Cop Fridays: Lies Beget Liars, No Matter How Pretty

Gif from Tumblr

     Dear Jesus, someone in the town of Rosewood is finally making sense! Of course it's not the Pretty Little Liars, but it's Spencer's mom, Veronica Hastings. This time and she is on the nose here. She announced she is putting the family home on the market. Veronica simply said,  "Severing ties with this town would be healthy, for all of us." I'm slapping a palm to my face and yelling duh at the top of my lungs. This town is toxic to all of the characters in this show, except Mona, who has nine lives.  Poor Spencer discovered in last week's spring premiere that Veronica is not her biological mother. Somehow, Mr. Hastings had an affair with Alison's mom, giving us Jason DeLaurentis. Then, Mr. Hastings had an affair with Alison's mom's twin sister, Mary Drake, which brought us Spencer. Spencer and Alison, by my account, are now cousins that share a brother and Spencer's half-brother is Alison's adopted brother, who became a girl (it's deeply socially confusing and a bit backwoods). This revelation came as part of the super creepy "Liars Lane" game that was left for the 5 girls. This creepily customized board game sends clues and tasks via a cell phone, like regular A with the added bonus of a scale model of the girls and their town. Overall, it's less involved than making masks of their faces or re-creating their bedrooms in an underground dollhouse, but still creepy as hell .Do they choose to report the game to the police? Of course not, because they think it would self-destruct before the detectives could even get a look at it. This is one the reasons I can't watch horror movies, I can't believe the characters would be so dumb. As explained in the Cosmo PLL oral history, members of the production staff made a jar and every time someone asked  a logical question (why is she running in heels?? Did the lairs even go to school today?) they had to surrender then door and surrender their disbelief.

The Rosewood Church (c) PipPepPop

     Spencer is now in desperate need to find her mother, who gave birth to her in a mental institution. This is the same institution that Spencer checked in herself for a number of ailments (she went full Jessie Spanno). In short, keeping all these secrets caused Spencer to have a breakdown. Who can blame her, her sister married a psycho who nearly killed Emily before falling off the top of a church. Spencer is also the same girl that blacked out part of the night Alison went missing and realized she tried to bludgeon the girl in the head with a field hockey stick (before they knew they were related). EW!  At the end of the day, Spencer pulled herself together and made it through college.  Adult Spencer devoted her life to her (fake) mother's political aspirations, and spiraled into a somewhat destructive relationship with her best friend Hanna's ex, Caleb. She also stalked her ex, Toby, and his new girlfriend turned baby mama turned fiance. Poor Yvonne is in a coma now after she and Toby  hit a deer with their car (the first non-human hit by a car in this show). The whole messy situation was complicated by Yvonne's mom running for the position Spencer's mom eventually won. Poor Toby was in the middle. Let's also take a moment to remember Toby became a police officer. Was he that good? Well, he didn't get murdered, and I'm 90% sure he never murdered anyone, so in this town that's pretty good.

Image from Giphy

     What is Spencer up to now? She's actually talking to the police about finding Mary, and her recent shooting. We were told by the detective that  out likely Uber A (Blind Jenna) did not shoot Spencer because the ballistics didn't match. This could only mean that Mary shot her own child. She must have been trying to send Spencer a message, unless there was yet another person lurking in the school for the blind when the liars went there to confront the now dead Noel Kahn. At least Spencer is reaching out to a detective!

Rosewood town hall.
(c) PipPepPop

     Here's a roundup of the other potentially legal drama in town. Hannah was designing dresses for a political socialite and Blind Jenna was seen wearing an identical dress. Suddenly the front page of the post claimed Hannah stole the design. This is important to note: Jenna is still bind (or so we think) and her two bodyguards were also blind with sunglasses. It was like she was flanked by the men in black.They also went to a meeting on the "dicey" side of town, which was indicated by a shoe repair shop and a bail bondsman.

