y'all, I wrote this ridiculously long analysis of the first 2 eps of PLL: OS (Summer School), but it was too long so this is what you get instead.
*Spoilers for 1x01, 1x02, and the "Weeks Ahead" trailer
I see a lot of people suspicious that Christian may be related to (or good friends) with Chip, and I do understand where those theories are coming from. I personally think it's more likely that Christian will be an early suspect of the season. I think the girls will discover that Christian made the "Bloody Rose" mask/costume, and believe he is involved, but that we will find out that it was a commissioned work and he doesn't know the identity of the person who bought it (they might even use this to have him describe a character who came to pick up the mask/outfit, but intentionally make us think of someone else- like describing an older white lady and the show points us at Chip's mom, or Kelly's mom, or Dr. Sullivan, etc. depending on who they don't want us to suspect). Obviously this is conjecture and I could be totally off base, but that's my read on Christian. This is also not to suggest that I think he's 100% above board (I have some other theories about him), but this is where I am with him at this moment.
Female rage has always been a major theme of this reboot, and it feels particularly relevant, considering "Rose" is our scary person in a mask, so personally I really do hope the main person responsible (even if there are multiple people involved) this season is a woman. I think it just fits the theme of the show really well. That being said, I could be talked around to alternatives.
I can't stop considering how the Our Mother of Holy Grace church comes into play here. So, here's where that takes my brain. This church is led by Pastor Malachi. Interesting choice of names- Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. It focuses on criticizing those who are not committed/faithful enough, and also criticizes those who question God's justice. We know that Rose Waters (the real Rose Waters) was incredibly religious, and that she wielded religion as a tool in her abuse of Angela and Archie. "Bloody Rose" wears a crown of thorns, an incredibly famous bit of religious imagery. The actual Rose Waters walked the path of "religious woman who failed her children (was abusive towards them & did not protect Angela from her "friends") and lost one to violence, then became violent with those she blamed for this." We have another character who could easily walk that same path- Mrs. Beasley is a religious woman who failed her children (Karen, dead. Kelly isolated & traumatized, neither protected from this sequence of events) and lost one to violence, then became violent with those she blamed for this (stabbed her husband). But there could be a lot more people than Tom Beasley on her "blame" list. Particularly if her feelings/grief around Karen have become tangled up in her religious devotion. That is to say that, so far, everyone who has died in this season (though the first few kills were Archie's) could easily be considered a "sinner" ("the guilty" from season 1, the teens in the cabin, Sandy "tempting" Greg), and "Bloody Rose" may see herself as meting out God's justice. But then... why the girls? Well, it sounds like they are getting "tests" this year, which, similar to last season, makes me think they are not kill targets (yet), that "Rose" is still deciding about them. Anyway, again, all conjecture/interpretation and I could be completely off base.
I think people are gonna hate to hear it, but- I think we might be getting a lot of Faran & Greg this season (I don't mean this romantically, though I don't think that's 100% out of the question, either). Greg's actor got his billing upgraded between seasons, which implies he'll have more screen time. I don't think the Henry/Faran relationship is long for this world (she's lying to him, he seems resentful that he chose to stay behind with her, she told Kelly she doesn't know what they have in common outside of dance, he ignored her when she asked him to let her handle things, they just aren't clicking), and I think Faran & Greg may end up (unwillingly) teamed up trying to figure out what's going on with Kelly & the church.
Random, but I think we might get a "secluded cabin in the woods" episode this season, since that's a big summer slasher trope and they reminded us right away that Imogen's dad has one of those.
I have 3 categories for characters (not including the main 5 girls), "actual suspects," "suspicious by default, but could go either way," and "keeping my eye on you." Here they are-
Actual Suspects - Mrs. Beasley, Mrs Beasley + Kelly, Mrs. Beasley + Pastor Malachi, Any combination of people from the church, Chip's Mom, Dr. Sullivan.
Suspicious By Default, But Could Go Either Way - Jen, Christian, Johnny, Coach Rhodes, Imogen's dad.
Keeping My Eye On You - Wes, Shawn, Ash, Henry
I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'm wrong about a lot of stuff, but it's the guessing that makes it fun imo.
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PLL OS Summer School 2x06-2x08 Trailer Breakdown
*Spoilers for PLL Summer School 2x01-2x05 + the 2x06-2x08 trailer
Okay, well I've been assured that I am not talking only to myself, so let's do this.
So, while the timeline of events isn't 100% clear, I have been able to group together stuff that I think is related and/or stuff that I think will happen in the same episode.
First up, we see the girl's discussing the tests. Based on their outfits, this is at the top of 2x06. This is the convo where they acknowledge Imogen & Tabby are 'next'.
