The Many Problematic Relationships of Pretty Little Liars *a deep dive*

[@basicgorl]

Go to nordvpn.com/basicgorl or use code basicgorl to get a 2-year plan plus 4 additional months with a huge discount.

[@Spanish101class]

I can't believe you also watch Friendly Space Ninja and Dylan is in Trouble! Collab when?

[@terryberry38]

If I’m correct Samara told Emily she went to a prep school which would make her a teenager.

[@cozycasasmr4510]

I connected nordvpn to Canada and still can't see PLL 😭

[@sweeety969]

@@terryberry38 Was it a prep school or a college? And either way she was manipulative af and completely played her.

[@terryberry38]

@@sweeety969 prep school. And honestly Emily played herself.

[@crystalsnow5046]

Nothing will anger me more than when Arias parents being rightfully disgusted at Ezra dating their daughter but it’s framed like the parents are in the wrong🙄

[@MrBookworm01]

To be fair, Aria's parents aren't much better. You'd think that if they were truly concerned with their daughter being perved on and groomed by a teacher, they wouldn't react by berating and slut-shaming her. You're right, they had every reason to be angry at Ezra, but their blatant victim-blaming honestly made me hate them even worse when I stumbled across the post-AriaxEzra reveal episodes by accident.

[@marymunoz8774]

@@MrBookworm01 I completely agree and don't forget how Arias DAD also dated one of his students and that didn't have any consequences either.

[@MrBookworm01]

@@marymunoz8774 That too. And if I recall, he was just an all-around asshole to Aria

[@crystalsnow5046]

@@MrBookworm01 I haven’t watched the show in a long time but I agree they shouldn’t have victim shamed her but they should have actually done something like have him arrested instead of just telling Aria to never see him again

[@MrBookworm01]

@@crystalsnow5046 Agreed. And then gotten Aria into counselling so she could finally realize how messed up what Ezra did to her was.

[@trinaq]

Even Ezra's actor, Ian Harding, has stated how uncomfortable he was about Ezra and Aria's relationship. One company apparently pulled advertising for the show because of Emily's same sex relationship, but had no objections to an underage girl getting romantically involved with her own teacher!

[@1cheness]

What the fuck ??? They pulled advertising for that and there was no one to talk about it, PLL just get worst everytime I learn something about the show/behind the show.

[@prettierthaneverything7880]

Drop the name i can fight

[@borithban6454]

@Sara Moustamandi you're ignoring the fact that sasha lied about her age to get the part and so at the time that scence was filmed they didn't know she was 12

[@Hepoxni]

@@borithban6454 What age did they think she was?

[@ChrisAtheist]

@@borithban6454 so what? Mina Kunis did the same But the problem is not that that lying They knew exactly that she was Lying because they had to make sure her credentials are right starting with the name and that's now they would find out her birth year

[@cyndixx]

Can’t be the only one who thought Ezra was really creepy when he got mad, he would’ve made a perfect villain.

[@koostattoos-8859]

i always wished they would've made him a villian,, but it would've upset fans and the pll writers nvr wanted to do anything that upset fans 😭

[@kaledoublescope]

Yeah Idk if it was Ian trying to prove who Ezra was or if it was directed that way but it had me shaking in my boots

[@snatchingcareers4681]

I find Ezra creepy regardless…

[@tife4130]

realistically wasn’t ezra a villain

[@tiana2313]

IT WAS SO FUN WHEN THEY THOUGHY HE Was a

[@Name-dl3uq]

Emily basically got with a person who bullied her and took advantage of her sexuality, manipulating her for years. I was just so sad, because Alison was then presented as some sort of a good person, and they tried to give her a redemption arch, but it was handled so poorly! I just wish they left her to be the villain - *the* most iconic villain of the tv shows of that time, instead of this, and instead of Emily dating her. Sad! Edit: phrasing, because I am stupid

[@trinaq]

Precisely, I couldn't believe that they had Emily start dating Paige after Paige had tried to drown her. It just never felt believable to me.

[@Name-dl3uq]

@@trinaq 10000 percent

[@randompromises1038]

everyday i am reminded of how maya was and always will be a gem for emily. she was so much better for emily than paige and ali.

[@kaledoublescope]

Yeah they rly left no good options for Emily when Maya died although I did like that blonde girl from H2O and the blonde girl in the last season but Paige?? 🤮 and Alison? EW

[@zaysclubs]

I like Alison and Emily together 🌚🌝

[@victoriahong493]

One thing I always hated was that the writers had some huge secret scandal about each parent, that would then get exposed by A and twisted to make them to seem unfit to parent. Like Aria’s parents were rightfully disgusted that her teacher was grooming her, and Aria was over here like “oh yeah? well dad is cheating on you!” Like ok and? That’s their problems not yours. They’re still your parent and are genuinely looking out for you.

[@gissellehehe4289]

and the fact she only used that to defend herself meaning she did not care for it until she needed the attention deprived off of her.

[@randompromises1038]

@@gissellehehe4289 honestly the way aria's parents were written to blame aria for bring groomed and calling her a slut, they seem more shitty by comparison which is a seriously bad way to write about an issue like pedophilia. aria was a child and ezra was a grown man and literally dated a middle schooler. also the way the teens all look close in age to the adults really doesn't help the situation. if aria had a little bit of chubbiness in her cheeks and a prepubescent voice and was CLEARLY a child and not someone in their twenties then the shit would've been uncomfortable and not romantic in the slightest. i get that laws are placed for children to not work strenuous hours but they literally hired alison's actress who was 12 when she took the job (albeit lied about her age at the time of the audition but a background check by the producers would've easily revealed her actual age) AND had the actor have romantic interaction with shay mitchell's character (emily) who was a fully grown adult on set. not to mention in the later season they hired actual teenagers to be, like, their own version of alison's posse and they blatantly looked like teenagers. i'm just saying, not all teenagers look like grown adults by their junior year. hell, i matured really fast and i'm sixteen and get mistaken for fourteen because of my average height and high-pitched voice and acne.

