Mini Recap: My Name is Trouble

The girls try to find their own interests and not surprisingly their extra-curricular activities bring them all together. But the BIG moment was the "I love you" between Toby and Spencer...so presh. 

Drama-rama du jour
Who is Melissa sneaking out to see??

Best Outfit
While a great case can be made for that gorgeous hunk at left, Hanna's first school outfit with the high-waisted skirt (or was it a dress) and double buttons was adorable. 
[Can we also make note of Ashley's hair--the PLLs hairstylist finally got her hands on the ginger!] 

Gratuitous Male Shirtlessness
Just 1. And it was fine. Fine, fine, fine Toby :)  

Best "A" Message
"You can't play cat and mouse if the mouse moves to Texas. I need you here."

Current "A" suspect
Jason may be A or the new theory: he killed Alison. 

Anthony's recapping all the juiciness this week. Check back on Friday!

The Goodbye Look - The Liars - Part 1 of 2

Episode synopsis: So much happened this week! The Liars struggled to deal with their therapist-mandated separation, which lasted for about .5 seconds before they were scheming together like old times. Spencer and Toby were sneaking around behind their parent's backs. Toby's working torward his GED and found full-time work...for about a day. Emily found a ray of hope to stay in Rosewood when a college recruiter showed interest in her, plus her burgeoning relationship with Samara. Hanna got a surprise visit from her concerned Dad, which led to much awkwardness among the whole Marin fam. She finally decided to be the first person (ever) to forgive Mona. And Aria spent a lot of time thinking and pondering, eventually ending things with Ezra via typewriter. Although after Ezra's heartfelt last-day-of-school speech, Aria had a sudden change of heart and led to the hottest EzRia scene since their bathroom makeout in the pilot.

Spencer's outfit this week confused me for awhile. First, I thought it was a sweater with a weird stripe in the middle, but eventually I realized that it was a sweater with an XL size belt on it:

She's so hardcore it's even got 2 buckles! The sweater is kind of meh, but the slightly puffy sleeves make it a bit more interesting. I'm pretty sure her pants are some kind of corduroy jeggings, tucked into boots. Pretty much a standard, equestrian-inspired S. Hastings look.

Next, she changed into this unfortunately matronly outfit:

The blazer has SHOULDER PADS, you guys. The skirt is HIGH WAISTED. She has popped the shirt collar OUTSIDE OF THE BLAZER. The only thing I can think is that her brain is so full of brilliant scheming and problem-solving that she accidentally got dressed in her mother's room, and didn't notice.

No matter. This was the outfit she was wearing when this cuteness occurred:

While the rest of the internet was swooning about the EzRia parking lot kiss, I found my heart warmed even more with this comfy snuggle.

Oh, also, Spencer's cape is ferosh:

... especially worn with knee-high boots and bare legs. Work it!

We also got a cute flashback to back-in-the-day Spencer:

She looks really relaxed and laidback here. Did she just start going preppy after Alison's death? Not sure. Aria looks younger here with her simple shorts-and-tee outfit and her patented Flashback Aria Pink Extensions.

Speaking of Aria, it was quite the week for her, and her outfits were possibly even more random than usual.

Girlie floral 1950s party dress with distressed cropped jean jacket and gigantic handbag? Check.

Layered tank with black jeggings and a ring the size of her face? Check.

Note: she is wearing the following FIERCE shoes with this outfit, which makes it suddenly 100% more awesome:

I'm not usually in favour of boot/sandals, but this is just crazy enough to work. Also, cute pedicure. But neither of those can redeem the following:

You guys, this is a CROPPED, FRINGED leather jacket. I know she's a free spirit, and apparently addicted to cropped jackets, but this is The Fug.

So then, for her episode-ending romantic angst, she wore the following craziness:

Oversized white tank worn belted as a dress, black mini (or shorts?), white mid-calf socks, low-heel blue (rain) boots, and a leather jacket. I guess the low heeled boots makes it easier to go running through the school to reunite with your boyfriend who you broke up with for no reason, but the whole thing is kind of insane. Not that anybody was paying attention to her outfit during the following:

OK, first things first. Did you guys notice that Hanna's Dad is totally Mike Horton from Days of our Lives? And you know that Hanna used to play Abby Horton Devereaux on Days of our Lives? I spent too much of their scenes together trying to figure out how they were related in the DOOL-verse (answer: He would be her uncle).

... or maybe I was just forcing myself to think about the DOOL family tree to distract from this COMPLETELY WACKADOO shirt. This is like some sort of Project Runway challenge gone wrong, where the designers were asked to turn an old ghost Halloween costume into a shirt. Why is one sleeve so much longer than the other? Why the ruffle? Why all the cutouts? Why pair it with red jeggings?

