Seize the Sparkle

Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats NYC Tudor City Teal
1 Coat Borghese Clear
1 Coat Essie Good To Go

Not gonna lie. I've been at a loss for layering ideas lately. And my last one was a TOTAL failicure. But I picked this shade up recently, so I figured I should probably swatch it. :)

Let me just start out by saying that I love finishes like this. Tudor City Teal has a sheer milky finish that radiates shine. Milky finishes are the close cousins to jellies, and it's no surprise that I'm all about the shinies...

I'm not sure why, but I don't have too many NYC polishes in my collection. Sadly, I chipped my right index already, and I haven't had this polish on for a full day yet! So, that's disappointing, but I'm thinking it was probably more user error than anything. I don't mind too much, because I know I'll be repainting tonight. I can't really complain about application, 3 easy coats gave me the finish in the photos above. And the brush? Traditional and easy to work with too. :)

When I picked up Tudor City Teal, it was because I had seen it swatched on another blog and thought it was really pretty. It's definitely a gorgeous polish, but it is really similar to Essie Turquoise & Caicos. Tudor City Teal is a little bit darker, though. Not by much, but still enough to warrant owning both bottles. In my defense, it's been a long time since I've worn it... Summer 2011 to be precise! Price-wise... you just can't beat NYC. (Seriously... $.99 for a bottle of NYC compared to $8.50 per bottle of Essie!)  

What's your favorite NYC polish?

This week's episode picked up right where Hot For Teacher left off... 

Spencer, Hanna, and Emily teamed up to search Ezra's office, looking for proof that he's really A... and Spencer found it. Ali's journal was in a manila envelope, tucked in one of Ezra's desk drawers. The girls quickly vacated the room, but caught Mona picking up an awfully big stack of papers. Was she stealing them, or taking them to Ezra? The girls weren't sure. Back at Spencer's house, the girls questioned Shana's motives, and Emily wondered about the Mona/Fitz connection. She also mentioned how easily they found Alison's journal.


Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra drove back to Rosewood from the cabin. Aria brought up a creative writing project that she was working on, and the two talked about heroes and villains. Aria started out focusing on the hero of her story, and ended up fixated on the villain. She wasn't sure how the story would end, but commented that sometimes, the villain wins. Ezra's response? "Sometimes." (such tension!)

Spencer continued to pour over her notes and Ali's journal, pausing only to take another pill. A black and white movie was on in the background, and when the gun went off in the movie, Spencer's world turned black and white, too. Toby walked into the kitchen, catching Spencer off-guard. (Cue the old filmstrip version of our beginning credits.)



Ezra and Spencer had a scene in the 40's version of the Brew. Ezra bought her coffee, apologizing for their conversationg at school the day before. He asked if she'd been back to the Hart and the Huntsman lately, and suggested he take her there for lunch or dinner sometime. She turned him down politely, but Ezra didn't stop. He wanted her to promise that he could make it up to her... specifically asking Spence to "cross her heart and hope to die?" She bristled at Ezra's suggestion and walked out without another word.


Later, Spencer called "Edgewood 50139" (Not sure, but I'm guessing it's the number from Ali's cash stash) and found out that it belonged to the Fitzgerald Art Foundation. She hung up, took another pill, and Toby walked in, surprising her, yet again. He claimed that she didn't need the pills to figure anything out. "You've already got most of the pieces..." Toby noticed the picture of Alison over the fireplace, and Spencer questioned how Toby would feel if Alison were actually alive. Toby deemed it impossible, while Spencer guiltily looked up at the painting.



Ezra and Mona had a drink on the balcony while Hanna looked on.


Spencer was reading more of the stories in Alison's journal when she came to "The Mermaid." Behind her, a scene at the brew lit up, featuring Emily and Paige. During a very clandestine meeting, (appropriate considering the cultural climate of the 40's...) Emily asked Paige about Shana, but didn't really get any answers.



Hanna followed Mona, trying to connect her to Ezra and the A-Team. The pair apprehended her, taking her to Ezra's apartment. In the middle of the night, Mona called Spencer to let her know that she and Ezra had "made" Hanna. She rushed over to Apartment 3B to make sure Hanna was okay.


Spencer arrived to find Hanna safe and sound, and Ezra warned about using such a novice as a tail. Spencer told Ezra to leave Aria alone, but Ezra claimed his feelings for Aria were genuine. Ezra taunted Spencer for not telling Aria about her suspicions earlier, warning her that she's playing a very dangerous game and that she's in over her head.


