Bros Watch PLL Too - A Pretty Little Liars podcast, Seasons 5-7

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e22 “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The Liars finally take things into their own hands by trying to blackmail Ian with a burner phone. Aria is upset with Ezra’s lies of omission about Jackie Molina. Garrett tries to use his friendship with Emily’s family to get her to spill Liar secrets. Hanna is despondent about her Caleb breakup. And Spencer gets in a car crash and fights with Ian in the church belfry.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e21 “Monsters in the End.” It’s Founder’s Day or something in Rosewood, which means creepy clowns on stilts and haunted houses for Spencer to be terrorized in. Elsewhere, Aria terrorizes us all with her paper bag selfies and complaints about Ezra’s Website Page. Caleb tries to talk to a heartbroken Hanna, but Mona is gatekeeping him away. And Emily finds a new love interest when Paige bails on her.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e20 “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Spencer doesn’t feel safe around Ian and her parents sure don’t care. Hanna discover’s Caleb’s betrayal and slaps the smile off Jenna Thing’s face. Aria’s parents are fighting again when they discover she’s got a boy in her life. And Emily is flummoxed when Paige goes on a date with Sean.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e19 “A Person of Interest.” Caleb gives Hanna what Sean refused to. Aria cosplays as Ezra’s undersexed wife, but he’s more focused on the Jenna Thing’s semi-autobiographical essay. Paige gets Emily to sing karaoke, and Spencer is the big spoon with Toby on a stakeout.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e18 “The Badass Seed.” Aria is a terrible stage manager and everyone in the whole school can tell there’s something going on between her and Ezra. Hanna gets a peak at Caleb in the shower, and it’s weird with him afterward. Emily gets to have scenes with Toby one more time before he’s Spencer’s forever, and speaking of Spence, she’s discovers a new clue and for the first and last time, trusts the police with it.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e17 “The New Normal.” Hanna is letting the Artful Dodger sleep in her basement, and he comes in handy when he clocks James Leland as a lying goldbricker trying to con her mom vis a vis dead old Mrs. Potter’s safety deposit box. Aria is perturbed when her Dad thinks there’s something going on between Ezra and Ella. Emily has to deal with Paige’s homophobic dad, and then Paige showing her tongue down her throat. And Spencer goes snooping around creepy Jenna Thing’s house looking for clues.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e16 “Je Suis une Amie.” Spencer is newly interested in Sad Boi Toby Cavanaugh. Aria is freaking out because it seems like her mom was at the same museum where she went on a date with Ezra, and is clearly lying about it. Hanna bonds with Rosewood Bad Boy and all around total babe Caleb Rivers by pointing out which of her classmates he can exploit, and how. And Emily is living in the greatest Melissa Etheridge video of all time with Paige.

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e15 “If At First You Don’t Succeed, Lie, Lie Again.” Hanna betrays Aria so that A will put out a hit on Mrs. Potter. Emily has a meet-cute moment with Paige where Paige tries to drown her. Ezra goes on a fancy adult date with his child girlfriend Aria. And an old, haunting photo of Ali from That Night reminds Spencer that she kinda did want to murder her friend.

Pull our strings and we’ll wink at you, we’re your puppets! Special guest Sarah won the Trouble contest, and picked Benji’s favorite episode of Pretty Little Liars to talk about. It’s s03e23 “I’m Your Puppet.” Please enjoy this commentary track where we discuss how to fence a hot bell, The Dark Spencer Saga, Pam suddenly working for the cops, Aria’s encounter with Red Coat in the morgue, and so much more.

Special guest this week! It’s Demi, winner of our recent Trouble contest, to talk about Pretty Little Liars s05e09 “March of Crimes.” So. Much. Twinning! Aria is being a terrible friend to Hanna about Baker Bro Zach’s lecherous behavior. Spencer confronts Caleb about all the Haleb drinking. Emily is in Girl Detective mode, stealing locker combos and breaking into cars. And Noel Kahn is hiding under a blanket. What a fun ep!

This week on the pod, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e14 “Careful What U Wish 4.” Aria’s old babysitter Simone aka Meg Manning is making eyes at Ezra Fitz, and Aria will NOT stand for it. Spencer thinks Ian has stolen her laptop to erase the incriminating video of him and Ali in the woods, Emily is getting drunk and dropping hard truth bombs after Maya gets distant at True North, and Hanna is forced to dance with Lucas at the Dance-a-thon all night, finally ending her relationship with Sean. But don’t worry, Hanna Banana, a certain cell phone hacker makes his first appearance in this ep. It’s Caleb!!!