     Emily is working at her old school as a swim coach, and trying to help Alison with a situation (see below). Of course, Emily's ex Paige is jealous, and all 3 women work at the same school. This time, Alison doesn't self-destruct; Paige previously lost her mind at a staff meeting. Even A isn't involved in this scandal, it's all in the hands of a whiny teen swimmer. She is a min-Alison, skipping practice and punishing Emily when she got punished. This chick (I'll call her A-minus) shows photos of Emily and Alison hugging during school and alleges some inappropriate conduct with students. Hey, maybe this girl  who would have been 9 when the drama started is the Uber A! Maybe she's another sister of Alison! Clearly, stranger things have happened. Speaking of Alison and stranger things, she is still moping after discovering she is pregnant with her psycho husband's baby. The good news is that the girls killed Alison's kidnapping and embezzling husband. The bad news is that the cops still think he skipped town and fled to Europe. Alison won't tell her other friends about the demon seed, creating a rift between Emily and the other,s like before Ali died. The question I can't figure out is what is Alison's deal? Is she interested in men and women? Does she just like toying with Emily? Will she make a decision about keeping the baby? Will she befall the same fate as her aunt and have this kid in a mental asylum? I don't know, but if I had my way, this baby would be Uber A!

Alison's House / Seaver home-
 Growing Pains (c) PipPepPop

     Finally we wrap-up with Aria. She may or may not still have a job. I'm unclear if she and her fiance Ezra finished writing their novelization about he and his ex-girlfriend getting kidnapped as relief workers. (Yes, this happened, just give in a dollar). Ezra left town because the ex, Nicole, was discovered still alive, and he's spent most of these two episodes in New York with her family trying to help her. Poor Aria feels like she can't even bask in her engagement  (to her former high school teacher) because the news is covering Nicole's story, celebrating the reunited couple (of Ezra and Nicole). Aria ran into a cute, childhood friend, who works for his sister's wedding planning business. Surprise, she's spending all this time with him, and her response to every question is "I don't know what Ezra wants." This is the most truthful thing I've heard in these two new episodes. Maybe it's finally clear that Aria and Ezra do not belong together. The law may not be keeping them apart any more, but they have irreconcilable differences.

{The most interesting thing I learned about filming on the WB studio tour is that every set (inside and exteriors) is dressed daily the the set decorators and teams, down to the signs and knobs}. Please enjoy PLL set photos from the WB studio tour! 

PREDICTIONS:

• I'm still convinced everyone in the town is in on this and they are all "A."
• Aria and Spencer's dads are going to start a creepy dad band.
• Hannah will stop wearing grungy sweats if she wants to be a fashion designer. 
• Spencer will confront her real mother.
• We will never see Spencer's sister or Jason again .
• (because they cannot handle this weird family dynamic) 
• Jenna will get her sight/ we find out she got it back a long time ago.
• Spencer and Toby will get back together.

One Republic Has "All The Right Friends In All the Right Places" - Ryan Tedder's Musical Genius

Ryan Tedder (noun) - one of the brightest songwriters on the Pop music scene in the new millennium.

     Ryan Tedder is the lead singer of Pop/Rock band OneRepublic. He is the musical equivalent of the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" because his discography has its own Wikipedia page. He plays the piano. He is also pretty handsome. OneRepublic played the tonight show last week to drop their new catchy single, "Wherever I Go". The music video link is very amusing. This caused me to do some binge-listening to Tedder's other classics. The lyrics offer little to the imagination, as they are very honest, direct with feelings and pull at your heartstrings. Here are the 5 best OneRepublic singles.

5. Apologize (2007) Featuring Timbaland
Tedder's first big single is one of his showstoppers. It's slow building orchestration on the piano and Timbaland's faraway hey-ayy-heyy lead off with a haunting waltz. The slow beat is magnified by lyrics like  "I need you like a heart needs a beat.." but as the song clearly explains, it is too late to apologize. That is the  2007 equivalent of Taylor Swift saying "We are never getting back together. Like Ever." Country singer Luke Bryan does a great twangy cover of this on his Doin' My Thing album.

