Hanna
The Marins are in big trouble. Hanna spends the entire episode under house arrest and the episode ends with Ashley under real arrest when ballistics shows that Tom’s gun is indeed the one that was used to kill Wilden.
Ashley tells Tom that Wilden was demanding money from her, that she took the gun only for protection, and that when he grabbed it from her, she ran. She has no clue how the gun ended up back in the house and determines that someone is setting her up. Hanna knows who (well, ok, not really otherwise the whole show would be over), but A threatens her that if she reveals this fact that both parents will be taken down, leaving Hanna to sleep in the school with Caleb.
At some point the girls should come clean about everything. I mean, their lives are ruined either way, no??
Emily
There is no mention of Emily’s family troubles, but there’s always swim drama: Shana transfers to Rosewood because she “didn’t fit in” at private school. She immediately takes Emily’s spot on the swim team, because the season is never-ending and scholarship scouts visit Rosewood nearly constantly.
Emily decides to take it upon herself to exonerate Hanna’s mom. Emily’s always doing these solo investigations (whatever happened to that weird metalworking place she tracked “Toby” to??) and they never end very well.
I’m sure there is no way this can go wrong.
She stupidly sneaks a DVD onto Tanner’s desk, where A promptly tampers with it, replacing it with a video of a person in an Emily mask (duh) holding up a guilty sign. Guilty of what, I’m not sure.
Here’s the thing, though, doesn’t this tip Tanner off that these girls are being set up in some way? Because why would *Emily* wear a mask of her own face and hold a sign saying guilty? If A hadn’t gone through the trouble of making the handwriting on the DVD match the handwriting on a mother’s day card to Pam, you could say that this was an anonymous tip that Emily is guilty. But it makes no sense that Emily herself would orchestrate this. Doesn’t this show there’s a whole other layer?
Spencer
Spencer rightly apologizes to Emily for the debacle of last episode and it’s really touching to see their awkward dance. Then Mona shows up (with horrid hair) and spills the beans that Toby stole the lair.
And just like that, everyone hates Spencer again. Poor Spencer! Desperate to prove herself worthy to the other Liars, Spencer tracks down Ms. Grunwald to Ravenwood, which is apparently located in the first half of the 20th Century.
I refuse to recap any of this faux-colorized storyline, what with its old-timey cars, shady people, ominous music, and dying crows. How can we reconcile this mystical world with Rosewood? I feel like this is cheap! I don’t want to find out that A is actually a Druid or something.
As filmed via Instagram. Grunwald denies knowing Ali… but did Shana get there first? Ok, I recapped it a tiny bit.
Aria
Wearing an outfit that’s more suited for a young executive than a high school student, to force Spencer and Emily to have some alone time to apologize to each other, Aria volunteers to help train Connor (Mike’s lacrosse buddy). Unfortunately, he has a different sort of training in mind.
This is totally the most real and awful thing on this show ever. Aria is sexually harassed by Connor, who is in the boy’s locker room, spreading rumors that they hooked up. Aria confronts him there and he calls her a slut and insinuates that she was boffing Fitz. Horrified, Aria turns around to leave and finds herself looking directly at a conflicted Ezra.
He then gets half of his teacherly duties right when he chastises her for being in the boy’s locker room but then says nothing to the guys that were just tormenting a teenage girl. Wimp. Way to put your own fears above your duty to speak to the boys about the inappropriateness of what they’ve said. Lame.
Awful! Also, I realize this is a bad time, but how cute is Aria’s outfit?
Aria’s plight this episode is so hard to watch and so familiar, and I’m glad they went there, since it is something so many teenage girls actually have to deal with (unlike omnipotent stalkers). She deletes anonymous messages harassing her and wisely tells Ezra to get lost.
Later that night, “someone” bashes Connor’s car. Oh Mike, it’s so nice to have you back and in a hoodie.
In other news, I’ll be on vacation for the next three weeks, but the lovely Caroline will be taking over recapping duties.
Got any theories? Fashion critiques? Share them in the comments!
About the Contributor:
Kate worships Kevin Sullivan’s adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (and has probably seen it no fewer than 100 times) but is still bitter about Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story and refuses to buy that one on DVD in protest of its totally inaccurate storyline. Other obsessions include bunnies (including her own, which she adopted from the bunny shelter, which is a REAL THING in Amsterdam, where she lives) and Pretty Little Liars. In her spare time she plays the clarinet and teaches math.
