50 Reasons To Watch Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars is so much more than a teen show. The best three word description would be meta, meta, META.

I watch a lot of television because I'm working on a pilot script, and PLL is one show that teaches you a hell of a lot about entertaining storytelling. The production team messes with viewers, turning familiar tropes into tricks (#likearabbitoutofahat), playing the audience over and over.

...A little like the way Alison, "A", and Mona manipulate the girls onscreen, come to think of it. O_O

For those who haven't seen the series, take the time to catch up! Here are fifty reasons to binge-watch before season six hits (with a whole heap of random and pointless tribute hashtags from me). Be warned, newbies who start watching are in for a wild, curly-haired, paranoid, toe-curling, diabolical, adrenalized ride.*

*Avid fans will love the list too, btw.
#wereallinthistogether

THE LIST
OF REASONS
YOU NEED TO GET
ONBOARD THE GOOD SHIP PLL

50. Mona isn't the only one "living in a state of hyperreality". That basically sums up the entire Rosewood experience. 
#thistowniswhack

Word.

49. Dolls, dolls, more creepy dolls. And there's a doll repair shop. (Makes sense, with a local doll population of about fifty million.) Standard retail outlet in most American states, right?
#itsadollsworldoutthere

The eyes follow you O_O

48. THERE IS LITERALLY A LIFE-SIZED DOLLHOUSE. Okay, you have to hang in a few years to get there, but it's worth it. 
#Charlesisbatshitcraycray

47. Sasha Pieterse plays teen sociopath Alison magnificently. Seriously, the kid gives you chills. Turns out she was twelve in the pilot. 
#madprops

46. They use the lake to good effect. Although sometimes I mistake it for a river. And I think it keeps moving? Now I just imagine Rosewood has an enormous moat around it. Like a water version of The Dome, except instead of keeping people out, it slows the passing of time. O_O

You've changed, Jason.

45. Sometimes characters leave town and come back entirely different people. I think this is because they are their own great-great grandchildren (see reason 5). Or it could be a hereditary issue everyone's too polite to mention since it only happens to the DiLaurentis bloodline. 
#legitreasoning

Stop creating onscreen sexual tension with
 everyone Tyler Blackburn.

44. Contains the most unrealistic representation of hacking since the movie Hackers. And I love it.
#needsmorecyberfashion

43. Unlike real high school, you'll never get tired of seeing the same faces over and over because people come to school for a while, and are never seen again. 
#wemissyouHolden

Where For Art Thou Holden?

42. Janel Parrish owns every scene she appears in. 
#monakicksass

41. There are more classic film references than you could throw a severed head in a hat box at.
#hereslookingatyouByron

We need to talk about...
Whoever the hell this is.

40. Explores misdirection and misrepresentation. Think doppelganger references, mirror images, lots of mask-wearing, people impersonating each other, and for the final seasons I'm predicting twins. (Oh and not forgetting that time all the cool kids got face casts.)
#itwasjustaphase #seeingdoubleispartofthistownscharm

39. Includes straight, gay, and bisexual characters. For the teens, it's no big deals. Mostly the adults are the drama queens.
#progressive

This was supposed to be a photo of
Toby in his police uniform but I got distracted.

38. It's a dysfunctional procedural, in the sense the town has a terrible police force. Pinky swear these are real questions from the Rosewood Police Academy application form (I have my sources):

-Ever illegally videotaped underage girls? Bonus points if you can describe this activity in Latin.

-Ever swapped evidence for sex?

-Ever flirted with an underager?

-Ever served time for accidentally blinding your stepsister?

On the bright side, supposedly murdered people can turn up alive, so it balances out.
#anydaynowMaya

We're still waiting. :(

37. You could go the rest of your life only quoting Pretty Little Liars dialogue (prepare to sound awesome) and never run out of cool things to say. For me the show's best-of script moments are up there with Twin Peaks and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
#wittyquips

36. The greatest mystery will always be whether or not Aria will eventually be eaten alive by her own enormous accessories. 
#feathersforthewin

It's like Tippi's family are living in her hair.

35. You get to see the father characters on the show vie for the title of most entertaining hypocrite. (PLL teaches us all dads are dodgy, unless they're in the army.)
#rosewoodisnotamansworld

34. So. Much. Food. Everyone talks about being hungry, but rarely does a character eat. The constant meals become random installation art. What does it all mean? Are they metaphorical? Or like the potions in Alice In Wonderland? Will people shrink? Will eating have crazy side effects? Maybe that's how they're holding back time...