[@tcc17301]

@@randompromises1038 I never got the feeling that Aria’s parents blamed Aria for being groomed. They seemed pretty clear on the fact that Ezra, the adult in the relationship, was the problem.

[@randompromises1038]

@@tcc17301 byron kinda called aria a slut. ella was more on aria's side and angry at ezra more but it was mostly byron who was really stupid.

[@tcc17301]

@@randompromises1038 when did he imply that. I remember him wanting to call the cops. Yes he told her to change her clothes, which was definitely an emotional over correction. But I don’t remember anything else. Not trying to say you’re wrong I just haven’t rewatched that season in awhile so I might be forgetting some scenes.

[@-intbedo1887]

pretty little liars is both iconic and problematic, that one show you were supposed to hate but still bingewatched all the episodes

[@phoebe1313]

same

[@jademichelin3831]

me with ohshc

[@randompromises1038]

me and my adoptive mom ended up bonding together watching pll. much as the plot was convoluted, i fell in love with mona and toby and hanna. it was kinda worth it.

[@meghansullivan6812]

@@randompromises1038 Aw!

[@abigailmarshall5302]

Yes, I think it's fine for some shows to be "problematic" as long as those problems are within a certain range and it's made clear it's for entertainment value only

[@sarijudis13]

I love how in the books Ezra gets fired pretty quickly and Aria dates someone her own age

[@jisookomblackpinkkru256]

Omg fr I loved Aria and Noel in the books 😍 Hated how they made him such a creep in the show!

[@WinterSPF15]

Honestly this makes me so happy 🥲

[@fatoumatacisse3796]

exactly

[@AikiraBeats]

That should've been the case on the show

[@Dash120z]

Aria should have ended up with Jake instead of Ezra

[@AHealthyDoseofFran]

Can we also add in that Ezra was manipulating Aria to find out about Ali for so long FOR A BOOK HE WAS WRITING??

[@מעין-צ9ג]

YES OMG

[@ariellemarie6645]

RIGHT. What a straight up loser

[@ShekelLeija4]

that was really messed up, I'd rather have him as A.

[@ikeepscreamingbutgodwontan3132]

Ikr, like he just couldn't make sh!t up... He had to groom one of Ali's friends and stalk her for the book.

[@sageroberts2004]

Right, I kinda hated that they wrote that bc at LEAST in the beginning it seemed like he didn't know she was underage until he was already "in love" with her, but finding out he pursued her all along and for the sake of book research at that made it so much worse

[@levisbrownies7082]

can’t wait for this, when i was younger i was obsessed with pretty little lairs. but i never realized it had a lot of problematic things😫

[@trinaq]

Likewise, the power of being young can make you immune to iffy, problematic aspects.

[@Mr.Murasakino]

@@trinaq we must have the same subscriptions because I see you quite often. Lol

[@ArcadiasPlanet]

And pigs

[@tiaraw872]

I did noticed immediately BUT kept watching

[@abigailmarshall5302]

It still has a high entertainment value and let's not forget there's a lot of unrealistic things done in the show that are solely there to spice up the show, not a reflection of real life

[@alexrose20]

this show would make a lot more sense if they were in college like 😭

[@abigailmarshall5302]

Yeah I guess they placed it in high school because that seems to be the more popular age range for these kinds of shows AND because that way they have to sneak around and tell more lies, which is part of the show's entertainment value

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Please it really would! But they wanted the "mean girls, highschool girls are mean" angle too much

[@Dash120z]

Alison was already doing a lot of "grown up" stuff and she was only 15 😩

[@sethuzothe6372]

ezra and aria aren't even the only problematic couple. also in the book, ezra went to jail

[@rosaunolalintino]

Too bad he didn't stay in jail

[@koostattoos-8859]

they're arguably the most problematic couple though

[@kaledoublescope]

He should’ve gone to jail like-

[@ikeepscreamingbutgodwontan3132]

When I realized that Ezra knew Aria was underage from the beginning but still decided to groom her and stalk her and her friends for completing his book I wanted to push him off a cliff

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Why didn't they add that to the show 😭😭😭

[@daniellagomez2931]

i will never understand why Emily dated Paige after she tried to drown her. like it still baffles me to this day.

[@NerdyWhatup]

still to this day i can’t stand paige

[@aylee8341]

@@NerdyWhatup same she is so annoying.

[@Dash120z]

worst couple in PLL tbh

[@shreyabaset2651]

@@Dash120z what abt ezra and aria-

[@Dash120z]

@@shreyabaset2651 should have ended as soon as it started

[@dani-sc5nd]

The main problem with pll is that the writers always treated the liars as adults; they were going out whenever they wanted, dating whoever they wanted, parents never acknowledging what their kids were doing. Seasons 1&2 seems believable but seasons 3,4,5 & 6 is like wtf who does that kind of stuff being 16-18, that's why the show became so unrealistic and stupid for me. I feel like if pll took place in a college from the beginning things would be more realistic and less inappropriate

[@katymbeke8400]

They could've just written about adults and it would've been entertaining either way. I've heard about relationship between employers not being allowed in America, they could've done that with Ezra and Aria.

[@rosecoloredbby]

I don’t think that was even the only problem. Real adults have responsibilities, bills to pay, jobs to do. The liars just always seemed to have free time for the sole purpose of being harassed by a mystery stalker and trying to figure out who that is. They never showed to have any set schedules for things, even Spencer who was supposed to be the golden student. The show just never had any sense of reality in general, which tied into its inability to keep up with storylines and build an actual mystery. It’s just that NOTHING MADE SENSE most of the time after season 2. Yeah, it’s a show and it’s gonna bend reality no matter what, and since its for entertainment maybe it doesn’t really matter if it’s believable or not, but some things just get ridiculous after a certain point. That being said tho, i still totally LOVE the concept of the dollhouse. Completely unrealistic for somebody to build all that in a bunker without anybody noticing, and then kidnap 5 girls being transported to prison, but the episodes were cool.

