OT: What does "Scream" do right that PLL doesn't do right?

Plot holes? We're there any plot holes in Scream? Idr.

spoilers ahead:


the thing about scream is that it is wildly inconsistent. the most important piece of any show is who's in charge, and that changes from season to season. when i think of scream as a good show, its mostly just season 2.

so what did season 2 do right that PLL can't? specifically, they handled PTSD really well. I would say neither show handled it very realistically, but PLL handled it less realistically.

in PLL even after the dollhouse, the girls have two episodes of anxiety, and then are back to their normal antics. in the flash forward they conveniently gave ARia PTSD (same thing they did to her in season 3) and then its never really played with ever again.

Scream on the other hand devoted the entire second season to dealing with PTSD. Emma's journey about what makes a killer and how to deal with everything thats happened in her life was one so beautiful that we didn't need her to know that there was a new killer until half way through the season. there was so much to explore that it could take center stage.


another thing that scream does right is arcship. PLL has GREAT ideas and sets up some really good arcs, but it rarely ever pays off. we see the liars keep going lower and lower, deeper into the depths of their problems... then they fade out. most that can be considered 'wrapped up' are handled through romance. Spencer doesn't kick her drug addiction through any realization of her own, but because some cute boy cuddled her through her withdrawal. Aria doesn't makme peace with what she did to Shana on her own, but because she had sex with Ezra and everything was suddenly okay.

There's a few gems here in there, especially in early seasons. Aria's arc with her father up through 'out of the frying pan and into the infero' was SOLID as hell. not only was it well written but it was cinematic. Hannah's coming to terms with Mona seeing her as a surrogate Alison in 'love shAck baby' was amazing. Emily's mother coming to terms with her daughters sexuality is great. but those are very rare moments.

Scream on the other hand focuses on character development above all else. It knows who its important characters are, and it uses the romance as a 'satellite' for those characters to grow. The romances revolve around the characters and what they need to do to grow. Noah's romance with Zoey wasn't just random 'oh were so in luv :3' *beep* she wasn't killed just for drama. When Zoey died Noah realized that his obsession with death was dark, and possibly unhealthy, and arguably helped lead to Zoey's death. But what he also realized was that it was an intrinsic part of who he is, and that if he turned away from this dark part of himself he would never meet the people like Zoey who truly appreciated him for who he is and what makes him unique.

and on that note, another thing scream does well is commit. When it reveals that a love interest is evil or dead, it happens. They don't change it for the sake of shipping. when Toby was revealed to be -A they tanked spencers arc and growth in order to bring them back together. When kieran was revealed to be the killer they used it as a way to help Emma grow as a person.


*when life gives you lemons*
Sara: are you a sour lemon?

Screams writing is better, it is more consistent, we actually get answers on a regular basis, people they kill stay dead, and just so much more.

and to play devils advocate, here is something that PLL does do right that Scream does not, or at the very leat something PLL does better.

PLL's better at building the tension of the mystery. even in season 6A i was more interested in who -A was (Despite having largely given up) than i was about who either of the killer's in scream were. granted that investment has caused the show to go up in flames after each reveal, but it did do a better job of making you ask 'who?' and 'why?'.

i think part of the problem with scream is we knew too much of the why going in. why? because of the brandon james murders. granted there was more to it, but not much.

with PLL we knew nothing other than that some sort of disdain for alison was involved. but like i said before, this has lead to answers being very underwhelming. because in the end 'disdain for alison' really was the only reason for Mona and CeCe's didn't even involve that.


*when life gives you lemons*
Sara: are you a sour lemon?

Okay, I'm just gonna add a little. More realistic looking teenagers. Right handling of creepy student-teacher romance.