I’ll tell you what, the networks, writers, and casts have really brought it with summer season finales. Another awesome finale last night although I must admit nothing was surprising. But I don’t care, because I still enjoyed it immensely!
We start the episode seeing Aria and Spencer comforting Hanna as she is bawling her eyes out while seeing a body on a gurney and Emily is covered in blood looking glazed as she’s talking to the cop about knowing the deceased. I had seen the promo picture of that shot all over the web so my initial thoughts were that something happens to either Caleb or her mom. After the opening sequence it was pretty clear that something happens to Caleb. I was hoping it wasn’t that he was killed but we’d have to wait to find out for sure.
The episodes leading up to last night’s finale and all last night, the girls (especially Spencer) felt that Paige was a member of the “A” clique. I’ve talked about this before and I’m going to say this again…why do the girls always listen to what Spencer says about who’s guilty? I know she’s the smartest girl in the group but she’s been completely off every time she thinks she knows who “A” is. First it was Toby, then it was Jenna, then it was Garrett, then it was Jason, now it’s Paige. Each time she was proven wrong. So how many times does Spencer have to be wrong before one of the girls steps up and says “Hey Spence, maybe you should take a backseat this time on the detective front because you’ve been wrong every time!” Seriously, for someone so smart, she’s been very gullible throughout this whole thing. Did it NEVER cross her mind (since “A” always seems to be 5 steps ahead of the girls) that “A” knew they were onto Paige and that “A” possibly planted that earring in Paige’s purse? Really? Not one person thought to bring that up? Spencer sees evidence and BOOM they’re guilty. She’d make a lousy detective or prosecutor.
I like the character of Paige but I don’t like her with Emily. Actually I don’t like anyone with Emily because Shay Mitchell isn’t doing a good enough job (in my opinion) convincing me she’s into girls. Not to mention, Emily is my least favorite character so that probably has something to do with it as well. About three episodes ago, the spin of the story was setting Paige up to be part of the “A” team…which is always an indication to me that it’s a red herring designed to turn attention away from the true culprit. As it turns out, not only did Paige have nothing to do with “A” but she became a victim herself, just not one of “A”‘s victims.
The other person we all knew was up to no good was Nate. Since he came to town, I never believed anything he was saying and he never rubbed me the right way. I wasn’t quite sure how he was connected to “A” but that’s where I was completely wrong…and I’m glad. Not every story line has to do with “A” and I’m happy the writers made this separate from that. Nate was actually named Linden and wasn’t Maya’s cousin….he was her stalker. He didn’t like Emily and Maya together and he ended up being her killer. He came after Emily because he felt Emily took Maya away from him. So now he was going to take someone away from her. He opens up his closet and we see Paige bound and gaged and looking completely frightened. Nate/Linden brings Paige out of the closet (pardon the pun) and puts her on the couch next to Emily where he keeps threatening to kill her, just like a James Bond movie. When he goes to get her, Emily snags a phone. But as this is playing out, the writers pull a Silence of the Lambs moment. We see Hanna, Aria, and Spencer walking up to the steps of a cabin and as they walk on the porch, it creaks. Flash to inside where Nate/Linden hears a noise and goes to check it out. A door bursts open but the girls are at a different cabin and Emily has run out with the phone (leaving Paige bound and gaged still behind.) I know Emily got a lot of grief about leaving Paige behind. But I think what she was trying to do was get to a spot where she can get a cell signal and place a call to 911. I think she also assumed that Nate/linden would follow her so Paige was probably safe. I ripped her more for running to the top of a lighthouse where she has no escape and nowhere to go. I know she was looking for a signal but you don’t necessarily need high ground for a signal and putting yourself at the top of a lighthouse, puts you in a much more dangerous position! But whatever. Nate/Linden tracks Emily to the top of the lighthouse and as she dials 911 and gets an operator, Nate/Linden attacks her. A major struggle ensues and Emily ends up stabbing Nate/Linden to death. Meanwhile, Caleb comes charging up the lighthouse with his gun. To back up, when the girls and Caleb decide to go after Emily, they aren’t 100% sure where she is at. They have a name of a cabin but there are two locations with the same name. The girls go to the one location (the wrong one) and Caleb goes to the other (the right one) which is why he was there. As Emily hugs Caleb the camera flashes to the outside of the lighthouse and we hear a gun shot.