Chronologically, I think the next few things we've got (but I'm not 100% sure on the order) are- The girls compiling their suspect list, Imogen accusing Dr. Sullivan of being Bloody Rose, Imogen & Tabby staying over at their love interests, Imogen & Tabby's summer school "walk of shame," and Redemption House being put together. While Imogen wears the same outfit in all of these scenes (presumably over the course of two days), Tabby's outfit changes, which is why I think the list of suspects scene is before the others, since she's wearing the blue shirt for her date and the morning after. I think Imogen accuses Dr. Sullivan either directly before or after they compile their list, as she has lipstick on in both those scenes, but does not in the scenes the following morning. (Also the shot of them building Redemption House could come whenever, I just think it's generally in this time).
Their list is - Dr. Sullivan, Kelly Beasley, Mrs. Beasley, Mrs. Langsberry, Deputy Maroon, and Rose Waters (you can't see her name in these screencaps, but you can at another angle). These are all characters the viewers are pretty suspicious of (except Deputy Maroon. I didn't even remember who that was).
Here's Imogen accusing Dr. Sullivan of being Bloody Rose. We don't have a lot to anchor when this happens, just Imogen's outfit and lipstick.
These are the outfits we see them in for the "walk of shame," so definitely the night before the following shots.
^^this shot of Redemption House is cut with other shots when it seems to be open, but I don't believe they're from the same scene. I think this is earlier.
Next we have Kelly announcing Redemption House to the class. The way the trailer is cut, it implies this happens during the morning after the "walk of shame" scene, but it's definitely a different day, because the teacher is dressed differently.
This is also a difficult shot to anchor in time, but I think it must be pretty early 2x06, since so much of the trailer focuses on Redemption House. I think this may actually be the day before the shots it's cut with, but I'm not sure.
Next up, we've got the girls with Redemption House (in Imogen's house). We see them standing outside during the day, and lines of people going in. We also see them inside the house, and then outside at night, all in the same outfits.
Since there's a limit to how many photos I can add to a post, I'm only going to show a little bit of the house, but I'll talk about the rest.
There are a lot of shots from inside the house, but I don't want to waste all my image space on it. The house appears to be specifically themed after the girls season 1 storylines, implying someone has a lot of access to the details of what happened to each girl. I think we get glimpses of scenes based on several of the girls- Mouse on her laptop with Steve, a party where a girl (I think representing Tabby or Imogen) appears to be drinking/dancing, what looks like a drug den (for Noa), two shirtless football players (played by Henry and (I think) Greg) and I'm not sure if this is related to one of the girls or if this is more a sexuality shaming thing. It appears that the girls walk through the house, then an enraged Imogen blows out the power.
Okay, so the next "group" of scenes are- Noa suggesting Christian and Johnny be added to the suspect list, Tabby frightened and falling down Christian's basement stairs, all the girls (and Christian) except Tabby at the Orpheum, seemingly being chased by a mob (that appears to be the online version of the Bloody Rose cult). Again, I've grouped and ordered these in this way based on clothing and context. I assume Tabby is not with the other girls because she has possibly been injured earlier in the episode.
Noa suggests Christian and Johnny as suspects. This shot of Tabby is not 100% guaranteed to be from this scene (though they imply it with the editing), but I think it probably is. We also see Mouse in this scene sitting in front of Noa.
Tabby is wearing this same outfit when she falls down the stairs to Christian's basement.
There are quite a few shots of this sequence where The Orpheum appears to be under siege, which I believe happens later the same day as the previous two scenes. Noa is dressed differently from the scene where she mentions Christian and Johnny, but Mouse is definitely wearing the same top in this sequence as she is when she's sitting in front of Noa, so I think this is that evening. These scenes being in this order would also explain Tabby's absence from the chase sequence.
So I feel reasonably confident about the chronology of the stuff before this point. The rest of this, not so much. I have compiled some shots that are scattered through the trailer that appear to be from the same scene, but where exactly they fall in the timeline is difficult to say.
First, Kelly with Bloody Rose at the pool. I think these shots of Faran might go with this scene (or she may find Kelly after this scene?), because she is at the pool at night.
Not pictured- a shot of what looks like Kelly floating facedown in the pool, Kelly looking back over her shoulder, and another similar shot of Faran. These shots are not shown together in the trailer, but the Kelly shots are definitely connected & I also believe these Faran shots are related. There is also a shot of Bloody Rose standing outside a chainlink fence, which may be here, but I'm not sure.
Next up, Imogen's "test" and a scuffle with Rose. These shots are also split up throughout the trailer, but all appear to be from the same scene. Imogen enters a bedroom (her mother's?) filled with candles. We get a glimpse of her "final girl" letter. She is then attacked by Bloody Rose.
You cannot see it in these shots, but there is a crucifix hanging over the bed, which definitely felt very Mrs. Beasley-ish, but I think this is Imogen's house.