[@Dash120z]

by the time season 4 premiered all the actresses already looked old enough to be in college and they were still in high school.

[@Bollywoodlover100]

the perfect solution would’ve been to have the first two seasons take place in high school and then later season at college

[@Ladybluebugg]

I'm popping in here early to vent about Ezra Fitz! Not only was he a *grown man* dating a *high school girl* for the *entire duration* of the show, but they even went so far as to retcon his character so that he *purposefully* went to that town and sought her out because she was friends with his previous girlfriend who was *a 14 year old* he dated when he was in *college* !!!

[@Ladybluebugg]

He came to town, not only to find out what happened to her, but also so he could WRITE A BOOK ABOUT IT!! This is also a repeated offence of his cuz he did the *exact same thing* when his age appropriate girlfriend got *kidnapped* overseas!!!

[@miraaaa2223]

alsooo they got a happy ever after at the end with him marrying aria, with no repercussions

[@Ladybluebugg]

@@miraaaa2223 It was the *GRAND FINALE* of the ENTIRE show!!! 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@edie.9977]

ugh my point exactly

[@rosaunolalintino]

I hate how super normal they tried to make it seem, like when the girl's partner's were all wearing sexy santa costumes and the writers were like yeah it's super normal for a teacher to be here half naked in front of his other half naked students.

[@sicilyperez6211]

Can we please acknowledge how messy Alison was the night of her disappearance like bestie was meeting up with half the town and black mailing the other half like goddamn girl no wonder people didn’t care that you were gone goddamn menace to rosewood 😭😭😭

[@keiley99]

“Where was the FBI” 😭 girl they were too busy harassing these 16 year old girls

[@laurenstewart5707]

I HATED Ezra's & Aria's relationship so much. Their relationship was basically her getting angry at him, her running away, & then they makeup. I wanted her to be with Alison's brother until he became creepy.

[@sethuzothe6372]

wasnt he also too old?

[@gauravr7216]

@@sethuzothe6372 yeah but aria didn't really have many age appropriate choices 😭😭

[@heyhi5503]

jason came back as jesus

[@codezero7981]

please Aria should have ended up with Noel just like in the books..

[@EmmaryMarshall]

I wish she ended up with Noel like she did in the books. I’m so mad that they made him creepy and a bad guy in the show because he was an age appropriate love interest for her!

[@SegniFreeman]

In one of the seasons NO ONE talked about Hanna && Caleb’s drinking problem. && it was clear they both weren’t in a right state of mind

[@kadyg8041]

Hanna was drinking at school and had bottles falling out of her locker. And Caleb was cutting school and sleeping in the middle of the day. It was BAD. It was early season 5

[@kaledoublescope]

The way I don’t remember that

[@SegniFreeman]

@@kaledoublescope try season 5. It was horrifying how the rest of the group were her friends but never thought to think “Well Hanna has been looking REALLL Sluggish lately && she smells like A hint of Bourbon, (show reference 😼) Maybe it’s jus A trying to frame one of us, cause that’s the ONLY main problems in OUR lives rn *Blissful Laughter* . I get yu have a psycho stalker trying to ruin y’all lives && probably kill yu but Hanna could’ve killed herself with the amount she was drinking . Yu would think she would die from overdose. That would’ve been a great plot twist actually if she wasn’t a fan favourite

[@SegniFreeman]

@@kaledoublescope sorry it’s a lil long 💀💀💀

[@SegniFreeman]

@@kadyg8041 REALLY BAD. && what even worse (AND KINDA BAD WRITING) no ONE noticed could yu realllly be that dense, it really irritated me

[@1212lenaaa]

The only relationship I liked for Emily was when she was with Maya literally so pure 😭 also Spencer and Toby were the best relationship

[@fatoumatacisse3796]

omg yes spencer and toby and emily and maya were so cute together

[@izabella7174]

I liked Alex the best, the only one with common sense

[@Southernblonde1310]

Correction: Samara was not an adult. She went to Sheridan Prep, which is typically an academy for high school students. Further proof of her being in high school is in an episode where she pops up at Rosewood high and Emily asked, "Did you transfer here without telling me?" which indicates she was in high school, because clearly you can't transfer into high school from college. Agree with pretty much all the gross underage stuff, but Samara was age-appropriate. PS: You missed Darren Wilden, aka Beach Hottie who slept with Alison when she was 15 and he was in his 20s, giving her a pregnancy scare. People often like to tear Alison apart for her behavior, which is fair, but she was a victim, too. I rarely see anyone address that. People gloss over Ali/Ian and Ali/Wilden. It sucks, because she was taken advantage of by men and literally violated, so much, even up until the end with Archer. Those men were disgusting. Not to mention her own brother was part of the NAT club. Could never get behind Jason/Aria after I realized he took videos of her undressing when she was underage and distributed them...

[@basicgorl]

thanks for this correction!

[@Southernblonde1310]

@@basicgorl Thanks for hearing my POV! Your channel popped up in my recommended. Glad it did. :-)

[@r4.v3n]

Yess! Amazing points

[@anonymousbread7672]

I think a lot of people gloss over Wilden and Ali because I’m not sure if Ali confirmed it… it was introduced as a theory and then dropped so I didn’t even know that like it was 100% true

[@Southernblonde1310]

@@anonymousbread7672 That's fair, though it wasn't just a theory. They showed a flashback to Ali being in Cape May with Cece talking about her pregnancy scare and she wrote about it being an older boy in her journal, aka Beach Hottie, so from a narrative standpoint it's canon. She was with "Beach Hottie" that summer, who turned out to be Wilden. The proof of him being involved was the photo Emily and Hanna found at the police station. They never went back to say otherwise, so I took it to be narratively true. Then again, this show wasn't great when it came to explaining things.