4. Come Home (2009) Featuring Sara Barielles

Sara Barielles (C) PipPepPop

     This is another OR ballad filed with pianos, strings and joined by the beautiful voice of Sara Barielles in perfect harmony.
" Right now there's a war between the vanities/
   But all I see is you and me/
   And the fight for you is all I've even known/
   Ever known.... so come home."
There is such a deep pain and longing in this song. Tedder and Barielles both plead with each other that all can be forgiven if the other one just gives in and comes home.  I can't help but get my teary eyed every time I hear it.

3. Secrets (2009)
     This ballad is reminiscent of Apologize because of the gorgeous sweeping orchestrations, but its even better. Secrets is different about Apologize because it is about hope. The previous song is about closing doors and ending ties, but this one is abut opening up to begin something honest and new. It is just the most beautiful song. This song was used in many advertisements, notably for the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice and ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars.  Tedder's lyrical genius includes lines "Tell me what you want to hear/ something that will light those ears, sick of all the insincere, I'm gonna give all my secrets all my secrets away."


2. Counting Stars (2013)

     First of all, this song moves at a fast clip (see more about the 'Tedder beat' in #1). What may sound like verbal vomit is actually deep thoughts from Tedder about survival. I consider it to be somewhat like  Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," but with less world events. When he says "Everything that kills me, makes me feel alive," he is #winning and wiping your face in it. Tedder has dreams that are more important than dollars, and he believes hope is a 4-letter word. My first favorite line in the song comes in the building bridge back to the chorus: "Take that money / watch it burn /  sink in the river /the lessons are learnt." Life sucks, but its how you bounce back that really matters. My second favorite part of the song is in the above image.  Tedder does a superb job of rhyming his 4 pre-chorus verses.

1. Love Runs Out (2014)
     This song echoes a typical repeating bass line (on the piano) or "Tedder driving beat," as I have dubbed his sound. It's easy to see why the song became the official anthem to the recent season 2 of ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. This music video is pretty amusing for starters, and seems to have nothing to do with the song. The lyrics are simple but decisive. The song is intense, relentless, and passionate, like the accompaniment. Here is the rhyming couplet that holds this song together: "I'll be doing this /  if you ever doubt /  'til the love runs out / 'til the love runs out."

    Check back for Ryan Tedder's best productions and collaborations with other artists. He has done over 80 well-known and released songs in the last 10 years. This will blow your mind!

Who's That Girl? Vanessa Ray Rules TV

     Some actors have ok careers, steadily acting in different shows like Lee Norris. Some actors like Jason Marsden have great years. Some actors like Vanessa Ray are killing it (literally) on two coasts and starring in two dramas at the same time. You go, Glenn Coco! See definition 2 of Glen Coco in the Urban Dictionary if you're not following us here.

Eddie Janko

     Just who is Vanessa Ray? She has regularly been appearing alongside the handsome Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) as his tough talking rookie partner as Edit "Eddie" Janko in the NY family cop drama Blue Bloods on and off for three seasons. She has shot people, arrested perps, been roughed up by a boyfriend, and faced her inmate father, among other things. She and Jamie remain close friends, but we've always gotten a glimpse of "will they or won't they." As of now, she is hoping to make detective soon, so maybe the partners will become more than partners if they're not chilling with beers after a long tour.  

Charlotte

     Ray may also look familiar to you from another popular role. Perhaps you recognize her as the long-masked sun-drenched villain of Pretty Little Liars, known as "A", Others may know her by her many aliases, such as  Cece Drake, Charles, and finally, as Charlotte DeLaurentis, Alison's "sister", who left Charles behind a long time ago. If you still don't know who "A" is, you have been living under a rock.

     In a nutshell, Alison had two older brothers Jason and Charles. Young toddler Charles loved baby Alison like a baby doll and tried to give her a bath, almost drowning Alison and getting himself a one-way trip to a children's institution. Charles realized he should have been born a girl, and mom helped out by having an operation to change him into Charlotte, letting dad believe he had died at age 16. Alison and Jason didn't even remember having a brother. Charlotte began a lot of mayhem to punish people, including the family that sent him/her away.

