One scene out of the entire episode struck me particularly hard, and no, it wasn’t watching Spencer and Aria almost turn into human popsicles. Toward the end of “The Bin of Sins,” Aria is going through her senior yearbook and the camera hovers over the page with her picture. The photographs around her are all complimented with a tidy list of extra-curricular activities (unrealistic, but it’s Pretty Little Liars and the writers are obviously trying to make a point so we’ll go with it), but under her photo, it’s blank. This pretty much sums up why she had so much trouble getting into college.
The Liars are so used to blaming A for all their problems that it’s become a crutch. Maybe Aria not having time for things like joining the Future Educators of America or creative writing club when her life was a roller coaster of involuntary torment can be pinned on the mystery antagonist, but Spencer didn’t seem to have any trouble in that area. Granted, Aria clearly was into community service and has other interests that could fill a college application besides her grades. Yet, instead of looking at all the possibilities, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that A must have hacked the system and rejected her from all those universities. There’s a solid chance that she just wasn’t a well-rounded enough student, and that as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, Ezra (Ian Harding) was a serious distraction during these formative years.
Aria isn’t the only one the writers targeted this episode on the romantic front. Pretty Little Liars has mostly stuck with the same cast of characters in terms of love interests for the Liars, but they cycle through the ups and downs in each relationship. Unfortunately, all the Liars seems to be on a downward trend in this area. Aria came clean about her revised college essay – A can cross that off the to-do list – but it might cost her more than she bargained for.
The same goes Spencer and her super aggressive personality. The situation has changed and instead of respecting Toby (Keegan Allen) enough to set new boundaries, she expects him to cave to her every inquiry. It’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think? Ali (Sasha Pieterse) having a potential pull with authority is criminal, but she wants a heads up before Toby makes any move that might effect her or her friends. It’s not completely the same thing, but then again, it is.
That leaves Hannah, whose impulses almost got Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) busted on tonight’s episode right along with her. Caleb may be willing to go there for the woman he loves, but Hannah isn’t prepared to let him. It’s the reverse of what we’re seeing with Spencer and Toby. And, it’s actually kind of refreshing. The Liars have been forced to be such a tight-knit group, but at this point, Caleb may as well be one of the girls (not in a weird way though).
Pretty Little Liars is still playing a dangerous game, and even though the Liars may be down tonight, there’s only so much farther they could fall before the writers pick them back up.