After a solid reintroduction to Millwood last week, the third episode of “Summer School” sets aside the Bloody Rose Waters danger until the last few minutes to focus on…misogyny.
Miss a review? Episodes 2.01 – 2.02
“Sweet Sixteen”, written by Sara Saedi, is an hour dedicated to gender relationships and PTSD. A majority of the episode concerns Imogen (Bailee Madison), Tabby (Chandler Kinney), Faran (Zaria) and Noa (Maia Reficco) dealing with untrustworthy co-workers, nearly all of them male*
*The only reason this doesn’t apply to Noa is because PLL is exploring her bisexuality this season, ala Marisa on S02 of The OC.
The revamped series has always had a feminist bent, so it’s no surprise that Imogen, Tabby, and Faran are all negotiating gendered interactions at their respective jobs. Imogen lashes out at Johnny (Antonio Cipriano) for being a playboy; Tabby is surprised that her new crush Christian (Noah Alexander Gerry) is making masks of a killer in his studio; and Faran is contending with a team of unruly lifeguards, including Greg (Elias Kacavas), as well as boyfriend Henry (Ben Cook).
These are all relatively surface level “after school special” conflicts that are mostly resolved by the end of the episode. What’s frustrating is that in each case the women lose their cool and then apologize, even though – with the exception of Christian – their reactions are entirely justified.
And yet the show has them make amends like they’re wrong.
Admittedly yes, the reactions are oversized compared to the show’s literal life and death stakes (see: Malia Pyles’ Mouse, who in this episode is stalked and nearly burned alive). Still, the way “Sweet Sixteen” plays out, the narrative message feels like it’s saying that girls need to be mindful of overreacting, which completely neglects the fact that they’re all still healing from the trauma of surviving a serial killer.
Considering Imogen’s sexual history, it makes perfect sense that she would get upset watching Johnny pass off his number throughout their shift. While he doesn’t know her past, it’s odd that when she confronts him, Johnny spouts some BS rhetoric about being single during the summer (it sounds like the chauvinistic equivalent of last episode’s “hot girl summer” refrain). It even seems like the resolution to this, after *both* parties apologize, is that his reaction is played for an uncomfortable laugh as he acts scared of being #MeToo’d by her after a quick Google search. Ha ha?
While Christian is clearly being positioned as a decent guy (which means he’s either be 100% truthful or he’s another Chip in disguise), it’s Faran’s storyline that stands out most strongly.
Episode 2.02 made it clear that Faran was going to have issues with her all-male team of co-workers after she made Captain. But what we didn’t know then that we do know now is that she’s contending with misogyny on not one, but two fronts.
Faran is clearly in the right to yell at her exclusively male lifeguard team for slacking on the job. Still, it’s Henry, her garbage boyfriend, that is low-key the worst. Rather than listen to her issues and give her useful advice, he suggests she’s not being “fun” and encourages her to blend in as “one of the guys”. Even after this implodes and a child nearly dies, Henry still has the gall to act all wounded when she comes clean about her medical diagnosis?
Girl, dump his ass ASAP.
Shifting gears, the A-plot involves poor Mouse’s sixteenth birthday and the girls’ efforts to throw her a surprise roller-skating Xanadu party. It’s obvious from the get-go that this is a bad idea, though to be fair to our Liars, none of them could have predicted that Bloody Rose Waters would be able to manipulate Mouse’s dementia-addled grandmother into delivering her to a birthday death trap.
As if it isn’t bad enough watching Mouse confess to Dr Sullivan (Annabeth Gish) her feelings of inadequacy and her fears that the others don’t like her, the poor girl nearly gets BBQ’d at episode’s end!
Still, it’s hard to believe that Rose Waters was unable to kill Mouse if she truly wanted her dead*, which begs the question: was this fiery birthday more of a game or a warning than an actual murder attempt?
*Part of the blame may also lie in the direction by Roxanne Benjamin during the climax. The geography of the space and the proximity of characters to each other is hard to follow, which saps some of the tension out of what should have been an exciting sequence.
Other Observations:
- While the misogyny that Faran encounters is frustrating, her acknowledgment that she *is* different (female, black, strong, etc) is a nice fist-pump worthy moment.
- Noa’s storyline proves that shitty behaviour isn’t gender-specific as Jennifer (Ava Capri) steals $20 from the till, putting Noa in a tricky spot with their boss. Jennifer makes it clear that she’s cash strapped, but kudos for Noa for immediately a) calling her on it b) cementing that it won’t happen again, and c) insisting that Jennifer pay her back.
- Credit to Saedi for the inspired horror business riffs, including the Chuck E. Cheese / Five Nights at Freddy’s establishment, Rose. E Ricotta. Then there’s the roller-skating rink called…wait for it…Skidamarink. Genius!
- Points also for the Mulholland Drive homage when Imogen is attacked near the garbage bins. Tying this into into deja-vu/dream imagery is the cherry on top (seriously folks, go watch Mulholland Drive if this doesn’t ring a bell. Or, you know, listen to the Horror Queers episode on it).
- I want to take Tabby’s credibility as a teen movie lover seriously, but considering how superior she acts, her picks for ‘greatest vampire film’ – Bram Stoker’s Dracula or the 1992 film version of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer – are a little suspect. Maaaybe the former, but definitely not the latter (and I say this as a fan!) It’s especially questionable considering Tabby hasn’t seen Blakula (Christian’s pick) and the Orpheum is literally playing Fright Night and The Lost Boys!
- Seriously, what is going on with Kelly (Mallory Bechtel)’s storyline? Naturally there’s a bullshit excuse for Sandy’s death at the end of episode 2.02, but we need more insight about whether this cult conversion was actually Kelly’s choice. This subplot is very underwhelming so far.
- I didn’t comment on it last week, but the day of the week title cards feel far more superfluous this season. “Sweet Sixteen”, for example, covers Thursday and Friday, but aside from having Mouse’s party on the last day of the school week, the titles have very little bearing on the actual story.
- Finally: special kudos to new series costume designer Charlotte Svenson for the girls’ 70s Xanadu-inspired costumes at the roller skating party. Everyone looks fantastic!
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School airs Thursdays on Max