We’re back, bitches! Today we cover episode 2.01 “It’s Alive”. We discuss women’s sports films in India, therapist Anne, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, and the possibility that there are many people that punch Ezra in the face that we don’t know about. Deepa reflects on our first season. Cameron doesn’t remember anything. 

We have an amazing theme song now, composed by Deepa’s cousin Ashok R. Chandran!!! You can find his other work at his website. 

Chickpeas Oh My Gosh!
  • Put chickpeas in ramen! Just do it! 
Things We Referenced Related to PLL
  • Tippi the bird is a Hitchcock reference! Apparently he was terrible to her
  • Mona bluesnarfing in the spinoff Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists
  • Spinoff Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin’s usage of Psycho, and the continuation of PLL’s legacy – ableism, transphobia and abuse
Things We Referenced Completely Unrelated to PLL 
  • India has a lot of women’s sport movies! We can vouch for Chak De! India and Dangal being great, but you should definitely skip Mary Kom because it’s racist
  • Glee’s “Rumor Has It / Someone Like You” mash-up
  • Luke’s bad therapist in Lovesick
  • Characters in TV shows having posed photos in their rooms of just themselves – apparently a trend not only in Thai dramas but also many Korean dramas?
  • Cobra Starship’s “Snakes on a Plane” song and snake lamp! 
A lamp where the stand is a gold snake whose tail is coiled at the bottom and whose mouth is holding the light bulb, with a white lampshade at the top.
Fashion Analysis

Our favorite outfits were Spencer’s red flowery belted shirt and Mona’s dress with black stripes…

Emily, Aria, and Spencer enter their English classroom. Spencer is wearing a multicolored long button-down with red flowers over a white cami and a brown leather belt over it at the waist, as well as a long thin chain necklace with a large red heart pendant.
Emily, Aria, and Spencer enter their English classroom. Spencer is wearing a multicolored long button-down with red flowers over a white cami and a brown leather belt over it at the waist, as well as a long thin chain necklace with a large red heart pendant.
Mona is standing in the school hallway wearing a dress that is transparent with black horizontal stripes, and underneath it is either a white slip or an inner layer of the dress. She is wearing a cream-colored wide belt over it at the waist which has white flowers embroidered on it, and she is wearing a thick copper chain with a small copper heart pendant.
Mona is standing in the school hallway wearing a dress that is transparent with black horizontal stripes, and underneath it is either a white slip or an inner layer of the dress. She is wearing a cream-colored wide belt over it at the waist which has white flowers embroidered on it, and she is wearing a thick copper chain with a small copper heart pendant.

…while we did not like Emily’s giant shirt with knee-high white boots and Aria’s beaded earrings that were almost certainly not made by a Native American or First Nations beader

Close-up of Aria’s face, where her beaded black, red, and white earrings are visible
Close-up of Aria’s face, where her beaded black, red, and white earrings are visible
Emily is standing in her bedroom looking concerned, wearing an 2.01 Image 06oversized gray top with splotches of lighter gray. The shirt hangs low in an asymmetrical way.
Emily is standing in her bedroom looking concerned, wearing an 2.01 Image 06oversized gray top with splotches of lighter gray. The shirt hangs low in an asymmetrical way.
Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna all sit on a couch in Therapist Anne’s office looking sullen. We can now see that Emily’s outfit includes black leggings and knee-high white boots.
Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna all sit on a couch in Therapist Anne’s office looking sullen. We can now see that Emily’s outfit includes black leggings and knee-high white boots.

Listen to More Episodes

Spencer looks very concerned while watching Toby speak to someone offscreen. Spencer is wearing a blue-green top patterned with tiny owls, tucked into dark jeans, with a white light jacket over it that has large metallic buttons.

Episodes 2.02 & 2.03: “Your Family Has the Worst Apples”

ByChickpeas Podcast

This week, we cover 2.02, “The Goodbye Look”, and 2.03, “My Name is Trouble”! We discuss apologies, ableism, Ali flashbacks, whether there’s anyone buried in the DiLaurentis yard yet, and of course, the most chaotic characters. We use too many phrases from cooking shows, and Cameron sings a Deepa not-so-original song for us.  Theme song…

Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria all pose on a fashion runway with a photo of Alison blown up on the screen behind them. Hanna is wearing a black ruffled strapless cocktail dress; Spencer is wearing a full-length sleeveless gown with an extra-deep vee neck and sparkles; Emily is wearing a full-length deep blue sleeveless gown that is bunched up in creases around the middle; and Aria is wearing a dark purple strapless cocktail dress with peplum and a yellow vertical strip down the middle of the cleavage, along with a chunky opal necklace

Episodes 2.06 & 2.07: “Don’t I Look Hot?”

ByChickpeas Podcast

We cover episodes 2.06, “Never Letting Go”, and 2.07, “Surface Tension”. This episode not only introduces Jessica DiLaurentis, but also gives us our first hint of Wine Moms! We discuss lack of butch representation, social constructions of criminality, and our dream guests on the podcast. Peter Hastings is probably so mad because his secret son…

Mona standing in a room at the Lost Woods Resort, looking angry. She is wearing a black hoodie with the hood up, while still in the dark eyeliner and lipstick she was wearing at the ball

Season 2 Finale: “Follow Me, End Up Like Me!”

ByChickpeas Podcast

It’s season finale time again! We had an impromptu in-person recording to cover 2.24, ”If These Dolls Could Talk”, and 2.25, “UnmAsked”, where we got things we’ve been waiting for all season like Lost Woods Resort; Mona and Caleb kissing for… reasons; the A reveal; and, of course, DOLL HOSPITAL. We are confused about many…

Hanna sitting in the cafeteria. Her hair is in a very loose fishtail sidebraid and she has a black leather jacket on over a dark top.

Episodes 2.16 & 2.17: “Back Alleys and Backyards”

ByChickpeas Podcast

In today’s pod, we cover episodes 2.16, “Let the Water Hold me Down”, and 2.17, “The Blond Leading the Blind”. We discuss yet more fucked up ableism towards Jenna, Mona’s cashmere blend sweater sets, Emily misunderstanding beards, and worms in takeout boxes. Cameron might be getting paid by Big Chickpea, and Deepa read a play….

Hanna on the phone looking upset; she is wearing a blue vee-necked blouse with stripes and transparent parts

Episodes 2.18 & 2.19: “You Can’t Be a Shark If You’re Toothless”

ByChickpeas Podcast

Today we cover episodes 2.18, “A Kiss Before Lying”, and 2.19, “The Naked Truth”. We talked about lying (surprise!), Noel Kahn’s thesis on gender, Hollis College trying to colonize New Orleans, and the Jason reveal we’ve been waiting for. We once again get very sad and mad about Maya’s storyline. In this house, we believe…