Pretty Little Liars: Summer School Claims At Least 5 Victims in Killer Premiere — Who Didn’t Survive?
Warning: This article recaps the premiere of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School. Don’t want to be spoiled? Get your ‘A’ over to Max pronto!
With the second season of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School now streaming, fans have a killer new mystery to solve. But first, the Max reboot has to tie up a few loose ends from last season — and by “tie up,” we mean brutally murder.
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No less than five characters meet a grisly end in the Season 2 premiere, which picks up immediately after the events of the Original Sin finale. Having already taken out Sheriff Beasley and Chip, Archie Waters continues his Christmas Day rampage, killing three new targets: Madame Giry, Faran’s dance instructor; Noa’s mother’s drug dealer; and Steve Bowers, the creeper who was obsessed with Mouse. And that’s all within the first few minutes!
We can potentially add Archie (aka “A”) to that list, as he is eventually captured and issued the death penalty, but we mustn’t forget the No. 1 rule of the horror genre — no one can be officially declared dead until we see a body. And even that isn’t always a guarantee!
Which brings us to the mystery of Season 2: Who is “Bloody Rose”? Mouse stumbles across the disturbing new Big Bad on a website called Spooky Spaghetti (this show’s version of Creepypasta), where she discovers pictures of Bloody Rose at locations significant to each of the Final Girls. Whoever she is, her nightmare-inducing mask is allegedly made of Rose Waters’ skin, which Archie supposedly ripped off as punishment for locking him away.
But rather than doing the sensible thing — like hiding in a dark room until this all goes away — the Final Girls decide to poke the bear, first attempting to summon Bloody Rose by saying her name three times in the mirror, then by investigating the cabin in which Bloody Rose allegedly resides. In the middle of the woods. In the middle of the night. What could possibly go right?
Before things go too far, Ash reveals that he planted the fake tip about Bloody Rose’s hideout, but only to teach Mouse a lesson about easing up on Spooky Spaghetti. It’s a shady move, but he and Mouse then swap “I love you”s for the first time, so we’ll let it slide.
Of course, we all know better than Ash, who should be very worried about what Bloody Rose has in store for the girls. The premiere ends with Rose proving just how real she is by slaying the ever-loving fudge out of a nice young couple she catches getting frisky in the forest — thus bringing the episode’s death count to a whopping seven.
Elsewhere in the premiere…
* Imogen is plagued by nightmares of a shadowy figure coming for her baby, who has been adopted by the Winters, a lovely gay couple in Millwood. (She changed her mind about giving Estelle to Aria and Ezra after getting a “weird vibe” from the latter.) While the Winters appreciate Imogen worrying about her daughter, they ask that she stop dropping by unexpectedly with gifts.
* Henry is disappointed to hear that Faran’s doctors haven’t cleared her to dance yet, but he’d be far more upset if he knew the truth — that she’s lying! She just isn’t ready to get back on stage yet, if she hasn’t decided to put dancing behind her entirely.
* Noa has been crashing with Shawn’s family while her mom is in rehab, but when life under Mrs. Ackard’s rule proves too much to handle, Noa lies and says that her mother is getting out early.
* Tabby posts her short film online, hoping that it will tell the Liars’ side of what happened and clear up any public misunderstandings. What she gets in return is an angry visit from Chip’s mother, who threatens legal action if she doesn’t take down her movie, a “request” Tabby reluctantly fulfills.
* Under her wackadoodle mother’s authority, Kelly is now attending an intense church youth group. Her first order of business? Saving Greg’s soul and convincing him that abstinence is their best option. So far, he’s… not down.
* And, of course, the girls learn that they failed their keystone exams, which means they’re all stuck in summer school until July 4, giving a whole new meaning to Independence Day.
What are your thoughts on the long-awaited premiere of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School? Do you have any early theories about the identity of Bloody Rose? Grade the first episode below, then drop a comment with your full review.
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