This week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars had so much lesbosexy content, that I could barely recap. I just wanted to lie around on the couch playing the lezzie parts over and over again on repeat. I just wanted to make animated gifs of Paige and Emily giving each other sex eyes with their shiny shiny hair. So much lesbosexy shiny hair.
That’s right, for the first time in a long time, this episode starred this girl:
THAT’S MY NAME, DON’T WEAR IT OUT!
We open on our Liars where we left them: daftly staring at Maya’s website-face proclaiming “PASSWORD BITCHES.” But what the hell is the password? Spencer has already tried everything in the Hardy Boys’s Website Cracking Handbook including “1234” “Password” and “Passw0rd.” Emily takes a crack at the site herself, but unfortunately the password isn’t “ShaneMcCutcheonIsSexy” or “AutostraddleLoverXXX.”
HEARING HUNTER VALENTINE’S MUSIC ON ITUNES FOR THE FIRST TIME.
At this point, the Liars all scurry off to have separate plot lines that, for once, don’t really intertwine much at all. Thank fucking God. So let’s deal with all this shit.
The Not Gay Stuff
Aria has a rough time of it this week. We open on Byron telling her that his barely legal lady friend (Meredith) has just gotten a job at Rosewood high school.
HEY ARIA? DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR BROTHER IS? BECAUSE HE’S BEEN MISSING FOR EIGHT EPISODES.
Remember how Byron set Meredith up with an interview there or something? Since Byron doesn’t care about his daughter at all, he plans on continuing to tap that ass while ignoring the truly complicated effects this might have on his daughter’s education. May I have a word with you Chad Lowe? Call your agent. You need to renegotiate your contract such that you don’t have to play a complete dick.
IN ADDITION, I’M ALSO GOING TO BUY YOU A PUPPY AND THEN GIVE IT TO MEREDITH.
Aria skips on over to Fitz’s house where she expects to get some afternoon delight or at least show off her peplum dress (which I totally promised someone on Formspring would go out of style but then it didn’t).
HEY HON. I JUST THOUGHT I’D SWING BY WITH SOME CUPCAKES AND FLAVORED CONDOMS.
Oops, actually Ezra’s Never Mentioned stuffy mom is hanging around! Her name is Diane but we’re going to call her Mummy Dearest because that’s just how we roll. Mummy Dearest has just created a line of gold plated sea shell jewelry and the launch party is tonight at L.A. Fashion Week.
I ACTUALLY INVENTED LA FASHION WEEK
Just kidding, that broach is hideous. Actually Ezra’s mom wants the star-crossed lovers to join her at some endowment for the arts. Oh? Did we mention that Fitz is short for Fitzgerald? Ezra changed it because he was concerned if he and Ella ever really hit it off she’d have to change her name to Ella Fitzgerald and just imagine what the neighbors would say!
ALRIGHT LADIES LETS MAKE THIS A FAIR FIGHT. NO BITING, SCRATCHING OR USING ABSTRACTLY SHAPED JEWELRY IN AN AGGRESSIVE MANNER
Starsweep to Spencer’s place where she and Hanna are still trying desperately to crack the Maya Password Code. Spencer has now tried “MAYA” and Maya’s dog’s name with no luck. Spencer tells Hanna they need to get Caleb involved which approximately everyone saw coming. In fact, if you didn’t see this one coming, you should probably quit this show now.
HANNA, I JUST DON’T THINK THE PASSWORD IS GOING TO BE ANY VARIATION ON “BLOWJOB QUEEN”
Hanna gets a text from Wren and we can already see what’s coming here. Wren and Hanna plus Spencer and Caleb. The girls are going switch squad.
ABOUT MY MEDICAL SPECIALTY. I JUST FEEL SO CONFUSED.
Just to emphasize that Spencer is going to nail Caleb soon, Toby shows up again. He’s like that big obnoxious zit I have just to the left of my eyebrow that keeps coming back every time I get rid of it. He’s all pissy about Spencer not opening up and Jason leaving town or something.
FUR(TO)BY
I think I should take a moment to clarify why I hate Toby and why I don’t want to look at his face anymore. It’s not really because of his face. It’s because his character is my absolutely least favorite type of male characters on TV. He’s the Save The Day Super Nice Amazing Guy Who Just Wants to Love You Forever. Gag me. He’s the If The Girl Would Only Open Up Everything Would Be Perfect Guy. I hate that bullshit. I hate that we’re supposed to feel like Spencer, who by this point is two dead friends deep and has every reason to distrust everyone, is somehow wronging Toby by not telling him every detail of her life. Reality check: your high school boyfriend does not need to know every detail of your life. In fact, he probably shouldn’t. I’m also still resenting him for that time Spencer wanted to do it and he didn’t because he “knew that she didn’t really want it” or some crap.
I DON’T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME. DIPSHIT.
