The Most Unusual High School Experience

I’ve spent countless years of trying my hardest to stay away from predictable, high school oriented television dramas. Finally, the extensive summer break this year forced me to give in. After watching nine seasons of One Tree Hill, all of Friday Night Lights and Degrassi, I thought I had seen every possible situation that could take place in a high school environment. That was, until I turned my sights on Pretty Little Liars. I have to admit that I had read the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard due to its popularity and the fact that the series takes place in the same town I live in. The main plot line in the series begins with a group of five best friends who are stricken with tragedy when one of their friends is murdered. After her passing, they begin to be harassed by someone who claims to be their dead friend, and who refers to himself or herself as “A”. When I heard that the book series was being turned into a television series, I was doubtful. I thought the show would never work since those who had read the series obviously knew exactly who “A” is. However, the show, much like  “True Blood”, doesn’t even attempt to follow the same plot lines as the books.

However, I do, at times, find myself questioning the reality of the show. For instance, it isn’t very plausible to say that romantic affairs with your professor, having a stalker, being accused for murder, being sent to a psych ward, escaping a psych ward, having someone drive a car through your living room, having your significant other murdered, being almost sawed in half, and more, are all frequent events during your high school career. But even though the plot lines sometimes sound ridiculous, if not impossible, I still can’t stop myself from watching.

This week, the season finale, “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”, aired. I’ll start off by saying that this episode was more artistically filmed than most. Most interesting was the color and camera angles used during the scenes in which the Pretty Little Liars went to Ravenswood. Ravenswood is a town in the show that, to many people’s surprise, ABC Family has decided to make a spin-off show about. Although the show isn't thought to be a hit, the town itself has managed to catch people's attention. When first introduced to the town, the scenes were shot in a grayish tone, and there was no audio other than the sound of a large bell tower. The quietness and the emptiness gave the town a creepy aura that was hard to forget. In the recent episode, as soon as the girls enter the town the color switches from bright scenes to dark, harsh coloring. As far as camera angles go, there was an exchange between the girls and a magician. The exchange quickly switched from zooming into Aria's face from above to zooming into the mime's face from below. I found this juxtaposition intriguing and different from what is typically shot on Pretty Little Liars.

If you own a Twitter or Facebook account you were probably already informed that the show finished by saying who “A” is. I won’t spoil it but I will say that this finale left watchers more confused and upset than ever. Some critics go as far as stating that this show is as confusing as Lost. Even though I won’t go that far, I will say that I am extremely glad that my high school experience did not, at any point, resemble a single episode from this series.