      In last week's season 6 premiere, Charlotte is released from the mental hospital and mysteriously "falls" off the church bell tower her first night home. A suicide, thought some. A murder, insisted the police. Now the liars must figure out who murdered Charlotte, and it possibly is one of the liars themselves. Maybe they could use the Reagans from Blue Bloods to help solve this case as the Rosewood police force are completely ineffective. 

Freeform: Coming to your Local Television

     Tomorrow, ABC Family will change its name to Freeform. Since 2001, they have been known as the gawky teen cousin network of ABC, showing reruns of  Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Gilmore Girls, Step by Step and other 90's and early 2000's shows. The network also launched the wildly successful and addictive Pretty Little Liars (teen murderesses) and a host of other interesting shows and subject matter such as :

• Make It or Break It (gymnastics team with issues)
• The Fosters, (a charming Lesbian couple and their foster children, with issues) 
• and the often dialogue-plagued: The Secret Life of the American Teenager (pregnant teens- with issues)

     According to statements from ABC Family, they are trying to hold on to their 18-34 females demographic and feel this name change will help them become more accepted or cool. I find this a big funny for a network that built it's empire on teen dramas. Let's face it, the WB never tried to be cool, but it drew a huge pull of women in that demographic and both women older and younger than it , and still does as the current CW network. It also calls its demo (or its Demi Lovato, as comedians Nikki Glazer and Sara Schafer referred to the demographic of their short lived MTV show), the becomers. To me, as a woman in that coveted "Demi", I am really creeped out and a little offended. The Becomers sounds like the next Vampire Diaries spinoff. "The Becomers" will get you at 9 P.M. on Thursday night.

     We'll have to see how this all plays out. The same network held a blaze of glory from 1998 - 2001  as Fox Family Channel before it changed over to ABC. I was pretty upset at the time and may never recover from the lack of S Club 7 reruns. (S Club has shows in Miami and Los Angeles and they were amazing). Fergie of the black eyed peas also hosted a show where kids won prizes for the best lip sync to a popular song. It was truly a renaissance. Before that, the channel was known as the Christian-inspired  Family Channel and I'm not too sure it had any appealing programming other than old reruns of Bonanza.  

A Note about Pretty Sexy Liars

Yes, Pretty Little Liars at times is a silly show. That I do agree. But lets face it, all those secrets lead to some serious hot sexual tension. And as I'm nearly a month behind and struggling to catch up (see episode 20) I'm like, "Damn are these girls supposed to be 16? They are getting some serious action." Here are the heart melters...

The men:
Toby- Ever sinc he got over that whole 'I was wrongly accused of murdering Alison' thing, hes been really hot. And when he took off his shirt during a stakeout with Spencer- IT WAS 100% hot. (Sidenote- how does Spencer get so much action?)
Ezra- The teacher everyone wants to be detained by. Hot- wow did whiny Aira land him?
Sean- Poor Shawnie. He's a totally golden boy and Hannah treated him like crap. Let's get him back in the show.
Noel Kahn- Such a creeper, but he totally was hot when he played the guitar for Aria during the school blackout.
Mike- Aria's little brother, that despite having a creepy friendship with Noel could be a future hottie.
Ian- Yeah he's a total bad guy. He slept with Alison. He hit on Spencer. But he's kinda hot?
Caleb- He's a criminal, a homeless teen, and still a totally sexy hottie. Refer to him ans Hannah getting stuck in the shower together.... and him asking if they should share a towel. What an intense kisser!