Check out our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e13 “Know Your Frenemies.” Aria can’t complain, because A saved her relationship. Maya gets shipped off to “juvie camp” because nosy Pam found a joint and some roach clips, so the other liars coordinate an evening of lovemaking for Emily, lending her Spencer’s bed. That’s a sentence. Hanna bears the brunt of A’s attentions, being forced to eat cupcakes and recall the time Ali tried to give her an eating disorder. And of course, Spencer has her hands full suspecting Ian of murder, and spying on Toby to watch him cry.

This week on the pod, we’re taking Pretty Little Liars s01e12 “Salt Meets Wound.” Mona throws a surprise Get Well Party for Hanna and A steals all the Marin Girls’ lasagna money. Alex can’t handle the class conflict with Spencer Hastings, Maya comes to dinner at the Fields house and Pam cannot handle it, and Aria just can’t believe that Noel Kahn would blackmail her sleazy teacher.

Aria comes clean to the Liars about the Ezra business, Spencer has to deal with shirtless Ian, Hanna’s got Lucas shooting his shot and dead Alison visiting her when she’s hazy on painkillers, and Emily comes out to her parents. It’s the first episode of season 1B of Pretty Little Liars, s01e10 “Moments Later.” Is this Noel Kahn’s origin story?

This week on the pod, we’re skipping s01e09 because we already did a commentary track for that pod last summer with the excellent LaToya Ferguson. Instead, we’re talking Pretty Little Liars s01e10 “Keep Your Friends Close” aka the Camp Mona episode. Mona breaks up with Hanna for being a bad friends and getting detained by the FBI, Aria attempts to emotionally manipulate the guy who’s grooming her, Spencer is looking for clues like Nancy Drew, and Emily is getting closer with Maya, and closer to coming out, even though A already secretly told her mom.

Our commentary pods continue with a revisit of Pretty Little Liars s01e08, “Please, Do Talk About Me When I’m Gone.” Old Jason is here, with all his oily anti-charm, looking to stick a foot up Wilden’s ass just to prove he can do it. Spencer pushes her sister on Ian out of guilt, Aria deigns to go on a date with Noel Kahn (Hi Noel Kahn!), Hanna sells her stolen goods online to buy groceries with the help of soft boi Lucas, and Emily is feeling things as she starts to move on from her Ali infatuation with Maya.

This week on the pod: is Toby dead? That’s right, we’re doing our commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e07 “The Homecoming Hangover.” Jenna has a creepy dog that talks to Emily and tells her to kill. Spencer walks into the club kitchen like she owns the place, because she practically does. Sean tries to show up Hanna by sending flowers to Aria, and the Shusher shuts that right down with extreme prejudice, and then interrogates substitute Sara Shepard about Ezra Fitz’s whereabouts.

PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD PIXIE SITH LORD. Pretty Little Liars s01e06 “There’s No Place Like Homecoming.”

We’re joined this week by special guest Courtney and jumping ahead to the end of Season 2 to do a commentary track on Pretty Little Liars s02e24 “If These Dolls Could Talk. Jenna can see! Aria blackmails her parents! Mona devises a scheme that requires her to make out with Hanna’s boyfriend to catch A. The devious genius. Follow us, end up like us.

Ezra. Dawg. Major party foul bringing your high school girlfriend to the bar poetry reading, bro. Your boy Hardy is trying to be chill about this, but, like, dude. Seriously. Also, Toby is that kid who goes to the cafe to read The Catcher in the Rye so everyone will see him reading The Catcher in the Rye. He’s barking up the wrong tree with Emily. Meanwhile Spencer seeks out a ball boy to anger her father with, and the psychiatrist thinks Hanna might have a Martha personality. WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME!!??!!

Nothing says Thanksgiving like Ezra’s gangly legs on a bike. We spy with our little eye, something that begins with a commentary track for Pretty Little Liars s01e04 “Can You Hear Me Now.” The liars have the only good idea in the entire run of the show: just blocking A’s calls. Also, this is the first collaboration between writer Joseph Dougherty and director Norman Buckley. Cheers!

The Bros are back again, no guests this time, to continue doing commentary tracks for Pretty Little Liars. This week, we’re doing s01e03 “To Kill a Mocking Girl.” First appearance of Keegan Allen aka Toblerone Toby Cavanaugh! Meredith being a scamp! The Hastings Family ladies and their wonderful dynamic! Enjoy!

This is it folks, the last of our commentary podcasts (for now). Norman Buckley is back to give us all the behind-the-scenes trivia about the 100th episode of Pretty Little Liars: s05e05 “Miss Me x 100.” Remember when Caleb returned to Rosewood as a ghost with short hair and we had to see Ezra’s hair legs in the sex scene. Oh yeah.

