The TV Chick

Last night’s episode of Pretty Little Liars titled “Blind Dates,” had some huge, crazy intense moments, a new love interest (maybe) for Aria, and well, someone dies. Spoiler alert! But in Rosewood, we never know if someone is truly dead. We assume Alison is because they found her remains but then who is torturing the girls? Of course, A strikes again in a big way in “Blind Dates,” while one girl has a major breakthrough. I loved the intensity level of this episode. It was drama in its finest form. I also always love when there’s a creepy woods scene and there was a great one in last night’s episode.

The episode starts with Spencer going back to the pawn shop. Instead of the ring she pawned (and the guy sold to A presumably), the cashier gives her a horseshoe. A then sends a cryptic message about the ring. Later, back at the Hastings household, Spencer sees Melissa going through her things. Supposedly, she needs Ian’s passport for the insurance claim for her ring. But clearly, there is something shady going on. And total bitchy sister alert here! Melissa is not exactly showing any sympathy for Spencer and what she’s going through.

At the Marin household, Ashley Marin lays down the law and tells Han she has to go see the therapist by herself. At the Fields household, Emily finds the real Danby letter and clearly regrets her/A’s decision. She gets a package in the mail full of Danby gear from A. Go away, A! You are not fun! At school, Han talks to Lucas about his upcoming date with Danielle. He’s super nervous and makes her promise that she and Caleb will come with them. Aria’s mom catches her and the girls in the school hallway (Aria’s mom is now a full time teacher) and she’s busted. Let them be friends!

After school, Spencer goes to talk to Wren. Remember, hot British Wren who gave Melissa something mysterious? Yeah, that one. Wren tells Spencer that Melissa wanted meds and supplies for Ian, who is supposedly not in Rosewood. Wren is very insistent that Spencer leave the issue alone, but come on, is anyone in Rosewood ever capable of leaving anything alone? Meanwhile, Han goes to her solo therapist appointment. The therapist tells her to have a conversation with Alison. Just when it seems like she might open up, she declares that her time is up. Aw, Hanna, you can do this!

And in hotness central, Aria goes to find her brother Mike (who is acting all weird and crazy-like) at a pick-up basketball game. She has his keys, but he is nowhere to be found. But Jason DiLaurentis is there, with his washboard abs, sans-shirt. Aria definitely stared a little. Apparently, Mike doesn’t play basketball at those courts anymore (is he doing drugs now?) but Jason and Aria talk. He tells her that he wishes he could forget stuff from when he was younger, but he does remember Aria’s pink hair and he thought it was cool. Later in the episode, Aria looks at an old family picture where she had pink hair and runs her fingers over it. Does she like Jason? What about Ezra? There is so much history with Jason, I don’t think they work as a couple, but perhaps as a little distraction. Mike and Aria talk but he is distant and threatens to tell on Aria, who has been seeing her friends, if she tells on him. Mike, what is up?

Back at school, Samara is excited for Emily after a big swim meet. Emily comes clean about the letter but claims she sent the letter to herself (not A). Emily’s mom invites Samara over for a celebration dinner. I like that Emily’s mom is so much more accepting now. At the Hastings house, Spencer’s parents are gone…again. Seriously, can we get a nice scene with Spencer just completely bitching out her parents for being awful? I know we’ve gotten a few but seriously! Anyway, Melissa’s barn door is open and Spencer goes in and rifles through a suitcase with medical supplies and Ian’s passport. Scandal!

Then it’s time for the awkward double “date.” Danielle thinks Hanna is checking Lucas out, and brought Caleb just to make Lucas jealous. But it’s Han to the rescue. She puts on a little flirty act with Caleb and Danielle buys it. One of my favorite quotes of the episode was after Caleb says to Hanna, “That was easy.” Her response was, “I’m not.” You go, Hanna! Although I enjoy Caleb and Hanna together and hope they reconcile. After the date, Lucas comes over to thank Hanna and tells her she’s changed a lot from her days in Alison’s posse. This was super cute. After hearing this, Han goes to talk to the therapist and finally opens up. She tells the therapist that to impress Ali, you had to make her like you, and sometimes do bad thins to make this happen. She was Hanna’s best friend but also her worst enemy. This was a very interesting, brave confession. We all know that Ali has shaped the girls in a big way, but this was a very intriguing way to put it. I would absolutely love to see an entire flashback episode. Did the girls ever go on a trip together? Can they do a whole flashback episode of the day she died? I digress. Hanna decides to have a “conversation” with Alison/an empty chair and Ali shows up in the chair/Hanna’s mind. Alison tells Hanna that low self esteem leads to Hefty Hanna. Hanna stands up for herself, saying she has her friends and won’t be alone. Alison tells Hanna that, “You have what I gave you.” Wow. At the end of their “conversation,” Hanna tells Alison that “You are gone and I am so over missing you.” Chills. Serious chills. I was so proud of Hanna in this scene. She has come so far since her Hefty Hanna days. Ashley Benson did a fantastic job in this scene. But not all is well after Hanna gets this all off her mind. The therapist’s office is broken into and A leaves a message that says “Nosey bitches die.” Wow, this A has gotten pretty serious.

Back at Emily’s house, Samara saves the day when Em’s mom gets a little over-zealous with all the Danby stuff. Samara tells Emily’s mom that many other colleges will be interested in Emily because of her athletic talent. They should wait until senior year and keep their options open. Aw, Samara! At least this solves the immediate problem of the fake letter.

Back in scandal central, Wren calls up Melissa and insists he sees Ian so he can treat him. Of course, Spencer is orchestrating the whole thing, and Melissa buys it. Shortly after, Melissa calls Wren because she knows where Ian is, and the girls follow Wren in their car. They sneak through the woods (chilling!) and then hear Melissa scream. Apparently, Ian shot himself. Whoa! There is a note next to him saying he killed Alison, and a horseshoe on top of the barn. Clearly, this is all A’s doing. But how could she/he/it have done it alone? I don’t think Ian killed Alison. I think we will learn that eventually. I am basing this assumption purely off the books, so it could change. But this has all certainly gotten crazier and crazier. Now there’s a suicide? The books were nuts, too, so I’m not terribly surprised but this was a shocking way to end an episode.

So, where do we go from here? How is Melissa going to cope? How is Spencer going to cope? Is the killer still out there? The girls saw Ian dead with a gun in his hands and a confession letter, so are they “liars” anymore? Will the investigation into Ali’s murder stop? I have so many questions. But these questions are a result of an amazing episode, so I have no complaints. The episode was action-packed, had a very good looking shirtless guy and someone dies. If that’s not great drama, I’m not sure what is. Next week’s episode is certainly going to be an interesting one, because this one set up some great stuff for the rest of the season.

Pretty Little Liars airs Monday nights at 8 pm on ABC Family.