In the car, Spencer told Hanna about the phone number leading to the Fitzgerald Art Foundation. Spencer asked Hanna to use her switchboard connections to find out if Alison called there, amd perhaps, where she called from.


Across town, Aria finished giving Paige a camera tutorial. She and Emily were going on a trip together, and she wanted to take pictures. Aria commented that she didn't think of Emily as a tomboy. (In film noir world, even Em's friends don't know about her secret relationship.) Aria told Paige how she used to be a tomboy, but she grew out of it when she fell in love for the first time.



Back at Spencer's house, Alison appeared below her portrait. She and Spencer talked and Alison wondered if Spencer should be the one she should be afraid of. Spencer looked confused, and Alison told her, "You have all the pieces, so why can't you put them together?" She taunted Spencer about her "special pills" and Spencer proceeded to knock the contents of the bottle down the drain. Toby grabbed her hand out of the drain as she fished for the pills, yelling for her to "snap out of it."


Downtown, Toby brought Spencer in for an interrogation. He asked if Alison DiLaurentis was alive, but Spencer lied, saying she was dead. Toby and Spencer argued, with Toby suggesting that perhaps Spencer was the one that killed Alison, the one that helped Alison fake her death, or that Alison tricked her into helping her fake her own death.


In Apartment 3B, Ezra and Aria each enjoyed a "sophisticated" glass of champagne. They talked about secrets and Aria's desire to tell her friends about their relationship. Ezra wondered if Aria really knew all of her friends secrets, and proceeded to tell her that he knew one of her secrets. "Alison is alive."


On the other side of Rosewood, Hanna was trying to track down the information Spencer asked for.

Emily and Paige had a secret, steamy rendezvous.

Toby continued his interrogation of Spencer.

Later, Spencer met with Aria. Aria confessed to Spencer that she is seeing Ezra again. Just as Spencer was about to tell Aria about Ezra, Hanna burst in. She found Alison.


Alison had been performing at a nightclub, "hiding in plain sight." When she saw the Liars in her dressing room, she angrily told them to leave. It was dangerous for her to be around them, and she claimed that Spencer almost got her killed once. Alison and Spencer had an argument, similar to their argument on the night of Alison's disappearance. Alison claimed that Spencer was just like her, but Spencer said she was different. Alison immediately asked Aria if Spencer told her yet. Just as Spencer was about to tell Aria the truth (for, what, the third time now?) a bullet came through the window. Hanna turned off the lights and Alison ran.


The Liars chased after Alison, following her, (much like they followed her in the Halloween episode.) She urged them to split up, but Spencer disagreed. Offscreen, we heard Ezra's voice calling for Aria. The girls stopped her from responding, but Ezra continued his pleas, saying it was safe to come out, and that he'd take care of her. Aria called out his name, still unaware of any danger. In the distance, a male silhouette waited for her. She walked toward the man in the shadows. As she reached the figure, he clicked his lighter, revealing himself to be Toby.



He told Aria, "I hit him hard, but I only hit him once." Ezra was knocked out cold on the ground beside him. The girls quickly got in the car with Toby, and Emily noticed that Alison had disappeared. As they were driving, Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Toby ganged up on Spencer, urging her to solve the mystery. Toby told her, "Don't look at the book, look at the pages." Headlights glared onto Spencer as if a car was coming straight at them, and a gunshot rang out.


Back in the real world, Spencer realized what Noir Toby meant. She doublechecked the pages from the journal against the photos on her phone and realized some of the stories had been changed. Spencer shared the information with Hanna and Emily, and they agreed to go over to Aria's house and tell her about Ezra immediately. Upon their arrival, however, they found Aria and Ezra kissing in her living room.


In the last few scenes where we usually get a glimpse of action from the villain of the week, we found ourselves back in the black and white world of Alison's dressing room.


My Thoughts

This episode definitely delivered in terms of noir satisfaction. I could've watched another hour or two, easily. The producers did a really great job with this episode. Not only did they totally capture the absolute essence of classic film noir, they managed to pull this episode off without being gimmicky. I was a little worried about that.

Did we learn a lot? Yes and no. This was almost Spencer's brain's way of rehashing everything important that she knows and setting it in the 1940's. Or at least, it's everything that she thinks is important. Everyone kept telling her that she had all the pieces, she just needed to put them all together. How many times have we heard that lately? 

Mona
(to Ezra) "I want you to know that was the last carrot stick." Was she commenting on the lack of garnishes, or is she telling Fitz that their co-op is over?

And how much did you love the many faces of Mona? 


