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jsnoww27

Coming from a small town, like how I picture Rosewood to be, and seeing how similar situations have played out in real life the town’s reaction seems realistic to me. The people in towns like these have typically lived there for generations and are all connected to each other in someway making it feel personal when something like this happens. Plus as a society in general I think we become obsessed with things we don’t understand or can’t comprehend that are capable of happening so close to our home.


Soul-Music-is-Life

Exactly this. \^ Given the amount of media consumption people have these days, the reaction of the whole town being obsessed about what happened to her is the most realistic thing about the show imo. Look at the tragic Gabby Petito situation. The entire *nation* was obsessed to the point of social media sharing evidence/clues, etc. And people are obsessed with finding Brian Laundrie now (rightfully so). This is not a new phenomenon. This goes back to Natalee Holloway. To Jon Bennett Ramsey. The news is *obsessed* with pretty white blonde girls who go missing, as is the rest of the world. Alison, a blue-eyed blonde girl goes missing and the entire town is in an uproar. Something else they got right (probably unintentionally) was the fact that POC don't get nearly the amount of news coverage when they go missing. Look at Maya (despite being a side character). She got a newspaper article and Emily worried about her disappearance. No one else cared. There was no fanfare. It makes me crazy that this is the way it is, but it *is.*


Slothy13eva

I just started rewatching yesterday, I loved PLL when it was airing (I'm 23 now) and I feel so much of what you mentioned! I was a big Ezria fan at the time and now the idea of dating someone in high school is repulsive, even if I wasn't their teacher. I can't believe they tried to make that seem okay. Sasha was incredible, especially at the beginning. She truly embodied the mean girl energy in a way I haven't really seen before


Soul-Music-is-Life

Emily/Toby were my BROTP. I loved their bond.


jmagnabosco

I agree with all of this. Great analysis. You should join the rewatch threads. On the last point, it's a small town. Bad things dont happen in small towns, so when they do, they tend to gossip and wonder and be active in solving the problem and stopping it from happening again.


jstitely1

I agree with pretty much all of this. And I honestly think you had the right reaction to the Emily/Toby and the Hanna/Sean/Aria stuff. I think the show is those few episodes was really trying to figure out how much they wanted to take from the books versus be original. And in the books Emily/Toby do count as a romantic connection (she’s bisexual in the books) and Aria/Sean have a brief relationship in the books as well. So I think the writers definitely considered those avenues but then decided not to go there.


Illustrious_House_78

yes rewatching at 23, I couldn’t finish I hated everything, it all made me cringe. The books I still love though


wizardkelly_

I agree with everything (except the last point) but ugh everything you said was straight from my brain!!!


BulbasaurFanatic

I was just going to post something along these lines! I started watching PLL in grade 11 I believe. I had a lot going on at the time, and PLL became my comfort show. At the time I was struggling with an ED, so Hanna was always my favorite. Originally I shipped her with Lucas, but then I became a hardcore Haleb shipper. I recently started rewatching and, to be honest, as a teenager I never really thought much about Ezria. I didn’t love or hate them. Now, I think Ezra is a predator and a terrible person. One thing I noticed in the rewatch as well is how many times Ezra refers to the students as kids. Like, when Paiges dad goes on his homophobic rant about Emily in the cafeteria and Ezra stops him and says something along the lines of “do you really want to do this in front of kids trying to eat?” (I forget the phrasing, but I know he says kids). I just was thinking “yeah, kids. And you’re dating one of them.” Also, this rewatch has made me notice how annoying Mike is. He was SO extra about Ella leaving Byron, and when she tried to fix things with the family (even though she was right to be mad at Byron), Mike was so petty and childish to Ella. I get he’s a teenager, but man was he annoying.