Pretty Little Liars it’s a TV series that airs weekly on ABC Family. This show has been a hit since it first started. This is a very suspenseful teenage drama. It is directed to teenagers since it includes problems and issues that young people go through. The series follows the lives of four girls whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their “Leader” Alison. One year later, they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure using the name "A" that threatens to expose their secrets, including long-hidden ones they thought only Alison knew. The last episode aired is "The New Normal" In this episode it seems that all relationships start to calm down and new relationships start to bloom. It's an episode full of details, but as always in this TV series, nothing is very clear and details seem to lead you nowhere. Gay issues with parents and friend betrayal are the main problems portrayed in this episode.
Through the chapter Television, Steven Johnson explains how this type of show uses mysteries into the present-tense event. The characters perform actions and discuss events about which crucial information has been deliberately withheld. Since the start of Pretty Little Liars major information has been withheld from the audience to create mystery and above all, increase the show’s popularity. Pretty Little Liars is full of hints and unfinished stories, with each chapter the story unwinds and, ironically, it becomes more and more complicated. Johnson points out on page 77 of Everything Bad Is Good For You, "Part of the pleasure in these modern television narratives comes from the cognitive labor you’re forced to do filling in the details. If the writers suddenly dropped a hoard of flashing arrows onto the set, the show would seem plodding and simplistic. The extra information would take the fun out of watching” (77).
The main argument on this episode is how one of the girls comes out as gay and now she feels people are discriminating her, and also favoring her for her “condition”. This is when pathos comes up to place by aiming to the audience’s emotion, touching such a controversial issue such as a girl being gay. They’re many claims of value that can be found in this episode. The already stated gay issue and teenager problems such as friend betrayal and cheating. Directly aimed to teenager that would feel associated with these issues.
After reading this chapter by Johnson, I understand how writers play with the story making it way more complex than what it needs to be to catch the audience attention and keep it. Also, how writers include issues pertaining to certain audiences. Pretty Little Liars is a serie full of suspense that keep the audience at the edge of the chair, waiting for the next piece to complete the puzzle.