I'm still not sure about Mona. I want to think that she's good and everything, but I just don't know. Her and Fitz are definintely up to something, but what? Could it be that they're working together and that A is someone else entirely? I've seen a lot of theories suggesting as much...

Ezra
(to Toby) "Alison DiLaurentis is alive and Spencer Hastings knows how to find her." Does she really? Is he sure about that?!? Okay, so he knows that Ali is alive, I think we deduced as much from his Ravenswood lair. But what is he up to? And what's up with the Fitzgerald Art Foundation?


Not sure if it's actually black, or navy blue... but it's definitely EzrA in a hoodie. Not good, Aria. Not good. 

Alison
(to Spencer) "You have all the pieces, so why can't you put them together?" We've gotten this a lot lately. How about us viewers? If Spencer has all the pieces, does that mean we have all the pieces too? 

Toby
(to Spencer) "Spencer doesn't get confused. Spencer's the smart one. Maybe smart enough to get away with murder... or maybe smart enough to help Ali fake the whole thing. Or maybe she tricked you into helping... you ever consider that?"

(to Spencer) "Don't look at the book, look at the pages." This is the clue that Spencer holds onto in the real world. She realizes that whoever took the journal changed some of the entries. Ambrose Pavilion became Ambrose Pearson.  

Spencer
"That's not how you spell nightly." Well, she might be cracking up, but she still finds time to nitpick over spelling. It's just so Spencer.

Noir Toby suggested that Spencer is smart enough to get away with murder, smart enough to help fake a murder, or was possibly tricked into helping Alison. I'm thinking that the last is what we'll find out, but Spence might head down the road towards the other theories first. There are still 5 episodes left this season...

Okay... so maybe this episode fell a touch on the gimmicky side, but I did really enjoy it. I think we gained a lot of insight into some important clues. We also got a lot more incriminating Ezra scenes. It's just getting harder and harder for me to think he can redeem himself. 

So, according to the previews, Aria will likely be finding out about Ezra next week. And it looks like she's not going to take it well... Free Fall, indeed.

-S

Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats Zoya Paloma
2 Coats China Glaze Your Present Required
2 Coats Zoya Paloma
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite

This layering was pretty much a given when Paloma arrived... it just took a little while to make it happen! I think I needed to step back from the pink and purple, wear black for almost a week, then come running back to pink with this sparklebomb of a jelly glitter sandwich. And that's exactly what I did. :)

Your Present Required has been begging to be part of a jelly glitter sandwich since I added it to my stash. It's a mix of blue, gold, orange, white, and fuschia glitter in various sizes. I did my best to leave out the huuuge white pieces of glitter, but two of them made it onto my thumb. Thankfully, they don't look as large on my thumb as they would had they landed on my pinky. As much as I love the unique blend of colors in Your Present Required... I like them covered with a layer of raspberry jelly even more!

Two coats of Zoya Paloma over Your Present Required deepened the blue, turned white to light pink, gold to orange, orange to red, and fuschia to lavender. It's this effect that makes me loveLoveLOVE jelly glitter sandwiches soooo much.

Application was great with both polishes... I really can't complain. Paloma was just as easy to apply as her sisters Katherine and Frida. Your Present Required covered pretty well in just one coat, but I  did dab on a second coat to some sparse areas just to even everything out. (Hence the 2 coats listed above.)

What would you layer with Zoya Paloma?

The producers slowed it down a little bit this week, but still managed to make a pretty good episode. Bite Your Tongue might've had more action, but Hot For Teacher kept our story moving forward. No major answers, just a few more small details.
Alison
The episode opened with her talking to Shana on a payphone, asking for help. Later, we found out that Alison was running out of money. She had given Shana instructions to retrieve an envelope from the back of the french poster in her bedroom. When Shana was unsuccessful, Emily stepped in and helped. Shana was attacked before she could pick up the envelope from Emily and deliver it to Alison. She woke to Alison calling her cell phone, but quickly ended the connection when she saw the threatening message A left for her. Frustrated, and clearly upset, Alison boarded a bus with very little money left in her wallet.




Aria
At school, Ezra invited Aria for a weekend stay at his cabin. She was initially reluctant to go, but ultimately agreed. Later, while having coffee and discussing A at The Brew, Aria lied to her friends, claiming that she was taking some "me" time and hadn't spoken to Ezra in a while. Before she and Ezra left for the cabin, Aria talked with Jesse, the guidance counseler. She tried to open up to him, but couldn't do it, quickly making an excuse about Mike. As she exited Jesse's office, she didn't see Ezra, but he definitely noticed where she had just been.

