Pretty Little Liars 3.02 recap: ‘Blood is the New Black’

First off, I’m going to be honest and say that I have never watched a single episode of Pretty Little Liars up until now. So, please, bear with me on this recap…

That being said, I will admit that I have always been somewhat curious as to what this show is all about. I know how strange this is going to sound, but I’m the type of person who likes to read the book before watching the movie/television series (if a book exists). I don’t know why…that’s just the way I normally do things. And no offense, but I have a gazillion “read next” books on my list right now, and the Pretty Little Liars series is definitely not in the top ten. Probably not even in the top twenty.

Anyway, I digress, and I apologize. Season three, episode two of Pretty Little Liars is titled ‘Blood is the New Black.’ Not only did I find the title itself to be somewhat amusing, but I will admit that I was also laughing to myself throughout the first 2-3 minutes of the episode. First we see this dark haired girl (Emily) sitting in class, looking down at her school work, minding her own business, when suddenly she finds a piece of jewelry amongst her belongings. It is a necklace that reads “dead girls don’t smile,” and there are several rotting teeth that have been decoratively strung through it the as well. Horrified, Emily jumps up from her desk and makes a break for the restroom. Her three friends also leave the classroom and hurry after her. Their teacher seems concerned, but has absolutely no problem with them leaving all at once. Let me tell you, if my friends and I would have done something similar to that in high school, it so would not have been okay with our teacher. (But maybe that’s just because I went to a private school.) Anyway, when the girls are in the bathroom and out of all earshot Emily shows the necklace to them. They argue over whether or not the teeth are real, and at last conclude that they probably belong to Alison. Apparently Alison was a friend of theirs who died within the last year or so. Her grave was also dug up not too long ago, from what I gather. (Creepy.) They argue some more over whether or not they should take the necklace to the police, but end up accidently flushing it down the toilet (damn those censored things).  My immediate question was: Why would they not take the necklace to the police? Well, apparently taking it to the police would somehow expose them all as liars, and potentially get them into huge trouble with the law. When I first heard this I was all: “Huh?” But then I remembered that the show is titled Pretty Little Liars. Ah yes, that’s right…they lie. A lot.  And they are quite pretty, too, admittedly. Always so well put together, never a bad hair day…I don’t understand some of the outfits, though. The blonde girl (Hannah) wore this one blue dress that almost looked fit for a cocktail party. And the heels…why? Just…why would you torture yourself by wearing those to school? I don’t know, but I will say that I absolutely loved the first dress Aria wore in this episode. Cute as hell! (Unfortunately I couldn’t find a picture, but if you watched the episode then you know what I’m talking about.)

Naturally, my very first question following this scene was: How exactly did Alison die? (Yeah, that’s just how much I know about this show.) Well from what I gather Alison was murdered, and apparently there is a suspect in jail (Garret) currently awaiting his trial. Obviously our little liars don’t believe that Garret committed the murder, or else Spencer would probably not be visiting him day after day in the county jail. I don’t exactly know why Spencer is visiting him, but it appears as though she’s trying to get answers out of him—answers that might lead her and her friends to discovering who really murdered Alison. (Maybe that’s why she’s visiting him…again, I don’t really know, I’m just guessing.) These weekly visitations are quickly brought to a stop, however, when Spencer’s mother discovers that she has been visiting Garret and forbids her to go ever again.

Hannah also has been paying weekly visits to someone—behind her boyfriend’s back! (You bad, bad little girl.) She has been visiting Mona, a girl who used to be her best friend. Mona is currently in a mental institution. I’m not certain as to why that is, but it’s clear that it all ties back to Alison’s murder. (Side-note: Am I the only one who got sick of them casually calling it a “nuthouse?”Inmates at mental institutions are people, too…) Hannah tries to get Mona to talk to her, but the girl does nothing but stare straight ahead with a blank expression. At one point Hannah loses it and shouts at Mona, telling her that she owes her, when suddenly one of the doctor’s hears the commotion and tells Hannah that it’s time to leave. The doctor—who appears a little too young to be a doctor, by the way—consoles Hannah and tells her that he understands what she’s going through and all that jazz. I don’t know about you, but it seems as though there might be a little somethin’ somethin’ going on between these two…am I right, or am I right? Watch out, Caleb!

Meanwhile, Spencer defies her mother’s orders and heads on over to the county jail to visit Garret. She quickly has to hide, however, because minutes later her mother strolls in. At first it appears as though she has come to check the visiting records, but later Spencer has reason to believe that her mother came in order to talk to Garret. Apparently she is going to be Garret’s new lawyer…or at least, this is what Spencer suspects. Talking to Garret about this matter proves to be of no help, however, as he refuses to tell her anything further. I was a little confused at this point, but I think I got the gist.

Of course, these are all very important details, but I think the main purpose of this episode is the discovery in the ending scene. There’s this girl (Jenna) who has apparently been blind for a while. (Something tells me her blindness somehow connects back to the night of Alison’s murder.) She uses a white cane, she constantly bumps into things, she doesn’t look at people while they’re talking to her. Her blindness is very convincing, however, it appears as though she’s faking it. The little liars discover this when they are (once again) hiding out in a bathroom stall. They set an earring on the edge of the sink, and they watch with wide eyes as Jenna walks into the bathroom, takes her sunglasses off, picks up the earring, scrutinizes it, and then leaves.

She’s not actually blind?! Say what?! Somehow I think this has been obvious to the viewers for quite some time.

The second most defining moment of this episode, I’d say, is Aria’s flashback scene. In this scene Alison is still alive. She and Aria have broken into Aria’s father’s office in order to try and find evidence as to whether or not he is still cheating on his wife. Aria finds an earring on her father’s couch, and Alison convinces her that that is all the evidence they need in order to know that he is still cheating. Alison then persuades Aria her to trash father’s office so they can blame it on his girlfriend. Is it just me, or did Alison seem like she was a complete bitch? You know, one of those girls who likes to start shit just for the sake of starting shit? One of those girls who would double-cross her friends just to get what she wants? Yeah, she definitely seems like that type. It made me question why Aria, Hannah, Emily and Spencer were friends with her. I mean, they all seem nice enough…where does the bitch fit in? I don’t know. Maybe someone can tell me.

I should probably mention that Aria found that old earring in her locker in this episode. She says that she put the earring in Alison’s casket as a keepsake when she was buried. (Because there’s nothing more memorable than the time you and your dead friend trashed your father’s office. Right?) After Aria tells her friends this story they quickly begin to realize how real this situation is. Someone has undeniably been rummaging through Alison’s casket, and that someone is also out to get them…for what reason, I don’t know. I guess I’m just going to have to keep watching, huh? Probably do a little Wikipedia research, too.

I apologize for being so late on this recap. Last week was very busy—so busy that I barely had to time breathe—and unfortunately this week is not going to be much better. I know I will be able to get one episode of The O.C. in, but probably not two. I will try, but…no promises!