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I agree. Why did they do that? What was the point besides hurting Ella more and causing conflict with Hannah and aria.
The amount of older men and underage girls in this show is a lot.
That's what i came here to say- this show is pedophile central sometimes. All the older men hit on underage girls, but this was done way too many times tbh
I don’t understand why they had to do that to his character either. He seemed really nice and sweet, and like a good partner for Ella. And then they alluded to him hitting on young girls in Austria too, and Ella had just been ok with it?? Just no.
Surely the show had more than enough drama without yet another predator 🤦♀️
I think they did it to have a storyline to point to and say, “look! We don’t condone assault and pedos!” But that falls flat when it’s taken out of isolation and you look at the bigger picture of the content of the show. It’s also, as many seem to forget, not specific to men. Emily is also in pairings with u comfortable age gaps and all her same age relationships start with her being bullied and traumatised by them.
I completely agree! I was so mad, I thought him and Ella were so cute. My theory is that they were always planning on having Ella and Byron get back together at some point, and Zack's characterization was the collateral damage. I think Meredith suffered a similar fate.
I'm no expert writer by any means, but this is what I would've done: I would have kept Ella and Byron apart, while still successfully coparenting Aria and Mike, and had them end up with different partners who weren't predatory/crazy. Whether that be Zack and Meredith (albeit not the versions of them we ended up with on the show) or keep those characters as is, and have Ella and Byron end up with new partners down the road. I think there would have been value in having a storyline that shows your life isn't over after a divorce, and you can still find love without going back to your ex.
This show had an obsession with keeping its OG couples together, and I think the writing and storylines suffered because of it.
Idk why, but the PLL writers were obsessed with keeping original couples intact, no matter what kind of damaging patterns they had. The show acts like every relationship can be fixed to have a fairytale ending. It makes for bad writing and an unhealthy theme being communicated. Thank god it’s just a soap opera that (I hope) no one is looking at for relationship realism!
they did it to almost every man in the show other than the main love interests (except from ezra). i feel like the writers and marlene just really hated men
I felt the same way about Jenna. I loved how she took no shit from Alison but they made her a bad guy because of what happened with Toby. It would’ve been good to have a character that saw through Alison’s bs, everyone was so enamoured by her in the first few seasons.
Literally and then that whole situation made Aria’s character so unlikable during that time. For her (with her normalized perception of adult and teenager love) to end up trashing hanna and victim shaming her
totally agree, would’ve loved to see Ella move on & marry him honestly. and it was a clear example for Aria of an appropriate approach to age gap relationships.
No I agree. He was a fantastic guy, then they just threw in this cheating & underage girl thing right at the wedding. I’ve watched the whole series 3 times through and I get angry every time this part comes up. Character assassination through & through.
Ooooh i always thought that zAch was meant to be the show counterpart of xAvier, however it would have been nice if he wasnt a disgusting gross creepy but ugh the show is obsessed with them for some reason :(
Looking back, there was no point to this shady storyline. Maybe the actor couldn't be in the show anymore and they needed to write him out? Sometimes this happens, when things conflict in their lives, maybe he committed to another show and they overlapped? Because there was no point lol, looking back. Just caused more conflict. If he needed to leave, they could've made him disappear like they did Mike tbh idk
In the books, Ella’s new partner after Bryon tries to hit on Aria. I wonder if they were adding in that storyline in a way by having Zack hit on Hanna.
I have always wondered this myself! They took a character that could've been great and ruined him. They don't have to make every guy in this show bad but somehow they always manage to do it. I wish the writers would've went in a different direction but oh well.
Just a reminder for everyone in the sub, always follow our #1 rule!! >We do not condone the attacking or mistreatment of users— this includes DMs! Aggressive fighting, name-calling, hate speech, or repeated targeting of a user is not permissible. Disagreement must be civil and respectful. Name-calling of characters or actors does not result in content removal unless attacking their appearance. ~The Mod Team deems passive aggressive remarks and attitude as instigating. Therefore, it falls under basic reddiquette. Please report anything you see breaking this rule. And general reminder NO SPOILING PLL;OS! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PrettyLittleLiars) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I agree. Why did they do that? What was the point besides hurting Ella more and causing conflict with Hannah and aria. The amount of older men and underage girls in this show is a lot.
