get back into the swing of things by time traveling back to 1987 to revisit the original Summer School movie, staring Mark Harmon and Courtney Thorne-Smith as the proto-Aria Montgomery. They sure don’t make ’em like this anymore.

The Bros conclude the Dollhouse arc with special guest Janina, looking at the Season 6 premier of Pretty Little Liars. Let’s all pour one out for the last time Ali gets to be an interesting character on the show! Also, “It’s Andrew Babe!” After the commentary, there’s a little more Trouble talk, so beware of spoilers!

We’re back for more commentary episodes, this time with a guest all the way from Germany! Janina joins us to cover the first half of the infamous Dollhouse arc, where Pretty Little Liars really ascended to new levels of insanity. After the commentary, we talk a little Trouble, so beware of spoilers as we poll Janina for how well we did on the European setting for Trouble Takes a Holiday.

In a Headcanon crossover episode, the Bros are joined by Kate to talk about the grandmother of all modern teen movies: Amy Heckerling’s Clueless. The Girl from the Aerosmith video shows limitless charm as Cher, the ditzy queen of Bronson Alcott High, and the stellar supporting cast of future stars makes this teen retelling of “Emma” a classic.

Thanksgiving is over, and it’s time to get in the holiday cheer with a commentary track for the PLL Christmas Episode. Elizabeth Kyle joins us again to talk Winter Ball fashion, inappropriate student-teacher Santa fetish group sex, and whatever happened to Ali’s legs! And for dessert, we share our thoughts on Midnights by Taylor Swift.

An episode so good, we did it again. We’re joined on the podcast by Elizabeth Kyle to talk over the classic Ghost Train episode. Aria: still A! Pastor Ted: still sucks! Ghost Trains: still not a real thing! Be on the lookout for some light spoilery Trouble talk at the end.

Hey everyone, we’re back! For this special episode of the pod, we are joined by Rose Coffey, the winner of our Trouble book contest. Rose joins us to talk Do Revenge, the Mean Girls-meets-Strangers on a Train teen comedy on Netflix starring Maya Hawke, Camila Mendes, and (the best part of PLL: Original Sin) Maia Reficco. At the end of the episode, we have some very spoilery discussion of Trouble Takes a Holiday, so make sure you’ve visited mynameistrouble.com and caught up on all three books before you listen!

A and A’s handler are exposed, along with the secret rapist, and we’re finally done with this stupid show. The “guilty” are “punished” by the “killer” after the big “twist” reveal cooked up by these “writers.” It’s all so dumb. Anyway, our new book is out!

We’re almost done. Two to go for this trash show. The writers pretended the plot was over at the end of the last episode, so we’re treated to a lame recap where they try to lampshade their poor storytelling. A bunch of stuff happens off screen, and we’re told, not shown, a bunch of random stuff to move the plot along. The evil Sheriff is revealed to be more evil, and the secret rapist becomes rather obvious. People got paid to write this…

The Sinners concoct a dumb, pointless plan to gather up a bunch of bloody cotton balls from the school Blood Drive, so they can test them en masse to see if one of the students is the father of Imogen’s rape baby. Oh, and Crazy Joe comes back, acts super threatening, seems to clearly be A and then k-words himself, so of course he’s not A. Help.

Imogen encourages Tabby to go to the cops about her assault, but isn’t ready to go yet herself. Instead, she’s doing the old, “high school project to take care of a fake baby with a romantic interest” plot line, which is extra gross because… you know. Mouse has more drama with her creepy LARPing dude Steve, and tricks her mom into revealing one of the more boring deep dark secrets imaginable. Faran is suddenly dealing with chronic pain and tells her mom off and is even more empowered and makes out with her dancer boyfriend. Whatever. Noa gets a physical trainer that might be encouraging her to juice. Tabby cooks up a new scheme to catch her rapist, rather than talking with a counselor about it.

Imogen and Tabby bond over their shared trauma and take a trip to fake-ass Rosewood to talk to fake-ass Eddie Lamb at the fake-ass Radley Hotel. Noa, Faran, and Mouse are stuck in some theater kid after school special nonsense. But don’t worry, folks, everything is super empowering and totally on fleek. Straight bussin’ fr fr no cap.

The Sinners throw a High School Rager™ to raise money to save the local rec center—er, pay Imogen’s mortgage. Everyone talks to each other like they’re in a flame war on Tumblr. It’s Halloween. There’s lots of costumes, but no Adam Lambert or even Giant Drag making an appearance. I hate this show. Help!

This week on the pod, Imogen’s been thinking about her mom, and she’s got some unkind words for the rotting bitch. Mouse has like five lines. Faran might be the worst. Noa gets chased around and scared into selling her useless mom out. And Tabby has a super-fun sexual assault mystery plot line! We’d rather be watching the show where Caleb and Toby are driving through town on the way to infiltrate some Actual Bad Guys.

Karen is dead! Or was it secretly Kelly? Who cares? It’s not like we’d seen enough of them for it to mean anything. The “Liars” are lying about the one thing it would make sense to tell the truth about, and telling the truth about everything else. The writers don’t seem interested in developing characters or creating tension, and the direction is somehow even worse. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THE CAMERA???

Something finally happens on the show this week, despite the whole, “We’re gonna kill Karen Beasley!” thing being a complete lie. Imogen has feeling about being Sprit Queen like her mom when she also bullied a girl like her mom (but she doesn’t know that yet). Mouse is very upset about the killing of some dirty rodent. Faran doesn’t have much to do. Tabby makes way too many horror movie references. And Noa blackmails the Sheriff so she can go to the dance. Oh, and “Karen” is “killed” by “A.”

After a long slumber, the Bros have awoken and attended the red carpet premiere of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, a show featuring no pretty little liars, no originality, and not enough sin. We only watched this once, and this is all from memory, so if we get something wrong, blame Warner Bros for not inviting us to the after party.Also, we’re doing a giveaway. Listen for details and a chance to win Pretty Little Liars: The Complete series, on Digital.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e22 “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The Liars finally take things into their own hands by trying to blackmail Ian with a burner phone. Aria is upset with Ezra’s lies of omission about Jackie Molina. Garrett tries to use his friendship with Emily’s family to get her to spill Liar secrets. Hanna is despondent about her Caleb breakup. And Spencer gets in a car crash and fights with Ian in the church belfry.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e21 “Monsters in the End.” It’s Founder’s Day or something in Rosewood, which means creepy clowns on stilts and haunted houses for Spencer to be terrorized in. Elsewhere, Aria terrorizes us all with her paper bag selfies and complaints about Ezra’s Website Page. Caleb tries to talk to a heartbroken Hanna, but Mona is gatekeeping him away. And Emily finds a new love interest when Paige bails on her.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e20 “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Spencer doesn’t feel safe around Ian and her parents sure don’t care. Hanna discover’s Caleb’s betrayal and slaps the smile off Jenna Thing’s face. Aria’s parents are fighting again when they discover she’s got a boy in her life. And Emily is flummoxed when Paige goes on a date with Sean.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e19 “A Person of Interest.” Caleb gives Hanna what Sean refused to. Aria cosplays as Ezra’s undersexed wife, but he’s more focused on the Jenna Thing’s semi-autobiographical essay. Paige gets Emily to sing karaoke, and Spencer is the big spoon with Toby on a stakeout.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e18 “The Badass Seed.” Aria is a terrible stage manager and everyone in the whole school can tell there’s something going on between her and Ezra. Hanna gets a peak at Caleb in the shower, and it’s weird with him afterward. Emily gets to have scenes with Toby one more time before he’s Spencer’s forever, and speaking of Spence, she’s discovers a new clue and for the first and last time, trusts the police with it.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e17 “The New Normal.” Hanna is letting the Artful Dodger sleep in her basement, and he comes in handy when he clocks James Leland as a lying goldbricker trying to con her mom vis a vis dead old Mrs. Potter’s safety deposit box. Aria is perturbed when her Dad thinks there’s something going on between Ezra and Ella. Emily has to deal with Paige’s homophobic dad, and then Paige showing her tongue down her throat. And Spencer goes snooping around creepy Jenna Thing’s house looking for clues.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e16 “Je Suis une Amie.” Spencer is newly interested in Sad Boi Toby Cavanaugh. Aria is freaking out because it seems like her mom was at the same museum where she went on a date with Ezra, and is clearly lying about it. Hanna bonds with Rosewood Bad Boy and all around total babe Caleb Rivers by pointing out which of her classmates he can exploit, and how. And Emily is living in the greatest Melissa Etheridge video of all time with Paige.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e15 “If At First You Don’t Succeed, Lie, Lie Again.” Hanna betrays Aria so that A will put out a hit on Mrs. Potter. Emily has a meet-cute moment with Paige where Paige tries to drown her. Ezra goes on a fancy adult date with his child girlfriend Aria. And an old, haunting photo of Ali from That Night reminds Spencer that she kinda did want to murder her friend.

Pull our strings and we’ll wink at you, we’re your puppets! Special guest Sarah won the Trouble contest, and picked Benji’s favorite episode of Pretty Little Liars to talk about. It’s s03e23 “I’m Your Puppet.” Please enjoy this commentary track where we discuss how to fence a hot bell, The Dark Spencer Saga, Pam suddenly working for the cops, Aria’s encounter with Red Coat in the morgue, and so much more.

Special guest this week! It’s Demi, winner of our recent Trouble contest, to talk about Pretty Little Liars s05e09 “March of Crimes.” So. Much. Twinning! Aria is being a terrible friend to Hanna about Baker Bro Zach’s lecherous behavior. Spencer confronts Caleb about all the Haleb drinking. Emily is in Girl Detective mode, stealing locker combos and breaking into cars. And Noel Kahn is hiding under a blanket. What a fun ep!

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e14 “Careful What U Wish 4.” Aria’s old babysitter Simone aka Meg Manning is making eyes at Ezra Fitz, and Aria will NOT stand for it. Spencer thinks Ian has stolen her laptop to erase the incriminating video of him and Ali in the woods, Emily is getting drunk and dropping hard truth bombs after Maya gets distant at True North, and Hanna is forced to dance with Lucas at the Dance-a-thon all night, finally ending her relationship with Sean. But don’t worry, Hanna Banana, a certain cell phone hacker makes his first appearance in this ep. It’s Caleb!!!

Check out our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e13 “Know Your Frenemies.” Aria can’t complain, because A saved her relationship. Maya gets shipped off to “juvie camp” because nosy Pam found a joint and some roach clips, so the other liars coordinate an evening of lovemaking for Emily, lending her Spencer’s bed. That’s a sentence. Hanna bears the brunt of A’s attentions, being forced to eat cupcakes and recall the time Ali tried to give her an eating disorder. And of course, Spencer has her hands full suspecting Ian of murder, and spying on Toby to watch him cry.

This week on the pod, we’re taking Pretty Little Liars s01e12 “Salt Meets Wound.” Mona throws a surprise Get Well Party for Hanna and A steals all the Marin Girls’ lasagna money. Alex can’t handle the class conflict with Spencer Hastings, Maya comes to dinner at the Fields house and Pam cannot handle it, and Aria just can’t believe that Noel Kahn would blackmail her sleazy teacher.