So Hanna heads out and meets up with Wren at The Cheesecake Factory. Wren informs Hanna that Mona is going to be moved to a different mental hospital in a land far far away. There’s concern that Mona has been sneaking out her drugs to someone, probably to sell them on the black market. This, like most thing Wren does, is a complete breach of doctor-patient confidentiality and doesn’t shed an ounce of light on to what the fuck Wren’s specialty is.
WAIT, THAT’S WHAT A COLONOSCOPY IS?
But Wren doesn’t care, because he’s Super Doctor! The last doctor you’ll ever need!
Hanna immediately declares Mona shouldn’t be moved. How are they going to get more details out of her? Just then, Caleb conveniently walks in to get a slice of double fudge chocolate chip cheesecake. There’s like some tension between the two and Caleb is clearly unimpressed that Hanna is hanging out with an older British guy.
THIS OUTFIT ONLY MAKES SENSE ON A CHARACTER IN A DISNEY CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE
Time flash to the next day at school. So wait… all that shit yesterday took place after school? These girls get so much done before 7:40am and after 2:20pm. I should probably take notes.
LIKE THEY ARE TOTALLY GOING TO BONE RIGHT? LIKE STRAIGHT PEOPLE STYLE.
Spencer asks Caleb for some help with Cracking The Internets and he says yes. Also the Liars compare notes. Spencer reveals a text she got from A about Mona leaving and Hanna admits that Wren told her about Mona’s transfer. Everyone is jealous of everyone.
BUT ALL I FUCKING CARE ABOUT IS HOW BREATHTAKING EMILY LOOKS. SIGGHHHH.
After school, Aria drops by Spencer’s place to find something completely uptight to wear. This isn’t a joke, Aria is actually at Spencer’s to find something uptight to wear.
DOES IT LOOK LIKE A VAGINA WHEN I DO THIS WITH MY HANDS?
Spencer’s only purpose in this episode is to just hang around and be A Sleuth so, upon seeing her mother’s briefcase, the two go to town. Snoopin’ through the briefcase, they find the name Bart Comstock dramatically circled.
CAUSE IF THERE’S NO COMSTOCK THERE’S NO MONEY SHOT
But why? Is it because no matter how many times I watch the episode I keep reading his name as Cum-Stock?
Aria runs over to Cum-Stock’s address which turns out to be a movie theater. Why on earth he doesn’t have a home address is beyond me, but he’s eager to talk. He tells Aria he saw Maya get in to a car with Garret the night she died. On any other TV show this would be a dead giveaway that Garret’s the killer, but here this probably just means the two of them were canoodling/conspiring/opening a small used bookstore together.
WAS HOPING THERE WOULD BE MORE PORN INVOLVED IN WORKING AT A MOVIE THEATER.
Back at the home base, Caleb and Spencer do some grunting and eventually crack the code in to Maya’s website. And they hug. Guys they hug.
THIS IS HOW ROMI AND DUSTY STARTED TOO
Sorry, I can’t pretend to care about this. Maya’s website is unusually cool though! Like where do I get one of these?
SOMEONE KNOWS HOW TO USE IMOVIE
I will also say that Maya On Film is the most likable version of Maya.
Slipping on a little white dress, Aria sets out on the town to go to the fancy-pants thing with Ezra. Ezra arrives in his fancy pants and the two discuss how Ezra is actually mega-wealthy but currently cut off from his family for having complicated money feelings and possibly also for nailing a teenager. Clearly the writers took a page from Fifty Shades of Grey and learned that there’s nothing hotter to young straight chicks than men with a lot of money and a lot of guilt. I suppose if Ezra was a butch silver fox I’d have to agree. L’sigh.
QUICK! TROUBLE IS AFOOT. AND I’M ALMOST OUT OF THAT NANCY-BOY HAIR GEL I LIKE SO MUCH. (NAME THAT REFERENCE)
Aria and Erza momentarily separate to look at art or something and Mummy Dearest confronts Aria. She basically tells Aria that she’s ruined Ezra’s life by preventing him from teaching high school and getting him kicked off the Holis Staff. She also kind of tries to pay Aria off to break up with Ezra. Aria should totes take the money and run. Instead Aria is, understandably, really upset but I can’t help but side with Mummy Dearest a bit.
JUST REALIZED SHE CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH MUMMY DEAREST’S DRESS
In no uncertain terms, Aria has totally prevented Ezra from doing the work he loves. That being said, Ezra is a fucking adult and if he really wanted to teach high school he probably shouldn’t have been with a 17 year-old in the first place. Obviously Aria storms out of the party. But why, really. I mean, Mummy Dearest is totally just a composite of classic stuffy rich brunett mom characters. We’ve seen this all before.
Meanwhile, Hanna has convinced a bunch of The Doctors to give up their Friday night to hang out with her and play Pictionary. Hanna explains to the doctors that Mona shouldn’t be transfered because all of her friends and family are in Rosewood. It’s sort of sweet.