[@myajanette]

Couldn’t agree more. Paige, Ezra, and Wren were THE WORST AND PAIGE STILL ENRAGES ME LIKE WHY TF ARE YOU EVEN HERE?????? *I HATED HER CHARACTER SO MUCH*

[@khanyangabase691]

What's also messy about a lot of these relationships is, (for me) particularly in the case of Wren and Ezra, the actors are conventionally attractive and give off some charisma and charm that lulls us into a false sense of, "oh, this might not be so bad". Even though we know they're moving mad. And then on top of that, most of these actors were close in age to each other, so their physical appearance (I.e. them not looking like children) also lends to the idea that this is meant to be an okay relationship between age-mates.

[@alextemple9247]

most high school shows are not tenager age. Look at Riverdale that slow walk with cheryl. No teenager looks like that

[@fernydyke]

when i was 14/15 i used to be obsessed with the whole teacher-student relationship trope but now it truly disgusts me. at 15 you feel grown and like you own your decisions but truly you’re just an impressionable teen whose brain isn’t even fully developed. it’s time teen dramas stop framing this power imbalance as “romance”.

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Went through the exact same thing. Exact same. And I really detest this show for feeding into that. I look back on my freshmen year with a bit of disgust because of the way that show let me think I could get with a teacher withought it being wrong.

[@0_Katt_0]

yeah, I first watched this show when i was 14 and also liked it (in degrassi and PLL), but now it is really messed up. I am in my early 20s, but I view teenagers like babies now lol

[@rahbeeuh]

LOOK... Ezra's "holy crap" moment in the pilot and that retcon of him knowing Aria makes no sense!!!

[@basicgorl]

THIS!!! like you shouldn’t be surprised

[@rahbeeuh]

@@basicgorl exactly! Like make it make sense 😂

[@randompromises1038]

this supports my theory that the writers only added this in to take away aria's blame

[@rahbeeuh]

@@randompromises1038 that's probably what happened. They couldn't possibly have one their main characters cast in a bad light. Nah shift the blame elsewhere.

[@randompromises1038]

@@rahbeeuh which takes too much intrigue away from aria. it would be interesting to talk about whether she has any sort of blame because she deliberately lied about her age and flirted with an adult. it would be interesting to talk about how teenage girls like to appear mature because it makes them feel more respected. but nope, had to just make ezra horrible and her parents useless. should add that i don't think the situation is aria's fault. she got dealt a really shitty hands by the writers. tbh she's my least favorite due to the fact she contributes to literally nothing.

[@מעין-צ9ג]

Are we gonna tlak about how Allison's actress was 13 when they filmed the first season? And 14 when they made her kiss Emily's actress WHO WAS LIKE 10 YEARS OLDER THAN HER who the fuck let this happen

[@alinamorcov1332]

oh god..

[@soupast4r]

That’s why she wasn’t in the show until season 4

[@alinamorcov1332]

@@soupast4r bruh the damage was already done wth did they tought this was gonna solve....

[@soupast4r]

@@alinamorcov1332 yea Ik I was just adding that but it seems like she had consent tho

[@alinamorcov1332]

@@soupast4r yeah but that doesnt mean its okay...

[@lemonscenic6207]

Ezra, Wren, and Melissa’s other ex husband were weirdos. We talk about Ezra but it’s so many other characters who were just weird in this show. I didn’t think about it as a child but Melissa would always blame spencer for stealing her “man” but never came for the GROWN men!

[@poopoo8475]

her parents too like they did not give a single shit

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Literally. God how are you not trying to protect your baby sister from *grown* men

[@hosly101]

Travis is SO underrated - he did so much for Hanna and didn't take advantage of her even though she was in a really vulnerable place! The bar is in hell, but king behavior for PLL

[@poopoo8475]

100% even when i was like 11 i thought he was so cute

[@AikiraBeats]

True he did everything right and still got left in the dust for Caleb. Caleb belonged with Spencer in so many ways

[@sweeety969]

I loved Travis too. Hanna deserved better than Caleb. His ass shouldn't have come back after season one, let alone again after Ravenswood.

[@Nathi98]

Travis deserved so much better omg, Hannah's best love interest :(

[@wickedthing6068]

The fact that I *HATED* Ezra x Aria as a kid. I was smart from day 1.

[@lindaakoto1549]

Me to but so many kids were ok with their relationship bc the show made them seem like a good couple

[@idonteatspiders2986]

Lucky. I thought it was weirdly hot, unfortunately

[@spidergamelebgdu788]

😂😂😂😂

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

@@lindaakoto1549 so so so many girls I knew in highschool thought that shit was okay. It really worried me.

[@minisodes]

YES??? I remember all of my friends literally LOVING their relationship and saying it was the best one on the show, we were like..... 12/13 yrs old. It was so weird to me back then and now is even more.

[@fleurgeneration]

Notice how most of the relationship issues was aria

[@mariakaufmann8024]

She was so annoying😭

[@aishaahmed8288]

She was literally the one of the worst characters 😭 and I will stand by that.

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

Please and she was my favorite ✋😭. So problematic. I was continually disappointed in her

[@violetlavi2207]

notice how most of the problematic relationships involved an adult and a minor, and between the two in those couples, Aria was the minor

[@Slm99]

I like how they were detectives, but those relationships were so toxic especially the one with the teacher and then end up in a marriage. Also congrats for watching all seven seasons that is an ability.