Hanna, I love you, but please never wear this again.

This outfit was so much better. This combines Hanna's rocker edge with her more girlie side, particularly with the choice of canary-yellow nailpolish (lots of cute manicures this week, actually).

Oh, and we also saw the least-hefty Hefty Hanna flashback yet:

Her hair is a little more dissheveled than usual, and her clothes are plainer, but did they even put any body padding on her this week? The Liars all looked pretty much the same in this flashback, which I suppose may mean it takes place really close to the date of Alison's death (i.e. not as long ago as the flashbacks where Hanna is really "hefty").

Oh, and one last thing from Hanna:

Girl knows how to rock a trenchcoat. Fabulous!

Oh, Emily.

So fun to watch, so uninspiring to recap. Maroon v-neck! Blue v-neck! Pink v-neck! I don't think I need to bore you with her swim-team jacket from most of the episode. 

Oooh, actually, that is a really nice look. Pretty hair, gorgeous colour on her, cute necklace... is Emily running away with the best-dressed award for the second time ever? I think so! Samara clearly brings out the best in her.

And OK, this is pretty cute, too. Maybe she was just depressed about having to move, and once she started to think she could stay, she started dressing cuter?

Or maybe when the hot blonde in the shredded tank asked her on a date, that cheered her up. Samara looked cute this week, didn't she? The two of them on their movie date were just gorgeous.

The Goodbye Look - The Suspects - Part 2 of 2

In Rosewood, everybody is a suspect. Anybody could be A, anybody could be Alison's killer, and we don't even know yet if those two things are connected.

Before we get into the suspects, let's remember Alison. Pretty, conniving, mysterious Alison.

This adorable sundress was Kate's pick for best outfit of the week. I really like it too, especially how she wears it with this unexpected belt:

It's a really cute look. We also get a glimpse of her (newly recasted with a former underwear model) brother, Jason, in flashback:

I was going to say "typical teenage guy outfit," but it's actually not. Unless he's coming from a baseball game, it's a really fun retro look.

Let's get a closer look at the "new" Jason, shall we?

Weirdly enough, he looks enough like the previous Jason that, if I hadn't read about the recast, I might not have noticed. His hair is longer than Jason 1, but definitely a resemblance. And did I mention that he's a former underwear model? I'm sure that fellow YKYLF staffer L-A and I are not the only ones counting down to his first gratuitous shirtless scene.

Speaking of gratuitous male shirtlessness... well, there wasn't any this week. But we did get some nice images of Toby wearing a toolbelt:

Too bad he got fired from that job. I could really get used to Toby-the-handyman.

And then there's Ezra, still on Mr. Schue's 12 Step Program for Vest Addiction (tm Kate).

He looks like less of a dandy from 1902, but suddenly, also looks a lot less fun. Until he put on a three-piece suit for his college interview!

Dapper is the word that comes to mind. He's like a mini-Don Draper here. Who can blame Aria for running through the school and across the parking lot for a piece of that?

Mona looked surprisingly sane this week (I guess Aria and her bright blue rainboots were taking up Rosewood's quota of crazypants outfitting). This is a weird outfit to wear to school, but for Mona, is probably the equivalent of wearing a v-neck tee.

Is this the best that Mona has ever looked? That shade of green is stunning on her. And she's only wearing one bracelet! If we'd seen the rest of her outfit, I would have been tempted to give her outfit of the week, which is extremely surprising.

Green was apparently the colour of the week. Melissa looked pretty, despite the whole pregnant-and-possible-widowed, just-was-in-a-car-accident, sister-accused-husband-of-murder thing. I love her leopard print scarf, and I have no idea what she's doing sneaking off with the ultrasound picture. Ian better not be living in a tent somewhere, is all I have to say.

Pam looked cute this week, but who packs their house wearing white jeans? She is like the modern-day June Cleaver. Wouldn't be surprised if she was also wearing a string of pearls, and heels.

Ashley's back in basic black after last week's stunning pop of colour. I like the basic shape of her shift dress, but the overall look is kind of meh.

Let's end wth this rare shot of all four girls all together. In an episode that they were supposed to be avoiding one another, they spent more time as a foursome than many other weeks. It's also always fun to see them together to be reminded of how different all of their styles are!

You've got Sporty Spice, Preppy Spice, Boho Spice...although I'm having trouble coming up with a Spice Girl Spirit for Hanna. Suggestions?