Aria comes clean to the Liars about the Ezra business, Spencer has to deal with shirtless Ian, Hanna’s got Lucas shooting his shot and dead Alison visiting her when she’s hazy on painkillers, and Emily comes out to her parents. It’s the first episode of season 1B of Pretty Little Liars, s01e10 “Moments Later.” Is this Noel Kahn’s origin story?

This week on the pod, we’re skipping s01e09 because we already did a commentary track for that pod last summer with the excellent LaToya Ferguson. Instead, we’re talking Pretty Little Liars s01e10 “Keep Your Friends Close” aka the Camp Mona episode. Mona breaks up with Hanna for being a bad friends and getting detained by the FBI, Aria attempts to emotionally manipulate the guy who’s grooming her, Spencer is looking for clues like Nancy Drew, and Emily is getting closer with Maya, and closer to coming out, even though A already secretly told her mom.

Our commentary pods continue with a revisit of Pretty Little Liars s01e08, “Please, Do Talk About Me When I’m Gone.” Old Jason is here, with all his oily anti-charm, looking to stick a foot up Wilden’s ass just to prove he can do it. Spencer pushes her sister on Ian out of guilt, Aria deigns to go on a date with Noel Kahn (Hi Noel Kahn!), Hanna sells her stolen goods online to buy groceries with the help of soft boi Lucas, and Emily is feeling things as she starts to move on from her Ali infatuation with Maya.

This week on the pod: is Toby dead? That’s right, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e07 “The Homecoming Hangover.” Jenna has a creepy dog that talks to Emily and tells her to kill. Spencer walks into the club kitchen like she owns the place, because she practically does. Sean tries to show up Hanna by sending flowers to Aria, and the Shusher shuts that right down with extreme prejudice, and then interrogates substitute Sara Shepard about Ezra Fitz’s whereabouts.

PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD. Pretty Little Liars s01e06 “There’s No Place Like Homecoming.”

We’re joined this week by special guest Courtney and jumping ahead to the end of Season 2 to do a commentary track on Pretty Little Liars s02e24 “If These Dolls Could Talk. Jenna can see! Aria blackmails her parents! Mona devises a scheme that requires her to make out with Hanna’s boyfriend to catch A. The devious genius. Follow us, end up like us.

Ezra. Dawg. Major party foul bringing your high school girlfriend to the bar poetry reading, bro. Your boy Hardy is trying to be chill about this, but, like, dude. Seriously. Also, Toby is that kid who goes to the cafe to read The Catcher in the Rye so everyone will see him reading The Catcher in the Rye. He’s barking up the wrong tree with Emily. Meanwhile Spencer seeks out a ball boy to anger her father with, and the psychiatrist thinks Hanna might have a Martha personality. WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME!!??!!

Nothing says Thanksgiving like Ezra’s gangly legs on a bike. We spy with our little eye, something that begins with a commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e04 “Can You Hear Me Now.” The liars have the only good idea in the entire run of the show: just blocking A’s calls. Also, this is the first collaboration between writer Joseph Dougherty and director Norman Buckley. Cheers!

The Bros are back again, no guests this time, to continue doing commentary tracks for Pretty Little Liars. This week, we’re doing s01e03 “To Kill a Mocking Girl.” First appearance of Keegan Allen aka Toblerone Toby Cavanaugh! Meredith being a scamp! The Hastings Family ladies and their wonderful dynamic! Enjoy!

This is it folks, the last of our commentary podcasts (for now). Norman Buckley is back to give us all the behind-the-scenes trivia about the 100th episode of Pretty Little Liars: s05e05 “Miss Me x 100.” Remember when Caleb returned to Rosewood as a ghost with short hair and we had to see Ezra’s hair legs in the sex scene. Oh yeah.

We’re very pleased to have writer and director Joseph Dougherty on the podcast for one of our very favorite episodes of PLL. That’s right, we’re doing a commentary track for s04e19 “Shadow Play.” Joe gives us a ton of insight into the behind the scenes work of producing the famous black & white episode of PLL, and it is a delight.

Journey with us to spooky Ravenswood for this special Halloween episode of PLL. We’re joined by director Norman Buckley to lay down a commentary track for s04e12 “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” aka the one where we learn about the A-ness of Ezra. How is Emily chained to a conveyor belt? Nevermind, look, it’s CeCe in a Red Coat, and Aria doing kickboxing!

A very special welcome to Pretty Little Liars’ showrunner and creator I. Marlene King, who has joined us to provide commentary for the first episode she directed, s03e16 “Misery Loves Company.” Stephen King homages and creepy dolls abound. You know why we picked you, right?

Someone’s been living in the DiLaurentis basement! We’re joined by special guest Lesley Fera, aka Veronica Hastings herself to provide commentary for s04e10 “The Mirror Has Three Faces.” Some great Mona vs Veronica scenes in this ep, in addition to Wren being super sus, Toby still hung up on his loser mom, and Red Coat creeping in mirrors.

Where do you go when you need to trade information in exchange for a mask of your own face? Howabout special guests Joseph Dougherty and Norman Buckley, the filmmaker’s behind today’s commentary track for s04e04 “Face Time.” We’ve got some classic scenes to discuss, like Melissa and Spencer at the lake, Lt. Tanner humoring Hanna in the park, and whether Aria is hurt or injured.

The 10-year anniversary celebration rolls in with a special double-guest commentary track for s04e03 “Cat’s Cradle.” We are joined by writer Joseph Dougherty and director Norman Buckley to talk Baker Bro Zach, Aria’s distaste for dudes who don’t like her black & white movies, and the one and only Hector Lime, Merchant of Masks and Secrets.

What better way to ring in the 10-year anniversary of Pretty Little Liars than rolling a cop car into the lake? This time on the pod, we’re joined once again by special guest Melanie Mayron, the director of the episode, to provide live commentary for s03e21 “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” aka, the one where Spencer loses it and ends up in a mental hospital at the end.

It’s the Halloween Horror Train episode!! LaToya Ferguson of PLL Annotations fame joins us to celebrate 10 years of Pretty Little Liars by doing a commentary track for s03e13 “This is a Dark Ride.” Ashley is visited by a ghost! Adam Lambert flirts with Aria! Hanna and Mona almost share their first kiss! What an episode!

Duncan the teenage flyboy! Jenna getting blown up! We continue to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Pretty Little Liars with this commentary track for s03e23 “Eye of the Beholder,” featuring special guest Melanie Mayron, the director of the episode.

Hanna bashed Lucas with an oar and now she’s stressing! This week on the pod we’re joined by writer Bryan M. Holdman to discuss this classic episode of Pretty Little Liars. We hear some great insights into the writing process, and have a lot of fun watching Spencer interact with Mona.

Settle in for a trip back to the closest thing Pretty Little Liars has to a bottle episode, with season 1’s The Perfect Storm. We are joined by LaToya Ferguson of PLL Annotations and That’s So Aria fame to talk over all this hijinx of Aria singing, Emily’s muddy shoes, and Veronica Hastings handing Wilden his ass.

What the hell, we might as well do The Jenna Thing too, right? It’s always felt like the Pilot and episode 2 are a package. Listen close for the Bros to learn about a certain positive COVID-19 test during the commentary.

We’re back! Celebrating 10 years of Pretty Little Liars, four months late. We thought we’d record a few commentary tracks for the anniversary, featuring yours truly for the Pilot episode, and some special guests for other favorite episodes coming in the days ahead. Enjoy!

This is it folks. The Perfectionists is no more, and it’s time for all good things to come to an end. Marco and Benji are back one last time to give the Pretty Little Liars spinoff a proper burial at sea. The bros answer one last round of questions on the mothership show and its spinoff, and also take some spoiler-y questions on My Name is Trouble towards the end. Good night, sweet prince. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things.

Wrapping up Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Marco and JT return for a look back at the first season of The PLLerfectionists, and a look forward at next season. We offer our humble pitch for Season 2 (4:35) before answering questions from listeners (31:56). Later, we do a non-spoiler Q&A session for our book, My Name is Trouble (1:37:34), before talking spoilers for the book at the end of the pod (1:59:58).

Recapping Season 1, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. In the season finale, the actual premise of the show finally arrives. There’s a creepy Professor who has entrapped the Liars and the Perfectionists into participating in a mysterious psychological experiment. Everyone is pivoting to new plot-lines, Taylor went to a rehab spa to do a bonus scene for some Aladdin money, Mason is still actively diminishing good female characters... Why wasn’t this episode the Pilot? Fingers crossed for a season 2.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Mona gets immediately busted while Ezra went seven seasons without repercussions. Ali has been demoted to making coffee for everyone. Taylor’s got a gun, and she’s not afraid to use it. There’s a Gala. Maybe everyone’s not going to be in school anymore if the show gets renewed for another season. BLAMMO! Thus falls, Not Scamander.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali and Mona are stuck in lame “romance” subplots this episode, so it’s time for Taylor Hotchkiss and the Perfs to shine. Taylor loves mojitos and hates this new dude Ali’s making eyes at. Caitlin is suddenly suspicious of her boyfriend, Harry Potter. Dylan must trick Dana into thinking he’d drop a dime on his new friends. And Ava is flashing back to happy memories of Nolan because she’s definitely the killer.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali worries she can’t trust Taylor, even as she grows closer to her doppelgänger. Mona is on the hunt for the bastard who broke into her house and didn’t leave pie. The Perfectionists are trying to study and work on essays during Dead Week. Yeah, their plot line is that interesting.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali is helping out with the fashion show this week, because sure. Mona discover’s a secret computer in Taylor’s RV and digs deeper into BeaconGuard. Caitlin is in the hospital having boring drama after getting run over, and Dylan and Ava are off being scamps and getting chased through the sewer by a Pig-Man. Oh, and Mason’s innocent. Wow, shocker.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. JT is finally broken by the baffling timeline. Marco suspects rewrites or an odd edit. As for the show, Ali meets up with her sorta doppelgänger and tries to win her trust. Mona eats peanut brittle with some old janitor before verbally devastating Booker. The other three Perfectionists hatch the dumbest scheme ever to get off the show. Zoe remains the best new character.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali signs away her marriage, drinks some wine, and goes looking for the Emerald City. Mona’s got a hot date with Bad Bishop, but Roy Hogadorn may have other plans. The Perfectionists start sharing some secrets and it DOES NOT go like Ali promised it would.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Alison DiLaurentis has clearly taken the reigns now. This is her show, and she has all the carefully crafted shots reflected in mirrors to prove it. The other Perfectionists are having a very special episode about learning to trust each other and be friends. Claire Hotchkiss and Dana Booker are shaking down the kids to see which one cracks first. And Mona might not be real, but is definitely banging Taylor Hotchkiss.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Claire Hotchkiss is drinking in the dark but otherwise very chill for losing her only remaining offspring. Mona is writing crazy equations on the wall. Ava is suddenly super grief-stricken and a pill to be around. Dylan and Caitlin are there. Ali meets the Tanner 2.0 and decides she’s done being New Ali.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali went out for a pack of smokes, then she went to Oregon to be a T.A. Mona has recruited Ali into a high-tech paranoia potboiler as part of the latest game she’s designing. Then there’s the new kids. Nolan Hotchkiss f&$%s. Caitlin’s a senator’s daughter. Ava Jalali is an anagram for Olivia Jade. Dylan plays pop hits on the cello. INTRIGUE!