We’re very pleased to have writer and director Joseph Dougherty on the podcast for one of our very favorite episodes of PLL. That’s right, we’re doing a commentary track for s04e19 “Shadow Play.” Joe gives us a ton of insight into the behind the scenes work of producing the famous black & white episode of PLL, and it is a delight.

Journey with us to spooky Ravenswood for this special Halloween episode of PLL. We’re joined by director Norman Buckley to lay down a commentary track for s04e12 “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” aka the one where we learn about the A-ness of Ezra. How is Emily chained to a conveyor belt? Nevermind, look, it’s CeCe in a Red Coat, and Aria doing kickboxing!

A very special welcome to Pretty Little Liars’ showrunner and creator I. Marlene King, who has joined us to provide commentary for the first episode she directed, s03e16 “Misery Loves Company.” Stephen King homages and creepy dolls abound. You know why we picked you, right?

Someone’s been living in the DiLaurentis basement! We’re joined by special guest Lesley Fera, aka Veronica Hastings herself to provide commentary for s04e10 “The Mirror Has Three Faces.” Some great Mona vs Veronica scenes in this ep, in addition to Wren being super sus, Toby still hung up on his loser mom, and Red Coat creeping in mirrors.

Where do you go when you need to trade information in exchange for a mask of your own face? Howabout special guests Joseph Dougherty and Norman Buckley, the filmmaker’s behind today’s commentary track for s04e04 “Face Time.” We’ve got some classic scenes to discuss, like Melissa and Spencer at the lake, Lt. Tanner humoring Hanna in the park, and whether Aria is hurt or injured.

The 10-year anniversary celebration rolls in with a special double-guest commentary track for s04e03 “Cat’s Cradle.” We are joined by writer Joseph Dougherty and director Norman Buckley to talk Baker Bro Zach, Aria’s distaste for dudes who don’t like her black & white movies, and the one and only Hector Lime, Merchant of Masks and Secrets.

What better way to ring in the 10-year anniversary of Pretty Little Liars than rolling a cop car into the lake? This time on the pod, we’re joined once again by special guest Melanie Mayron, the director of the episode, to provide live commentary for s03e21 “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” aka, the one where Spencer loses it and ends up in a mental hospital at the end.

It’s the Halloween Horror Train episode!! LaToya Ferguson of PLL Annotations fame joins us to celebrate 10 years of Pretty Little Liars by doing a commentary track for s03e13 “This is a Dark Ride.” Ashley is visited by a ghost! Adam Lambert flirts with Aria! Hanna and Mona almost share their first kiss! What an episode!

Duncan the teenage flyboy! Jenna getting blown up! We continue to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Pretty Little Liars with this commentary track for s03e23 “Eye of the Beholder,” featuring special guest Melanie Mayron, the director of the episode.

Hanna bashed Lucas with an oar and now she’s stressing! This week on the pod we’re joined by writer Bryan M. Holdman to discuss this classic episode of Pretty Little Liars. We hear some great insights into the writing process, and have a lot of fun watching Spencer interact with Mona.

Settle in for a trip back to the closest thing Pretty Little Liars has to a bottle episode, with season 1’s The Perfect Storm. We are joined by LaToya Ferguson of PLL Annotations and That’s So Aria fame to talk over all this hijinx of Aria singing, Emily’s muddy shoes, and Veronica Hastings handing Wilden his ass.

What the hell, we might as well do The Jenna Thing too, right? It’s always felt like the Pilot and episode 2 are a package. Listen close for the Bros to learn about a certain positive COVID-19 test during the commentary.

We’re back! Celebrating 10 years of Pretty Little Liars, four months late. We thought we’d record a few commentary tracks for the anniversary, featuring yours truly for the Pilot episode, and some special guests for other favorite episodes coming in the days ahead. Enjoy!

This is it folks. The Perfectionists is no more, and it’s time for all good things to come to an end. Marco and Benji are back one last time to give the Pretty Little Liars spinoff a proper burial at sea. The bros answer one last round of questions on the mothership show and its spinoff, and also take some spoiler-y questions on My Name is Trouble towards the end. Good night, sweet prince. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things.

Wrapping up Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Marco and JT return for a look back at the first season of The PLLerfectionists, and a look forward at next season. We offer our humble pitch for Season 2 (4:35) before answering questions from listeners (31:56). Later, we do a non-spoiler Q&A session for our book, My Name is Trouble (1:37:34), before talking spoilers for the book at the end of the pod (1:59:58).