[@kaledoublescope]

Putting myself through s7 was torture

[@sftbagels2816]

@@kaledoublescope s7 was a shit show

[@MadChips202]

What I liked about officer Hollbrock is that when Hanna kissed him he very quickly rejected her letting her know that wasn’t okay and he wasn’t interested in that. When she went to kiss him I was so worried it was gonna end up being a relationship but then he shut her down with that and made it clear he was only gonna be a friend and I felt this wave of relief.

[@laura-xw6eb]

Wren is GORGEOUS but his personality is wtffff

[@nikakhaiauri3478]

He was actually asian in the books but they white washed him😬

[@kaledoublescope]

@@nikakhaiauri3478 of course they did who’s surprised

[@tiana2313]

@@nikakhaiauri3478 ARGHH

[@abigailmarshall5302]

Yeah when he started moving in on Hanna too I was like whaaaaat. He was great without the compulsive need to get romantically involved with teen girls

[@marvel096]

I loved him so much lmao Julian Morris was great 🥺❤️

[@aalllllllexx]

The books were even worse at times because Ali was supposed to be in SEVENTH GRADE when she disappeared and Ian Thomas was into her like dude she's THIRTEEN and you're supposed to be like a senior in high school or something. At least it was portrayed as creepy and predatory

[@Emilyh-bo5bd]

“You think she’s gone then boom there she is”” I FELT THAT ABOUT PAIGE TOO

[@mariakaufmann8024]

I hated her so so much, never understood why she’s been thete

[@Emilyh-bo5bd]

@@mariakaufmann8024 I feel like if she was more consistent and had character development it’d be different but she just comes out randomly and is weird af about it so it doesn’t make any sense lmao

[@yaghazlover.391]

They should have never redeemed Ezra after it came out he got with Aria to write a book. He preyed on Ali, when she was a teenager, and then aria. He should have been a full on villian. In fact he should have been the second A.

[@marienikolov322]

I just don’t understand why they didn’t set up the show to be in college because then it wouldn’t have been so problematic and you still could’ve had some of them living with their parents. Erza still could’ve been her professor and it would’ve been bad but not as bad… idk whole thing is nasty af

[@shaliekk]

"Simultaneously cute but strange outfits" I've never heard something more accurate

[@svftmgc]

i kind of disagree with calling characters like samara “full adults.” assuming she’s like 18-20, she’s nowhere near having the knowledge, understanding, experience and wisdom as adults in their mid-20’s to 30’s. 100% doesn’t excuse dating a 16 yr old whatsoever, just saying that i disagree with calling them “full adults” just because they aren’t in high school anymore or are in college. does that make sense or do i sound insane?

[@basicgorl]

that makes sense! I see your point!

[@Southernblonde1310]

There seems to be a misunderstanding among the fandom that Samara was in college. She wasn't. Prep schools are high schools, and she came to Emily's school and Emily asked if she'd transferred there. I'm of the mind that she was in high school. Plus, I highly doubt uptight Pam Fields would let her daughter date someone in college. She bonded with the girl. Samara may have been older than Emily, but she was still in high school, canon-wise/writing-wise.

[@sweeety969]

My main qualm with Samara isn't that she might have been a little older but that she was clearly manipulating Emily. Their whole relationship she was always tricking her into doing things she wasn't comfortable with because she wanted to bone her and it was gross and I hated that nobody called her out on it.

[@MrBookworm01]

By total accident, I watched a few of the PLL episodes that came after Aria told her parents about Ezra. Not gonna lie, I was SORT OF on Aria and Ezra's side. Not because I really supported their inappropriate relationship (in hindsight, I agree with a lot of your points, ESPECIALLY after reading more about the show), but because of how her parents reacted to the news by engaging in some VERY nasty victim-blaming. Byron straight up slut-shames his daughter and it seems like both he and Ella give ARIA a harder time for what happened between her and Ezra than they do Ezra--the ACTUAL guilty party in this situation.

[@randompromises1038]

real parents would be extremely angry with the actual PEDOPHILE rather than their child. it gets to me that aria engaged with a lot of older men.

[@kellygal3036]

I agree, aria being a minor her brain isn’t fully formed, so she wouldn’t know how wrong it is, but Ezra knows dang well how wrong it is and is seen as a victim with aria like NO

[@-Theo-]

Not “Aria and Ezra’s side”, you mean Aria’s side. Ezra is not on the same side as her, if he was he would’ve treated her her age and he wouldn’t have been a creepy predator who groomed her. He’s her enemy but he uses manipulation to make her believe he’s her biggest ally and the only one she can rely on.

[@MrBookworm01]

@@-Theo- Yeah, that is more accurate. I think the issue at the time was that Byron was so much more of an overt asshole that Ezra's more subtle forms of abuse against Aria didn't seem as bad.

[@havesomeginonthehouse]

i feel like much of why they ruined Ali when she came back is because she "didn't have" the sexy appeal anymore because of Sasha's thyroid hormone levels...

[@ayomidetejuoso3455]

This is the most fucked up comment. So because she added more weight she lost her allure. Wow, like people are so fatphobic

[@havesomeginonthehouse]

@@ayomidetejuoso3455 I didn't say I agree to any of it. But that's what it felt like to me back when I was watching it. They didn't give Ali the feel of a legend that she had before... The industry is fatphobic and we all know that.

[@havesomeginonthehouse]

@@naomi-v4e Totally agree. She was what? Thirteen? Somehow it was fine for to be this goddess like girl character but once she was a woman they just put her to a corner and totally ruined her character ? We shouldn't be surprised with the amount of underage relationships on the but still doesn't add up you know?