We’re almost to the Pilot! Join the Bros on their last preview pod before Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists finally drops on March 20th. James and Marco talk about the marketing blitz for the show: the trailers, the Instagram ads, the weird poster, Ostinato, etc. Then we delve into the final third of The Good Girls, Sara Shepard’s sequel to The Perfectionists. SPOILER ALERT, as always!

It’s getting juicy, guys and gals. We might be days—days!—away from a Perfectionists airdate reveal. Shooting has wrapped. There’s a weird logo teaser. Lucy is filming Paradise Island or maybe just vacationing with Ryan Hansen & crew. We’re soaking in Act II of The Good Girl, where relationships are being tested, Julie is losing her grip, and Parker has more motive to kill than ever before. Pop a Four Loko and join Marco and Benji for some intrigue.

This month on the podcast: Marco and Benji provide some half-assed production updates for The Perfectionists before jumping into a discussion of chapters 1-10 of The Good Girls by Sara Shepard. New theories arise as the conflict resets for the second book in the two-part series. RIP Leslie the evil stepmom?

The guys are back to talk the latest updates on the production of The PLLerfectionists before diving into the last third of the novel. Spoiler Alert for the book, obviously. Then at the end of the pod, we also spoil the hell out of Lifetime’s You, and debate whose book we’d rather read: Beck’s, or Aria and Ezra’s?

The guys are getting into the meat of the book version of The Perfectionists this months. Major spoilers and new Tulpa theories. Production has begun on the rest of season 1 of The PLLerfectionists, and we talk a little about Lifetime’s You at the end.

This month on the pod, Marco and… not Benji? talk about the Upfronts trailer for PLL: The Perfectionists, that we are probably not technically supposed to have seen. Then we break down chapters 1-8 of the first Perfectionists novel by Sara Shepard. Bonus: stick around till the end of the pod for some discussion of Lifetime’s You, co-starring Shay Mitchell.

We're back, bitches!

This is it folks, your last episode of Bros Watch PLL Too. Benji and Marco answer as many questions from out wonderful listeners as we can, as well as covering various top 5s like Tertiary Characters, A Tags, Episode Titles, Film References, and more. Thanks for listening everyone, and watch this spot in a couple months for a rebooted Headcanon as our new main podcast.

Our farewell tour for Pretty Little Liars continues. Please join us for an interview with Director Norman Buckley as we talk the PLL finale, social media, shippers, plot vs theme, Personal Shopper, Hitchcock, and much more. Thanks to Norman for joining us, and all that he’s done to introduce new listeners to our podcast!

Special guest Spencer Hastings herself, Troian Bellisario has graciously joined us to talk the end of PLL, Alex Drake, directing her first episode, her new movie Feed that she wrote and starred in, and much more. Enjoy!

Recapping Season 7, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. PART II. Aria discovers that she’s infertile the day before her wedding, which of course Ezra makes all about him. Hanna and Caleb are also trying to get with child, but the Actual Bad Guy has a lot of attitude about Hanna inviting Mona to live with them while she recovers from her adrenalized hyperreality. Emily has Emison twins now (courtesy of Wren) is so nosy and pushy that she almost ruins Ali’s marriage proposal to her. And Spencer discovers that she has a delightfully psychotic British twin who entertains us all with the ballad of Alex and Wren. Thanks for listening everyone!

Recapping Season 7, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. PART I. Aria discovers that she’s infertile the day before her wedding, which of course Ezra makes all about him. Hanna and Caleb are also trying to get with child, but the Actual Bad Guy has a lot of attitude about Hanna inviting Mona to live with them while she recovers from her adrenalized hyperreality. Emily has Emison twins now (courtesy of Wren) is so nosy and pushy that she almost ruins Ali’s marriage proposal to her. And Spencer discovers that she has a delightfully psychotic British twin who entertains us all with the ballad of Alex and Wren. Thanks for listening everyone!

Surprise extra podcast! Pretty Little Liars writer, director and executive producer Joseph Dougherty joins us to provide commentary on “Farewell, My Lovely” and dish on the series as a whole. Topics include: the amazing Janel Parrish, the construction of the Five Years Forward PLL world, Paily, Charlotte’s villainy, Ezria controversy, and much more. Thanks to @Kockenlocker for tiding us over till the big finale.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria talks to herself/a dead body/Pigtunia until Ezra lectures everyone about being mean to his girl and then tackles her into a tree—which he can because he has an American Literature MFA. Hanna is super-chill because she’s married now, and mostly acts as a stand-in for Charlotte fugues. Emily has a nonsense flash-forward dream sequence about that we’re all writing off as a gas leak boner. And Spencer happily loses an ex-boyfriend to wedded bliss, but sadly loses a mother to the legal system when original Twin Theory payoff Mary Drake takes the weight for all that Liar murder.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is outed as an A.D. collaborator by Mona, but is rewarded with an alibi for the Wrick murder for her troubles. Hanna has relocated her chill and comes clean with her mom, with a little help from Caleb who she then marries in a lo-fi Justice of the Peace ceremony. Emily is robbed of morning sex when the cops raid all the liar haunts, but Ali gets her back later with a special romantic night by the Kissing Rock. And Spencer feels the heat closing in and is furious with Aria for making her parents try to divorce each other again, so she or her twin run off to bang Widower Toby.

Surprise bonus episode. Lesley Fera aka Veronica Hastings joins us to talk Spencer’s boyfriends, Peter’s many transgressions, her character’s surprising political affiliation, favorite moments, and all the usual Hastings Family intrigue. Thanks so much to Lesley Fera for joining us!

Recapping Season 7, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria walks further down her dark path, helping A.D. plant an audio bomb to tear apart the Hastings Family, and blowing off Ezra’s recent interest in their impending nuptials. Hanna gets a visit from Detective Marco, causing her to worry about what other evidence they might have missed, and her mom is getting suspicious too, so Caleb proposes to throw Ashley off the scent. Emily’s new girlfriend and babymama Ali has run off to NYC to see Jason, so she’s stuck helping Mona investigate, and being a total pill about it the whole time. And Spencer learns new details about her dad’s involvement in Jessica D’s murder, but refuses to believe her witch-mom Mary Drake is the one sewing discord.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria adopts the mantle of the black hoodie and destroys the Emison Baby nursery—and her soul. Hanna is angry with Spencer until she realizes that she set Spence on her dark spiral by usurping Spaleb, and takes her turn in the game. Emily is baby crazy on her day off, setting up a new nursery until Aria ruins it and Ali drops three little words to blow Em’s mind. And Spencer is running recklessly towards a murder charge, trying to leverage her relationship with Marco into dropping the murder charge, and then doing her best to compromise him when it doesn’t work.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is getting instructions from her evil CyberSelf and also just about through with Ezra’s “poor me” act. Hanna doesn’t want to believe that Lucas could be A.D. even as the evidence mounts, so she recruits OG A Mona to analyze the Game Board. Emily is making all kinds of inappropriate requests and wrong decisions about the Emison baby. And Spencer is quickly realizing that Marco is getting wise to the Wrick cover-up, and her involvement in it. And we might have met Twincer for real when Wren shows up.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets blackmailed by A into betraying the Liars, and is only too happy to go her own dark way. Hanna maybe doesn’t have a fashion career anymore, and the make matters worse, Pastor Ted is back in her life as the surprise Charlotte baby daddy. Emily goes all in on a rekindled romance with Paige just in time for A to reveal that Alison is preggers with her ayggs. And Spencer bangs the local detective for sport before finally confronting Papa Hastings about all these children he’s fathered.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria unleashes her Adrenalized Hyperreality because Ezra’s not around to drag her down. Hanna has to do surgery on her doll self and then wear a Japanese Sex Dress to her investors meeting, Emily tags along with Aria to shake down Sydney since Ali isn’t around this week just waiting to suck, and Spencer beats Marco at Ping-Pong with a suspicious left-hand shot and bleeds all over the place and generally oozes sex towards Marco before learning a valuable lesson about not whining about your adoptive mom when you’re a goddamn Hastings.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria does Holden’s job for him, since she has nothing better to do, then she tries to go murder Nicole with taffy, but Holden stops her. Hanna is freaking out over a dress Katie picked to wear, but refuses to just explain the situation to Mona, and then she gets attacked by a Cobbler Shop. Emily is being horrendously unprofessional at school, and then a Mini-Ali tries to get her fired by lying about Emily Ezra-Fitzing it up at Rosewood High. And Spencer is still being awful to her mom about the adoption thing, and enlisting a police detective to track down Mary Drake so she can talk it out with her birth mother.

Got a special surprise for you: the Co-writer of s07e11 Allyson Nelson joins us to discuss “Playtime,” the board game, Holden Strauss, Ian Harding’s soccer play, bad PA gigs, working on Shadow Play and much more. Also, we learn a little bit about that mysterious tuft of red hair from the last A tag…

Recapping Season 7, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets terrible advice and starts trying to plan a wedding, even though Ezra is non-communicative and running off to see Nicole, Hanna has no time for A.D. business this week because her OTP Mona has decided to make her a fashion superstar overnight with her rolodex of contacts, Emily is stuck in a lame bitchy love triangle between Ali and Paige at Rosewood High and probably regretting blowing Sabrina off, and Spencer is recovering from her flesh wound to discover her secret origin of being born of hate in a madhouse. A.D. still very much has a head, Jenna walked into a closet somewhere, Holden’s heart could explode at any minute, and Toby is a ghost.

Our casual rewatch comes to an end with Season 7A of Pretty Little Liars. This week we’re squeezing in 704 “Hit and Run, Run, Run,” 707 “Original gAngsters” and 710 “The dArkest Knight.” Spaleb goes down in flames in one of the shows best scenes, Ezra tricks Aria into the kind of wedding he wants, Emily is a bad girlfriend to her three girlfriends, and Hanna has a real dumb plan to figure out who A.D. is. We made it. 711 “Playtime” is hours away. Toby is still dead. Let’s do this.

The guys are closing out Season 6 with rewatches of 611 “Of Late I Think of Rosewood,” 617 “We’ve All Got Baggage,” and 620 “Hush Hush, Sweet Little Liars.” Topics discussed: who gives a better massage, Spaleb, where the liars are at after the time jump, panties, who the heck is Amoji and A.D. and are they the same person? Drunk Melissa Hastings, Wrick Rollins, Ali being the worst, and Ayygs.

We’re getting into the home stretch of our PLL casual rewatch. This time, the Bros are moving through Season 6A, with 601 “Game On, Charles,” 607 “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” and 608 “FrAmed.” After being tortured for three weeks, the liars have escaped the Dollhouse to come home to a slowly developing “who is Charles” season arc. Fortunately, their individual character arcs are much more compelling. Spencer needs drugs to sleep now, Aria is closed off emotionally and taking photos of creepy dolls, Emily has transferred all of her anxieties onto being super overprotective of Shower Harvey, and Hanna is back to remixing her identity again now that A ruined hers.

This week on the casual rewatch, we find the liars with false hope after Ali’s arrest. But soon, that hope spins out of control and ends up with them all kidnapped and in the dollhouse. We’re covering 513 “How the ‘A’ Stole Christmas, 514 “Through a Glass, Darkly,” 518 “Oh, What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me,” and 525 “Welcome to the Dollhouse.” How does Ken DiLaurentis afford this massive Christmas Ball? What was the deal with Holbrook? Why Egg? What if Caleb was Obi-Wan? Why isn’t Nolan North in everything? You get the idea.