DOESN’T KNOW HER SHIRT ISN’T PROFESSIONAL. OR THAT IT’S HIDEOUS.
Hanna goes through this long explanation about friendship and how, even in light of what Mona did, she still wants to be there for her. She knows Mona wouldn’t abandon her and she still owes Mona for getting them both popular and stuff. It’s one of those scenes where at the beginning you think Hanna is just BSing to keep Mona around for details, but by the end of it you can really see how much Hanna needs/wants/misses Mona and how truly hurt she is. Like I said, sort of sweet.
I MEAN WHAT IF SHE HADN’T TAUGHT ME HOW TO GIVE A BLOW JOB? WHAT THEN?
And The Doctors agree! Wren tells Hanna they’ve decided to keep Mona right where she is! So Hanna and Wren kiss. Guys they kiss. Meh, like I said. I just can’t get excited about this.
REMEMBER THAT SONG “THIS KISS” BY FAITH HILL? BECAUSE I TOTALLY DO.
We reunite with Aria back at her dad’s place where she shows us just how mature she is by flailing and crying in the hallway. Now, I spent many a day flailing and crying, but this still doesn’t do anything for me. Aria asks her dad if she has ruined Ezra’s life and Byron is like “Erm… No… Not really…” Oh right, and Ezra tells Mummy Dearest to go fuck herself. So there goes any hope for a scene of Ezra and Aria flying a personal jet to Maui.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT MATURE ENOUGH TO NAIL YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER WHEN…
Aria wipes her tears and meets up with the other Liars to scope out Maya’s site a bit. But there’s like a terabyte of video footage and it’s all so… personal (read: kind of gay).
WELL AT LEAST NOW WE KNOW EMILY HAS HER NIPPLES PIERCED.
So the Liars decide they’d better get Emily over there to go through it with them. But where is Emily? She’s not picking up her phone. Which, of course, brings us to:
The Gay Parts
After leaving Spencer to unlock the secret website, Emily meets up with Nate to show him Maya’s Favorite Spot. Obviously we’ve never ever seen Maya at this spot, but it’s vaguely nautical and Emily puts on a hat for the occasion so it MUST be gay.
Intern Hannah: My favorite part was when Emily wore a fedora and for me everything else kind of pales in comparison to be honest. (I just have a lot of fedora feelings.)
YEAH ME AND MAYA USED TO MOTOR BOAT HERE.
Nate says some stupid shit about Jenna ditching him, but we don’t really care about that. We care about this all important moment:
FEATURING LINDSAY SHAW FOR “THE GAY SHIT”
So now we know Paige is gonna show up! The anticipation is killing me!
JUST IMAGINE ALL THE SCISSORING WE’LL BE DOING!
Nate continues to babble on about wanting to kill Garret, but Emily really doesn’t want him to do that. In a town where people actually die, threatening to kill people is a big no-no.
NATE, GET OUT OF MY BIG LESBIAN EPISODE!
Emily leaves Maya’s Favorite Place and heads out to find Paige. Paige is in her backyard fixing a bike because she is a big ‘ol trike dyke which I love forever.
REMEMBER ME? I USED TO BE TOTALLY A TOTALLY BORING CLOSET-CASE BUT NOW IM HOT AND INTO DRINKING AND FIXING BIKES. PLEASE LOVE ME.
Emily wants to talk about the whole Paige Getting Drugged thing but Paige would rather ignore it and stare up Emily’s shirt.
I’M CATCHING SOME SERIOUS UNDER-BOOB HERE.
But seriously Emily really wants to talk.
C’MON EM, LET’S JUST SKIP TO THE SCISSORING
Okay okay but seriously seriously Emily wants to talk. So Paige agrees to meet up with her the next day after school.
OKAY…. BUT THERE BETTER BE SOME SCISSORING…
The next day Emily and Paige go for a run together. While I’m inclined to feel like this is unrealistic, apparently this is something athletic gay girls sometimes do. I on the other hand have the muscle mass of a baby squirrel so I don’t let hotties see me run.
BEEP BEEP
Once they’re all out of breath and using their tired sexy voices, Emily admits that it was her flask that got Paige drugged. Emily is all up in arms insisting that it wasn’t on purpose, and she has no idea who tried to drug her the night Ali’s grave was burgled. Instead of seeming angry about the whole drugging thing, Paige is sort of embarrassed and awkward.
I FIGURED YOU DIDN’T WANT ME PASSED OUT. IT SORT OF TAKES TWO TO TANGO IN THE SCISSORING WORLD
Paige admits she figured Emily’s flask had the drugs in it from beforehand and, apparently just like everyone else in town, she actually saw Emily during That Night. Around 11pm Paige discovered Emily on her front step, and took her inside to nurse her drunk ass.