Recapping Season 1, Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. In the season finale, the actual premise of the show finally arrives. There’s a creepy Professor who has entrapped the Liars and the Perfectionists into participating in a mysterious psychological experiment. Everyone is pivoting to new plot-lines, Taylor went to a rehab spa to do a bonus scene for some Aladdin money, Mason is still actively diminishing good female characters... Why wasn’t this episode the Pilot? Fingers crossed for a season 2.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Mona gets immediately busted while Ezra went seven seasons without repercussions. Ali has been demoted to making coffee for everyone. Taylor’s got a gun, and she’s not afraid to use it. There’s a Gala. Maybe everyone’s not going to be in school anymore if the show gets renewed for another season. BLAMMO! Thus falls, Not Scamander.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 8 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali and Mona are stuck in lame “romance” subplots this episode, so it’s time for Taylor Hotchkiss and the Perfs to shine. Taylor loves mojitos and hates this new dude Ali’s making eyes at. Caitlin is suddenly suspicious of her boyfriend, Harry Potter. Dylan must trick Dana into thinking he’d drop a dime on his new friends. And Ava is flashing back to happy memories of Nolan because she’s definitely the killer.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 7 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali worries she can’t trust Taylor, even as she grows closer to her doppelgänger. Mona is on the hunt for the bastard who broke into her house and didn’t leave pie. The Perfectionists are trying to study and work on essays during Dead Week. Yeah, their plot line is that interesting.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 6 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali is helping out with the fashion show this week, because sure. Mona discover’s a secret computer in Taylor’s RV and digs deeper into BeaconGuard. Caitlin is in the hospital having boring drama after getting run over, and Dylan and Ava are off being scamps and getting chased through the sewer by a Pig-Man. Oh, and Mason’s innocent. Wow, shocker.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 5 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. JT is finally broken by the baffling timeline. Marco suspects rewrites or an odd edit. As for the show, Ali meets up with her sorta doppelgänger and tries to win her trust. Mona eats peanut brittle with some old janitor before verbally devastating Booker. The other three Perfectionists hatch the dumbest scheme ever to get off the show. Zoe remains the best new character.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 4 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali signs away her marriage, drinks some wine, and goes looking for the Emerald City. Mona’s got a hot date with Bad Bishop, but Roy Hogadorn may have other plans. The Perfectionists start sharing some secrets and it DOES NOT go like Ali promised it would.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 3 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Alison DiLaurentis has clearly taken the reigns now. This is her show, and she has all the carefully crafted shots reflected in mirrors to prove it. The other Perfectionists are having a very special episode about learning to trust each other and be friends. Claire Hotchkiss and Dana Booker are shaking down the kids to see which one cracks first. And Mona might not be real, but is definitely banging Taylor Hotchkiss.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 2 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Claire Hotchkiss is drinking in the dark but otherwise very chill for losing her only remaining offspring. Mona is writing crazy equations on the wall. Ava is suddenly super grief-stricken and a pill to be around. Dylan and Caitlin are there. Ali meets the Tanner 2.0 and decides she’s done being New Ali.

Recapping Season 1, Episode 1 of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Ali went out for a pack of smokes, then she went to Oregon to be a T.A. Mona has recruited Ali into a high-tech paranoia potboiler as part of the latest game she’s designing. Then there’s the new kids. Nolan Hotchkiss f&$%s. Caitlin’s a senator’s daughter. Ava Jalali is an anagram for Olivia Jade. Dylan plays pop hits on the cello. INTRIGUE!

We’re almost to the Pilot! Join the Bros on their last preview pod before Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists finally drops on March 20th. James and Marco talk about the marketing blitz for the show: the trailers, the Instagram ads, the weird poster, Ostinato, etc. Then we delve into the final third of The Good Girls, Sara Shepard’s sequel to The Perfectionists. SPOILER ALERT, as always!

It’s getting juicy, guys and gals. We might be days—days!—away from a Perfectionists airdate reveal. Shooting has wrapped. There’s a weird logo teaser. Lucy is filming Paradise Island or maybe just vacationing with Ryan Hansen & crew. We’re soaking in Act II of The Good Girl, where relationships are being tested, Julie is losing her grip, and Parker has more motive to kill than ever before. Pop a Four Loko and join Marco and Benji for some intrigue.

This month on the podcast: Marco and Benji provide some half-assed production updates for The Perfectionists before jumping into a discussion of chapters 1-10 of The Good Girls by Sara Shepard. New theories arise as the conflict resets for the second book in the two-part series. RIP Leslie the evil stepmom?