The Bros are back from PaleyFest, exhausted but in good spirits. We briefly discuss Paley before getting into 505, “Miss Me x 100,” 509 “March of Crimes,” 511 “No One Here Can Love or Understand Me,” and 512 “Taking This One to the Grave.” Classic A return text, #Haunted Caleb, everyone being mean to Hanna, the Liars all turning on Ali, and Mona seemingly being murdered, to die for all us sinners out there as the Vanderjesus.

This week, we’re taking a trip through the Dark Spencer Saga, part II, as we move through season 4B of PLL. We did a casual rewatch on 417 “Bite Your Tongue,” 419 “Shadow Play,” 420 “Free Fall,” and 424 “A is for Answers.” We get a top five all time PLL scene with the Spencer/Aria dual intervention, the fabulous noir episode, Aria cry-face, Detective Hanna, the ultimate Paily romance scene, and much more.

Sup fam, we’re checking in with a bonus episode this weekend, talking to Jaymie from the popular twitter account @AllThingsPLL. We answer fan questions on topics like our favorite flashback, how we would kill off the Liars, and who we think is AD.

This week on the pod, we’re rewatching “A is for A-L-I-V-E,” “FaceTime,” “The Mirror Has Three Faces,” and “Bring Down the Hoe.” It’s the dreaded Toby’s Mom plot line season. But don’t let that deter you, because there’s still plenty of good stuff here in Season 4A of PLL. Like the first appearances of Tanner and Holbrook. Tons and tons of clues about CeCe being A to the point that it’s almost comical. Ezra at his most pathetic and unlikeable. Mona and Hanna at their most romantic. #OTP

The Bros are running down 3B, which is PLL at the absolute height of its powers, and possibly our favorite run of the show. This week we break down “Mona-Mania,” “Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Inferno,” “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted,” and “I’m Your Puppet.” Also, we’re recording in the same space for the first time, so brace yourself accordingly. This is a long podcast.

This week on the pod we’re moving through the first half of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars, and wondering at just what got changed, and what the original plan was, when the writers shifted to the eventual CeCe storyline. Spencer has a virtual mind palace. Aria discovers that Ken Cosgrove’s wife had a baby with Ezra. Hanna breaks up and makes up with Caleb over her true love: Mona Vanderwaal. Emily is a sullen drunk, and then gets saddled with a bunch of Nate St. Germain scenes, and then the liars suspect her girlfriend… and then things got worse. Basically, Emily Fields is a Russian novel in 3A.

Join us for a bonus episode where we talk with PLL Production Supervisor Jackie Ryan and find out a little more about how the sausage is made. Find out whether or not the liars have trailers, what a Line Producer does, and what to expect from Famous in Love.

This week on the casual rewatch, we’re covering season 2B of Pretty Little Liars. Specifically: s02e16: “Let the Water Hold Me Down,” s02e19 “The Naked Truth,” s02e23 “Eye of the Beholder,” and s02e24 “If These Dolls Could Talk.” This might be peak PLL. A run of legendary episodes running up to the big A reveal. So many classic scenes, so many great moments. Also, theorizing on future Lucas’s hit app.

Join us for a rewatch of some choice 2A episodes, featuring s02e03 “My Name is Trouble,” (heh-heh) s02e04 “Blind Dates,” s02e07 “Surface Tension,” and s02e12 “Over My Dead Body.” Spencer is at her best when she’s asking for support and getting nothing from her family, Emily is letting A help her lie about Danby with an assist from the excellent Samara, Hanna is concerned about Caleb’s business with Actual Bad Guys, and self-actualizing with Therapy Anne’s assistance to move beyond her toxic Ali friendship, and Aria is blowing off her brother’s suicide hints to focus on her Ezria drama and getting rid on that scheming Jackie Molina.

As we move through early PLL, we’re rewatching s01e13 “Know Your Frenemies, s01e16 “Je Suis Une Amie,” s01e19 “A Person of Interest,” and s01e21 “Monsters in the End.” This is where the Hastings clan takes over the show and it is glorious. Also, proto-Paily, Haleb and Spoby. The paper bag selfies, Garrett Reynolds, kids crossing the street when they see Toby coming, Maya goes to “juvie camp” for smoking pot… we love this show.

It’s a long hiatus, so Marco and Benji are gonna kill the time by turning back the clock to rewatch some choice cuts from each half-season of Pretty Little Liars. We start with 1A, of course, and do a casual pod on episodes 3, 4, 8, 10. This show was so much fun right out of the gate. Toby’s hair! Queen Bee Alison when Sasha was like 13! Ezra’s B-26 poem aka the worst poem ever written by anyone ever! Old Jason before the head transplant! It’s all here, folks.

We’re still here, bitches! Marco and Benji return in the midst of this interminable hiatus to talk about recent previews and sneak peeks for s07e11 Playtime, and then answer a bunch of fan questions from you, our wonderful listeners. There is drinking involved.

Surprise! We’re back for a special episode where we interview Pretty Little Liars writer Kyle Bown and Brendan Robinson, AKA Lucas Gottesman. Join us as we learn about the origin of “Merry Ho Ho,” Lucas’s interior decorating strategy, and how Brendan Robinson would kill Lucas off if given the choice. Also, be sure to check out the Seed & Spark funding page for “Twentyfiveish,” a web series Kyle and Brendan are producing together. One month of the hiatus down, only six more to go!

Recapping Season 7, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria makes a nice Welcome Home dinner for Ezra, and then watches as he reunites and makes out with suddenly-alive Nicole on national TV, Hanna has gone rogue with an awful plan that involves violently holding Noel Kahn hostage for a simple DNA test, Emily has Paige and Ali all up on her jock in the middle of the usual season finale A crises, and after Paige accuses Ali of manipulating Emily’s emotions, Ali uses a surprise pregnancy to manipulate Emily’s emotions—also, you may have heard she beheaded a guy, and finally Spencer is saying goodbye to old Toblerone with an inappropriate kiss request, letting Detective Marco scam on her with Toby’s moves, and finding out who her real mom is, after getting shot and bleeding to death in another nightmare abandoned terror house. And then at the end everyone dies. Especially Toby. …Noel might still be OK, just put some ice on it.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets an assist from Jason (#Arson) when tracking down Mary Drake’s adoption records before learning the results of Ezra’s trip to Columbia, Hanna has gone off the grid to spy on Noel Kahn, but he sees through her beer ruse, so she has to just whack him in the head with a lead pipe instead, Emily is being a terrible terrible girlfriend to Sabrina while leaving the door open for a shady to Paige to come back in, and Spencer is getting Marco’s digits and breaking into the Kahn Cabin to discover no-bullshit new evidence that Noel Kahn is on the A team.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is subjected to toxic levels of Ezra man-pain when he learns that she deleted his phone call from Nicole, and is saved only by a Team Sparia away mission, Hanna is having PTSD flashbacks again and might be hallucinating The Grunwald, leading her to psych herself up again to take matters into her own hands, because that worked out so well the last time she tried it in 6x20, Emily has three love interests in this episode, and is thinking of applying to coach Swim Team at Rosewood High, but somehow is still getting swept up in Ezria bullshit, and Spencer is learning that threats of violence produce positive results with an unforthcoming doctor, and thus might be becoming a super villain.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria declares all the liars her ride-or-die bridesmaids and then promptly ditches them 12 hours later when Ezra cons her into eloping to Rome or some bullshit, Hanna is back to her mystery solving ways, using her mom’s hotel access to break into rooms and arrange an Actual Bad Guy massage for Jenna Thing, Emily tries to give her mom a nice quiet birthday dinner at the Radley, but Pam finally ditches her boring ass for the Bride Pride party, and Spencer is back to getting quasi-dumped by goddamn Toby, who is moving to a small town in Maine to raise a family of hand-actors.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is stressing about the prospect of having to share her murder cred with Ezra Fitz til death do they part, Hanna is burying the hatchet with Spencer about her sham engagement and the Caleb situation, Emily is dutifully upholding Ashley Marin’s order of keeping the booze away from Ezra at The Radley, while trying to snoop on Jenna Thing and Sour Harvey, and Spencer has been assigned to cool Ali down after they’re exposed by A.D. for dropping a dime on her after they took a vote and declared her the murderer.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria deletes the first lead in a missing persons case in several years, and is karmically punished by getting #PLLProposalTold by Ezra that she has to listen to his bad rollercoaster metaphor for marriage, Hanna is “working on blueprints” or something for Sugar Daddy Lucas and making copious HannaFace when Spencer keeps bringing up Caleb and it looks like Jenna Thing might deep six her murder cover-up, Emily is failing at her Pisco Sour drink mixing, cosmically presaging the Voltron-like joining of forces between Sour Girls Jenna Thing and Shower Harvey, and dishing out terrible advice to Aria, and Spencer is resorting to Star Wars references to charm Toby-Wan Kenobi into helping her locate missing Brotherhood of Ex-Boyfriends member Caleb Ren. Ok, that was a stretch, I’ll show myself out.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria acts as the sole voice of reason because Ezra isn’t around to Jedi mind-trick her, and then sneaks Ali back to Welby and straps her to her bed so she can question her about Charlotte, Hanna has glass in her hair and is nobly self-immolating to stay out of the Spaleb drama—until Mona shows up to help her properly do a murder coverup, and then give her some OTP TLC, Emily actually goes to her job twice in one day when she’s not faking Elliott’s burn bag, and Spencer is diving head-first into a reckless self-destructive binge after pushing Caleb away to protect their murderous secret. Oh, and Jenna Thing is back!!

Hey there! Before we find out how a “well-thought out plan” somehow ends up as “First-Degree Murder,” let’s take a moment to talk to the On-set Dresser for Pretty Little Liars, Mike Malone. Topics include: what is an On-Set Dresser? What is the current status of Pigtunia? The hardest set to shoot on, and, who disco-danced at the Season 4 wrap party? Also, for fans of David Lynch and Steven Soderbergh, we’ve got a ton of behind the scenes stories about Twin Peaks, Solaris, Schizopolis, and much more. Enjoy!

Recapping Season 7, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Ezra is out of town, which means Aria can reclaim her role as the chief Liar operator and go Ethan Hunt on Wrick Wrollins in the DiLaurentis House, Hanna is pretending to still be engaged and doesn’t want to talk about it—or her torture experience at A’s hands—leading up to a clockwork tragedy, Emily decides to be a bartender at The Radley for two seconds after getting rejected by Sabrina, who then shows up at her work with a girl to rub it in, and Spencer is forcing herself to have difficult talks with Caleb about #Spaleb, taking L’s left and right, but at least wearing an awesome trench coat while doing it.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria breaks up with Liam like she’s taking off a band-aid, but he’s not going down without dropping all of the truth bombs on Ezra’s predatory ass, Hanna gets a ride home from a ghost and books it to NYC to recapture the magic with Jordan, but the magic got torn down by construction workers, Emily is so focused on protecting Ali that she lets Mary Drake into her world, much to Wrick’s consternation, and Spencer is now in a relationship with Serious Scotch after getting fired from her job and treated like a consolation prize by No Longer Essence of Best Boyfriend Caleb.