Now we have come full circle to the beginning of the episode where we see Hanna crying her eyes out and we see Caleb coming out on a gurney with a gun shot wound. The second gurney comes out with Nate/Linden’s body. Emily and Paige are both talking to the police about what happened. Now, the way Caleb was shot is bothering me. I’m probably nit-picking but I thought it was weak. We knew something was going to happen with Caleb the minute we see the gun in Hanna’s room (and tie that into the opening scene, you knew Caleb was getting shot.) Hanna was freaking out about the gun and the danger of guns, so it was bound to happen that Caleb gets shot. We are all to assume it was Nate/Linden that shot him right? I mean Emily was hugging him and why the hell would she shoot him so it only made sense that it was Nate/Linden. Again, as soon as Caleb put the gun down…he was getting shot. So it didn’t have the impact it could have because it was so obvious this was going to happen. Plus, Nate/Linden looked pretty dead. I guess he woke up, tried to shoot Emily, shot Caleb instead and then really died. I guess I can go with that. Hopefully Caleb will be alright because I love that character and I love him with Hanna….best couple on the show! I have a feeling he’ll be just fine.
But enough with all that, let’s get to the part of the show that had everyone on Twitter freaking out (and that’s putting it mildly.) For the last month, PLL has been pumping it’s season finale at the BetrAyal. Meaning someone we have grown to love and trust (so have the girls) is going to be revealed as part of the “A” team. Not to toot my own horn (but I’m going to) I totally called it!!! If you listen to my podcast from last week, I said my guess was either Melissa or Toby. I eliminated Melissa because no one likes her and it wouldn’t be that big of a reveal. So I went with Toby. Toby made the most sense because of many reasons. First, the girls were leery of him early in series but proved himself to be innocent and a loyal friend. He and Spencer fell in love and he was able to gain her trust and as a result, all of the Liars’ trust. He and Emily had always been good friends so she always stood by him. Plus, Toby would be gone for long stretches of time where no one knew where he was or what he was doing. Yeah he told Spencer he was “working” in Bucks County, but we didn’t know that for sure. There were many signs pointing to Toby for a while. Even going back to last season. And that would be more of a tug on the heart-strings because of all the Toby/Spencer shippers out there and because he had become such a likable character. So it was no surprise that Toby was on the “A” team but it still made the reveal brutal for many people.
The big question is, is he really part of the “A” team or is it all a rouse? Is he posing as part of the “A” team to take them down from the inside or has he really been against the girls from the very beginning? Having Toby revealed to us but not the girls brings a very interesting layer to future storytelling that quite frankly, the show needed. It was starting to get a bit stale and now with this reveal, a burst of life has just been interjected into the series and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here!
I have to say, even though Spencer drives me crazy, I am absolutely heartbroken for her. I have really come to like her character and her feistiness. When she finds this out Toby is part of the “A” team, she seriously may spontaneously combust! And if I’m not mistaken, she’s the first Liar to lose her virginity correct? If I’m wrong, please let me know. But Em’s a virgin, Hanna’s a virgin. I’m pretty sure Aria still is. How apropos that the first Liar to lose her virginity, loses it to an “A” member. Yikes!
I’ve already got October 23rd on my calendar for the Halloween episode and then we have to wait until January for the back 12. I hate having to wait that long but I think I can suffer through it.
Other Thoughts From the Episode:
- Garrett completely creeped me out when he left the jail. The smirk he gave the girls when he was released because Nate/Linden was found out to be Maya’s killer, was chilling. Is Garrett just a creep or is he involved somehow?
- Maggie and Aria go toe to toe over telling Ezra about his son. I love Aria. But she has a lot of guts to give Maggie grief about lying to Ezra. I mean of ALL the Liars, Aria should NEVER call anyone out for lying. As Maggie told her, there is more to this story and she has no right to blow the whistle on this situation without knowing why she is doing what she is doing. And she can easily get out of being in trouble with Ezra for not telling him. By explaining to him that it’s not her news to tell. Tell him the situation and if he doesn’t understand, then that’s his problem. Plus, she’s a teenager. Can you really hold her accountable for adult actions when she’s just a kid? Maybe Ezra should date someone his own age if he wants a situation handled differently. But you all know how I feel about that!
- Where was the creepy pastor? I know that guy is up to no good. I don’t know how he connects or why, I just know he’s bad news. Ashley better be very careful. I guess we’ll revisit that in the second half of Season 3.
What did you think of the finale? Were you devastated it was Toby as the reveal? Did you call it too? Did you not care? Sound off below!
For The Love of TV! 