A Note About Summer TV, Update 1

I've been catching up the last few days on summer TV shows. Here's the lowdown:

Burn Notice
It's an been a great story with Michael having to deal with burning another spy. I like the character of Jesse, the renegade spy with nobody to turn to, but frankly, he's messing with the plans of the "dream team," (Mike, Sam, and Fi), more than I can really tolerate. He provides a nice foil to Michael's mother as he's become the most recent house guest.
Things I could pass on: Jesse doing a a Jamaican accent, hostage situations, Jesse going on missions with just Sam or just Fi(ona) and splitting the story...
Things I want to see more of: Sam as "Mike Finley", his great alter ego, Mike's southern low class accents, Fi outwitting dumb businessmen and bikers, Mike spending time with his mom

Royal Pains
AKA Hank Med, this show became a favorite of my family last summer. Paulo Costanzo is great as failing younger brother Evan, CEO of HankMed, and his classic "moonlighting"-esque repartee with Divya match the great scenes between Hank and hospital administrator Jill.
Things I could pass on: Jill's wanna-be McDreamy Husband Charlie-who has thankfully already left town, Hank's father dating, Dr. Emily Peck, Boris's ladylove, HankMed being broke...
Things I'd like to see more: Marcia Gay Harden as the cranky surgeon at Hampton Heritage Hospital, Dieter- butler of Boris, Boris- the mysterious benefactor of Hank- (who recently appeared on Damages), Andrew McCarthy's Marshall David Bryant IV and his son Tucker (hopefully they'll be back this season), the Fonz as Hank's deadbeat father...

Pretty Little Liars
The first episode of this show was like a WB-flashback: part One Tree Hill, part Veronica Mars, part Gossip Girl. It's good, it's bad, it's addictive. That dead Alison girl is like the second coming of Amanda from Melrose Place. I can't wait to find out what's going to happen with A's mysterious messages and what really happened to Ali the night she disappeared.
Things I could pass on: shameless promotion of the KIN, creepy Jenna, crappy father figures, the Maya and Emily "friend"ship, people in their late 20's playing high school students, girls constantly making out with everyone they meet- Aria and her adorable teacher, Spencer and her future brother-in-law, Emily and her neighbor Maya, Hanna and her pretty boy- Erik Von Detten wannabe boyfriend, Hanna's mom and the cop,
Things I'd like to see more: Ezra the cute teacher- in a relationship with someone who is over age 20- maybe Aria's mom, Hanna's mother getting some self-respect, Tobe and Emily's friendship, Aria's brother, lipstick on the mirrors, Spencer going completely "Jessie Spano", a.k.a. I'm so excited, I'm so scared...

Persons Unknown
I accidentally stumbled along this show, and I'm so glad I did. People trapped in a 50's style town, being watched by creepy cameras? It's like a ABC Saturday night movie that gets progressively better and creepier every week. Plus, a reporter somewhat hot on the trail of a creepy grandmother, it keeps you interested. Is it a military training camp/government experiment/purgatory? Is it a murderers colony?
Things I could pass on: beating up the guy from brother's keeper- he is such dead weight in this town, Tori turning up dead, the new prisoner, Chinese food every day,
Things I'd Like to see more: Joe and Janet's sexual tension, Joe taking down the people who he used to help out with this whole confusing experiment, the dad from charmed as the mysterious, ambassador in Italy, what happened to the soldier guy in Iraq

A Note About WB Stars Making TV Appearances

     The WB stars of the past and present, mostly the past in this case, have long made TV appearances together on new shows. They're popping up everywhere. Here are 10 great WB reunions in other shows and movies and 3 WB prequel friendships.

Reunited, and it Feels so Good

As part of their packaged deal, I'm convinced, WB stars make TV deals to be in future TV shows with other stars. Here are ten examples:

