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For diehard Pretty Little Liars fans the downtime between seasons feels like an eternity. Luckily, the powers that be at PLL offer up an annual tasty little tease of a Halloween episode that both feeds the addiction and leaves us begging for more.
The Liars may be pretty and pretty smart but they don’t always make the best decisions – like opting to spend their Halloween on a speeding train loaded with members of the A-team hurtling down the tracks to someone’s certain death.
Tuesday’s Halloween episode entitled “This is a Dark Ride” was chock full of twists, turns, poison rings, creepy costumes (and some really amazing ones), murder, on-train trysts and more. Here are our picks for episode’s five best moments.
5. Mrs. Marin as a Naughty Nurse
Let’s face it. Mrs. Marin, as embodied by Laura Leighton, is just plain hot, but never more so than in her satiny naughty nurse Halloween costume. Hanna’s mom and her Pastor boyfriend Bob play doctor throughout the episode even if they are just handing out Halloween candy to the neighborhood kids. And, well, Mrs. Marin’s also being visited by the ghost of a little girl, but that’s neither here nor there. No wonder Hanna (Ashley Benson) was so eager to get away from her house and ride the crazy train. Hanging out with your hot mom who’s in a naughty nurse costume and her boyfriend is just awkward.
4. Adam Lambert Gets the Liars Dancing
It’s not every day an out pop icon performs on Pretty Little Liars, but Adam Lambert was the perfect choice to play a goth vamp who happens to be the all-aboard entertainment. Adam’s performance gets the Liars dancing on the train, including some cool moves from Pailey (Emily and Paige).
Adam also appears to have a soft spot for Aria (Lucy Hale) as he stops to chat her up just before the Queen of Hearts flips poison into Aria’s beverage and then hauls her off to a storage crate on a remote part of the train to spend most of the remainder of the episode.
SOME SPOILERS!
3. The Liars Save Aria from Hurtling to her Death in a Crate with Garrett's Corpse
Pretty Little Liars is never better than when the girls work in concert to save each other, and the Halloween episode featured a doozy when Emily, Hanna and Spencer save a crated Aria (Lucy Hale) from being pushed off the moving train at a breakneck pace. It also doesn’t help Aria’s state of mind that she’s encased with a dead Garrett Reynolds.
Earlier in the evening Aria was drugged by the Queen of Hearts and later the diminutive Little Liar wakes up in a wooden crate beside Garrett’s cold, blue body. The plot has certainly thickened as terrified Garrett--who had been awaiting trial for murdering Alison until Spencer's lawyer mom got him off, had cornered Spencer (Troian Bellisario) earlier on the train to reveal that Aria’s father – Chad Lowe’s irritatingly professorial and pious Byron Montgomery – met with Alison the night she died.
For the scene with Aria in the crate Lucy does some great work panting, huffing, puffing and screaming as she realizes she’s so close to death on more than one level. Right before two members of the A team – a man and a woman we know from the two voices we hear – are about to throw Aria from the train, her best girl friends arrive on the scene to save her. The trio of Liars pulls the teetering crate back on to the train while Emily, exhibiting badass prowess, then slides the train car door shut.
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2. Heels and Suit-Clad Paige Kicks Some A Ass to Save Spencer
The only kind of scene that comes remotely close to the lesbian characters sharing a romantic moment is when one half of the couple kicks ass to save another of the Liars, which is just what happens when the Queen of Hearts is battering the daylights out of Spencer.
Spencer, who should really never be left alone, does her level best to hold her own against the Queen of Hearts, but she really does get the crap beat out of her. What she needs is strong lesbian swimmer to save the day, and that’s when Paige – in six-inch spikes – turns up and jumps Spencer’s attacker.
Paige gets knocked around a bit but her efforts save the day and Spencer -- who had so maligned Emily’s girlfriend accusing her of being A toward the end of the summer season -- is clearly grateful. Paige being the good egg that she is doesn’t hold a grudge. Plus, it must be nice to have Spencer Hastings in your debt!
1. Pailey Gets Hot and Heavy in a Sleeper Car on the Train
What could be better than Rosewood’s resident lady charmer Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell) sporting a Barbararella costume and getting making out with her girlfriend Paige (Lindsey Shaw) in a sleeping car? In a scene that’s surely a wink and a nod to Hitchcock’s – PLL loves the Master of Suspense – famous scene between Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant on the train in North by Northwest, Paige pulls the sleeping car curtain shut and the pair exchange kisses and sweet banter.
“Travel is so romantic,” Paige says, clearly smitten. Emily continues suggesting they “stay on board, tell them to keep going and never stop.” I’ll leave it to the audience to decipher if that statement is loaded with double entendre or not.
They kiss and banter some more. “Sometimes I’m so amazed that you’re with me,” Paige says. And really, she should just own that she’s earned her stripes to be Em's girlfriend after being bound, gagged, locked back in a closet and nearly killed all because Emily decided to trust her dead girlfriend’s creepy non-cousin.
But back to the scene at hand – Emily responds that she can’t believe Paige is with her. And, well, she’s hot and sweet so that should come as no surprise. Finally, Paige delivers the cutest line of all to the girl who’s channeling Jane Fonda in Barbarella.
“Tell me about love on your planet,” Paige says, surely inspiring a chorus of “aws” from couches around the country. They kiss some more. Who thinks that scene needed less dialogue and more kissing?
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
