It’s a little surreal how quickly Pretty Little Liars has progressed from harmless teenage pranks to serious courtroom drama right before our very eyes. With the never-ending barrage of unanswered questions, the show seems like it has flown by and it’s a little on the scary side where the writers are taking us as they wrap up the current season. Two of the characters are facing serious jail time for a murder they didn’t commit and the other Liars are running around with not much to go on except for the occasional taunting text message from their faceless tormentor.
As the show chronicles the latest, and most jarring, judicial proceedings the series has experienced thus far, viewers are swept up in the investigation that’s still being conducted behind the scenes. Since the Rosewood police department has always played a peripheral role in the series, offering up a key player here and there as the narrative moved along, it makes sense that the there was a lingering threat of actual cop work shaking up the status quo. However, it’s only recently that the Liars have been on the receiving end as opposed to simply on the short list of usual suspects.
Although fans already know that Ali (Sasha Pieterse) knows more than she’s saying (as per usual), it seems that the prosecution is beating her to every punch. And, what that means in the long run, is that Hanna (Ashley Benson) isn’t any closer to beating her accessory rap than Ali is at getting off for murder. Like Spencer (Troian Bellisario) said, “The truth will set you free, but first it’ll turn you inside out.”
“The Melody Lingers On” was less about the Liars ongoing investigation to discover the true identity of A and more about living in the present. They didn’t have much time to explore the past or contemplate the future when getting Ali and Hanna out of their respective jail cells was priority number one. Retaliation, repercussions, protecting love ones – all concepts that usually weigh heavily on the story, took a backseat tonight. The only characters actively concerned with protecting someone else are the ones that have all but given up on protecting themselves. Both Ali and Hanna urged Jason (Drew Van Acker) and Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) to get out of town before A decided to sink her/his claws into them next.