Now on to the stuff that is even more disconnected. I think we might be getting more nightmares from Imogen. There is a very incriminating shot of Dr. Sullivan that I don't believe they would ever show us in a trailer if it were real, where she has the Bloody Rose mask. Everything about this particular shot feels fake, so I think Imogen (who we know is suspicious of Dr. Sullivan) dreams this.
Additionally, I'm wondering if Imogen has a dream about murdering Johnny. There is a shot of the creamery floor, and someone wearing the creamery uniform (that we've only seen Johnny in) being dragged as dead weight (I think being dragged by Imogen). This could be real, but I wonder if it's not related to the shot from the earlier trailer where Imogen and Johnny are hugging and she looks very upset (perhaps she dreams that she stabs him, then wakes up upset?)
If this is real, things are not looking good for Johnny.
Then we have a shot of Noa through a hole (the eye hole in the Bloody Rose mask?)
I really don't think there's much in the trailer that links with this shot of Noa, so who knows.
There's a shot of Mrs. Beasley saying, "I pray those girls suffer and burn."
No idea when this is, but Faran also says Mrs. Beasley is her top suspect. The more they point at people, the less I think they did it.
There's a shot of Tabby waking up (looks a lot like the shot of Mouse from the last episode) in what I assume is Christian's bedroom. It's not a location we're familiar with.
Tabby is wearing a different top here from any of the other scenes, and I'm not sure what to make of that. This could be Christian's shirt that she wears after their date shown earlier (Imogen appears to be wearing one of Johnny's shirts in his bed earlier in the trailer, so that would track), or it could be an entirely different day/night.
Here we have a scene where Mouse & Ash seem to be talking about Redemption House. He calls it, "an apocalyptic level of hate." I think this is likely in 2x06 and pretty early in 2x06, but Mouse's outfit doesn't match anything else she wears and Ash does not appear anywhere else in the trailer, so I have no way to confirm this.
Weirdly, Mouse actually seems to be wearing an outfit we saw her in earlier in the season (when she finds the rose), so I don't know if this was originally supposed to be in an earlier episode and it's gotten moved, or what. I do wonder if it's a re-ordered scene, because Kelly was passing out those flyers several episodes ago.
There's a few shots I want to note that I couldn't fit into this post because of the tumblr limits.
A shot of Christian (he's just wearing his Orpheum uniform, so nothing new to discuss there)
A shot of Johnny (also just wearing his uniform)
A shot of Mouse looking out of her window at night. It's a little difficult to see anything, so I didn't use one of my image slots on it.
The only stuff from the original "Weeks Ahead" trailer that we haven't seen yet are the shots from the Pride event at the pool, Imogen and Johnny hugging at work, and the girls walking into a location that I do not recognize at all.
So that's what is in the trailer, here's my takeaways.
If everyone is getting a test this season, I think Tabby's will be next and Imogen's will be last. Imogen and Rose in her mother's bedroom feels a bit like Archie chasing Imogen in season 1.
This trailer points so hard at Dr. Sullivan and Mrs. Beasley, that makes me feel they are likely red herrings. I've liked the Mrs. Beasley theory for a long time, but Faran directly calling it out in the trailer is pretty blunt.
No sign of several characters that presumably do have scenes, since their arcs are completely unresolved. No Jen or Shawn. No Wes. No Rebecca or Imogen's dad. No Mrs. Langsberry (unless her name being written down counts). No Mouse's grandmother. Obviously they have to deal with the Jen/Noa/Shawn stuff, so interesting that we see none of it. I also don't know why they would introduce Rebecca and then never have her reappear, so that would be weird. I definitely expect to see more of Wes, but that's also because he is one of my top suspects.
I'm wondering if Jen is a big part of the online Bloody Rose Cult. Out of the new love interests, we've spent the most time on her outside of her romance from Noa (her stealing, her mom being an addict, her dad being a "rich pharma bro," the bail money, etc.) and regardless of how honest (or not) that she's being, it would be weird for none of that to be plot relevant. The way she asked Noa about the Millwood Massacre in her first episode raised some red flags (it felt like she was pretending not to really know what that was about), and we know she's not from Millwood, but has come here for summer school (which could easily be on purpose), so I'm wondering how that could fit in. The shot of Noa (that looks like it's maybe through Rose's mask) could be her finding a BR mask in Jen's things. The Bloody Rose Cult people seem to be wearing various versions of the mask when they are chasing the girls. Jen also has a similar fashion sense to a lot of the online cult members we've seen.
I haven't forgotten about Chip's mom. I understand why a lot of people are suspicious of her (and she fits some major horror tropes), I just don't like that we haven't seen her like at all this season. So I don't know how to feel about that. But Tabby's arc surrounding Chip doesn't feel totally complete (the way she experienced flashbacks of him when working on her short and how she's still feeling the consequences of his betrayal in a way that Imogen doesn't appear to be), so I do acknowledge that.