AS OPPOSED TO THE OTHER PARTS WHERE YOU WERE WITH EVERYONE ELSE IN TOWN.
Paige sets the scene. Paige was holding Emily and then Emily was holding Paige and then they kissed. Paige sounds so vulnerable and scared and confused as she tells Emily that they kissed that for a moment I expected the story to take a bad turn. A Lack of Consent Sex turn. Though it doesn’t, they just kissed, you can hear in Paige’s voice the full weight of what happened. The self-disgust she feels for having kissed someone who was drugged. The shame of thinking Emily would only kiss her drunk. And yeah, a tiny bit of romanticized glee thinking back on the whole affair.
LIKE A WET DREAM
Unfortunately when Paige walked away for a minute to get drunk-Emily a glass of water, Emily ran off dramatically in to the night. Paige realized later that Emily didn’t remember any of it, and was plagued with guilt about the Lack of Consent Kiss.
NOTHING SAYS CONFUSION LIKE HAIR THE IN EYES
Paige explains she didn’t tell Emily about the kiss because she convinced herself what she did was A Okay. You can tell by her tone of voice though, that she means that she didn’t tell her because she knew it wasn’t okay. Emily sort of reacts in disbelief. It’s interesting– Emily doesn’t act disgusted or seem like she regrets kissing Paige. Instead, she seems to regret most that she doesn’t remember.
WORSE THAN AWFUL. YOU KNOW? LIKE REALLY SUPER DUPER BAD.
Here are these two girls who shared this moment that was maybe meaningful or maybe a mistake and yet the two can’t get over their own guilt to sort out their feelings. So obviously Paige runs off in to the woods.
As night falls Emily scurries off to Maya’s Favorite Place to reflect on All Of The Paige Feelings. But there’s someone at the door! Who’s at the door? It’s Doctor Octopus! Nope, it’s Nate! Duh.
WISH IT WAS THE KOOL AID GUY
I’m going to level with you guys. I think this scene might be important, but I feel asleep twice watching it. The third time I spaced out and got a yogurt. So I’ll do my best here.
I FOR SURE KNOW FEELINGS ARE HAPPENING
Nate wants to better understand the intricacies of Having a Dead Girlfriend and why Emily would return to Maya’s Favorite Place the previous day. She explains that she wanted to come back to this deeply meaningful spot but just really needed a straight guy with a confusing interest in Maya/Emily to push her in to it. As for coming back at night, well she needed to think some things over.
EMILY’S ELBOWS GET COLD
Because Straight Men know everything, Emily asks Nate if it’s possible to do something without knowing you’re doing it– even if you’re drunk. Nate’s all like, “Nah, we’re always who we are no matter if we’re drunk, stoned, drugged or on the moon.” And that’s where this episode takes a turn for the scientifically and socially inaccurate. I’m going to go ahead and say that’s patently false. Has Nate ever seen a totally drunk high school student? They don’t know what the fuck their doing. I once saw a drunk high school guy eat dog food. Seriously. Nate claims being drunk is the same as dreaming, and in both situations you’re just blaming the booze/dream for your actions.
SO IF YOU FLY IN YOUR DREAMS THAT MEANS YOU SECRETLY WANT TO BE A BIRD.
Like… does anyone else feel like this makes even less sense? I’m not going to say people never drink to intentionally act without inhibitions, but dream? I’m pretty sure my dreams are just my subconscious fucking with me. Most recently I dreamt that I was baking banana breads with chocolate chips and walnuts. That’s ridiculous because I hate nuts in banana bread. That certainly wasn’t me.
IN HIS DEFENSE GORTEX IS LIKE SUPER WARM
Oh and then Nate gave Emily his coat because he’s obsessed with her or something.
Starsweep to Paige’s place where Paige is woefully gazing into the pool. Emily comes up behind her and Paige immediately goes in to reactionary mode. She’s all, “I’m sorry again about the kiss. I shouldn’t have let it happen.”
IS THERE ANYONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO JUMP IN THAT SWIMMING POOL ASAP?
“I’m a terrible awful person who’s going to hell for kissing a drunk girl.” Then Paige threatens to kill whoever put the drugs in Emily’s flask. And you just know Paige means it. Because Paige is my favorite breed of lesbian. The fucking totally bat-shit psycho crazy lesbian.
Remember this?
VIA BEAUTYANDTHEPSYCHO.TUMBLR.COM
So when Emily tells Paige that she shouldn’t say things like “I’m gonna go kill that guy” she really means it. Like, “Hey, Paige. Please don’t kill anyone because like, um, that’s not cool and I know you would.” But I digress, because beyond my natural inclination to make fun of everything that feels, this was a fucking amazing scene. I loved this scene. I watched it over and over again and showed it to my mom. I want to go back in time and take this scene to my senior prom and buy it a red boutonniere to match my dress.
