The Unassigned.

REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars' Third Episode- 'To Kill A Mocking Girl'...

Pretty Little Liars left us with a damn good CLIFFHANGER! last episode with mystery girl, Jenna, being revealed as the one behind the mysterious text messages - apparently. In our opinion, it really left the door open for some decent storylines to be explored.

So then why were we left feeling just a bit disappointed at the way To Kill A Mocking Girl played out? Not the whole episode, mind you, because there were some pretty good plot points introduced, but by the very fact that THERE WAS NO MENTION OF JENNA BEING THE TEXT SENDER?

Uh, hello? Writers, where you at?

Before we get into this week's various let-downs, though, let's get all the stuff we really liked out of the way first.

Hanna's mother having inexplicably continued her affair with the Detective in last week's ep, we were glad to be given an explanation courtesy of the woman herself - telling Hanna that, until the shoplifting charges had been dropped, they wouldn't be kicking him to the kerb. However, true to PLL's peer-shows Gossip Girl and 90210, the detective (whilst eavesdropping. Tut, tut.) overhears the entire thing. Naturally, this backfires with Hanna being questioned by the detective - alone - at school later about her and Ali's relationship, during which it is revealed that H used to be 'the fat girl' who Ali took under her wing. Ashley Benson truly showed her potential in this scene, with her awe of Ali - even after the girl being absent for a year - clearly showing. Where this was most evident was when she tellingly said 'nobody competed with Alison. You'd be stupid to even try'.

However, what we liked the most about this plot point, was the way in which Hanna's mother saw off the detective later that day. After asking him if the store planned to drop the charges and he practically screamed that he wasn't intending to (OK, he didn't, but it was more than clear that he had no intention of making that call he mentioned and asking them about), and then catching him audaciously going through Hanna's purse (with Hanna's mum giving one of our favourite lines of the episode - 'You're going to need a search warrant to go through her purse'. YES, MAMMA BEAR!), she proceeding in kicking him to the kerb very nicely; informing him to make dinner - and breakfast (HA) - elsewhere.

Another good storyline? The introduction of Meredith (hereby known as HOMEWRECKER), who, for those of you who don't remember, is the ex-affairee of Aria's father. First she shows up when Aria is having breakfast with her parents (where Aria's father reveals that HOMEWRECKER has now graduated and is working across the hall from him. Something that just has DISASTER written all over it), then she has the nerve to show up to Ella's gallery under the pretence of helping her out. Even after our girl, Aria, understandably warns her off and tells her not to accept Ella's invitation to the opening that night, HOMEWRECKER still has the cajones (metaphorically speaking, of course) to turn up, dress-clad, with I'M-HERE-TO-DESTROY-YOUR-MARRIAGE written all over her face. No, sweetie, not cool. But dear GOD if this doesn't have the potential for some great viewing.

Also appreciated, was the idea of Hanna's bf, Sean, having a mysterious secret - something to do with why he won't sleep with her; even when she practically begged him to, going on to remind him that any guy at THE PARTY would be more than happy to be with her. We too are wondering just what is up with him. It can't be his father; he already said it wasn't to do with him. So just what is going on?

So that was great, though we didn't really understand why Hanna then took off in his car, and, slightly predictably, crashed it. Why did she take his car, anyway? Where was she even going? And why the hell did she crash? She didn't look that drunk. And our first instinct would not have been to walk away from the scene of the crime, it would have been to call the damn police, but maybe that's just us.

But, as with last week's episode, for every good plot point there was a weak one. We're getting pretty tired of people going on about how ALISON IS EVERYWHERE. This week's donation was courtesy of our favourite character, Jenna, with an admittedly great line - 'Whisper, whisper, whisper. Almost feels like Alison's still here' - but still. Come awn. Why the constant need to have someone mention the exact same line - with adlibs - in every. damn. episode? Last week, it was Maya's offering that most irritated us - with her saying that Alison seems to be 'everywhere'. Fair enough, writers, you want to emphasise the effect the girl's still has on people, even after her disappearance and subsequent death, but, really? Is there not a more subtle way to do this? How could someone who's been in town for ALL OF A WEEK be so affected by someone they've never met and know little to nothing about?

Or could you be doing this on purpose to really indicate just how great Alison's effect is? That even newcomers feel it? Hmm. It could work, but, for right now, ENOUGH. Take a page out of the TVD writers' book; subtle is best.

Something else we just weren't feeling? Why in God's name - after being verbally accosted by her understandably upset sister in the kitchen - would Spencer then trek all the way into the city to see said sister's ex-boyfriend? You know, the one she was caught making out with? Ok, so we get that she wanted him to help clear her name, but that couldn't have been done over the phone?

-_-

We really are just not feeling this Spencer/sister's ex storyline. Like, where is it going? Is there any room for growth? Are the two even going to end up together (probably not)? Or was it just a tidy vehicle for Spencer's reusing of her sister's old essay (which can only lead to predictable disaster)? This HAS to be one of the most recycled storylines in television history, but we're hoping that the writers can add a twist to make it more interesting.

Here's hoping.

And, dear God, the Emily and Maya storyline. Just when we thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous. First, Emily makes it more Evian-clear that she doesn't want her bf within 20 feet of her, shrugging off his touch at the bike racks all the while inviting NEW BFF to attend the party with them. Then, later in the locker room, said bf shows up - understandably pissed off - asking just why they haven't touched in over a week. This predictably (yet unexplicably) leads to him almost raping Emily, only to be forcibly stopped by Toby (and just what the Hell was he doing anywhere near the girls changing room, anyway? Maybe Alison's accusation of him being a peeping Tom was more credible than we initially believed...). THEN, just to add insult to injury, Emily dumps him faster than a diet in Dylan's Candy Bar.

The one saving point of this storyline is the fact that it's now moving at a considerably more realistic pace than last week. And the whole stolen-photos thing (with Maya and Emily first kiss) is something we're looking forward to the writers exploring thanks to the last shots of the ep, where we saw hundreds of copies of their photos covering a none-descript wall. We loved the last shot; very well directed.

Still, even though there were - yet again - several factors that disappointed us in To Kill A Mocking Girl, there were some strong points to make up for it. Some potentially great storylines that we can only hope that they don't sweep under the rug the way they did with 'JENNA BEING THE TEXT SENDER' thing (though, maybe this will be explored more in upcoming episodes..?). An episode with far fewer let-downs than this one; something we can really WOW over.

Sigh...

Here's hoping, right?

VERDICT: 7.45/10

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