[@havesomeginonthehouse]

@@naomi-v4e the costume design dressed her like an old lady... the were awful to her and everything you said honestly couldn't have said it better myself

[@rosecoloredbby]

I’ve seen other people point this out before and ever since then i’ve been seriously side eyeing the people who had a big hand in character direction in this show (well, for that and many other reasons, you know what i mean, looking at you marlene king)

[@1cheness]

Honestly even when I was watching the show, I didn't get the hype, almost all of the male characters are straight up awful, abusive, harassed someone, lied, manipulated, had a big age gap with the one they dated... and all the main couples, excepted Spencer & Toby, are just so bad for me. Also the female characters are not even better tbh. And I didn't enjoy half of the protag, for Emily case tho it's mostly the writers I blame because I feel she started to be so bland and her relationship didn't put the LGBT in a good spot all the time. I think everyone agree that Aria is just the worst, never forget how a bitch she was when Hannah told her that her mom's new bf (or fiance, dunno) was flirting with her and Aria just blame her, just one of the worst "friend" ever. Spencer and Hannah are the only one I think the show really tried something with when it comes to writing and arcs.

[@randompromises1038]

i still really loved maya and emily together. it was so pure.

[@stuffwithsoph8264]

i agree with all of this but caleb and hanna were also great together, asides from his wack shit in the beginning, he really loved her and was so dedicated to her

[@dinodan3145]

I still wish EMAYA would’ve happened 😢

[@sunettas9738]

Me too! Maya was my favourite character and I wished she lived

[@dinodan3145]

@@sunettas9738 yeah and her and may was such a pure relationship compared to the others (and Emily was too good for addis*n) 🥺

[@jaciewall9108]

Yess I’m still not over the writers killing her 😐

[@randompromises1038]

maya was fucking beautiful and so goddamn supportive of emily, she shouldn't have been killed off. she was amazing.

[@kaledoublescope]

They were the best and Maya was so freaking funny

[@taystanloona6002]

this show was such a huge part of my formative years 😭😭

[@giselletimmers1383]

When Wren says “i appreciate beauty” in that over the top british accent and then kissed spencer was so weird, even as a kid i was so weirded out by that

[@wafflerstastegewd6627]

Like you know what I appreciate wren?? Age of consent laws.

[@rdotjpg5864]

I remember watching this as a high schooler when it was originally airing and I was SO here for Aria and Ezra. As an adult I'm like wait wtf someone arrest this man lol. It also never hit me how creepy Wren was too. I remember thinking he was so cute when I first watched. Kinda shocked how many relationships the writers included with the inappropriate age thing, especially considering the target demographic of this show. Kinda irresponsible when they try to make us like these characters and normalize this shit.

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

I literally forgot than wren was fully grown oml

[@rahbeeuh]

Travis with Hanna, Alex with Spencer were truly underrated couples. Travis kinda disappeared when Caleb returned from Ravenswood. He and Hanna didn't even break up they just stopped hanging out. As for Alex it's like the Hastings really stopped going to the country club after he and Spencer broke up? 😕 I saw a video of Lindsay Shaw (Paige) admitting that at the time she was on PLL she struggled with alcoholism and it really impacted her performance. Idk thought it was worth noting.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

THERE WERE EFFING KNIVES IN A PUNCHING BAG?!

[@MichellaneousMe]

Can’t believe they are rebooting the series and the writer of Riverdale is going to be in charge 😭

[@AlanMonterrosa]

What! They are?

[@stuffwithsoph8264]

oh god oh fuck

[@christopherbecerra5206]

I was hyped but anything with Rivderdale needs to gtfo!

[@idonteatspiders2986]

THEY'RE WHAT NOW

[@melsie2643]

he's gonna be one of the people there, but there is also The Umbrella Academy writer in charge, which is good. but the story is absolutely different

[@emmeoliver5007]

“Where was the FBI”?! - talking about Aria and Ezra’s relationship.

[@MsRandomness1111]

it's embarrassing how much of a hold ezria had on me in middle school

[@vvjqm]

I remember I loved alex and spencer so much I had a tumblr dedicated to them ☠️

[@marvel096]

Fr I was obsessed with Diego boneta!!

[@ere2946]

Aria relationships are the ones that suck the most on the show for me.

[@jama5336]

cant wait for u to talk abt ezra and aria. aria was basically being groomed the entire show and she told her parents thinking they would be ok with it?? u cant get ur cake and eat it too. and her friends as well, they did nothingg except hanna, like yes someone normal whos finding the relationship BIZARRE

[@DevilAndCat]

Idfk how but pretty little liars made this relationship seem normal 💀

[@Black_pearl_adrift]

@@DevilAndCat I was rooting for them for so long when I was younger untill I realised how actually disgusting it was.

[@DevilAndCat]

@@Black_pearl_adrift right it took me so long. I had the same thing with family guy (brian and the girls)

[@fatoumatacisse3796]

@@Black_pearl_adrift SAMEEE I was rooting for them so much when I was like 12 and now Im rewatching it and their relationship is so gross. Idk how I never thought of it before

[@thehoplesswanderer372]

I really wanted maya to be alive so Emily could be with her again 😭i never finished the show so o always hoped that’s how they ended it

[@CrystalGoddess90]

It is a common myth among the fandom that Samara was an adult when she dated Emily. They were the same age. I really liked Jake. He was 21 when he dated 18 year old Aria. That's not a very huge gap. I actually loved them together. All the rest I agree with. Age source: The show's wikia 📖

[@Dash120z]

Aria and Jake were my favorite couple

[@Tee-sv4bw]

You forgot to talk about Toby and Jenna and Jenna and Garret. NOW THAT was a mess and idk what the writers were trying to do there. Also Noel and Aria like THE book couple that should’ve happened 😭 and I was waiting for my Emaya tangent but it’s cool. Everything is fine 🥲 Also Spencer and her sober sponser Nate.

[@marvel096]

For real! Jenna abuses Toby and their whole relationship was so effed up

[@ishsal7940]

I feel like they had no reason to dislike Mona. She did what she did because of Alison and they sat and watched. Then she tried to apologize and make her mistakes right and they were still treating her like crap AND still took Alison side when she came back knowing all the people she hurt.

