Better A moments: Original A (Season 1-2) or Big A (Season 3-6A) - Pretty Little Liars (2010) Discussion

[–] thehalloweencollection 8 years ago

That's difficult. Cuz all of CeCe's 'attacks', she never really meant to harm the girls, but Mona did, so the motivation goes in to this too. I enjoyed Mona running Hanna over, I enjoyed her attack on Alison in 2x13, I enjoyed her right scene with Emily in 2x14 and I liked her in the climax with Spencer in 2x25.

With CeCe, I enjoyed CeCe running the car into Emily's Hoya, I enjoyed her putting Emily in he box in 4x12 (Man CeCe targeted Emily a lot), I loved when CeCe abducted the girls from the prison bus in 5x25 and that's really it for me with her.

Overall, I'd say CeCe's cuz her were much darker and sensed death even though she would have never killed them. But Mona is still my favorite A.

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[–] jdpm1991 8 years ago

Why was Emily the main target of her attacks? Was it cause of her crush on Allison?

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[–] perfect_lover2012 8 years ago

Probably to lure Alison out of hiding because she loved Emily the most.

"When life gives you lemons"
Jessica D: sleep with their fathers and have secret lemon children

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[–] vafla9 8 years ago

I would say Mona. Back then the attacks were mostly about the secrets that the Liars were trying to keep from being revealed and Mona really had a way playing with those and also their worst fears (Emily's fear of being outed, Hanna's fear of being Hefty Hanna again, Spencer's fear of never being as good as Melissa, heck she even had stuff on Aria). With CeCe the attacks seemed more random and impossible and eventually I just got bored with the absurdity of them.

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[–] bobcat667 8 years ago

this. despite the earlier seasons being 'more innocent' they felt darker because what was happening played with innocence, making them lose it. being fat was more terrifying than being sawed in half. being outed was more scary than having a car crash through your wall.

and the fact that they try to up the stakes and make it more impossible isn't helping. Marlene thinks that using a tablet to make the fireplace explode is cool, but really its just lame.

its always scarier when the attack means something personally to that character.

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

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[–] vafla9 8 years ago

being fat was more terrifying than being sawed in half. being outed was more scary than having a car crash through your wall.

As someone who got (accidentally) outed in high school I can vouch for this. You know that somewhere out there, there are people that are in far worse situations but when things like that happen it feels like your world is ending and that nothing on earth could be as horrible as what is happening to you. The attacks of A in s1-s2 were scary because they were something you could relate to. Many if not all of us have experienced some or not all of those feelings in some manner: unattractive at some point in our lives or being in physical shape that we didn't want to and dreading people bringing it up (Hanna), being afraid of how we really feel and people finding out and that they might reject us because of it (Emily), fearing failure and not being able to "measure" up (Spencer) or feeling guilty for having been asked to keep something a secret that you know will hurt others if it gets out but is also hurting people from being kept in (Aria). Those secrets were relatable because they played into emotions that we all know.
Scream does the same thing: despite paying homage to over-the-top slasher films the attacks in the show still feel scary not because of the blood and gore but because how personal they feel.
When they "upped the stakes" they also lost sight of what made the first A so scary and every time that they sensed that the fans weren't satisfied they just pushed it to some new, ridiculous level without realizing that that's not what we wanted, because what the new villain was missing was the same trait that was associated with Ali for so long: reading people like a book and toying with their emotions.

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[–] perfect_lover2012 8 years ago

Well said. When they tried to make A more dangerous it just became way too silly. They should really take advantage of it and just be a full on spoof.

"When life gives you lemons"
Jessica D: sleep with their fathers and have secret lemon children

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[–] Brookiee124 8 years ago

Totally agree. I thought Mona was more effective.. her threats were more personal and had to do with the girls secrets. Cece mostly tried to frame them for different scenarios and then hold it over their heads.

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[–] EvanparkerT 8 years ago

Original A will always be the best out of all the A's. Mona'a threats/tactics were simple but very effective, bribing Hanna to eat all those cupcakes, injecting Emily with human growth hormones, breaking up Aria's parents, sending Spencer towards a downward spiral. One of the best A moments was giving the girls errands in order to save Dr. Sullivan/framing them. Big A tactics was too extreme and unrealistic who end up being someone who barely knew girls. At least with Original A I was actually afraid of and took seriously. Big A attacks became a joke in season 5 with the exception of framing the liars/the Dollhouse.

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[–] thehalloweencollection 8 years ago

Yes!! What A did in 2x12 was so amazingly good and wrong and intense I loved it. Mona is the best A.

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