As mentioned last week, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School essentially set itself up so that any character could be unmasked as the S02 killer. Alas the reveal is still something of an uninspired let down.
Miss a Review? Episodes 2.01 – 2.02 / 2.03 / 2.04 / 2.05 / 2.06 / 2.07
“Chapter Eighteen: Final Exam“: The PLLs take a final stab at their list of suspects, and through a harrowing night will discover the identity of Bloody Rose Waters once and for all.
By sheer virtue of never really offering audiences a clue as to who the killer(s) could be, the eventual reveal that Mrs. Langberry (Carey Van Driest) is Bloody Rose and she’s being helped by former Orpheum manager Wes (Derek Klena) feels both expected and more than a bit ho-hum.
It’s not bad, but it’s also not a particularly exciting choice either. This is particularly true of Wes’ need to reiterate all of the racist, incel-like ideology that he already unloaded on Tabby (Chandler Kinney) back in S02E05.
In the immortal words of Sidney Prescott in Scream 2: “I’ve heard this shit before!”
Which is not to say that the finale, or more specifically Tabby’s Final Girl test, is bad.
Her harrowing “final exam” is arguably the best action set piece of the season* and the nods to Friday the 13th Part II (the shack, the pitchfork) make up for the lackluster pay-off back in “Chapter Fifteen: Friday the 13th.” In hindsight, S02 has really been Tabby’s season: her frustration about being cut out of the story of the Millwood Massacre, her struggle to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, and her attempt to reclaim her narrative as a Black Final Girl.
*Not that that’s saying much considering the season has been lacking in both chase sequences and murders
In many ways Tabby’s journey has been mirrored by Imogen (Bailee Madison). They’re both rape survivors angling to dip a toe back in the dating pool. Still, the final sequence in the retrofitted Our Mother of Holy Grace Church is for Tabby’s alone; Imogen is relegated to the group action back at the Orpheum while Tabby ascends to Final Final Girl status solo.
And she acquits herself well, taking out multiple proxies in the woods before spearing Wes with a pitchfork. The other Liars each get a brief moment to shine, including Faran (Zaria) getting the drop on Bloody Rose, Noa (Maia Reficco) hot wiring a car with Jen (Ava Capri)’s help and Mouse (Malia Pyles)…well, Mouse communicates that the Spooky Spaghetti servers are in the Orpheum. So that’s something, right?
Overall “Final Exam” does a reasonable job of wrapping up the season’s storylines and leaving a few unresolved threads for a potential S03. Dr. Sullivan (Annabeth Gish) sits out most of the episode before getting unceremoniously murdered by A in the coda, while the majority of the significant others/exes, including Henry, Ash, Greg and even Christian (Noah Alexander Gerry) and Johnny (Antonio Cipriano), either pop up for a scene or don’t appear at all.
Despite streamlining the narrative and sidelining the non-essential characters, series creators Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring still struggle the balance everything. As if we need further proof that the show is too stacked with characters, simply witness the front act of the episode, which struggles to negotiate between Faran’s rescue of Kelly (Mallory Bechtel), the prison riot that A supposedly dies in (of which we see nothing), and the completely inconsequential “failing summer school” plot that gives the season its subtitle.
If S01 struggled with tone and its metatextual references, S02 proves that PLL simply has too much going on. The show has always had a tenuous grasp on plotting (how were Christian and Johnny not suspects *until* the finale?!). With so many characters and individual storylines/romances, anyone who isn’t Imogen and Tabby was given the short shrift this season. The cast remains inherently likeable, but Noa and Mouse, in particular, got terrible storylines and/or nothing to do this season.
If Pretty Little Liars does nab a third season (all signs are looking positive for a renewal), the show’s creative team really needs to work on reducing its excess baggage. Our Liars deserve better.
- Finale Grade: 3.5/5
- Season 02 Grade: 3/5
Other Observations:
- I’m not saying that I want one of the Liars to die, but looking back on the eight episodes, absolutely no one of consequence died. It’s debatable whether PLL is actually a slasher series (it’s more of a YA soap with horror elements), but if the creative team wants to generate any kind of stakes, at some point someone more important than Kelly’s Church friend will need to die.
- The Imogen vs Johnny sequence at the ice cream shop is a classic example of the show’s ineffectual plotting. Yes, it’s an action sequence that gives the episode an early boost of adrenaline, but Imogen’s response (locking her boyfriend in the freezer rather than calling the police?) makes no sense, especially when Johnny is so obviously not the killer.
- Sidebar: the police and nearly all of the adults are completely removed from this finale. Why don’t the Liars in the Orpheum call 911 for help? Why doesn’t Tabby confide in her mother that they’re being stalked? (A: because Ms. Hayworthe is only there to be a last minute Bloody Rose red herring) It’s all lazy writing.
- Best line of the episode goes to Faran, who quips “Wonderful! This whole time we should have been looking for Dr. Seuss” after Imogen reads Bloody Rose’s rhyming note.
- Runner-ups include Jen, who declares it “an honor” to assist Noa hot wire the getaway car and Tabby’s observation: “It’s always the fucking boyfriends.”
- Kudos to the production crew for the set dressing of the Church. Between the red/purple/pink lighting, the rows of masks, and the “Confess Your Sins” graffiti in the confessional, this set has really strong screen presence. It would have been nice to spend a bit more time here.
- RIP Dr. Sullivan. Loved that Gish got one final opportunity to be catty when she confides to her publisher that the girls are all narcissists who will sign off on the publication of her book. Aside from that, though, the reappearance of A and her death is pretty pat and predictable.
- PLL seriously wants us to believe that Wes survived that injury? Bullshit. More like the show wants to revisit this character in S03.
- PLL is clearly evoking Scream 2 with the character’s fame-hungry motivation, right down to filming the murders. Wes is basically pulling a Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), no?
- Finale drinking game: take a shot each time “Proxy” or “Spooky Spaghetti” is said. Boom, you’re dead! But seriously…let’s never say the name of that cursed website ever again, ok?
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School has wrapped S02 on (HBO) Max.