Pilot - Part 1 of 2 - Remains the same

Episode Synopsis: A year ago in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, five girls had a sleepover and then one of them went missing. Fast-forward one year, and the remaining four girls are estranged and dealing with their own dramas. Aria, back in town after a year in Iceland, hooks up with a hottie in a restaurant bathroom - then finds out he's her new English teacher. Spencer is drawn to her sister's hot doctor fiance. Hanna shoplifts and then is horrified when her mother sleeps with a policeman to have the charges erased. And Emily's interest in piqued by the bohemian new girl in town, Maya. All four receive ominous messages from someone using the inintial "A," which they assume means their presumed-missing friend Alison is back in town... until her body is found buried, and her death is officially declared a murder.

I am so excited to get to recap the pilot of this show! It's neat how many things stayed the same, while so many characters developed so far from where we began. Let's start with things that stayed the same, such as, Aria's cute boho style:

This is our first view of Aria, in the first of a series of cute purple sundresses she wears this episode. This one is my favourite, mainly because of the back details featured here: the exposed zipper and the cross-cross straps. It looks youthful and fun with her slouchy boots (which she also wears throughout the episode).

Since it's fall, after all, she transitions her summer dress with this adorable brown leather jacket and an army-styled messenger bag:

If you're wondering why she has that look on her face, it's because she's having a subtext-heavy convo with her father about how she knows he's been cheating on her Mom. Remember when that was the  major drama in her life? Well, she very quickly got distracted when she met Ezra in a restaurant and, well...

Wow, I forgot they were so hot at the beginning. It was a quick trip from bathroom groping to their wholesome dinner-preparing, sofa-snuggling relationship, wasn't it?

But who can blame Aria for making a move? Look at cute, off-duty Ezra, looking the most youthful I can recall:

So cute, right? But this entry is about what stays the same, which brings me to his first appearance as "Mr. Fitz," complete in his signature retro tie-and-vest ensemble:

The look on his face here is the, "Wait... the girl from the bathroom is SIXTEEN and MY STUDENT??" look.

Aria moves swiftly to convince him that just because he's her teacher, doesn't mean they can't keep hooking up. Oh, and on the first day of school, she wears this adorable cardigan and her trademark 1,000,000 necklaces:

She changes into her third purple sundress, pairing it with the same leather jacket from earlier, when she goes to convince Ezra to give her a chance:

Her style, moreso than any of the other Liars', stayed the most consistent from the Pilot through to the end of Season 1. Her plotline was also the most consistent, with Ezra as her main romantic interest all season long. 

Emily's style starts out in the same tees and jackets she wears later, but is much girlier in the Pilot. Here's her first look:

I don't remember her wearing minidresses or dangly earrings very often later on. It's a very sporty, conservative look. Her second outfit is along the same lines:

Tee, jacket, miniskirt, check.

Maya's look is a bit different from her appearance later on, particularly her 'do:

"Hi! I'm your new neighbour! We just met but do you want to smoke pot with me? Awesome!"

And yes, if you were wondering, her vest is acid wash and her tank is neon orange:

And her hair looks like a dark-coloured Li'l Orphan Annie Wig. But you know whose hair is just as gorgeous in the Pilot as it was all season? Ms Hanna "Felony Shoplifting" Marin:

... or is that a blond Jenna? Funny how sunglasses are such a plot point in this season. Hanna's outfits are pretty consistent with her look the rest of the season - lots of cute, embellished tanks and cute earrings.

 

In this shot, she looks like Alison's clone, which I suppose is kind of the point. That she is initially suspicious because of how she filled Alison's Queen Bee role so well once Alison disappeared. She also seems preoccupied with food throughout the episode, which makes me think they were going to have her have an eating disorder but changed their minds by the second-half episode where she admits to Aria that she *used* to be bulimic.

She had the fiercest outfit at Alison's funeral at the end - accessorizing her LBD with what looks like a necklace layered with a rosary or two.

Pilot - Part 2 of 2 - The more things change...

You guys. Something really weird happened with Spencer in this episode. I think she fell through some sort of time machine and emerged as a 40-year-old in the early 1960s. Observe:

This appears to be a blazer made of sweatshirt material. The Spencer I know and love would never wear such a thing. Nor would she wear this:

If you can tear your eyes away from her 40-Year-Old Debutante hairdo, you may be thinking, "but that's just a boring-looking cardigan. It's not awesome, but it's not terrible."

To which I say, "Wait until she turns around."

IT LOOKS LIKE SHE HAS MOULD GROWING ON HER BACK. Who puts a ruffle on the small of the back on a perfectly innocent cardigan?

I think this series of fashion missteps shows that Spencer's mind is quite anxiety-ridden at this point in time. She fluxuates between dressing like Baby's sister in "Dirty Dancing" to wearing a series of extremely unflattering bikinis. 

Exhibit A: the "seducing Melissa's boyfriend with discussion of my field hockey injury" model

Exhibit B: the flashback "almost get caught out for seducing my sister's other boyfriend" model

Not that Spencer's not in great shape. I just expect something more interesting from her as far as a swimwear wardrobe is concerned.

But luckily, she redeems herself with this outfit, featuring an extra-long necktie:

Yes! Thank you. True, it's not as cute as the outfits she wears later on, but at least she's well on her way. It is also my pick for best outfit of the week.

Oh, and speaking of how she was busy seducing Melissa's boyfriends? Allow me to introduce them to you:

Bachelor #1, British Doctor Wren:

Yeah, I had forgotten about him too. But he did offer up this week's only gratuitous male shirtlessness:

I feel kind of badly even posting this image, as Wren is so far out of Toby and Caleb's varsity-level abdominal achiement. But we can look at this image and think about the steady improvement in eye candy that this show developed as Season 1 progressed.

And Bachelor #2, Not-Ian!

When this guy showed up, I suddenly realized why I had so much trouble telling the guys on this show apart when I started watching. It's because a bunch of the actors changed between the Pilot and the rest of the show! Like, for instance, check out Not-Toby, seen here escorting Actual-Jenna to Alison's funeral:

It's funny that he's so much the same type as Toby, and yet, totally not Toby. It's like Toby sent his stunt double to go to the funeral, hoping Jenna wouldn't notice.

Melissa, like Spencer, seemed to have accidentally stumbled into the costuming department of Mad Men:

Like... is that a cape? Or just a really big sweater? Does the Hastings compound exist in a different time period from the rest of the show?

Anyway, it was also funny how she was Totally! In! Love! with Wren, in the exact same way that a few episodes later, she is suddenly Totally! In! Love! with Ian again. Her affections seem kinda fickle.

One last transformation that I had forgotten about was Mona (who I still think is "A"). We first see her on the show as Hanna's partner in shoplifting crime:

Classic Mona, right? Five thousand clashing colours and patterns, an overabundance of accessories, and a snappy comeback. But then, we catch a glimpse of who Mona used to be -- circa "Hefty Hanna" -- in Aria's flashback:

I had totally forgotten that she used to be an outcast, too.

This episode also featured the Liars' first contact from "A," who has changed his/her style too. A sent them messages via email and text, but also left Emily a handwritten note in her locker. My pick for best A message was the one he/she sent to Hanna when she was waiting to find out her punishment for shoplifting:

And I will give one final shoutout to Hanna's golden nailpolish in this screencap. She never disappoints with an interesting choice of nailpolish.