The penultimate episode of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School drives viewers nuts with its many revelations. The show, which has been constantly dialing up the horror, is quite the perfect teen-slasher that feels like it’s directly aimed at Gen Z cuspians. The show, which follows the lives of five girls who live in the town of Millwood, drives us nuts with its cliffhangers and easter eggs littered throughout the series. It is a mystery that keeps giving, but I still find myself skeptical about who the serial killer from this season really is. See, we’ve had great opportunities to peg the killings on certain characters on the show; however, if we go by the pattern of the series and its elder sister, it’s possible we’ll get a completely new character who is chasing after the final girls of Millwood. With that said, episode 7 still has a lot going for it and has me massively excited for the final dance between our final girls and their lady in red.
Spoiler Alert
Who Are the Girls Telling About Bloody Rose?
Summer School episode 7 pushes its plot through the love lives of the five girls. Noa finally tells Jen that she chose her after Imogen almost lost her life trying to fight who they are supposed to believe is her mom. On the other hand, Faran and Greg (the couple that’s been teased throughout this season) finally get together, and in all honesty, I’m not completely opposed to this pairing just yet. On the other hand, Imogen and Tabby are having a cute time with their new boy toys as they spend the night at their respective houses. No, they’re just innocent kids telling their traumatizing stories and trying to feel protected. It’s really cute. Ash and Mouse are tight as ever, so there is not much to really say there.
Noa finally breaks up with Shawn, but as suggested by Jen, she doesn’t tell him about how she cheated, and Shawn can’t understand why she’d suddenly break up with him when everything was more than perfect all this time. Later, Shawn connects the dots and realizes Noa is with Jen, and in a fit of rage, he threatens the girl, even punching the house wall (and it’s Noa’s house!). When Noa finds a distraught Jen at home, she picks up a baseball bat and smashes Shawn’s car up, threatening to do the same to him if he comes close to her or Jen ever again (yikes, that escalated very quickly). Honestly, Shawn was a great character; they didn’t have to do him dirty like that, but I suppose that’s what you get for being a guy. Also, am I the only one who finds Jen shady as hell? But hey, at least Faran’s getting it on with Greg, no? I kid.
Okay, but why is Wes still the shadiest character on this show? Like, why has he returned two episodes later unscathed? And is he honestly moving off to a better place, or is this just another distraction for Tabby? Anyway, Wes leaving the Orpheum means Tabby and Christian are now recommended to be the two co-managers of the cinema (as recommended by Mr. shady there). While Tabby’s preoccupied with the thought of her being the next Bloody Rose victim, Christian tries to come up with ideas for a movie marathon at the place; now it’s all them. At the same time, a location scout visits the Orpheum, revealing that a horror movie might get shot there, but he can’t say anything more. Tabby is quick to realize that this movie is about the Millwood Massacre, i.e., her and her girls, which means nobody else deserves to tell this story (go get it, girl). Okay, but why the Ari Aster and A24 shades? Dang. After a quick internet search, Tabby learns that the movie will star scream queens Emma Roberts and Sydney Sweeney, whitewashing the story. So, she decides it’s time she made a movie about her own trauma as a black artist, telling her own story.
While in love, Faran is thriving. She learns that the guy she fired from the pool wants to sue her for wrongful termination. She quickly speaks to her mother about this and ends up showing Coach Rhodes who is boss. I don’t know why this particular plot twist came at this time, but okay.
Are Dr. Sullivan and Kelly connected to Bloody Rose?
Following her instinct, Imogen decides to confront Dr. Sullivan and ask her straight up if she herself is the masked killer. Dr. Sullivan has a defense story, though, and it’s about the Boogeyman. Apparently, when she was treating Rose Waters, Rose told her about Archie, and Dr. Sullivan went to look for the boy in the cage in the Waters household. At the time, nobody knew of his existence and obviously thought the woman was insane, but they say it was the doctor’s instinct (or her job) that pushed Dr. Sullivan to check. What she found was a terrifying creature who was no boy, and she ran from there. What’s worse is that she didn’t call the police until much later, leaving Archie free for long enough to escape the place to wreak havoc much into the future in Millwood. Dr. Sullivan tells Imogen that she couldn’t shake away the feeling that Archie was always around. She then says she had a son who was killed one day when he was out on a run, with multiple stab wounds. Dr. Sullivan, to this day, thinks it was Archie but has no proof. Maybe she’s simply projecting her guilt, or since this is PLL, maybe the guy really did kill her son, since she couldn’t help his mom or him. On the other hand, Mouse gets her computer teacher to look into Spooky Spaghetti because things are truly out of hand now, and he suggests taking down the server, which will automatically take down the site (don’t ask me; I’m no computer geek). The reckoning is still coming for the girls.
On the other hand, when Faran confronts Kelly in a similar manner, she tells her to be careful of red roses. Faran tells her that the girls are suspicious of her mother, who has reason to want revenge; however, Kelly immediately shuts her down. But when Faran mentions red roses, she immediately realizes that Faran’s words have some truth to them. Kelly then locks her mom up in a room after spiking her tea and escapes her house to go meet Faran near the pool and tell her the whole truth.
During a visit to Kelly’s sister’s grave, Kelly notices her mom saying some horrible things about the girls and how they still have to pay for the sins committed against Karen. Dr. Sullivan takes Imogen to her son’s grave because she feels like she betrayed the girls and wants to prove to her that she only meant well. Imogen believes the poor woman and gives her some time alone, visiting her own mother’s grave. Then, when Imogen decides to leave the place, Imogen notices roses at Karen’s stone, making her realize who Bloody Rose might be. Imogen tries to find Dr. Sullivan, but she only finds her empty car with rose petals on the seats. In episode 4, we saw Rose Waters jump off the bridge, i.e., to her death. However, when Mouse returns home, she’s utterly shocked and terrified to see “the” Rose Waters sitting by her Lola, alive and well.
At the end of Summer School episode 7, Faran notices she’s missed a ton of calls from Kelly while on a date with Greg (whoops). As we suspected, by the time she makes it to the pool, she’s too late, and Kelly’s lifeless, bloody body lies afloat face down in the pool, and Bloody Rose is right there, making a cross mark on the chained gates of the pool. This episode really pushes the idea that the girls will never leave each other’s sides and that they care about each other dearly. Faran claims she got strong for them, and Tabby decides that even if she’s the final girl, she will stay in Millwood for her girls and tell their story.