I WANT TO LOSE MY VIRGINITY IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK TO THIS SCENE
Emily explains to Paige that she’s had a sort of revelation about her blackout night. For so long Emily was so focused on Maya. Thinking about Maya. Missing Maya. Letting Maya be her whole word. Even before her death, it was the Maya show. And in a lot of ways, part of Emily must have really wanted to move on. Who hasn’t ever felt like they don’t deserve to move on? Or that the person they loved deserves to be unconditionally loved forever.
OR AT LEAST I DIDN’T THINK I WAS THINKING ABOUT THINKING ABOUT IT.
But even if Emily doesn’t remember it, and Paige feels bad about it, she still came to Paige’s house. And (in light of her discussion with Nate) there must have been a part of her that really wanted to go there.
AND I’D LIKE TO KEEP COMING HERE. IF YOU GET WHAT I MEAN.
And yeah, I think this idea that people subconsciously do things they want when they’re drunk is a little ridiculous. But what’s important at this moment is that regardless of the reason Emily went to Paige’s that night, she’s glad she did. Suddenly something awakens in Emily that isn’t overwhelming mourning and sadness. Because there’s nothing like the first girl you fall in love with. Or your first heartbreak. There just isn’t. But eventually you pull yourself up and find new loves. Stronger ones or more mature ones. Because as wonderful as the Emayas and Britanas and Namoily and Spashleys are, most of us in the real world don’t marry our first girlfriend (even if it’s not because she gets murdered). And that deserves a moment on TV too.
I SUPPOSE IT DOES SORT OF LOOK LIKE A CLAM FROM THIS ANGLE
And then they kiss. Guys, they fucking kiss. Like a big kiss and I was squealing like a baby weasel. This is one satisfying kiss. Like the kiss goes on and on and on. I’ve taken shits that were shorter than this kiss.
VIA FUCKYEAHPAIGEANDEMILY.TUMBLR.COM
And this is me:
After a million years of kissing, the episode cuts away. When it cuts back Emily’s phone is, as previously mentioned, ringing off the hook. But Emily’s phone is in her pocked and her clothes are off. And I think you know what that means Emily and Paige are doing.
THE BREAST STROKE. BUT NOT THE FUN KIND.
Now that’s what I call scissoring. Or at least scissor kicking. You’ve got to start somewhere. Tune in next week when Emily will go back to sulking around silently in the background as we hear all about Hanna and Caleb’s torrid relationship.
I’m excited to see what they do with this relationship in the next few episodes, I’m so happy that Lindsey Shaw is pretty much confirmed for the rest of the season!
Also: the amount of shiny hair on this show is ridiculous (by ridiculous I mean ridiculously good)
This was one of the best episodes so far because of the Emily/Paige scenes. I squealed to when they kissed :)
I wish I had the recording of myself when I saw the kiss.
“OMG Gay parts! Gay parts! Baby, baby gay parts!!”
WHEN PAIGE DOES THAT THING WHERE SHE GRABS EMILY’S ARM TO PULL IT UP NEXT TO HER NECK I LITERALLY SAID HNNRRGGGHHHH OUT LOUD
i just hope this is not our ##lesbian moment of the season## and that we get lots more lesbosexy because as far as the paily ship goes i think i graduated to first mate this episode
This part?
God bless Lindsey Shaw
Sweet fucking Christ that’s hot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_S5cXbXe-4&feature=related
Shay Mitchell and Lindsey Shaw, the chemistry these two have, just wow.
And Lindsey, you with your big expressive brown eyes. While she has impressed me in the past, especially with her ability to pull great performances out of Sha, her work this episode was beyond amazing. The subtle changes across her face, the slight nuances in her reactions, i felt all of her pain, fear, hope, and disbelief of happiness through my tv. the way her face fell when Emily started her speech, reading herself for another friends speech, to the fear & hope, and finally that breath that gets me everytime because in her mind there’s no way this has come true. And when Emily insists she look at her and that goofy look of happiness across her face. Lindsey Shaw for all the award.
That breath! Seriously. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such a real, honest portrayal of that–the moment in real life when something amazing is happening that you’ve maybe dreamed/fantasized about for so damn long but didn’t think was possible.
I mean, real life is messy. It’s weird. It’s not a movie or a TV show – so it’s rare to see something so real portrayed in a movie or TV show.
I know that breath. I’ve been there. When you’re taking it because otherwise you might literally pass out or fall over because HOLY GOD THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING.
So hey, good for you Lindsey Shaw, ten points for you.
Lindsey Shaw. Lindsey Shaw. Lindsey Fucking Shaw.