At the cabin, Ezra's shady behavior continued, and Aria was starting to notice, but Ezra brushed off her concerns. At one point, she considered leaving, tired of lying to everyone and feeling guilty. Ezra mentioned that he should be the person Aria is closest to, manipulating the situation so she would agree with him and stay. It worked and she went off to take some pictures around the cabin. Later, Ezra claimed to be missing the key ingredient (a can of chickpeas) for a meal he was cooking, and Aria offered to go to the store and get it.


That night, Aria woke up alone in bed, a little freaked out that Ezra wasn't around. She started looking for him, and he ended up scaring her when he poppped up out of nowhere. She questioned his whereabouts, and he claimed he was checking to make sure the back door was locked. The two talked about trust, and Ezra told Aria he was glad she decided to stay.


Emily
We learned that Em's dad was okay, allowing the Liars one sigh of relief. While discussing A and Alison at The Brew, Emily was adamant about helping Alison. Later, she asked Shana what she could do to help Alison, also asking her to apologize to Alison for her. The apology seemed to work, as Shana came to Emily when she couldn't get past Mrs. DiLaurentis to get something from Alison's room.


Emily came up with a ruse about a lost earring, securing the envelope from the back of the poster in Alison's room. It contained contact information and 5K in cash. Emily hid it in a coffee bag at work, until Shana could come to pick it up and deliver it to Alison. After Shana was attacked, Emily told Hanna and Spencer about the money as they filled Emily in on what they learned.


Ezra
He continued his slide down the slippery slope towards evil with a capital E... We started off the episode with him telling Aria about the break-in at the cabin. That same day, he confronted Spencer at school, but he was ambiguous with his threats about sloppy work on a paper. Spencer shrugs off the conversation, saying that she'll just take the bad grade.


Ezra snooped in Spencer's file, finding a note for ADHD medication. As Ezra was reading, Jesse mistakenly walked in, meeting Ezra for the first time. The two exchanged pleasantries, and after Jesse left, Ezra took Spencer's file with him.


Later at the cabin, after sending Aria on an erroneous errand, Ezra grabbed the can of chickpeas and descended into his new lair. He caught up on the various happenings with the Liars, which were seemingly sent to his computer as "messages."




That evening, while Aria slept, Ezra was out in his car watching live surveillance of his apartment as Spencer and Hanna were about to break in. Spencer noticed the camera at just the right moment, and the two abandoned their scheme as Ezra looked on.



Hanna
In a super-cute scene with Detective Holbrook, Hanna finally gets all her heels back. She's especially overjoyed to be reunited with a pair of black Sam Edelman Pixie pumps. As the two talked, Holbrook mentioned behavior patterns and paying attention to small details. Later, at the Brew, Hanna was pretty determined to stay away from detective work, opting to wait until Alison contacted the girls again. Despite her efforts to give up crime novels and sleuthing, Holbrook's words stayed with her and she realized that something was going on with Spencer.


Hanna solicited help from Aria, but she dismissed Hanna's detective work, allowing Hanna to go it alone. Later, she convinced Emily to stakeout Spencer's house with her, proving that Spencer was lying about being at the library. Hanna tried to confront Spencer when she saw her alone, but Spencer blew up at her, right in front of Holbrook. 

Detective Hanna could've stopped there, but instead, she found out what Spencer had been researching. She met Spencer at Ezra's apartment, and begged her to give up her search, but ended up following Spencer into the building.


Spencer
Thanks to prescription pills, Spencer hadn't slept in a really long time, instead throwing herself full throttle into her investigation of Ezra. Exhausting Andrew's supply, she turned to another student, Brenda, to buy more pills. Immediately after making the deal, Ezra confronted her with ambiguous threats, but she shrugged them off.


Spencer's continued her investigation. At one point, she called Aria and was about to confess her suspicions, but ultimately decided against it. She decided to keep looking, and find concrete proof of Ezra as A before telling Aria. Her search led to Ezra's apartment.


Just as Spencer was about to head inside, Hanna arrived. She asked Spencer to give up her search, telling her that Ezra as A was just crazy. Spencer was adamant about finding proof, and Hanna followed into the building and up to Ezra's door.


Just as the two were about to enter his apartment, Spencer noticed that they were being watched. She quickly alerted Hanna about the camera in the vent, telling her to not act suspiciously. Spencer made up an excuse for her actions, and the two girls left. Later, Spencer and Hanna filled in Emily on Spencer's theory, as Emily told them about the money in Ali's room.