Recapping Season 7, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is tasked with finding a man, a British man maybe? but the fateful music of The Frey leads her back into Ezra’s arms, Hanna is locked in a barn because A punched her in the face and stole her clothes, and she’ll need to dream/hallucinate (maybe?) her BFF Spencer to get out, Emily is worried that Ali might be a murderer for some reason and takes almost no convincing at all to believe it, and Spencer is getting hangry shade from her theoretical boyfriend all day as she tries to run the command center during a frantic 24-hour search for Hanna.

PLL is back for Season 7! Just in time, we’ve got a roundtable discussion with Marco, Benji, Heather Hogan of Autostraddle, and Jacob Clifton of the Austin Telegraph (and based TWoP fame). We’re answering listener questions about Emily’s love life, what Noel Kahn and Jenna Thing are up to, who’s Charlotte’s real father, how Pretty Little Liars should end, “is that a snake?” how PLL changed social media, Mona being the greatest, and much more. Thanks to Heather and Jacob for joining us, and thanks for listening!

It’s summer break in PLL-land, but the Bros are back to talk about an old classic episode. Aria uses Jason as a power play to get Ezra’s attention, Hanna goes horseback riding with Mona, hoping to get on evil step-sister Kate’s good side, Emily’s life is in the dumps, and then she gets an evil porn massage from creepy Lucas, and Spencer discovers the NAT Club, elevating her paranoia to an even more intense level.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria finishes her novel with Ezra and then hitches a ride on the Z-train, Hanna’s scheme to get some alone time with Caleb succeeds when she uses a flashback to seduce him into kissing her, Emily has to babysit the onetime true love of her life, who is losing her mind seeing dead people after getting gaslit by her evil husband Wrick, and Spencer feels Spaleb slipping away, with not even an “I Love You” bomb halting the implosion, so she spends most of the episode with Toby, pretending that she doesn’t notice how Mona is totally flirting with her.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets dumped by Liam via her boss, and finds out that Ezra was a terrible boyfriend to Nicole, too, Hanna gets super-passive-aggressive with Spencer about Caleb and concocts a plan to steal him back, set up A with herself as the bait, Emily interrogates Mona, fails to hook up with her, and then spies on Sara Harvey’s comfort bro, and Spencer is losing her mind because Caleb and Hanna are doing #HandStuff and playing mind games with her and she’s essentially helpless to do anything about it without making things worse. Oh and Ali has lots of scenes where zzzzzzzz.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Ezra hypnotizes Aria into having two boyfriends by making her an author she can’t recuse, Hanna is shitty to everyone, especially her OTP Mona, because no one is #Janna, so A blows up her bachelorette party, Emily traces down the source of that Airwolf monster truck engine noise, but her investigation hits a wall until she finds a new clue by staring at Mona’s ass, and Spencer defends Spaleb to her father Nolan North, and brutish Toby, and flashes back to the time Spoby was that one Ben Folds Five song.

PLL Day Surprise! We’ve got Pretty Little Liars Script Supervisor and now Director Paula Hunziker back on the podcast to talk to us about the episode she directed that just aired: “We’ve All Got Baggage.” Join us as we discuss Hanna and Melissa’s epic flashback, filming the monster truck scene, Pigtunia, twins, and much more. Thanks for listening!

Recapping Season 6, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is enlisted to marry her parents, and then Liam finds out about Ezria. Hanna assigns herself as Ella’s wedding planner and avoids thinking about her own nuptials. Emily is almost fooled by reporter Damian’s underhanded offer of friendship, and then gets chased around in the woods by a FutureTruck. And Spencer finally confronts her mom about her health issues, but then another mysterious leak occurs and Caleb has to take the blame for her.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets a visit from her boyfriend, who sniffs out her handiwork in Ezra’s new chapters. Hanna takes a tumble in the heart-shaped bed with Jordan, but comes running back to Rosewood after a message from A. Emily discovers that all the eggs in Rosewood were destroyed and blames herself for it. And Spencer learns a secret about her mother’s health via the tricksy machinations of Mona, but can’t bring herself to tell her mom about it.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is saddened to learn that her mom is taking her awful dad back, so she fully engages her Girl Detective mode and tries to expense it. Hanna is lying to Jordan, planting hard drives, feeling Haleb pangs and getting fired by her awful boss. Emily is making some time with Ali and failing at medical stuffs again. And Spencer is getting distracted by Caleb sex, being routed to phony meetings by her rogue Apple Watch calendar, and teaming up with Aria to infiltrate Sara Harvey’s Radley hotel room lair.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria takes it up to a Level 2 freakout over Ezra maybe being a murderer, Hanna calls in the boyfriend and his big wallet to fix her problems, but it’s her mom who saves her ass as usual, Emily seduces and destroys Sabrina for Aria’s benefit, souring a possible relationship, and Spencer feels out the new situation with Caleb, Toby, and Hanna, while meeting Toblerone’s new main squeeze and trying her best not to hate her on principle for binge-watching “retro TV.”

Recapping Season 6, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s last vestiges of faith in Ezra crumble away, so she takes matters into her own hands, with Pigtunia’s help. Hanna is lying like crazy and getting her mom in trouble at work and coming up with bigger lies to fix things, this time with Lucas’s help. Emily comes clean about her big secrets to her mom and Hanna, sort of. At least she’s not dying. And Spencer is messing up a college interview for her mom’s campaign and then getting Hanna’s permission to book a ticket on the C-Train.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is lying about her drunken nighttime encounter with Ezra, and to her boss about sleeping with a coworker. Hanna’s fiancé comes to visit Hanna in Rosewood and pee on her to mark his turf. Emily is getting secret treatments for some unknown ailment and lying to her mom about it. And Spencer is hardcore reminiscing over her and Caleb’s Before Sunrise night in Madrid and worrying that her perfect murder research will implicate her in the latest Rosewood homicide.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. They’re back! Aria returns from her publishing gig to check in on Ezra’s misery, Hanna is working for the Anna Wintour of fashion and engaged to NotCaleb, Emily is popping pills and probably a manic-depressive and lying about her job as a bartender, and Spencer is pretending to not be a lobbyist and helping her mother run for State Senate and maybe boinking their hacker werewolf.

The new season is almost here! But first, let’s celebrate Festivus by looking back at a classic PLL episode from seasons past. This time, we’re checking in on the Season 2A Premiere. The Bros can analyze the Ezria situation now with all future spoilers known, and of course, there will be some Hastings Dinner Theater. Thanks for listening, we’ll be back for 6B soon.

Aloha! Benji and Marco have returned from the ether to discuss the 5 Years Forward Pretty Little Liars special, and then answer some questions from our wonderful listeners. If you’ve ever wondered what other shows we’ve considered podcasting about, who on PLL we want to die, what character we’d want to hang with, how the PLL moms survived, who would win the Hunger Games, etc, then this show is for you. Also, Benji is like 2 GnT’s in before the podcast even starts.

It’s time for another re-watch of a classic PLL episode. This time it’s Marco’s favorite: “The Kahn Game.” Armed with the new knowledge of CeCe Drake’s true identity, the Bros revisit this delightful Team Sparia romp and find a way to keep doing Toby-voice, even though he isn’t even in the episode. Don’t sleep on the soulful crooning of Tyler Blackburn’s Find A Way on the soundtrack, available in iTunes.

It’s hiatus time, so the Bros are revisiting some favorite episodes. Up first is this classic season one ep, which happens to be Benji’s favorite. Aria is losing her mind when Meg Manning comes to town to steal Ezra away, Hanna is being forced by A to whore out her dances and feelings for cash, Emily is missing Maya and getting angry drunk, and Spencer is living the unending terror of sharing a house with her new and probably murderous Brother-in-Law Ian Thomas. Alison is still dead.

The half-season may be over, but we’re still talking about the finale. Marco and Benji are joined by noted PLL scholars Heather Hogan and Jacob Clifton to answer listener questions. Topics include: plot holes, the big reveal of who A is, hopes for 6B, favorite liars, Noel Kahn, how many planes were at the Thornhill Lodge that other night, and much much more. Thanks to Heather and Jacob for joining us! You can read more of Heather’s work on Autostraddle, and find out about Jacob’s recaps and fiction on his website page.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets made fun of for not noticing the bulge in Clark’s pants, Hanna Banana has a special moment with her OTP, Mona Vanderwaal, Emily is betrayed by someone she thought she could trust, and Spencer defuses a bomb. Seriously. Also, we find out who A is and get her tragic backstory.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria discovers Clark’s true identity and orders Ezra not to follow her after high school, Hanna is worried about Caleb’s vigilantism until is turns out he was just at a job interview, Emily asks Sara to prom in the lamest way possible, and Spencer delivers a cliff notes version of her irrelevant valedictorian speech to Toby. And Charles reveals himself to Ali. And #PLLMoms get crunk and have their own adventure.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. All the guys in Aria’s life are lying to her, but she just wants to be able to attend her own Gallery Show, Hanna is all out of sympathy for Charles or Alison’s sisterly feelings, Emily turns down a prom invite because she wants to take Shower Harvey, and Spencer is now hot on the trail of the mysterious Rhys Matthews of the Carisimmi Group. And Red Coat makes a glorious return to the show.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria realizes that she’s turning into Mona, and commences mutilating dolls, Hanna gets a suspicious scholarship and is hesitant to deposit it in the Bank of Lasagna, Emily goes full clinger with Sara, and even Shower Harvey is like, “Maybe a little too much, Em,” and Spencer learns surgery from youtube and accidentally lets Toby get high AF from her special gummy bears. Oh, and their latest plan to trap Charles is ruined by stoned Toby, because of course.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria receives a new threat from A, and unasked for help from Ezra, Hanna shows off her bra strap and steals a car, Emily is sad to turn down another Habitat for Humanity trip but gets to make out with Sara Harvey, and Spencer witnesses the inevitable disintegration of Dean the Sober Coach’s boundaries.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes to a creepy junkyard with Clark to take photos, and they might have snapped one of A, Hanna tries to help Mona patch up her relationship with a furious Lesli Stone, Emily a officially adopts Sara Harvey after getting her emancipated, then they get tattoos together, and Spencer is high on pot cookies and horny af with Toby out of town.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria makes a trip to the darkroom and A tries to trap her inside, Hanna has had about enough of her smothering boyfriend’s concern, Emily’s seduction of Sara Harvey continues with a dip in the pool, and Spencer finds a new low, dumpster diving for pills and trying to score off of the new Brew Chef.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria turns to an old hobby to avoid going to school, Hanna tries to get the liars to talk with Therapy Anne, Emily stays home to take care of her new lost puppy, and Spencer confronts Jason and Ali about the mystery of Charles DiLaurentis, and their lying son of a bitch of a father.

As we settle into the new season, we’re joined by the Director of Photography for Pretty Little Liars, Larry Reibman, to discuss the visual style of the show, working in digital, influences, and much more. If you’ve ever wondered what a gaffer is, you’ve come to the right place.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria wants to put a wall between before and after, Hanna can’t live in her room now because it’s ruined, Emily’s got a gun and a new kooky blonde to look after, and Spencer can’t sleep without meds that her mom won’t let her have. Also, Ali goes to church.