ALL OF THE FEELINGS! I don’t even know where to start since I have been watching this episode and the KISSING nonstop all week and my twitter feed and tumblr is evidence of my obsession with Paige & Emily, our perfect Paily. :) I know I am babbling but still haven’t recovered from this PERFECTION being presented on my TV. Lindsey Shaw. Amazing, fucking hot, talent beyond measure, Paige McCullers. She gives us Paige, in all her tangled mess of feelings for Emily, the hottest girl in Rosewood, PA. With every word she speaks, and her eyes expressing what isn’t spoken, her head tilt, just everything about her screams “Love me. I love you.” My heart, that is Paige.
Umm, anyway, I’m gonna stop here before I fill up this whole paige with my fangirling. You get the idea.
Thanks again for a fantastic and hilarious recap, Lizz & Intern Hannah!
RINGS NOT BARBELLS. lol
UGH THEIR KISS IS JUST SO AMAZING I COULD CRY FROM EVERYTHING.
Usual notes: the wardrobes they have for Paige and Emily are so amazingly gay. Every time I try to explain a gay outfit to my straight friends, I should just pull out pics of these two, because SERIOUSLY.
Also: I can’t believe I’m shipping Spencer and Caleb, the only male character I don’t want to maim with a spork. But there you have it – Anyone But Toby camp. And and and I hate Ezra and his mother and everything to do with Ezra. And that Nate speech about being “yourself” while drunk or dreaming was the biggest load of bullshit ever said on this show.
I don’t know if you have seen this interview with the costume designer for the show. But she is kind of awesome. And she talks about how her dream is to make Paige kind of a West Hollywood Butch type. But it is ABC Family so she has to pull back on that a bit. I love her for at least wanting an actual butch lesbian on the show even if she can’t commit 100%.
I think all of the costumes are spot on. Aria’s clothes are so ridiculous but oh so Aria. Emily is great at being conservative sporty girl next door with just the touch of lez edge.
http://www.afterellen.com/content/2012/08/mandi-line-dressing-pretty-little-liars-and-which-character-she-tries-butch
I LOLed so hard when I realized that Emily had stolen my exact same gay grey sleeveless hoodie to go running in the woods with Paige. But yes, those two are dressing so gay these days. In fact, it seems as they’ve had Paige come into her gay self they’ve gone the baby butch route with her and I love it so. More tanks!More vests!Please!
I blame the Spencer/Caleb on Troian’s ability to have chemistry with every single person she works with. If and when the day comes that her and Lindsey have a scene together I worry about how my TV is going to handle that kind of chemistry overload.
Nate’s speech was total BS, but at the same time, it also pushed Emily to accept her feeeellliinnggsss for lost conflict Paige and lead to that kiss, so, well now I’m all conflicted.
FINALLY THE GAY PARTS. And they did not disappoint. Not one bit. I was super scared for a non-consensual sex bomb-drop, I’m so glad they didn’t and that they showed Paige realizing how wrong even a non-consensual kiss was. I think that part was handled really well. But fucking Nate. Gawd,every fucking male character on this show SUCKS. They’re all fucking terrible.
Also, way to go Lizz. Spike references forever =]
You win!!!!
I’m just frustrated how the show has transformed Maya and Emily’s tumultuous relationship into the most amazing love story of all time. I don’t recall any of these special spots/jewelry buying/cute text messages etc while they were together. If I recall, Maya was a crazy person who once turned her room into an “aquarium,” to make it up to Emily for being a crazy person. Sure, the relationship wouldn’t have been interesting without the drama, but the heterosexual couples seem to have a balance of cuteness and drama. The gay couple on the other hand has drama drama drama until one person is murdered/sent away to camp/falls into a black hole of nothingness and then they expect the viewers to be wistful of their absence.
PS what was that website of Maya’s? Or that quote about kissing Emily…I can hear clocks(something about clocks) when we kiss because she’s such an old soul. Really writers?
PPS I like that you squealed like a baby weasel.
OMG I completely agree. Maya and Emily’s relationship is soooo RetConned!!
Yes you are so right.
Also Maya was totally high in that video.
Look I don’t mind Paily, but I’m gettig really sick of the Maya hate. No, she wasn’t perfect but the first go-round of their relationship(season 1 ep1-13), she was nothing but supportive of emily. She was there for Emily when she was dealing with Ali’s death, she offered to give her space when she was figuring out her sexuality, and she was even there to comfort her over losing Toby, the same guy maya had to watch her slowdance with at homecoming. When she came back in season 2, she was obviously traumatized by something that happened at true north which was why her behavior changed. As for them never having “cute” moments, I disagree. Watch these:
(Ep 8, first date)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y-2e130wUf4
(Ep 12, family dinner) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D12XmaBf5x4&feature=channel&list=UL
I particularly loved that at the end Maya admitted that she was nervous about the dinner and didn’t sleep the night before, but held it together because she knew how nervous Emily was.
(Ep 13)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80DYClR4Lg&feature=channel&list=UL
Loved the fact that Maya told Emily, when Pam found them, that it wasn’t her fault and that she did nothing wrong. As if confirming for her that her sexuality isn’t something she should be ashamed of.