[@valentinaminaya1148]

I am guessing this is why PLL fandom (as its most) was in love with Haleb and Spobby, but specially Haleb. Hanna and Caleb were the teen couple we liked.

[@teamlining7685]

Even when I was younger watching this show, I hated Ezra and his relationship with Aria. They both knew it was wrong but Ezra was an adult and a pedophile. The friends also knew it was wrong at first but never said anything which also made me mad. And the parents were going to call the police on him but just like changed their minds??? It made me so because Ezra definitely should have gone to jail. I mean Arias dad wasn’t much better for cheating with his student, but at least Meredith was in college and legal age.

[@daisysemma]

i’m officially obsessed with Basicgorl

[@cher_cherry46]

really had me thinking at 12 that a teacher/student relationship was fine...

[@shannielgarat4513]

Can you love and hate a show at the same time? Because that's what happened with pll

[@mytb1420]

Literally

[@gallarinas]

exactly

[@Quinn91202]

It’s a toxic love hate relationship

[@saxs3351]

I agree that Marco was a tragic love interest done right. They clearly had chemistry and worked well together but it was also obvious to the audience that it wouldn’t work. The scene of spencer desperately trying to manipulate him into helping her was actually well done and her then threatening him with exposing their relationship was one of the smartest things Spencer did in the later seasons. I really liked it when the show let the Liars do bad things for good reasons.

[@bassunderscoreharmonic6689]

When I tell you the amount of times I've had to pause during this video to gather myself because you were so on point

[@lottobtc]

13:35 LMFAOO I DIE EVERYTIME I SEE ALI TRY TO KISS EMILY AND EMILY JST GOES “ofn im not about to-“😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@havesomeginonthehouse]

also Wren even went as far as dating Spencer's Twin and shooting her... I don't care how much your significant other asks you to shoot you, you JUST DON'T DO IT??????

[@foreverpumpkin7776]

I never forgave Jason for being in that creepy club that spied on underage girls and recorded them (along with Garret who dated Jenna, and Ian). So I never shipped him with Aria. And my unpopular opinion is that I think Spencer and Toby's relationship was toxic after he worked with A- he just turned into a jerk and their dynamic was terrible.

[@VOID-gz6jk]

I just wanted Caleb to die after season six and seven. He was amazing in the beginning but then he lost his mind. I needed Spencer and Hannah to dump him and date each other

[@clarissamojica3010]

Agreed! I always shipped Spencer and Hanna

[@1cheness]

Finally someone who hate Caleb, I don't get the hype around this dude.

[@jaciewall9108]

Agreed that would have amazing if that happened tbh

[@r4.v3n]

Oof. I'm rewatching pll - I first started watching it when I was 12, up to 17 with the last season. I'm currently in S4 and I've always loved Caleb so much 😭 I don't remember what happens with him so now I'm scared I'm gonna star hating him

[@alextemple9247]

@@1cheness He had alot in common with spencer him and hanna not so much

[@raincandy1653]

The fact that they set up Aria with Ezra...Like, they absolutely do not need to do that. They could've kept Aria's original love interest that she ends up with from the books(Noel) but the show just character assassinated him for absolutely no freaking reason

[@js66613]

Wait he KNEW she was in high school beforehand??? That is just 10x the ewwwwww... and he just went for it.

[@e.w.7366]

I can’t stress enough how much better these relationships would’ve been if the liars had been in college. The worriers could’ve had all the tropes they wanted, without us worrying if the guy or girl the liars were dating that week was an adult. The show could’ve even still had Ezra as Aria’s teacher or have Wren be a doctor, but then Spencer and Aria would’ve been at least be legal adults. That being said, I do think some of the problematic things that the girls do can only be brushed off BECAUSE they are children. They’re still learning and growing, when college students are adults.

[@Sodapop-gi4bu]

I remember watching the episode in 8th grade when Ezra and Aria tell her parents they’re dating and when her brother punches him I was like “wHy aRe tHeY mAd” but now I’m like oh, yeah

[@Fearlessly91]

“In her reputation era” killed me 😂

[@loveart429]

I agree that the relationships in this show are creepy. I have also been watching the Queen of PLL content channel, Serena Skybourne! She made me realise how many of the good relationships in the show weren't explored enough because instead we were focussing on the toxic ones. Thanks for talking about this

[@barbie4549]

Finally some Alex and Travis appreciation. Also rewatching this they really tried to make Noel (season 1 Noel) and Jackie villains like ?????

[@meemobop]

i've never seen this show but i feel like we need to talk about why did aria kiss jake like that and then act surprised like she couldn't believe what was happening

[@b.f.2718]

I remember being so confused as to why Spencer kept getting with her friends/sister’s partners LOL. Oh wow, you just bought back so many memories of how much I hated a lot of their partners including Paige & Ali🥴sitting here the only ones I liked were Maya, Caleb & Toby😂

[@tiana2313]

toby and spencer is the best relationship! in the beginning they both feared and hated eachother but then came love

[@EmmaryMarshall]

I loved them more before I rewatched it and realized how crappy he was when he became a cop. Also, I had a hard time with Keegan Allen’s acting for some reason. Still one of the better pairings though

[@ebonyh4684]

Travis was so underappreciated.

[@maryrawley4878]

this dive was absolutely amazing. im re-reading all the books currently and while there is definitely these inappropriate underage relationships, its a lot more realistic and people thankfully go to jail for them LOL.