I know, it's all so pretty.

33. Speaking of time, I don't think it's a coincidence the time traveller from 12 Monkeys also works part-time as a teacher in Rosewood. 
#conspiracytheories #redleaftea

32. Shay Mitchell as Emily does the best shocked face ever seen on television. Repeatedly. For, like, years now. Never gets blasé about reveals. 
#Shaybringsit

See? Emily wins at "shocked".

31. Teenagers on this show have been played by 12-32 year olds. Meaning actresses could be playing high schoolers alongside their own kids.
#mindblown

Sorry, I forgot what I was talking about.

30. An actor with Universal Chemistry can create sexual tension with anyone. Take Tyler Blackburn as Caleb. His prime UC examples include:

- Visiting his girlfriend's mother in prison. That got weird fast.

-Police interrogation room scene with Garrett and Wilden that had an unexpected three-way vibe.

-The many times he could have run off with Toby. Or Spencer. Or Toby and Spencer. (Calobencer?)

-The argument with Ezra at his cabin that seemed to be leading to possible hate sex.

-Early conversation with Emily where I wished they'd get hotdogs together and hook up, before remembering Emily is gay.

-The many times I thought Lucas was going to mack on Caleb and announce he's gay.
#blackburnisababe

This whole episode is a work of art.
(And I wish I knew some classic cinema slang to leave here.)

29. There is a noir episode! Trust me, it's as amazing as you'd imagine... 
#nothingisblackandwhiteohwait #MYGODTHEFASHION

28. Tippi the bird (or should I say, talking bird) is the true star of PLL. 
#bringbacktippi #expositionkickoffdoneright

World's Coolest Bird.
Even A loved Tippi!

27. PLL takes that awful feeling you get in high school when someone bullies you, and times' it by ten hundred thousand million. (A must be great on Twitter, what with sticking to a character limit. Those threatening texts are tight.)
#theartofthewellwrittensociopath

26. No one in Rosewood can dress appropriately for a funeral. (Dress Code: Hyperreality.)
#shesinfashion

25. The lady from Charmed is in the show (and has a lot of onscreen chemistry with the actor who plays her daughter's boyfriend).
#hollymariecombs #hotmama

Mona hangin' out at her fave holiday B and B.

24. This town has a weird interpretation of traditional institutions. Prison means working full-time as a dry cleaner, and the sanitarium Radley is like a bizarre bed and breakfast with board games. 
#mightwannaresearchthat #notquitethebelljar

23. EP and Showrunner I. Marlene King posts and offers hints in interviews that are clever and will keep you guessing.
#understoodinhindsight

22. PLL can be used to teach classmates/workmates the importance of backing up digital material. Otherwise you risk losing precious hours of work and becoming a suspect in an ongoing murder investigation.
#truestory

It was a sad foreshadowing that
Jenna wore dark sunglasses on Halloween.

21. You can join the rest of us in feeling bad for Jenna. I mean, come on, Alison blinded her (and not in a metaphorical didn't-see-that-coming way). 
#bitchcansee

 World's No. 1 Mom

20. Sit back and enjoy the worst onscreen-parenting-masquerading-as-decent-parenting since Gossip Girl. (We miss you Lily and Rufus). Ashley is the winner. Her supposed awesomeness includes:

-Sleeping with a corrupt cop while her daughter is home to get said daughter off shoplifting charges. WTF.

-Running over said officer with her car before fleeing the scene. The excuse? He made verbal threats against her child.

-Lying to cops about her whereabouts during a murder investigation.

-Stealing huge amounts of money from an elderly customer at the bank where she works.

-Cheating on her pastor boyfriend with the brother of a murder suspect her daughter is arrested for colluding with.

#motheroftheyear #feelthelove

Hanna made a fabulous Marilyn.

19. Speaking of Gossip Girl, that show's got nothing on the social calendar of Rosewood. Forget the Big Apple: this crazy, tiny, timeless town has more social events each season than Paris. Better yet, teens are welcome! From an underground party at changing locations to endless themed balls. A Western boot scootin' get-together. A Halloween train party. Even glamping. You can model wedding dresses at a home showing. Or wear your dead friend's clothes in a runway show. 
#hadtobethere

18. Feeling bad about making out with someone who isn't your boyfriend/girlfriend? Don't. The Pretty Little Liars do it all the time and it works out totally fine. 
#wewereonabreak

17. Rosewood is known for its quality therapy. 
#SOJOKING

Seriously, she fell like a meter.
People fall further in gym class playing dodge ball.