I agree that I wish we would have gotten to know her more the first go-round, but the story was mostly about Emily’s coming out, and at that stage in the show not much was known about any of the liars’ love interests(Sean, Alex,Noel, etc.)
Sorry. I just don’t think they had any chemistry. I liked the kiss in the photo booth a lot. I remember being really excited for them at that point. But after that was kind of one disappointment after the other. I think Bianca Lawson made some really odd acting choices, to be honest.
Yeah, the relationship wasn’t all bad and I do agree that it was overshadowed by Emily’s difficult coming out. However, I still think that whatever relationship they had is being highly romanticized. True North probably did play a big role in her later actions, but I don’t think it should be an excuse for her behavior towards Emily in Season 2. She did treat Emily quite poorly(embarrassing Emily in front of her mother, not being happy for her after her big swim victory, and a bunch of other erratic behaviors). To be clear, I’m not on team Paige either. Paige has grown on me, but I would like to see Emily start something with someone new. None of the romantic interests on this show is a winner, per say, but Maya always seemed the most out there. I think the writers are purposefully manipulating Maya and Emily’s relationship to make whatever big reveal they have in store even more potent(Maya’s alive, on the A team, etc).
It’s official. I ship Paige and her bike.
No way. Paige + tank tops 4ever.
dude, Paige + gay vests
Tank tops can be worn UNDER the gay vests. Everyone wins!
as she fixes/rides her bike? even more wins!
Holy crap! How come I never knew that if you hover over the pics you get even more hilarity? Totally awesome work Lizz.
Yeah, I’ve watched the kiss scene on Youtube dozens of times now. So fucking good! I’m with Kate, please give us more fun sexy times! The season is what, half over now? There’s still plenty of time for the writers to fuck us over, but I’m going to stay positive because right now, everything is beautiful.
She is so hot in tank tops, but I sure hope we get Paige in more vests, gay hats and such next episode. :)
Probably now you should go through all the recaps and fashioncaps and read the hover texts. Like 90% of the time there’s a punchline.
Yeah, I realized that. Well, there goes any semblance of productivity from me for week or so.
Oh man I just went back after finding this out to hover over all the photos.
The “wish I could be part of your world” photo has me cracking up!
Ok, those gifs have convinced me to maybe watch my first ever episode of this show?
Also I agree the bullshit calls for Nate’s theory about dreaming/being drunk. Once in high school I got super drunk and decided that I needed to chop down this old rotten tree in friend’s backyard- does that mean I wanted to be a lumberjack? No.
… I totally want to be a lumberjack.
The reference in the screen cap of Ezra and Aria is from Buffy; it’s Spike saying it about Angel. My useless knowledge of Buffy episodes finally pays off.
Annnd…..they weren’t naked. :o( You can clearly see the tank top strap on Paige’s shoulder in several frames. Maybe I should just forget I saw that and go with the naked thing.
Holy hell, that kiss. Yup. Uh-huh. Lindsey and Shay were reaaaallly committed. That’s all I can muster up to say about that.
Shay Mitchell has the most gorgeous hair that has ever existed. And I bet she smells really good.
I love all of Autostraddle’s recaps. I really do. You guys are all funny as hell, and astute with plot and character critique, too. And you guys have fun and don’t get all intense about it. It’s just refreshing.
I missed CeCe, Hanna and Wren kiss was a surprise, Ezra being rich another surprise, how sweet is Caleb, Nate is still creepy, poor Maya having her trachea crushed, Jenna Paige or Melissa killed Maya, and I still can’t ship Paily (can’t get over the whole drowning thing.)
I would also add Jason and Noel to the suspect list. They were both seen with her right before she died, and I don’t think its a coincidence. I think Nate’s shady as hell, but I’d be so bummed if her killer is some new guy we just met, and her death is unrelated to the “A”/Who killed Ali plot.
I cannot see Jason doing it, but Noel being the killer wouldn’t surprise me or that Holden kid. I agree about Nate being the killer being a bummer. Whoever it is has ties to A because Emily was sent a text about it being her choice/chance to save a life. Then getting another text about being too late. We will find out in 2 weeks though.
I have been a PaigeandEmily fan since day 1! Wootwoot! ^^
Even being as monumentally hungover as I am right now I could not stop my self from jumping with joy and squealing at those GIFs. Holy fucktards that was the perfect mixture of adorable and smoking hot!
Hm, as dysfunctional as the Maya/Emily relationship was, I kind of feel like Paige/Emily isn’t much better. I mean…Paige tried to drown Emily once, which is terrifying and probably not indicative of a healthy relationship. But the kissing was hot.
I just wanted to point out that Lindsey Shaw is really good. Oh hey that has been pointed out? Thatz cool. Still, though. I like it because Paige is the only one who comes off like a teenager on the whole show. She is an psychotic awkward emotional mess.
