Because two can keep a secret if one of them is dead

"Pretty Little Liars" (2010 - present)! I don't know what made me think it would be a good idea to watch this TV show, because it really is just not good. Maybe it was the fact that I actually kind of enjoyed the books (2006 - 2014) when I read them, but that was in middle school. Anyway, this past week, I gave the show a try, and it is awful. The first season was passable, but the latter seasons have just been horrible. 

For those of you that don't know, "Pretty Little Liars" is an American teen drama that is also kind of a thriller. It is loosely based on the popular book series by the same title written by Sara Shepherd. The show started in 2010, and it is still going on now -- although I don't actually know anyone who still watches it.

The show follows the lives of four girls who live in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, taking place in the wake of the suspicious death of their leader, Allison.The story follows the girls while a person under the pseudonym "A" constantly bullies them. The whole point of the show, if you haven't guessed by now, is for the girls to try to figure out who "A" is. The premise sounds interesting, but it always seems like the show is just about to run out of material. The plot is hard to follow, and it's frustrating when details from previous episodes don’t line up. This is where binge-watching can get in the way of enjoying this show. When people watch the show an episode at a time, they have a week to forget details. When people are watching a ton of episodes in a row, the creators have to make sure even small details align. Maybe they should have thought about that before they created a show that didn’t make any sense.

I'll give the show this: the first season alone is pretty good. It's interesting to see how the girls react to one another in the wake of Allison's death and how they react to the media during the search for Allison's killer. But other than that, the show sucks. Every week the audience thinks the girls have gotten a little bit closer to finding out who "A" is, only to have their theories debunked. It's annoying to commit to a show that gives no answers. Also, the audience lives in constant fear that something is going to happen to their favorite characters, and thus you never feel safe watching the show. 

There are some funny moments in this show, though. The scenes that are most entertaining are those in which the girls try their hands at romance, only to have "A" somehow get in the way. The overly dramatic acting is also really funny. The characters think that everything they do is just so important, even when it seems pretty inconsequential.

This show isn't good for binge-watching or, indeed, for watching at all. I gave up after season four. I kept telling myself that if we didn't find out who "A" was in the next few episodes I was going to quit. I kept waiting for more episodes, better episodes, that never came. Don't watch this show: that's the secret not worth keeping.