Recapping Season 6, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria vows to commit murder, Hanna is concerned for her mother’s health, Emily tries to comfort her friends and Spencer figures out that Charles is a DiLaurentis. All this while they’re locked in A’s murder dungeon for weeks as Ali and the Hardy Bros hatch a plan to lure A out with Ali as bait.

Season 6 is almost upon us, so let’s all celebrate with an extra long podcast where the guys talk to Pretty Little Liars star Troian Bellisario. Honestly, what else needs to be said? You don’t want to miss this one.

As the new season creeps closer, we sit down for a talk with Paula Hunziker, the Script Supervisor for Pretty Little Liars. Paula tells us what a script supervisor does, how she got into the gig, some of her favorite scenes from PLL, and more. Also discussed: which episode Paula is directing in Season 6, what side of the time jump it’s on, Kiefer Sutherland’s intensity level, and the mysterious allure of Lee Pace. Enjoy!

The guys are back to talk more Pretty Little Liars, The Prisoner, and obscure film references with writer and producer Joseph Dougherty. We discuss “Shadow Play,” Vivian Darkbloom, what Paige might be up to in California, what’s in Ezra’s special blend, and much much more. Adjust your theories accordingly! Seriously!

After a visit to the set, the Bros are back to talk with director Norman Buckley about working on Pretty Little Liars, editing that one montage for The O.C., sneaking Antonioni references into some upcoming episodes, and possible PLL spin-offs. Thanks to Norman for dropping by to talk shop with us, and convincing ABC Family to let us onto the backlot!

It might be hiatus time on the show, but we have PLL writer and producer Bryan M. Holdman on the podcast for a chat about the writing process, the Hardy Bros, chickpeas, and Act Normal, Bitch! Thanks so much to Bryan for giving us such great insights into how the show gets created. Don’t worry, no spoilers here — unless your whole A theory hinges on Jesse the guidance counselor. In that case… shut the door and have a seat.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 25 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer are kidnapped and trapped in creepy bonkers hatch from LOST in this insane an amazing season finale. The Hardy Bros team up with Hastings and Hastings to work the cops, and an old fan favorite returns to help the liars. Also, Charles is A, whoever Charles is.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 24 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria recruits her ex-boyfriend to take her brother into hiding, Hanna tries to get Caleb to calm down about questing after new evidence, Emily investigates Ali’s story about Thanksgiving in hopes of finding a witness for Ali’s alibi, and Spencer finally has The Talk with Toby that has long been festering. Per Tanner, it’s Spencer or the job. Choose wisely, Toblerone.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 23 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria discovers another side of Andrew when the topic of Mona comes up, Hanna is sanguine in jail, ready for whatever fate awaits her, Emily fields an unexpected call from Ali that might rekindle and old flame, and Spencer tries to bury the hatchet with Jason about her constant controlling nature.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 22 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria does her best to avoid the inevitable awkward talk with Fitz, Hanna panics when she learns Tanner is trying to get Ali to name her as an accomplice, Emily enlists Ezra to help track down new clues about this Varjak fellow, and Spencer goes on a theatre date with Colin in jolly old England, which might just be a planned distraction engineered by Melissa.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 21 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tracks down Cyrus to a burn unit before falling victim to A’s trap for her brother, Hanna’s mom settles for awful Pastor Ted, and Hanna has to bury the hatchet with Ali, Emily gets ‘encouraged’ to drop out of the pageant due to her sketchy reputation, and Spencer gets shipped off to London by her mom, but A still manages to mess with her there too.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria recruits Andrew to spy on her brother, Hanna enlists help to prepare for the talent portion of the beauty pageant, Emily meets Talia’s husband and pulls the ripcord on that disaster, and Spencer is saddled with an awful Egg pollen about stealing back his “stolen” artwork from The Man, which further drives a wedge between her and Toby. Also, a huge reveal about a major plot thread.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to keep an eye on her suddenly suspicious and suddenly swole little brother, Hanna tries to hit up her dad for some help with college tuition, Emily learns a disturbing fact about her new girlfriend, and Spencer gets tricked by egg into committing some petty vandalism. Also, Cyrus Petrillo returns and is suddenly awesome.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. The Liars make Aria investigate her suddenly shady brother, Magic Mike Montgomery, Hanna unlocks all of her powers and becomes the mythical Black Swan, Emily tries to figure out whether or not Talia is flirting with her (uh, she is, Em), and Spencer is fascinated by the local blue collar boy and the amazing things he can do with junk and electronics.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria comes clean with Ezra about the letter to Jackie, Hanna orders Caleb to help her clean out the storage bin A rented in her name, Emily rescues Team Sparia from a chilling death trap, and Spencer’s relationship with Toby is being stressed to the breaking point over his split allegiances to her and The Law.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets pressed into work delivering flowers to her tulpa, Hanna is dealing with the return of Pastor Ted after catching her mom with Jason, Emily’s entire plot-line revolves around the shirt that she’s wearing, and Spencer and Caleb sneak into a storage shed and maybe find poor Mona’s final resting place.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries a new strategy when she discovers that Jackie Molina is an admissions officer at the college that wait-listed her, Hanna goes searching for Holbrook and has a jail cell chat with Ali, Emily goes after a Chef’s position at Ezra’s new business to earn money to see Paige, and Spencer recruits Caleb to steal some evidence that Toby finds while on duty.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to get her brother to open up about Mona, and takes up a new hobby, Hanna recruits The Grunwald to help locate a body, Emily faces her last days with Paige, doing everything to get her to stay, and Spencer tries to talk Jason into saving one sister over the other.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria fails at her one task, and discovers that Ezra was a fancy boy growing up, Hanna lays down the law with some pre-teen bullies, and gets knocked out by A, Emily encounters secret allies, and learns that Paige might be leaving for good soon, and Spencer cosplays with Toby and searches for clues to keep her out of jail. Also, Ali is visited by the Ghosts of Mona Past, Present and Future.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Ali takes a lie detector test to prove her innocence to Holbrook, Aria and Ezra make pie together, Hanna’s SCT scores have her looking at Ivies before suffering a great personal tragedy, Emily gets back with Paige via some no words needed smooching, and Spencer Hastings is finally arrested for murder. Fatal Finale time, get the tissues.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s father gets his fedora re-blocked for a cosplay viewing of Strangers on a Train, Hanna recruits Toby via Spencer to bro down with Caleb about his drinking problem and related Ravenswood BS, Emily teams up with an unlikely Ali to gather intel on Ali, and realizes she wants Paige back, and Spencer finally learns what Melissa’s dark secret is, in the form of an incriminating confession.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to protect Ezra from Ali’s machinations, Hanna is cleaning up her life and trying out for a Chorus Solo, Emily struggles to maintain her loyalty to Ali in the face of mounting evidence against her, and Spencer dresses up like a sexy detective and jumps out of cars to yell at people about her latest clues.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria has to confront the truth, and then her mother, about Muffin Man Zack, Hanna tells Caleb about what’s eating her, and for once, someone believes her, Emily discovers a new friend has been lying about their connection to an enemy, and Spencer dresses down Caleb on his new shady ways before hallucinating two Jenna Things.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is a terrible friend to someone in need, too wrapped up in her own drama, Hanna gets to experience the awfulness of secretly skeezy Rosewood men, Emily is offered an assistant coaching position by a fellow student, which is a thing that happens, and Spencer gets a black eye while escaping another of A’s little terror traps.

Behold! The top minds in PLL criticism, Heather Hogan and Jacob Clifton, have joined us for a special roundtable discussion before the Pretty Little Liars Christmas Episode. We’re answering questions from listeners and readers on twitter, such as "which character is the most underutilized,” “Is Ali actually a sociopath,” and “Noel Kahn.” Thanks so much to Heather and Jacob for joining us, this was a ton of fun and we hope you all enjoy it too. You can find more from Heather on autostraddle.com, and check out Jacob’s TV writing on morningafter.gawker.com.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes undercover at Radley and runs into Bethany’s former roommate, Hanna has to deal with Caleb after he has a run-in with Ali, Emily is forced to invite all her friends to dinner at Pam’s request, and Spencer helps Ezra hide some evidence and then borrows his spy gear to spy on Melissa.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to pump the brakes on Ezria 2.0 after a couple slips, Hanna has had enough of Ali’s new normal and tries to help her flee town, Emily forces Paige to name names about Mona’s Army, and Spencer attempts to save her parents’ relationship while hunting down info on Bethany Young at Radley.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria has some metaphorical pie for Ezra after comforting Jenna Thing, Hanna’s world gets rocked by the return of her haunted cyberwolf ex-bf, Emily’s slow thaw with Paige is interrupted by unexpected bedroom eyes from Ali, and Spencer’s parents have finally turned on each other, with Spencer caught in the middle. And an old friend comes back and says hello.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria backslides onto the Fitzwagon before having a Jessie’s Girl moment, Hanna helps out Ali with the doctor and tries to reclaim her own identity, Emily searches for the elusive Ex Utopia with Paige, and Spencer briefly gains respite from her constant paranoia before getting sucked into her dark suspicions even further. And Ali is so mysterious because maybe something terrible happened to her.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria returns to the scene of the crime, Hanna has an existential crisis when she realizes that Mona created her in Ali’s image, Emily makes a new acquaintance on the swim team and adjusts to Paige as an ex-girlfriend, and Spencer has a lot of late night conversations with Hastings about Jessica’s death.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is losing her mind over her new taste for human blood, Hanna is snooping around her mom’s dealings with Mr. DiLaurentis and soiling her underwear, Emily is doing everything she can to remain loyal to Ali, including walking her new dog, and Spencer takes a time out to bone Toby before spying on Jason as a new suspect.