A/Black Hoodie
At the end, Black Hoodie was watching an old movie on a computer monitor with pictures of Aria and Alison on a board behind the computer. We watched Black Hoodie open an envelope full of empty script pads belonging to Wren Kingston, M.D. We heard the following audio from the movie, "Maybe you did it, maybe you didn't. Sam says you didn't kill her, and I've known Sam a long time. That's why I took this job. If I thought you were a professional killer, I wouldn't have any part of it."


My Thoughts

Black Hoodie/Uber A
Okay... first things first. What's with the Black Hoodie at the end having a totally different setup than Ezra's lair in the basement? Does A have two lairs... or is the person we see at the end Uber A...?


And what's with all the photos of Aria?


There's also a picture of Wilden and a picture of Spencer, in addition to a couple of the things we saw in Ezra's Ravenswood Lair. I'm not sure if the pics of Aria are supposed to make us think that it's Ezra, or someone else she was involved with, like Jake, Jason DiLaurentis, perhaps?


And then there were the scripts... Are we supposed to think that it's Wren? I mean... the producers have certainly been giving subtle hints here and there about Wren, but could he really be Uber A, or is he just another member of the A-Team?


And then there's Ezra... He's so shady, and he's definitely got a lot of surveillance going on. We know that he's an A, but is he the A? Or just another member of the A-Team?

Spencer's Secret
Spencer has been keeping a secret from the other girls about the night that Alison disappeared. We've all been thinking that she was witholding information intentionally, but what if she really has no idea that anything else happened that night. What if she has repressed those memories because they're stressful, or traumatic? It happened in the books, so why not twist it around and have something similar happen on the show? Anyway... here's what I posted on my tumblr, verbatim...

"So… I’ve been thinking… Spencer has been hiding a secret from the girls… A secret from the night Ali went missing… I think Spencer will remember something from that night… Something that she has repressed… But this isn’t the first time she did it… I think she and Alison fought that night, and Spencer pushed her, maybe even hit her… But I don’t think she dealt the blow what was meant to be the final blow… But in the moment of remembering that push… She will remember a similar altercation that happened on the roof of a building a couple years back… I don’t know that she realized she was doing it, or that she even meant to… But I think Spencer was the fragile patient on the roof… And I think she will remember bits and pieces of her repressed memories and start to think that she tried to kill Alison."

It would certainly explain a lot of Mr. Hastings' behavior. Burning the field hockey stick and wanting to shut down Radley. A lot of theories are suggesting that Spencer is the one with a twin, and while I don't hate the idea, I'm not exactly sure how that would play out. I feel like the Radley Thing has to be going somewhere, otherwise we wouldn't be spending so much time on it. You know? 

Aria
For someone who is supposed to be so strong and independent, she sure is buying everything Fitz is selling, hook, line, and sinker. I don't know if it's just because we know that Ezra is up to no good and she doesn't, but I can't be the only one who thinks she's suddenly lost her moxie. Like, all of it. Bunches and bunches. Maybe it's hard to watch because we know the fall is coming? I want her to know already. It's like I'm tired of keeping her secret, but we're not even friends. Sheesh.

Alison's Faked Death
I'm pretty sure that Alison didn't fake her own death. I just don't think she had the time. She had a lot of interactions that night, and I'm pretty sure more than one of those people had motive and opportunity. There are so many different scenarios...

1. Someone tried to kill Alison and that same person faked her death, in order to get an A-like person off their back.

2. Someone tried to kill Alison and that same person faked her death to keep her away from Rosewood, punishing her further and perhaps intending to eventually find her and kill her.

3. One person tried to kill Alison and another person accidentally killed a random thinking it was Alison.

We know for sure that someone tried to kill Alison and didn't succeed, as she was pulled out of the ground by Grunwald and taken to a hospital.What we don't know is if the other body was already in the gazebo hole, or if it was put in after Alison was pulled out. I think we're all assuming that the body was put in afterward, but could it have been buried before Alison?

Avery/Spencer's Twin
I wish I came up with this theory. It's really good. It's based on the idea that Sara Harvey's friend Avery is actually Spencer's twin AND the Black Widow, among other things. readReadREAD. So good, right?

Next week's episode is Shadow Play, the extravaganza that my inner film geek has been looking forward to since last fall. Spencer's pill addiction is going to alter her worldview, sending her straight into a world of black and white film noir. I'm not sure how the episode will work into the show's canon, considering it all happens inside Spencer's head. We'll just have to wait and see... :)

-S