Episode Breakdown
Pretty Little Liars - "Pilot"
Synopsis
"Pretty Little Liars" follows the lives of five close friends—Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, and Alison DiLaurentis—in the small town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. These characters are brought back together by their connection to the mysterious disappearance of Alison, which sets the stage for a series of entwining events.
Gathered in the rustic barn behind Spencer's home, the five girls are having one last summer get together. As the night progresses, the girls wake up to discover Alison is nowhere to be found. Spencer insists that she heard her scream.
One year later Aria and her family are returning to town after spending a year abroad in Iceland. The specter of Alison's disappearance still haunts local newspaper headlines
Aria grabs food from Hollis Bar and Grill, where she meets Ezra Fitz. They have some small talk and quickly take to one another, ending up hooking up in the bar’s bathroom.
Hanna encounters Spencer at the mall. They briefly discuss Alison and Spencer’s sister, Melissa, and her new fiance. Hannah makes off with a pair of $350 sunglasses, even after being stopped by a security guard
On the first day of school, Aria's dad, Byron, reaffirms his love for her mother before Aria exits the car. Prompted by a recollection of witnessing Byron with another woman while walking home from school with Alison, Aria questions the authenticity of her father's statement.
Emily runs into Aria and quickly catches her up to the new social hierarchy, which has Hannah and Mona at the top. The arrival of a new English teacher unveils a surprising twist—it's none other than Ezra Fitz. Aria gets a text from “A” who knows about her hookup with Fitz as well as her father’s infidelity, a secret only Alison knew.
Emily brings a welcome basket to the new family moving into Alison’s old house and meets Maya St.Germain. Spencer learns that Melissa and her fiance, Wren, are moving into the barn that Spencer spent all summer renovating. “A” leaves Emil a note in her locker, hinting at a more intricate relationship with Alison.
An email from “A” triggers a memory for Spencer—Alison's manipulation to coerce Spencer into revealing Melissa's then-boyfriend, Ian, kissed her. Spencer confronts Alison, leveraging her knowledge of the 'Jenna Thing' and vowing to expose the truth to Melissa.
Emily and Aria talk about the possibility of Alison still being alive and the one who is sending them messages. In the midst of a dinner shared by Hanna and her mother, Ashley, their evening is disrupted by Detective Darren Wilden's arrest of Hanna for shoplifting, which “A” quickly finds out about. Ashley works out a deal with Wilden and Hannah is let go.
Tension escalates as emergency vehicles converge around Alison's former residence. Emily learns the shocking news from Maya—Alison's body has been found. Emergency vehicles are surrounding Alison’s house. Emily finds Maya and learns that Alison’s body was found.
At Alison’s funeral, Jenna Marshall makes her first appearance, surprising all the liars. After the funeral, Detective Wilden approaches the girls informing them that now Alison’s case is now a homicide, signaling that they will face further questioning.
The episode ends with all the girls getting the same text:
“I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything” -A
Analysis and Review
In this pilot episode1, the story introduces us to a group of friends and the secrets that plague their lives. This episode establishes that despite her death/disappearance Alison’s presence is still felt. While the Liars are the main characters, Alison is the center of the story2. Her actions before he disappearance dictate and set in motion the events of the first 4 seasons. Even though she’s dead for most of the series, she still is an active character.
Secrets, lies, and identity are the overarching themes of the series, and the first episode does a great job of setting up these story lines.
Aria
While their are four main characters, Aria was set up to be the primary main character. The show starts with her return and with that return the “A” messages start. Her dad’s infidelity and lack of accountability puts her in a position of being the one keeping their marriage together. How Byron handles the situation makes it worse. He essentially paints Aria’s knowledge of his affair as the thing that will tear their family apart and not his infidelity. Even though he's had a year to confess, he keeps pressuring Aria to forgive and forget, creating a perception of her maturity beyond her peers. Ezra swoops in at the perfect time and Aria is very much infatuated by Ezra after only a five minute conversation and bar bathroom hookup. Ezra’s commitment makes more sense once you get the full story in season 43. The overarching theme regarding Ezra and many of the male characters in the show is their inconsistency between words and actions.
Emily
Emily’s plot is strictly about her identity, specifically her sexual identity. . Hints about Emily's sexuality start with Alison's very first line to her. While all the girls are somber at their best friend’s funeral, Emily’s sadness and her message from A indicates a different kind of relationship between Emily and Alison. Maya becomes the exact kind of love interest Emily needs. She is understanding and patient with Emily so she can come to terms with her identity. Emily has a line about how some people dream of making it out of Rosewood, a notion echoed in Alison as the series goes on, that I wished the writers would’ve taken to heart by the series finale. Rosewood, in a way, does act as a prison for these girls and them escaping would have been a preferable send off.
Spencer
Spencer’s characterization in the pilot really shows how she changes over the course of the series. We only officially meet Melissa, but the dynamic in Hasting’s household is firmly established. In retrospect, it’s a shame that we don’t get more interactions between Alison and Melissa or more Melissa as a whole, especially as the family dynamics between the Hastings and Dilaurentis’ unfold. Notably, among the group of friends, Spencer is the only one of the liars that actually stands up to Alison’s bullying4.
Hanna
Hanna's secret is unique in that it's the only one Alison wouldn't have been aware of. Hanna’s stealing is established as a result of her dad leaving both her and her mom, which doesn’t happen until after Alison disappears. This detail serves as a clever clue to A's identity. There isn’t even a individual flashback of Alison and Hanna. Hanna and Alison’s friendship is probably the least explored throughout the series and the most adverse. Hanna’s friendship with Mona and her ending up as Alison’s social replacement is a significant point to note.
The pilot episode and the initial four seasons of the show place significant emphasis on exploring and developing the characters' identities, a theme that becomes less prominent in the later seasons.
I have seen this series a few times, so any analysis will have spoilers!
Spencer’s character ends up replacing Alison as the center of the story, which I can understand wanting the show to focus on it’s best actress. Even though Alison is dead for most of the show, she still is an active character. Her actions still influence the events that occur in the show. When Spencer takes center stage, the story is more about what happens to her than what the results of her actions are.
Ezra’s book is obviously a retcon, but it’s one of the shows more successful ones. Ezra being at Alison’s funeral makes no sense until you find out the truth in Season 4. In comparison, Maya admits to not wanting to go to Alison’s funeral because she didn’t know her
Sasha and Troian play really well of each other. We again don’t get to see a lot of that when Alison returns, which is another missed opportunity.