[@SierraSl]

I remember years ago when I was in middle school, my sister told me a story where one of her classmates in her theater class told there teacher he look like Ezra from pretty little liar and he was super happy until he actually look him up… yeah, he wasn’t happy the next day and told his class never compared him to Ezra 😂😂🤣

[@unknown-ot7xy]

Lmao que

[@mykakyam8247]

Started to rewatch PLL and was so disturbed by Wren. Thanks for pointing him out as a creep. Just imagine being a literall minor and your sisters doctor boyfriend assaults you in your own home. And it doesn't stop there but your whole family only blames you and not the grown ass man like...?! For me he is even worse than Ezra

[@josephineokko2699]

I remember watching one episode of pretty little liars at a friends house and being scarred for weeks because I found it so creepy

[@imhungry9110]

I just realized how badly directed those 'spur of the moment' kisses were, like the one with Aria and Jake. I'm laughing my ass off..

[@sezmonsta3229]

the fact u were able to fit this into 23 minutes will always amaze me

[@aishaahmed8288]

I have some words about this show. I started watching PLL when I was in grade 6, and now I just finished rewatching and I’m in grade 11. So my view point is completely different and I’ve realized so many disgusting things the writers tried to make normal. TW. 1. Hannas ED. Hanna was a bigger girl before Alison went missing, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but Alison insisted that Hanna was too “hefty” and needed to be skinny. So Alison helped Hanna get skinny by giving her an ED. That’s a lot of trauma, they brought up her ED… but then literally never showed any of the effects of it. So annoying. It def tried to portray the fact that it’s okay, as long as you end up skinny. 2. EZRA. Growing up I never liked Ezra, but it was never for the right reasons. On my rewatch I couldn’t even get through some scenes because he was so manipulative and disgusting. She was 15 in season 1 and he was 23… and they made it seem normal. Also Aria in general really bothered me, not so much her relationship with Ezra bc she was groomed into that. But just her general attitude about her parents and friends. Anyways, the writers made it seem completely normal that at 15 you could date your teacher because they’re attractive. Not to mention the fact that Ezra was “only dating her” to collect info on a book he was writing for Alison (I don’t buy it), this was released info at the end of Season 4 and they got back together and became friends again in the middle of Season 5. He was just absolutely disgusting, not to mention he dated Ali when she was 15 before she went missing. Ugh 3. ALISON. She is literally the absolute worst person ever. When she came back in the finale of Season 4 I thought she would plead her case and we would understand why she was such a bad person. But we never did. She basically said she was a bad person because she didn’t always get her way, with her mother or when threatening people. She was a victim if anything, she looked to these older men (Ian and Ezra) for validation and was sleeping with them. Then when she came back to Rosewood in Season 5 she played victim and everyone felt bad for her, but Mona was obv painted as the villain because she was scared of Alison. It just never say right w me. Not to mention the fact that she abused Emily’s sexuality before she came out to either make herself feel better, make fun of Emily, or just to have Emily wrapped around her finger. They should’ve never been a couple in the end. I would’ve preferred Maya, but she’s dead. So honestly… I would’ve settled with Paige and that’s saying something bc I really dislike Paige.

[@goldenknox]

PLL basically groomed the audience to support statutory rape. I absolutely despise teacher/student relationships and I rooted for them. Huh?! I was maybe 12. It's so bizarre that the network let so many of those relationship be portrayed in a good light

[@juliemarie3082]

I don't know why but I shipped Spencer with everyone she came into contact with. Troian just has insane chemistry with everyone.

[@jaman_jy]

the worst thing about ezra knowing who aria was all along is that, at BEST, it leaves a bunch of plot holes..... but otherwise it would mean that every single time he was "pushing her away" in s1&2, it was full blown emotional manipulation to completely subjugate her and make sure a) she wouldn't leave 2) he could say that she was the relentless one

[@MD-kh4cf]

Spencer’s character always got all the guys. Like any adult male character she got close to they would make out or have googly eyes for one another. I always got so uncomfy

[@babypeach5192]

I genuinely think the writers were attempting to “mature” the characters by having them date inappropriately older people, like somehow saying these girls HAVE to be mature or something has to be different about them because things and people their age aren’t interesting to them. Truly very weird that they used being groomed as a good character trait of “advanced” teenagers. It felt like they were saying adult situations just “suit” them.

[@fawnedcan4215]

I honestly think that Ezra was mainly popular on the show because of Ian Hardings chemistry with the cast. Like they didn’t have the heart to write him off idk. Cause that book plot twist was out of nowhere

[@TheBolb101]

Bro I love tobbyyyy he’s so normal and it just helps us even out Spencer’s drama

[@amandahoney9289]

All I gotta say is at that age I fantasized about older men liking me, like a lot of high school students do….. meanwhile I’m 30 now and I’m horrified rewatching it lol… and knowing the high school teachers I had who were seeing students, this isn’t too far from reality, unfortunately.

[@jocebong789]

i remember reading somewhere that the actress who played Alison DiLaurentis was around 12 years old when they filmed the pilot

[@scarlettf6925]

Unpopular opinion! I remember liking Caleb and Spencer together. He actually treated her better than any of her past relationships (Yes that includes Toby) up until he cheated on her of course. Now on to Toby and Spencer! I really liked how they ended up they both realized that they need to work on themselves before they get into a relationship. This was a really grown thing they did, they could've just jumped back into a relationship and start at square 1 but they didn't and honestly they could be the only pll couple that actually makes it. I liked how the writers left their relationship up to the viewers imaginations, this and Alison's character before she came back is probably one of the only good things the writers did. (at least from what I remember about the show)

[@twiggledowntown3564]

I definitely loved Travis he was so sweet! Also I vaguely remember the guy Spencer dated that was in the country club. You also forgot to mention Hanna's first boyfriend.

[@kellygal3036]

What’s even worse is the actress who played Alison was only 12 during season 1, so anyone seasons 1-about 5 that she kissed was illegal in real life too

[@catazoe7535]

I distinctively remember hiding notes and stuff around my room and inside books back when I was obsessed with pll bc every time the characters did it I found it fascinating?? it was obviously silly unimportant things because I was literally eleven years old lmao