The weird thing about Shay Mitchell is her performance definitely varies depending on who she is in a scene with. And whatever that is about she really really clicks with Lindsey Shaw. I thought that was true when they were enemies. She just has this aggressive thing that comes out and makes Emily sexy as hell. It was true when she was telling Paige off in their first scenes or dumping her ass at the end of Season 1. And it is true when she is telling her not to look away here.
I didn’t love the character of Maya. Sorry, Bianca Lawson made some odd choices in an effort to come off young. It isn’t that she is a bad actor just that she overcompensated for the fact that she was in her thirties playing a teen. But I didn’t dislike that couple. I just think this couple is hotter because Shay Mitchell is at her best when she is the anchor to crazy. When she gets to be firm and aggressive and caring at the same time. When she is the one actively initiating it.
You’d never know it with how much I love this character now, but I actually didn’t like Paige when she first appeared on the show. That girl was just batshit crazy! And her crazy competitive personality just scared the crap out of me (and then she got me with the “if I say I’m gay” scene). But even back then, in all her crazy and my dislike, I never thought she was actually trying to DROWN Emily. Intimidate her? yes. Bully? absolutely. But actually attempt to kill her? no. I’m not saying it’s excusable but it keeps coming up as a reason why they aren’t good together and I just want to scream, she didn’t try to kill her!
And that girl, that is not the same girl who felt so much remorse for not stopping the drunken kiss that night. I’m sure the crazy is still in there somewhere, (but it’s the flaws that make the character real) but the character, in all her awkward messy glory, evolved. So really, can we all (and I say “all” as in the internet as a whole) just chill with the She tried to drown her!
I agree with you. What she did was horrible but not a murder attempt and even when Em was pissed and flipped out she never acted like it was a murder attempt or that big a deal (Emily can hold a real grudge when she feels wronged look at her scenes with Jenna).
But I do think this is very much 100% the same person. Remember how in the next episode back then she rode over to Emily’s house in the rain and gave a very very tearful apology to Emily? And then rode off and got in an accident and said she was relieved it happened? I think that was the same level of shame and sorrow we saw here. I think Paige has been one of the most consistent non-liar character on the show. She does things on impulse (like dunking a head under water, surprise kisses) and then hates herself for it and gives heartfelt apologies. She is nuts but an impulsive self-hating psycho not a calculating one like Ali or Jenna.
Totally agree with you both. She’s nuts, but in a sympathetic, real, scared and confused teenager way who does stupid shit and then hates herself for it. Like, you totally know/have loved that girl, you know?
I wasn’t a fan of Paige in the beginning. Mostly because at the time Paige entered the scene, Maya wasn’t batshit yet, so I just viewed Paige as an equally batshit threat.
But then Maya went left… and Lindsay Shaw evolved. Shay Mitchell’s best scenes are opposite Shaw. It’s awesome to watch.
Also, Maya & Emily’s webisode love is 100x cuter/awwwwww-inducung than their onscreen relationship. The last time I felt that way about them was the photobooth/movie theater. If the directors had built some of those scenes into the actual episodes, I would be a lot sadder about Maya’s crushed trachea :(. I know I’m terrible. On the plus side, Bianca Lawson, gorgeous.
But yeah I’m really liking this sexy not-really butch thing they’re doing with Paige. It works for her. And for me.
One mo thing. AS has the funniest recaps in the history of recaps, but summatimes, the pov of straight guys is a bit aggressive. They’re not all one-dimensional and dufus like, ijs. If anything, everyone on this show has had face palm moment worthy of sarcastic commentary.
Lindsay Shaw. Just, HHNNNGGGGGH. Honestly, I don’t even LIKE this show except for the Paige parts, but I will continue to watch for her – almost like when I thought I loved Orlando Bloom and watched every shitty film he was in, except this is true love. I even watched some movie where the ghost of an electrocuted queen bee was forced by Tim Gunn to haunt Lindsay and turn her into prom queen…all worth it tho, she wore hats & wests! Okay, need to go watch the kiss on youtube for another hour or so..
not only is the recap fantastic, but you did capture the best part… THE KISS! plus, i loved this line: “I’ve taken shits that were shorter than this kiss.” really, lizz, really!?! :)
I can’t believe people think Maya is crazier than Paige. Maybe you guys need to re-watch a few episodes of the show
Um is it weird that I think Spencer and Caleb are totally hot together? It’s probably because, well, Troian. Also he sort of looks like a lesbian?
Also obviously that thought was eclipsed fully by alll the Paige and Emily scenes, especially the end of the ep, so. Seriously every time I start to complain that this show hates Emily and will never show us girls kissing again it does something like this and I’m so hooked again.
Indeed, Trojan looks like a lady lover. Caleb looks like lesbian’s I’ve seen. Totes agree.
I love that Paige was fixing her bicycle.
Of all things. FIXING HER BICYCLE!