1. 2010, Life Unexpected 
1. (Shiri Appleby- Roswell and Kerr Smith- Dawson's Creek), as radio cohosts and engaged parents raising her long-lost teenager.
2.  2010, The Vampire Diaries 
1. (Paul Wesley- Everwood, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
3. 2010, Pretty Little Liars 
1. (Holly Marie Combs- Charmed,  Lucy Hale- Privileged, Bryce Johnson- Popular, Bianca Lawson- Buffy)
4. 2008-2010, Bones 
5. (David Boreanez- Angel, and Brendan Fehr-Roswell)  as his brother.
6. 2008, 90210 
1. (Lori Loughlin- Summerland, Jennie Garth- What I Like About You) and including Shannen Doherty and Greg Vaughn- Charmed, Scott Patterson-Gilmore Girls, and Sarah Danielle Madison- 7th Heaven 
7. 2007, Samantha Who?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Melissa McCarthy- Gilmore Girls)
8. 2007, Greek 
1. (Appearances by Charisma Carpenter - Buffy/Angel & Jesse McCartney- Summerland)
9. 2006, What About Brian?
1.  (Barry Watson- 7th Heaven, Amanda Foreman- Felicity, and Matthew Davis (The Vampire Diaries)
10. 2006, The Bedford Diaries 
1. (Penn Bagley- future Gossip Girl star, Milo Ventimiglia- Gilmore Girls)
11. 2006, Heroes 
1. (Greg Grunberg- Felicity, Milo Vetmingilia-  Gilmore Girls)
12. 2005, How I Met Your Mother
1.  (Alyson Hannigan- Buffy, and Bob Saget- Raising Dad)                                            with guest appearances by Amy Acker-Angel, Joanna Garcia- Reba, Alexis Denisof-  Buffy/ Angel, Tom Lenk- Buffy, Harry Groener-Buffy)
13. 2004, Fearless (Unaired WB pilot)
1.  (Ian Somerhalder, Bianca Lawson, and Rachel Leigh Cook- honorary WB star).
14. 2004, Jack and Bobby
1.  (starred Bradley Cooper, who links to many proijects with other WB stars, including Greg Grunberg (Alias) , Emma Caufield (I Wanna Marry Ryan Banks), Nick Brendan (Kitchen Confidential)
15. 2003, Veronica Mars
1.  (Guest roles by Alyson Hannigan- Buffy & Charisma Carpenter- Buffy/Angel)
16. 2003, Supernatural 
1. (Jared Paladecki- Gilmore Girls, Jensen Ackles- Smallville)
17. 2002, What I Like About You
1.  (Simon Rex- Jack & Jill, Leslie Grossman- Popular, Jennie Garth - 90210)
18. 2001, Lost 
1. (Emilie de Ravin- Roswell, Daniel Dae Kim-Angel  & GS Greg Grunberg- Felicity)
19. 2001, Alias 
1. (Jennifer Garner- Felicity, Greg Grunberg-Felicity, Amanda Foreman-Felicity, Kevin Wesiman, Felicity)
20. 2000, Gilmore Girls
1.  (Keiko Agnea- Felicity, Danny Strong- Buffy, Chad Michael Murray- One Tree Hill)

     Hold your hats, here we go on some deep dives!

• The appearance of James Van Der Beek on One Tree Hill (2008-2009 season) as a coke-snorting director brought the WB/CW (WC for short) full circle. VDB's director came to Tree Hill to try to direct a movie of Lucas's life story, and the former WB golden boy and resident moody dreamer finally passed on his crown to the WB's reigning golden boy and moody dreamer (CMM), before he left at the end of that season. Now if only VDB had come home  (both shows filmed to Wilmington, N.C.) as his WB character, director Dawson Leary, the earth as we know if would explode. If only....
• Some WB stars were friends before they came to the glorious network, like Lori Loughlin and Bob Saget, who starred as in-laws and co-hosts on Full House. FH stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen were in a classic episode of 7th Heaven where Simon and a friend go on a double date with the daring twins. The pair also anchored a season of Two of a Kind on ABC, where their uncle was played by Sabrina cast member, David Lascher.
• The original 90210, the one that started it all, starred Shannen Doherty (Charmed, 90210) and Emma Caulfield (Buffy).
• The 1995 Clueless movie and subsequent 1996 TV show starred Elisa Donovan, who went on to play Morgan on Sabrina, and Donald Faison, who played Tracy on several seasons of Felicity. Rachel Blanchard, who played Cher in the TV series, later went on to play Kevin's police partner on 7th Heaven.
• The WB's less publicized shows such as Jack & Jill and Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane (aka Zoe...) launched the careers of other WB stars such as Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville, Lex Luthor), Ivan Sergei (Paige's husband in the last season of Charmed), and Simon Rex (Felicity once slept with him).