We get very little Ash, Henry, or Greg in this trailer, so I have taken note of that as well. It doesn't specifically make me any more suspicious of any of these characters than I already was, because they don't really have a lot going on outside of the girls. Henry not having much left to do this season wouldn't surprise me. Greg will be around, I think, but he does still feel like a background character. I've mentioned my mental tug of war around Ash and his screen time several times, but considering how background Mouse has felt for a lot of this season, it's not entirely weird.
Probably not important, but based off of his bedroom, Johnny is really into music & I'm still holding out hope they might let him sing at some point. I don't see where that fits, but let me dream.
Also, speaking of his room- Johnny's room is absolutely packed with album covers, posters of bands and musicians, musical instruments, etc. and the set design is pretty maximalist in general in this show, so it can be hard to know what matters, so this probably doesn't. But he also has a giant ass poster of Edgar Allen Poe on his wall?? which like... is probably just a set design choice, but feels weirdly out of step with the rest of his room.
I don't think this trailer has vastly shifted any of my opinions, but I will be excited to see how correct I am about my timeline and guesses.
As always, if you have any thoughts opinions you'd like to share, let me know!
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Let's talk about Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, bc I have no one to talk to about my thoughts.
Pastor Malachai
My first thought was literally that this dude looks like Clanton. He's probably related to him and now is continuing, in a way, in his footsteps. Bloody Rose and Clanton/Archie both have a theme of killing sinners/punishing the guilty, with slight variations of going about it. Just look at the resemblance:
Mrs Beasley looks just as guilty tbh. And this:
"It's safe to say that I believe you children are the future. Of our church, of this town and of the kingdom. '...' There's an activity we used to spearhead in years past. A celebration, and a purging that will help us expiate our town's sins. Shall I tell you all about the glories of Redemption House?"
Just sounds sus. I also don't think we ever saw other adult members of this church, besides the Pastor and Mrs Beasley, which I find really weird. I can imagine that someone connected to the church could be connected or be Bloody Rose, if it isn't Mrs Beasley or the Pastor. Could be an adult we haven't seen yet or one of the teenagers. Or both honestly.
Also, maybe there were similar killings years before the liars, which relate to what Malachai said about the activity they did years ago. Maybe the whole town was in on it.
"Twenty years ago, a series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart." I'm sure that wasn't just about Angela Waters.
Completely different thought, but maybe the church knows about Bloody Rose and that she's out to kill sinners, which is why they want to get as many followers as possible and purge the town of their sins, to save people from getting kiled off.
Principal Smithy
He's not my primary suspect, but I fear he or someone with power in the school might be involved as well, because of the whole summer school thing.
Dr Sullivan and Rose Waters
I feel like Dr Sullivan looks a bit similar to Rose Waters, but I don't think they'll end up being related. I feel like it would be out of character for Dr Sullivan to turn into Bloody Rose and kill teenagers. I could image there being some minor involvement, like in the original PLL when she dissappeared.
But I do think there is a possibility she knows Rose Waters, because we know she stayed in Radley until it closed. In season 3 when Spencer went to Radley Dr Sullivan worked there. Maybe Rose Waters was one of her patients.
Maybe it's also a possibility that they'll parallel the original PLL and Bloody Rose could end up being one of Dr Sullivan's patients, which she'll figured out later on as the show progresses. I also wonder what her flashback will add to the story.
Davie
I know she's dead, but I think she'll have something to do with this. When Imogen saw the shadow in her room and thought it was her mother and then Bloody Rose.. I don't know it gave me a weird feeling. Also, this teaser poster with the drawing of an angel being unraveled, leads me to believe that Imogen might uncover some more horrible truths about her mother. And now that she mentioned in her dream in ep 3, that she saw Bloody Rose AND her mother.. Seems suspicious
Some more thoughts about Bloody Rose
I could imagine Bloody Rose being a character we don't know yet, like with Archie. We didn't know Angela had a brother until the reveal lol.
I could imagine more people being involved, like a group of people coming together. Maybe even a scenario where different people pretend to be Bloody Rose and don't know each other's identities, but each have their reasons to mess with the liars or do so for fun.
We also know a teenager has to be involved, because Mouse's grandmother said one of her friends came to her. And we know someone who said she was friends with one of the liars before: Jennifer. Tbh I don't think she's Bloody Rose, but that just came to my mind, how she basically used Noah to get a job. I wouldn't exactly call them friends tbh.
Some unrelated extra
What the fuck happened here in Angela's room? Why is there a rope? I was re-watching and found this really weird and disturbing. The day Angela died it wasn't there.
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