16. PLL's continuing exploration of the space/time continuum gets you thinking about the big questions. Like when Aria pushes Shana in New York, you too will wonder how a girl can die falling off a stage. Is gravity different in the big city??
#neverleaveRosewood

15. Join the rest of us and alternate between Spencer and Hanna as your favorite Liar.
#troianandashleyrock

This wasn't weird at all.

14. You might think this show is bananas but I heard bananas don't like to be affiliated with it. 
#wildrep

13. Play spotto finding questionable body doubles (usually around the same time as a slow motion edit). Examples include Emily's muscly swimming double during a race scene, and Hannah's double when getting hit by a car. Possibly a double for Noel when he knocks over the ice tray/body remains on the train?
#couldbewrong #thatshalfthefun

12. You'll enjoy the soundtrack. The show has great tunes in the mix and an addictive opener by The Pierces.
#twocankeepasecretifoneofthemisdead

A sure does like to play.

11. If you like games, well, this entire show is a game. 
#helovesmehelovesmenot #checkmate

10. Your own dubious taste in lovers won't seem so bad when you realize Little Miss Perfect (the character Melissa Hastings), married a guy who tried to murder her sister, unknowingly made out with her half-brother, and that's before you even get to Garrett and Wren... 
#ifeelbetteralready

I won't lie: Alison scares me even without a knife.

9. Fans of flashbacks will love PLL. (Note: Flashforwards apparently coming up too.) Flashbacks to the night Alison "died" make it clear her house was THE hotspot in town. This kid is quite the multi-tasker. Jokes aside, the PLL lot are skilled craftsman when it comes to well handled flashbacks. They shape, then reveal and reshape the past—over and over.
#niceuseofastorytellingdevice

8. Watching episodes means you can listen to the fantastic podcast recaps by @BrosWatchPLLToo and read the many associated blogs online, because let's face it, PLL is a recappers dream. 
#metamania

7. Did I mention there are psychics? Occasional magic shows? Mannequins? Some creepy puppets at a carnival? Body parts that reappear at random? 
#WHATMOREDOYOUPEOPLENEED

Something tells me this isn't going to end well.

6. Rosewood is the one place avoiding a guy because he gives you a dodgy vibe isn't paranoia, it's a necessary life skill. If you think your ex is a creepster wait till you meet Ezra. 
#fortheteacherfestishists

5. You'll love how the crimes pile up till you get distracted, like the characters, by the next reveal. People are presumed dead, then not dead, then charged with murder then released and murdered, then missing, then presumed alive, then found dead, then one murder turns out to be a different person's murder, then someone who thought she'd covered up a murder ends up murdered, or the actual murderer... and who you think did each murder changes till you forget to keep up and wish you had a whiteboard. #RosewoodisthenewCabotCove 

4. PLL has striking cinematography and editing. Obvious time is put into making the series visually interesting. And Norman Buckley directs a lot of episodes. 
#morethanenoughreasontowatch

3. The teens of Rosewood build better stalker picture/info walls than most serial killers on cop shows. Or FBI profilers. Their surveillance skills are topnotch. I'm starting to wonder if it's part of the curriculum.
#attentiontodetail #kidsthesedays

Cause that's not creepy.

2. It could be argued PLL says, don't let age hold you back: with the help of a fake ID you can date older men, hire private detectives, get into bars, take on corrupt cops, and solve murders. On the flipside, this kind of behavior does lead to a prison sentence and subsequent kidnapping for our heroes.
#sokindacarpediemmaybe #nowImnotsosure

Prom's never as good you imagine it will be...
Even less so when you've been abducted.

1. While it can be fun, when this show gets dark, it gets hella dark. Bats in the belfry psychological torture/physical captivity/near-death experiences mother freakin' dark. The stakes climb higher with each season. I'm almost scared for the girls at this point, considering how many episodes are left on the schedule. Who thought Alison would be better off than all of them? Especially considering she started the series dead O_O
#nomorefuneralsplease #sixsixsixseasonimean

...That was in no particular order, btw. See you back at the Dollhouse, Pretty Little Liars! xx