Recapping Season 5, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria worries about the fate of Ezra Fitz, Hanna ponders life in a field hockey skirt, Emily pries some answers out of Alison about her secret shenanigans with CeCe, and Spencer’s stomach is growling because she hasn’t eaten in two episodes. Oh, and we find out who A is.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 24 of Pretty Little Liars. Now that the Rosewood Police Department knows Alison DiLaurentis is alive, Aria, Hanna, Emilym and Spencer meet up with Ali in NYC to find out what happened That Night and try to put all the pieces together to figure out who A is.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 23 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s mother returns with big news about the Muffin Man, Hanna volunteers to help her mom out with the bridal show as a guise to sneak into Ali’s house, Emily cuts Paige loose after one betrayal too far, and Spencer discovers that she has huge gaps in her memory the summer before Ali went missing, and was being a complete terror to her parents, almost like an evil twin.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 22 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria enjoys a lost weekend with a loser guitar bro, Hanna learns about Paige dropping a dime on Ali, Emily confronts Ezra about his insincere assistance, and Spencer gets a new life coach who helps her fugue out about killing Ali That Night.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 21 of Pretty Little Liars. Hurricane Aria descends on the Fitzpalace, turning up new clues, Hanna talks Holbrook into doing a solid for Travis’s dad, and then promptly smooches him, Emily receives an ultimatum from Paige when Ali’s resurrection is revealed, and Spencer begins to suspect that perhaps she was the one who tried to kill Ali.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria finds out about Spencer’s pill history from Ezra, and then about Ezra, Hanna is afraid of reptiles, Emily tries to walk a fine line between intervening with Spencer and tracking down A, and Spencer’s planned intervention of Aria takes a turn for the worse when Ezra’s machinations turn it into an intervention for her.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Join us for a trip inside Spencer’s insane mind, where Aria is the most sophisticated thing in the world, Hanna is an brassy switchboard operator, Emily stars in a sapphic fantasy with Paige, and Spencer, all strung out on Study-Aid pills, struggles to find proof about Ezra Fitz.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets kidnapped by Ezra and she doesn’t even realize it, Hanna suspects that Spencer is up to something, Emily gets recruited by Shana to do something for Ali, and Spencer falls into her own drug-fueled hyperreality, staying up all night to gather convincing evidence that Ezra is A.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets super angry at the world after she spies Mike and Mona getting close, Hanna has become a mystery novel-reading gumshoe after giving up on boys, Emily is even more of a basket case than ever, prompting her dad to turn to Fitz for help, and Spencer Hastings has discovered the clue that will lead her to the identity of Board Shorts, and also discovered Adderall.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria catches Ezra in a lie, Hanna tries to get over Caleb by #CREEPING on Travis, Emily discovers a new connection to Ali and will take a big risk to see her again, and Spencer careens around like a wrecking ball, making everyone’s day worse in her single-minded pursuit of the truth.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria has to cancel a secret date with Ezra, and lies to everyone in the process, Hanna keeps quiet about her break-up with Caleb and another secret in Ali’s diary, Emily tries to process whether or not she wants Ali back in her life, and Spencer catches her father lying some more about Jessica DiLaurentis.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gives Ezra a second chance when he takes her to his murder cabin, Hanna has a theory and a new plan to track down Ali’s attacker, Emily is trying to process what Ali’s return means to her, and Spencer helps Toby railroad Radley’s parent company into providing lawsuit material.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer all get trapped in a creepy maybe haunted mansion in Ravenswood as they try to determine whether or not Alison is actually alive. A scary man in a World War I-era doughboy uniform and a gas mask pursues them. Is Ali really alive? Find out for sure, one way or the other, in this episode. Also, Ravenswood: zzzzzzz.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria rekindles an old flame over poetry talk after her philistine boyfriend falls asleep on movie night, Hanna’s work convincing Travis to help gets her mom’s charges dropped but a new crosshair centered on Mona, Emily sleeps over with the door open at Paige’s house, and Spencer gives Toby a piece of her mind about his behavior. And then all the liars go to Ravenswood and we get major revelations about Ali, CeCe and EzrA.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria dodges calls from Dark Ezra and does choreographed line dancing with Karate Bro Jake, Hanna finds unexpected help for her mother’s situation from an unlikely source, Emily keeps telling Hanna to shut up and is chilly with Paige all episode before finally having a nice dance with her, and Spencer is sick of Toby’s dead mom plot line and finally tells the other liars about it.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes hunting down a CeCe connection when she’s supposed to be on a Fro-Yo run for Jake, Hanna tries to enlists Wren’s help concerning Mona, and must keep Caleb from spilling all about A to the authorities, Emily begrudgingly accepts an invite to come stay at Mrs. DiLaurentis’s house, and Spencer is still humoring Toby in the plot line about his dead mom who is still dead. At least it eventually leads to a sweet Ali flashback.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria lies to Jake to help Spencer with a Team Sparia mission, and it backfires when Jake shows up at a party with another date, Hanna is overjoyed to welcome her mother home thanks to Mona’s confession, Emily meets with a pro swim coach and has to face reality about swimming, Stanford, and Paige, and Spencer tries to get Shana out of the picture for a bit so she can confront Jenna about Alison.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria worries about Mikey getting bullied by laxbros, Hanna recruits Mona to brainwash her into thinking she killed Wilden, Emily tries a new strategy for impressing colleges, while her mom slowly falls apart, and Spencer takes advantage of Veronica’s intern to get new evidence connected Wilden to Radley and Toby’s dead dead dead mom.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to cover for Mike when Connor’s dad threatens to press charges, Hanna copes with her mom in jail and tries to form a legal strategy, Emily steals some evidence and gets her mom in trouble at the RPD, and Spencer enlists Caleb and Toby to track down the plane Red Coat flew to the lodge at Thornhill.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s fantasy world gets torn apart by reality when her brother’s friend gets fresh with her, Hanna is relieved but terrified to discover that A has been behind the suspicions about her mother, Emily declares Shana her new nemesis and looks for ways to hate her, and Spencer and Toby take a trans-dimensional trip to a different TV show called Ravenswood.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria must ruin her relationships with her family to protect her mother from A, Hanna is losing her mind about her mom and none of the liars will take her seriously, Emily accidentally flirts with Spencer’s College pimp to get into other schools, and Spencer chases down a lead that came from a bird to a creepy panic room in a sorority house.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria sings to Jake the ballad of Ezria 4Ever, Hanna and the new Lieutenant Tanner size each other up while discussing the Wilden case, Emily can’t swim anymore or she’ll die, according to her terrible doctor, and Spencer finally confronts Melissa about the Halloween train, the masks, and all her other shady activities.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is shocked to discover that Karate Jake isn’t into old movies like she is, Hanna has a run-in with Detective Holbrook and discovers that her mother has been lying about her New York trip, Emily makes a semi-Faustian bargain to trade her face for information with the mysterious Hector Lime, and Spencer helps Toby with his boring side-plot about his dead mom.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria dedicates her life to becoming a martial arts killing machine after A takes another swipe at her, Hanna learns how it feels to be lied to when her mom starts acting sketchy, Emily’s new friend Prescription Painkillers betrays her during a swim meet, and Spencer gets saddled with Toby’s awful storyline about his dead mom.

Recapping Season 4, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria wavers on her decision to dump Ezra, Hanna tries her best to be BFFs with Mona again, Emily reluctantly agrees to follow Paige to sunny California for college, and Spencer is remarkably cool with Toby re: the whole faking his death and sending her to a nuthouse thing.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 24 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria dumps Ezra a second and then a third time, Hanna takes a babysitting job for the money, Emily makes a disturbing discover about Shana and Melissa, and Spencer is A. No really, she’s joined the A team to find out who Red Coat is.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 23 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets roped into babysitting again and finally tries to cut the cord with Ezra, Hanna’s on the lookout for an angry Wilden and not accepting Spencer’s new situation, Emily is eager to prove Toby’s alive, but a new body complicates the issue, and Spencer is retracing some of Mona’s steps at Radley, making a Faustian deal in the process.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 22 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria asks her dad to get Ezra his job back, Hanna ships her mom out of town for a while to get her away from Wilden, Emily steps in to fill the leadership vacuum, and Spencer makes some discoveries at Radley and gets another offer from Mona to join the team.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 21 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria takes a babysitting job, Hanna disposes of some evidence, Emily can’t believe Spencer’s revelation until she hears it from the source, and Spencer finally ends up where her crazy self was destined to go to eventually.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria doesn’t quite feel the same when Ezra comes back, Hanna accidentally tips her mom off to the Wilden drama, Emily uses Paige’s connection to steal some intel from the costume shop, and Spencer finds a brief ray of sunshine before Melissa snuffs it out. Then she gets attacked by her robot shower.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria and Wes get recruited to take photos of CeCe’s awful merchandise, Hanna earns her Girlfriend of the Year trophy by reuniting Caleb with his father, Emily assumes the role of Fearless Leader for an away mission with Jason while Spencer herself seduces Hot Nerd Andrew, toys with Wren, and drop-kicks Mona. Also, at the end of the podcast, we re-cast PLL with late-90s teen stars.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s sulking about Fitz is interrupted by the appearance of his entitled brother, Hanna forces Caleb to go meet his Uncle-Dad, Emily gets hypnotized by Therapy Anne into thinking she killed Alison that night, and Spencer descends further into madness with the help of the trusty Hastings family skip tracer.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria once again lets A do the hard part for her, Hanna gets busted holding a Pink Drink on ladies night, Emily discovers a new lead on Ali’s threat list, and Spencer is a self-loathing hurricane of pain.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s gets a visit from beyond the mortal coil, and then makes a shiv to deal with Meredith, Hanna’s fashion intern interview turns out to be another A-mbush, Emily is assigned to creep on Caleb and see what he’s up to, and Spencer makes a discovery and spends the rest of the episode hoping it’s not true.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria will have a soy, unsweetened, no foam; also, a cow about her dad being A maybe, Hanna is through feeling bad for Mona, Emily’s gf Paige has PTSD and should really rub some pain cream on it, and Spencer’s over confidence was her weakness in a quiz-off for Academic Decathlon Team Captain.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is full of rage after being included in A’s antics for once, Hanna tries to wrap her brain around Mona’s return to Rosewood High, Emily sneaks out the window using an app, and Spencer and Toby are denied an erotic hot tub date as her mania over Mona reaches critical levels.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria talks shop with Adam Lambert before getting put in a box to be thrown off a train, Hanna gets goosed by Caleb and Mona, Emily gets saddled with an unfortunate costume and Paige steals her action scene, and Spencer gets some info from Garrett, but still suspects nothing of her treacherous BF.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria and Maggie find themselves keeping each other’s secrets, Hanna deals with a tragedy that hits close to home, Emily must fend for herself when Maya’s killer is revealed, and Spencer finally punches her V-card in-between interventions and ambushes.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes undercover as Amy the Undergrad who wants to be a teacher, Hanna has a dressing room rendezvous with her secret boyfriend, Emily has to defend Paige from Spencer’s latest paranoia, and Spencer learns the identity of the bully Ali called Pigskin.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria stares at her mom’s new date until it gets awkward, Hanna dashes Wren’s hopes and then uses him for his medical value, Emily puts up with Nate some more, and Spencer spies on the guys changing in the boys locker room, because Spencer now owns the male gaze.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria find out about a dark secret in Ezra’s past, Hanna discovers who her new personal A is, Emily watches videos of Maya and cries, and Spencer plays the game with Jenna thing.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria destroys everything that she touches, Hanna talks some medical doctors out of their treatment plan for Mona, Emily and Paige share some uncomfortable truths with each other, and Spencer enlists newly rich Caleb to help with a computer problem.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gives her mom fashion and dating advice, Hanna demands some answers from Mona, Emily tries to warn Nate off of Jenna, and Spencer is committing more felonies and forcing Toby into compromising situations.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria takes compromising photos of Fitz, Hanna recruits a clueless Toby for an awkward church party stakeout, Emily has more flashbacks about That Night, and Spencer finds new evidence about Ali that has the opposite of the intended consequence.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is baby squirreling Ezra’s nuts, Hanna is not in any shape to operate a zipper, Emily has to deal with sloppy jealous non-girlfriends, and Spencer used to be a much better liar.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tries to get her mom a date before breaking bad new about Byron and Meredith, Hanna’s boyfriend can’t take the deceit anymore, Emily meets Maya’s creeper cousin Nate St. Germain, and Spencer confronts Melissa about her fake pregnancy and Black Swan ways.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria shows off by snooping and playing piano at the same time, Hanna sees another, even more wonderfully demented side of Mona, Emily is tired of adults stealing her agency, and Spencer goes after the other two Hastings ladies for keeping secrets.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria takes complete control of Ezra’s life, Hanna has a breakthrough with Mona at Radley, Emily has more flashbacks from That Night, and who was with her, and Spencer defies her mother’s wishes and continues to meet with Garrett in jail.