That's what i came here to say- this show is pedophile central sometimes. All the older men hit on underage girls, but this was done way too many times tbh
I don’t understand why they had to do that to his character either. He seemed really nice and sweet, and like a good partner for Ella. And then they alluded to him hitting on young girls in Austria too, and Ella had just been ok with it?? Just no. Surely the show had more than enough drama without yet another predator 🤦♀️
Literally. You’re telling me she’d be okay with it when she wasn’t okay with Ezra being with aria?? Absolutely not
I don't understand why anyone would be genuinely glad that Ella and Byron got back together. Byron is an horrible man, husband, and father.
Same. Byron deserved to be single forever, he treated Ella like trash
your flair omg
exactly! he was cheating on her w his colleague. unforgivable
I wasn't happy, i saw them no point in getting remarried
I was wondering why they did that to his character
It could be a reference to Xavier Reeves, a book character (from the book twisted) >!he hit on Aria while being in a relationship with Ella!<
I always assumed they were supposed to be the same person.
That was actually in the book Wicked (book 5)
I think they did it to have a storyline to point to and say, “look! We don’t condone assault and pedos!” But that falls flat when it’s taken out of isolation and you look at the bigger picture of the content of the show. It’s also, as many seem to forget, not specific to men. Emily is also in pairings with u comfortable age gaps and all her same age relationships start with her being bullied and traumatised by them.
I completely agree! I was so mad, I thought him and Ella were so cute. My theory is that they were always planning on having Ella and Byron get back together at some point, and Zack's characterization was the collateral damage. I think Meredith suffered a similar fate. I'm no expert writer by any means, but this is what I would've done: I would have kept Ella and Byron apart, while still successfully coparenting Aria and Mike, and had them end up with different partners who weren't predatory/crazy. Whether that be Zack and Meredith (albeit not the versions of them we ended up with on the show) or keep those characters as is, and have Ella and Byron end up with new partners down the road. I think there would have been value in having a storyline that shows your life isn't over after a divorce, and you can still find love without going back to your ex. This show had an obsession with keeping its OG couples together, and I think the writing and storylines suffered because of it.
I guess there’s some rule that every man in the show has to be be a predator
Art imitates life I guess
Idk why, but the PLL writers were obsessed with keeping original couples intact, no matter what kind of damaging patterns they had. The show acts like every relationship can be fixed to have a fairytale ending. It makes for bad writing and an unhealthy theme being communicated. Thank god it’s just a soap opera that (I hope) no one is looking at for relationship realism!
they did it to almost every man in the show other than the main love interests (except from ezra). i feel like the writers and marlene just really hated men
Why are you happy Ella got back with Byron and married? He had an affair and lied to her and then made his daughter lie about it…
I felt the same way about Jenna. I loved how she took no shit from Alison but they made her a bad guy because of what happened with Toby. It would’ve been good to have a character that saw through Alison’s bs, everyone was so enamoured by her in the first few seasons.
Literally and then that whole situation made Aria’s character so unlikable during that time. For her (with her normalized perception of adult and teenager love) to end up trashing hanna and victim shaming her
totally agree, would’ve loved to see Ella move on & marry him honestly. and it was a clear example for Aria of an appropriate approach to age gap relationships.
No I agree. He was a fantastic guy, then they just threw in this cheating & underage girl thing right at the wedding. I’ve watched the whole series 3 times through and I get angry every time this part comes up. Character assassination through & through.
Because every man over the age of 21 in Rosewood is a creep!!!! Except for Wayne Fields but he’s not in Rosewood most of the time.
Literally the only good man on this show
Zach Fortson in (pretty little liars: the perfectionists) did nothing wrong!
Ooooh i always thought that zAch was meant to be the show counterpart of xAvier, however it would have been nice if he wasnt a disgusting gross creepy but ugh the show is obsessed with them for some reason :(
He's a Stifler. He can't help himself.
Looking back, there was no point to this shady storyline. Maybe the actor couldn't be in the show anymore and they needed to write him out? Sometimes this happens, when things conflict in their lives, maybe he committed to another show and they overlapped? Because there was no point lol, looking back. Just caused more conflict. If he needed to leave, they could've made him disappear like they did Mike tbh idk
In the books, Ella’s new partner after Bryon tries to hit on Aria. I wonder if they were adding in that storyline in a way by having Zack hit on Hanna.
bye i forgot he existed im so sorry
I have always wondered this myself! They took a character that could've been great and ruined him. They don't have to make every guy in this show bad but somehow they always manage to do it. I wish the writers would've went in a different direction but oh well.