u/ProperNegotiation295

Can we talk about how completely backward Aria’s logic is during the ski chalet breakup? She really looks at Ezra and says, “I’m going to read this book page by page so I can see what was worth destroying everything we had.”
MA’AM. ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO HIM?!

He literally starts his confession by admitting: “When I saw you at the bar, I TOOK ADVANTAGE.” Right there! He directly admits to exploiting her! It might not hit people like a massive "BOOM" moment on first watch, but when you actually think about the reality of this predatory relationship, it is sickening.

Everything you “had” was based on him taking advantage of you for a book! You had NOTHING! How can he destroy a relationship over a book when the relationship only started because he was hunting down a teenager to write a true-crime novel?! The "meet cute" at the bar wasn’t romantic destiny; it was a calculated targeting source material.

And then he says the quiet part out loud: “I stopped writing but started back once we broke up.”
People completely gloss over how dark that line actually is. If you stop doing something temporarily because of a person, that person isn’t a "cure;” they are just a placeholder. The moment Aria was gone, Ezra didn't mourn the breakup; he immediately plugged right back into his true obsession.

Let’s look at the absolute audacity of what he was doing while "holding back." This grown man built a literal spy Batcave in Ravenswood with high-tech surveillance, tracking cameras, and hidden floorboards.

Worse than that? He wasn’t just watching; he was actively destructive. When Spencer started getting too close to the truth, he didn't back off. He went and dug up Spencer’s old Radley medical records and addiction history. He literally tried to weaponize her mental health and frame her as a crazy, unstable liar just so Aria wouldn't believe her warnings. He was ready to completely ruin a teenage girl's sanity just to protect his manuscript. I DONT KNOW ANY AUTHOR WHOS GOING TO THIS EXTREME FOR A DAMN BOOK!!!! A BOOK!!!

The show tries so hard to frame his pause as romantic, but it completely destroys his redemption narrative. If you can just switch the exploitation back on the second she walks out the door, and gaslight her best friends to keep the secret, the villain was sitting there the entire time. Aria didn’t change his heart; she just temporarily got in the way of his word count. Smfh.

There’s soooo much more I could say but I’ll leave the rest to yall hehe!

SPOILERS***

We’ve ranted about Byron, Wren, and Ezra, but now it is time for Paige McCullers because oh baby, I have a massive bone to pick with her. Her behavior throughout the series wasn't just "intense" it was a deeply toxic, possessive indictment of a character.

Let’s start with the pool stunt. Paige literally tried to drown Emily, and it wasn’t because Emily was gay it was because Paige herself was closeted and projecting. Her "crush" on Emily gave pure obsession from day one. Back when she wrote those letters thinking they were from Emily (when it was actually Ali's twisted self), she was already hyper-focused.
Paige was incredibly forceful and opportunistic. When Emily was deeply grieving and emotional, Paige kept pressing to get with her instead of just being a supportive friend. She always had to be "a lot." She wanted Emily all to herself, which was weird, and her sneaky behavior like literally cornering and confronting Spencer in a dark entryway to threaten her was completely unhinged.
But the receipts go way deeper than that:

The Literal Blackmail: When they competed for the swim team anchor spot, Paige explicitly threatened to out a terrified, closeted Emily to the coach if she didn't back down. That is pure malicious coercion.

The Stalking Behavior

Violating Direct Trust: She went behind Emily's back, stole information about Alison being alive, and anonymously tipped off the police. She claimed it was for "protection," but it was entirely about control and her massive jealousy of Ali.

The Isolation Ultimatum: She eventually gave Emily a strict ultimatum: choose me, or choose your friends and Alison. Trying to isolate someone from their support system is a textbook abusive red flag.

If Emily really wanted to be with Paige, she would have been. But Paige constantly used physical intimidation, physical violence, and intense psychological pressure to force her way in when Emily was too broken down to fight back. It’s like she settled to be with Paige lol. It’s wild how much the show tried to paint them as a premier romance when Paige was a total weirdo.

Can we talk about Wren’s creepy obsession with high school girls and how he constantly tries to cross their boundaries?

Every single time Spencer or Hanna try to set a firm boundary or explicitly say “I can’t do this,” he just keeps pushing. He acts like a classic textbook predator, deliberately targeting these young high school girls when they are at their most isolated, terrified, and emotionally vulnerable. And to top it off, he always swoops in exactly when they are at odds with their boyfriends or crushes. He completely exploits their emotional distress.

And let’s not forget: HE IS A WHOLE DOCTOR. This man has a literal medical degree, meaning he is easily 25 to 27 years old, while he is chasing high school juniors. The age gap and power dynamic are an egregious violation of ethics, and his actions at the hospital and Radley are pure professional malfeasance. He masks his deeply exploitative behavior behind a charming British accent, but he is genuinely disgusting.

Honestly, the show’s obsession with pedos and normalizing these relationships is crazy. Between Ezra and Wren, the writers constantly put these vulnerable, terrified girls in situations with grown, professional men who should have known better. It’s wild to look back on how much the show swept this predatory behavior under the rug.

UPDATE: I totally forgot how WREN was the one who was helping Cece enter in and out of Radley when Mona was there so Cece could take the game from Mona. Mind you this is also during the time he’s trying to press up on Hanna lol.

I need to vent about Byron and Ella because the way the writers handled their storyline makes me so mad.
First of all, Byron did Ella so wrong and I don't know how she ever forgave him. After Ella finds out about the affair, Byron makes her feel HORRIBLE, pleads with her to "work it out," and then turns right around and gets back with Meredith anyway. That alone was a massive smack in the face.

But then, he allows his mistress-turned-girlfriend to work at Rosewood High. The exact same school where his ex-wife and daughter are everyday! A real man would have put his foot down and set a boundary. I don’t care if her job options were slim; supporting Meredith taking that specific position is wild. You still owe your family some sort of loyalty, but Byron had zero.

Then, after all that drama, he and Meredith break up anyway. Next, Ella gets engaged to Zach. He completely hid his massive red flags until right before the wedding when he targeted Hanna, which was a sickening, rushed twist.
But the absolute worst part? After ALL of that, Byron and Ella end up getting remarried at the end of the series. Part of me feels like Ella just settled once again because of her trauma instead of loving herself. Instead of taking time, getting herself back, and getting back out there, she went backward. Ella had both beauty and brains, and such a great, calm aura. She deserved a true fresh start with someone who actually cherished her, not to go back to the comfort of the man who broke her spirit.