Recapping Season 3, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is having panic attacks and nightmares, Hanna is Dong Po-ing with Caleb while secretly visiting Mona in Radley, Emily is a lush and a killjoy now that awful Maya is gone, and Spencer is building a virtual reality A’s lair in her computer. Also, someone dug up Ali and framed the liars for it.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 25 of Pretty Little Liars. Everything comes to a head in the season 2 finale. Aria defends her and Ezra’s sacred ground, Hanna participates in a “Psycho” homage, Emily finally loses her wretched girlfriend for good, and Spencer discovers who A is. It’s fantastic.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 24 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes nuclear when backed into a corner by her parents, Hanna orders her boyfriend to make out with Mona to smoke out A, Emily is still getting bitchy texts from Maya, and Spencer leads the girls on a spooky investigation into the Brookhaven Doll Hospital, where A has arranged a special greeting. It’s terrifying.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 23 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria flies a plane! Hanna saves Jenna from explosions! Emily gets an email from awful Maya! Spencer finds the flimsiest of clues!

Recapping Season 2, Episode 22 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria isn’t her daddy’s little girl anymore, Hanna destroys her phone to keep it away from Wilden, Emily searches for Maya with the help of the patriarchy, and Spencer’s father and sister spend the episode trying to turn her against the other.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 21 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is shocked to discover that Ezra might choose a good job over her, Hanna has to help Mona with an A situation without giving away too much, Emily is nice to Paige for two seconds and must deal with the consequences, and Spencer discovers that her sister might be A, so she copes by getting drunk with Wren.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria cancels her date plans for the chance to witness a death in person, Hanna has to help Caleb hack his confiscated laptop, Emily is dealing with a lying, killjoy girlfriend who issues crazy ultimatums, and Spencer begins investigating her own father.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. At a school overnighter, Aria makes some discoveries about Holden, Hanna has to deal with accusation of bullying Kate, Emily teams up with Mona to get back on the swim team, and Spencer skulks around being shady and learning family secrets.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria hates lying to her friends so much that she keeps lying to them, Hanna is getting shut out by the liars for taking away their hacker, Emily and Pam try dinner with awful Maya again, and she is still awful, and Spencer alienates some more people to learn that Ali had a dark-haired alter-ego named Vivian Darkbloom.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is living in a fantasy world where her emotions control the weather, Hanna fires Caleb from hacking A’s phone, Emily does Spencer’s dirty work with Toby, and Spencer makes hard choices to protect her friends.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria employes a childhood friend in her latest gambit to keep her Fitz dreams alive, Hanna is stuck dealing with Lucas drama and lying to Caleb about it, Emily finds out that Maya briefly switched teams when she was away at rehab camp, and Spencer discovers new blind people powers and gives Mona a pep talk.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is suffering from psychotic delusions about her parents’ position re: Ezra, Hanna protests Lucas’s guilt right up until she decides to drown him in the lake, Emily has glass in her hair! and Spencer has new clues and suspects to occupy her beautiful insane mind.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria comes clean about Ezra to her parents, who are, predictably, horrified, Hanna is using her secret spare boyfriend Lucas for companionship until Caleb shows back up, Emily is getting shunned and scorned by the liars for wanting to make a deal with A, but it’s all a ruse set up by Spencer to entrap their mysterious torturer.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. In this special Halloween prequel episode, we finally get to experience Alison DiLaurentis as she was, unfiltered by her friends’ perceptions. She is monstrous and wonderful and possibly also terrified. This is where it all began.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. A forces Aria to do exactly what she wanted to anyway, Hanna has orders to ruin her dad’s wedding, Emily gets kidnapped by her own GPS, and Spencer finally takes Old Toby out back and puts him down.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria spends this whole episode pondering how everyone else’s drama affects her, Hanna gets hustled by Kate into embarrassing herself, Emily is ready to confess everything to Therapy Anne, and Spencer’s dad finally shows Toby where the power resides in Rosewood.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria has a Jackie Molina problem, Hanna and Mona try out the equestrian lifestyle with her new step-sister, Emily gets a massage from A, and Spencer is now suspected by Ella of tramping around with Fitz.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria gets dissociative when looking in mirrors, Hanna’s BF has a surprise rich mom, A’s got Emily burning down relationships to keep a secret hidden, and Spencer does some minor breaking and entering on one of her many suspects.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria walks like the Joker, Hanna can’t handle the whole in Emily’s stomach, Emily can’t handle lying to her parents anymore, and Spencer demonstrates flawless knowledge of an autopsy report.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Hijinx ensues at House Montgomery when both of Aria’s boyfriends come to the family dinner party, Caleb tells Hanna about the ACTUAL BAD GUYS he used to run with in Allentown, Emily can’t study with her new roommate around and Spencer’s father, Nathan Drake, takes her new piece of evidence away.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria decides to try shrinking Jason’s head and is clearly A, Hanna is playing a most dangerous game of Parent Trap, Emily gets put in the FWB zone, and Spencer’s coffee brings all the girls to the yard. Spooky Fashion Show!

Recapping Season 2, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria finds a way to make a funeral about her and Fitz, Hanna shakes down Caleb’s foster mom for cash, Emily cracks the hidden message in a suicide note, and Spencer briefly flirts with normalcy, but the damn spot won’t out.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. Just Spencer’s luck: diamonds are A’s best friend too. Aria gently caresses a picture of herself, Hanna has a breakthrough with Therapy Anne, Samara is a girlfriend that Emily’s mom can work with, and Spence recruits a new asset in her Melissa investigation.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria creates a new dissociative personality to spy on Jenna Thing, Hanna discovers that she has no life outside the Liars, so she decides to meddle in Lucas’s lack of personal life, Emily debates forging a scholarship from Danby U so she can stay in Rosewood, and Spencer briefly attempts a truce with Melissa before finding a new way to betray her sister.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars. Ezra is having a hard time keeping Aria interested, Hanna makes up with Mona over the Caleb situation, Emily finds a reason to stay in Rosewood, and Spencer shakes down the new Jason DiLaurentis.

Recapping Season 2, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is giving Ezra a dose of the teenager that she is, Hanna feels betrayed by Mona, especially now that she’s dating Noel Khan, Emily is allowed to be friends with Toby again, and Spencer’s own family betrays her and forces her into therapy.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 22 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s teacher boyfriend is no longer her teacher and maybe not her boyfriend, Mona makes a deal with Lucas to keep Caleb’s letter to Hanna a secret, Emily might have to move to beauty queen country, and Ian tries to murder Spencer and is then maybe killed by A, because A is a total ladybro.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 21 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria goes snooping around Ezra’s website page and finds an ex-fiancé, Mona takes matters into her own hands to help Hanna get over Caleb, Emily discovers that you don’t have to only date crazy chicks, and Spencer and Ian are both terrified when he rescues her from a trapped portal in the Founders Day festival haunted house.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 20 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria comes close to sexting her mom, Hanna slaps the glasses off Jenna’s face, Emily is bothered by Paige’s new beard and Spencer's world continues to crumble around her. This is, possibly, the best episode of the show to date.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 19 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tells Ezra about the Jenna Thing: he’s a little disappointed, Hanna goes camping and leaves V-Card in the tent, Emily discovers that she’s into crazy chicks, and Spencer has become a person of interest in her own investigation. Also, Spencer is big spoon.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria and Ezra make it awkward for everyone in the school play, Hanna takes an impromptu shower with Caleb, Emily remembers the time that Ian might have killed a sorority girl, and Spencer finally has some hard evidence to go to the cops with. Or so she believes.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 17 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria and Hanna end their doppelgänger drama, Ezra gets to be all alpha to Paige’s dad, Pam is not horrible for once, Byron reminds everyone that “published” means ink and paper, and Spencer steals Jenna’s prized possession away.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 16 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is stalking her own parents, Caleb harangues Hanna into a date under the flimsiest of pretexts, Emily swims in gratuitous underwater slow-motion, and Spencer hijacks Toby Cavanaugh away to experiment on. Toby is sad, or possibly that’s just his face.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria seduces Ezra in front of his class, Hanna pretends to know who Justin Beiber is, Emily has a new awful broad to deal with, and A is gas-lighting Spencer into pondering if she herself killed Alison. Prediction: she did.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 14 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria almost ends up on YouTube after Meg Manning boxes her out with Mr. Fitz, Hanna leads Lucas on for cash, Emily gets drunk and spouts uncomfortable truths, and Spencer’s personal space gets invaded by creepy Ian and his evil sandwich.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 13 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria’s lies are getting less and less convincing. A forces Hanna to eat all the cupcakes. Maya gets shipped off to bad lesbian camp because of Emily’s mom. Spencer deploys a delightful southern accent. A saves Aria’s relationship. Barf.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria tells Maya to iron her damn jeans. Emily’s dad loves this sausage. Lucas is a complete tool at Hanna’s surprise party. Spencer’s boyfriend dumps her. She barely notices.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 11 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria plays the sad piano, Emily comes out and her mom is awful about it, Hanna has to have that awkward talk with Lucas, and A gets to the tree before Spencer can. A tree, Spence. An entire tree!

Recapping Season 1, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars. Ezra Fitz is not about to let some high school student steal his high school girlfriend, Ashley jacks some old bag’s cash, Emily tries out the blowout booth at Camp Mona and Spencer has to deal with some Feds on her turf. Also, A runs over Hanna.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria sings Noel Khan’s body electric, Hanna and Mona are breaking up over Lucas, Emily gets back some old hate mail, and Veronica Hastings introduces her foot to Detective Wilden’s rear.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars. Noel Khan is picking up all of Aria’s bad vibes, Ashley has no money for wine, Maya is a passive-aggressive drag and Jason knows all about the Jenna Thing, except for one minor detail that’s problematic for Spencer.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars. Jenna has a dog named Shadow because of course she does. A nerd seduces Hanna with viral cat videos. Emily’s dad drops by to throw some patriarchy around. Spencer is saddled with a lame new bf storyline. Toby might be dead. Shrug.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is dressed like a pixie Sith lord, Hanna discovers what male attention actually feels like, Emily’s non-gf gf is throwing out ultimatums, and Spencer is a warrior. Meanwhile, A is in your damn fortune cookies now!

Recapping Season 1, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars. Aria is forgetting her mascara, Hanna’s bf is in one of those awful virginity clubs, Emily gets closer with the town Boo Radley and Spencer has a new suspect to investigate.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars. The girls try to block A to ill effect. Aria is still cashing those Kin checks, Hanna’s mom deserves better, and Spencer invokes the sister code. Maybe we’re being too hard on Maya. She is, theoretically, a teenager.

Recapping Episode 3 of Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars. Boo Radley Toby shows up, Hanna’s boyfriend is not interested in punching her v-card, Emily is making some time with Maya, Aria is learning how adults play ball, and Spencer is full of wrath and malice, as usual. Also, Noel Khan!

Benjie and Marco recap the second episode of Pretty Little Liars. The hair is better, Jenna is wonderfully creepy and Hanna’s boyfriend Sean is clearly not into girls.

The Time Travel Murder Mystery guys break down the first episode of Pretty Little Liars and Benjamin unfolds his grand theory about how Spencer in the killer and Aria is A, evidence be damned. We love this show so much.