Bloody Rose’s Identity Is Revealed In Pretty Little Liars Summer School Episode 8!
Just call us Sherlock Holmes because our theories were so close in the season finale of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School. It’s been a wild ride of a season! A was captured, put in prison, and sentenced to death row, which led our Liars to believing they were safe. That is until a new villain arrives to ruin their hot girl summer in the form of Bloody Rose. Spoilers ahead.
Across the board, the Liars were the best part of the season. They really have chosen the perfect ladies to lead this series. My favorite moments are when they’re together, whether they’re supporting each other or planning a killer party or just running from a killer. Bailee Madison really anchors this series and proves time and time again why she is incredible in horror and a rising scream queen, but this show has really allowed all of our Liars the chance to shine. Zaria has quickly become a favorite as Faran. I love seeing her journey to find her strength and she really kicks butt all season long. Tabby (Chandler Kinney) is trying to open up again after facing trauma from someone she thought she trusted. She really goes full bad ass in this finale and outsmarts Bloody Rose with her horror expertise. While I love Mouse and Ash’s relationship, I would’ve liked to see more of Mouse (Malia Pyles) outside of just being on Spooky Spaghetti watch. While Noa (Maia Reficco) is the only Liar with an actual lie, I do wish they handled some of her story differently.
Another major highlight is the final girl summer energy. Everything from the sets to the color schemes and the costuming to the soundtrack was on point. The choice to go with a song like “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama to soundtrack the season felt very 80s slasher nostalgic in the best way. On top of that, there were clues and teasers, like the final girls poster, to keep us engaged as we analyzed and theorized what was coming next. It was such a smart call and had me hooked!
Ahead of the finale, I had made my calls that based on the final girl challenges and spooky masks my main suspect was Christian (Noah Alexander Gerry). This season was focused on Tabby as the final final girl and he was our new love interest for her. He was new to town and seemed to quickly fill Chip’s spot as her new horror loving, creature mask making co-worker at The Orpheum. The guy even made masks of Bloody Rose and A… talk about a red flag! Digging deeper into the final girl poster, I felt there could be a team of three. My final call with Christian as Bloody Rose, Chip as that skull-faced angel, and then I threw in Wes for good measure in the A spot because of their mutual love of horror. And, I have to say, I wasn’t too far off.
Each week we’ve watched as another Liar was targeted by Bloody Rose and the finale centered around Tabby having her moment. I thought the location her test took place in was pretty epic. They transformed the church to make it feel even more cult-like with roses and branches and terrifying masks. And, oh yeah, video cameras. It turned out Bloody Rose was making a movie, but not just any more… a Black final girl-led slasher titled “The Reckoning” centered around a Bloody Rose cult that was being livestreamed on Spooky Spaghetti. And with that also came the reveal that Bloody Rose was a Scream 2-style team up between Mrs Langsberry and Wes.
We’ve been well aware of Mrs Lansberry’s (Carey Van Driest) potential motivation. She clearly hates Imogen and Tabby after they accused her son Chip of assaulting them. We learn that after Chip’s death, Wes went to bring his mother the items from his locker at work. They ended up bonding and forming this plan that would allow her to get revenge in an attempt to clear Chip’s name and allow Wes to make the ultimate final girl movie. That means that while Bloody Rose was executing these kills, it was all in a plan set in motion by director Wes. There are several moments throughout the season that foreshadowed this reveal. In an episode, we see Christian and Tabby discover masks that Wes made that aren’t as good as the one’s Christian makes. In another scene, Christian reveals anyone could make a mask that looks like Davie, hinting that whoever made it didn’t need to have talent. Talk about a burn!
From the beginning it’s been established that Wes is a mediocre white guy filmmaker who feels threatened by Tabby and her talent. Looking back at the season, I found Bloody Rose’s motivations to be unclear. Running on a bed of thorny roses and holding up a metal beam? Sure, she was testing our final girls, but her challenges were kind of lame. That’s on top of her kills were lackluster and targeting minor characters no one really knew or cared about. It makes me wonder if all of this was a specific choice to show that Wes really isn’t that great of a horror filmmaker. If so, that’s a brilliant layer of storytelling. Even though Derek Klena has been more of a side character as Wes, I thought he gave a great performance in this final episode. I loved seeing Chandler Kinney just completely kick butt, use her horror expertise to out wit Wes, and double down on her truth to Mrs Langsberry.
This episode does end on a few cliffhangers. Wes and Mrs Langsberry live, but are arrested. The fact that they’re still around could mean they return down the line for more revenge. Tabby decides she does not want to rehash this story over again in a new film. She plans to move on both personally and in her film work, planning to tell new stories with new villains that are bigger, badder, and bolder. We see clips of figures in masks that look like the girls. While I initially thought this could tease them in their villain era or a future film Tabby could make, the creators of the show shared some more insight into their ideas in an interview with TV Line. They tease a concept about a group of disgruntled Spooky Spaghetti fans going after the girls dressed as the girls in The Purge meets the doppelgängers in Us vibe. The episode also teases the return of A. We had gotten a callout to the OG Pretty Little Liars series with the Ravenswood Penitentary, which is where A was locked up. There was a prison riot and it seemed like he was killed, but now we learn that he escaped and his first victim is Dr. Sullivan (Annabeth Gish). We already know that A is motivated by justice. Even in the first season, there were times where he helped the Liars in his own terrifying way. I wonder, if we do see another group like disgruntled Spooky Spaghetti fans going after the girls, if A could end up being some kind of serial killer protector of sorts for them.
All in all, while I enjoyed this episode and the season, but would love to see the writers take more risks. They have such an incredible cast of young women and keep us hooked with clues and teasers, but I’d love to see them take the show to the next level. Let’s dive deeper into these characters and give them bigger stakes, bigger kills, and bigger threats to deal with. Right now, everyone feels too safe as the only people being killed off are minor characters.
The new season of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School is streaming on Max.