[Ed. note: Trendy Spice, perhaps? or maybe I-was-silly-and-let-my-HOT-HOT-(almost)BF-leave Spice? -K]

Mini Recap: The Goodbye Look

Just when I was about to say this episode was merely 60 minutes of everyone (viewers included) collecting their thoughts from last week's intenseness, this episode got GOOOOD. "A" broke into Spencer's house and got physical with Aria (not like that...get your heads out of the gutter!) and Aria and Ezra return to the steaminess we witnessed at the onset of their relationship. Jason (Alison's brother) also returns to Rosewood as a new man. Literally. Not the same guy--hotter I do say? 

Drama-rama du jour
It's Mr. Fitz's last day as a high school teacher. What does that mean for Ezria? 

Best Outfit
The flashback of Alison. She had the perfect little summer sundress on--and her perfectly wavy hair, as usual.

Gratuitous Male Shirtlessness
Unfortunately, none this week. Must mean multiples next week ;) 

Best "A" Message
No texts this week. Just a shove to Aria.
[Ed. note: Apparently I missed the one text A sent because my heart was breaking over Aria and Ezra's almost break-up. Read the comments below for the deets]

Current "A" suspect
Possibly Jason but I think the girls really have no idea who A is at this point. 

Ann will have the full recap ready and waiting on Friday!

It's Alive

Episode Synopsis: HOLY MOLY. If you didn't think this show could get any creepier after the first season, you were WRONG. These PLL writers sure know how to bring it. No one believes the girls that Ian died and they are all suspect in his disappearance. THEN they are forced to go to a therapist. THEN "A" breaks into Ezra's apartment (but who wouldn't after the show he put on for us!), THEN Melissa starts to believe Spencer...with everything leading to the discovery that Ian is alive. The creepiest moment and completely unexpected is the Noel-Mona relationship. Whoa...

(We're experimenting with a new post format. We got a lot of feedback saying that the old posts were too long. Let us know what you think of this new format over on the YKYLF Blog!)

The Standouts

Aria couldn't quite decide whether she was going for the sexy librarian look or an 80s teen (I daresay her Camp Mona hair would have looked superb with this outfit). So she decided to combine them. As separates, each piece is gorgeous and fits beautifully. The detailing on the collar is quite exquisite. But as one look, all I can say is "Aria, honey, what were you thinking?"

Ashley Marin? Is that really you? Well don't you look relaxed and fresh-faced, like you just came back from St. Barth's. Now we know where all the stolen money went. It's nice to finally see a nice bright pop of color on her, and that blue complements her hair so well! 

HELLOOO EZRA! I do believe this is the first time we've witnessed Mr. Fitz in this state of undress. Not too shabby ;)

 [Kate, I hearby request that you start tallying the number of "Gratiutious PLL Half-Naked Boys" in your mini recaps - Ed. Jen]

Done. Who am I to argue?

This is like one of those outfits that you see in the back of People or Us Magazine that has the person's eyes blocked out..."Mesh Gone Wrong." What is even going on here? Sheer, mesh, stripes, shimmery belt, metallic bag...at least she cinched her waist in (?)

 ...and if you saw the back (I wasn't quick enough to get a screenshot) she had on a red bra. Classy, Mona, classy. 

The Snores

So technically Emily had the only snooze-inducing wardrobe...can the girl get enough purple?? Hanna was impeccably dressed, as always. Aria's sartorial choices were nothing out of the ordinary for her...same for Spence. 

But can we please note Aria and Spencer in the first column in their PJs. Whose hair looks that fabulous after a night with the 5-0 and what I'm sure was a sleepless sleepover at Spencer's?

The supporting cast were all snores. Pam (Emily's mom) is usually perfectly attired in something that looks a little less mom-like and a little more Lily Humphrey, but not this time. Ella's pants are bunching at her knees--she wears those boots enough, one would think she would have purchased a pair of bottoms that fit neatly into them by now! And Mona switches out the hideous mesh monstrosity for leopard and gaudy earrings, but it is entirely Mona in a toned down kind of way. Btw: How does Noel go from Aria to Mona?? "A" collaborators, perhaps?

I want to rag on Melissa but unfortunately after the ordeal she was put through, that is exactly what I would be wearing--actually my sweats would be way less cute. 

Caleb, Toby, and Ezra were utterly and completely plain...I'm putting in a request to the wardrobe department: All the male character's wardrobes should only consist of pants from now on; but their faces are quite the opposite of snoozeworthy, so drink it in :) Although it does appear that Mr. Fitz has started Mr. Schue's 12-step program for Vest Addiction. Props to that!