The TV Chick

Last night’s episode of Pretty Little Liars “Surface Tension” may have given us a clue into who murdered Ali. Or it may be a dead end. There was also a lot of making out, a potential injury and a dinner party that can only be described as awkward. And that’s a vast understatement. We also sort of find out what’s going on with Mike Montgomery, although there is definitely more to it than we know. And did I mention Aria, Ezra, Jason and the Montgomery’s in one room? Yeah, that happened.

The episode begins with A sending Han and Em a cryptic message about two liars under one roof. Over at the Montgomery household, Byron and Ella are planning a dinner party and Byron wants to invite Ezra. AWKWARD. Byron lays the smack down on Mike, telling him to be at the party. Get yourself together, Mike! At the Hastings house, Spencer’s dad (Peter) has hired Toby to help out with the barn. He apparently stopped the fence that Jason was building. And apparently, according to him, Ali’s family was “always crossing the line.” Ooh ominous. Then it’s Aria and Ezra time! She doesn’t want him to come to the dinner but he thinks it’s a good idea. Baby steps to introducing the fact that they are dating. Hmmm.

Later, Jason shows up at school and is talking to Aria’s mom (Ella). Apparently, he may start helping at-risk students. Ella then invites Jason to dinner. Can we say AWKWARD once more? Ella asks if someone is terrorizing Aria and she says that the fashion show situation was a dumb prank. Oh boy. It’s these moments where you want to just scream “Tell her Aria! Tell her about A!”

At the Em/Han sleepover party, Em wants to be all serious and work. Em’s shoulder is bothering her, which she shows at various points throughout the episode. I feel like this might come back to bite her later, and she might not qualify for a college swim team. I hope that’s not the case, though. At school the next day, Em wants Spencer to talk to Garrett Reynolds about the whole Ian situation. Spencer obliges and apparently the guy at the messenger service has disappeared. Garrett tells Spencer not to expect anything because all will lead back to Ian. Shady!

Meanwhile, Ashley Marin and Ella Montgomery talk about all the events of the past year and how something must be going on with the girls. Ashley says Peter Hastings pushed them way too hard and they shouldn’t have agreed to send the girls to therapy and separate them. I absolutely loved this moment. It was so refreshing to see the parents put some pieces together. I hope there are more of these moments!

That night, Toby finds a piece of a field hockey stick buried in the Hastings’ yard. Interesting… Toby goes to Spencer to talk about it and apparently, the stick was Melissa’s, but we flashback to Ali using it. In the flashback, Jason takes the field hockey stick and taunts Ali with it, almost hitting her. Oh man. Spencer thinks it was Alison’s murder weapon.

Then it’s dinner party time! Not shockingly, Mike doesn’t show. But Ezra does. And then Jason. Once again…say it with me…AWKWARD! But the party doesn’t last long, because a police man shows up, and Mike has broken into a house. Shocking! Aria tries to keep busy while her parents go to get Mike, and Jason and Ezra talk. Weird. He asks Ezra creepy questions. Then, Ezra starts asking Aria about Jason. Does he suspect something? To add more awkwardness to the whole situation, Aria talks to Jason about the whole Mike situation (while Ezra looks on — seriously so awkward). Aria blames herself for everything going on with Mike. Aw, Aria! She goes upstairs and looks through Mike’s stuff and finds Jenna’s pottery creation. She flips out and kicks both Jason and Ezra out.

Meanwhile, Toby is leaving work and Peter Hastings stops him and tells him the field hockey stick was nothing. He asks him not to tell Spencer but it’s obviously too late for that. These parents in Rosewood clearly have some secrets of their own.

Han and Caleb talk, he wants her to let him do his shady phone/job business. He said he’s done worse. He was involved with some bad guys but got out of it. He’s never told anyone this. Aww. Sweet moment post sexy make-out. I like it. Meanwhile, over at the Hastings house, Spencer comes downstairs and sees her dad about to burn the field hockey stick. She tries to get it out of her dad’s hands but he won’t let go. Peter talks about being tired and how he doesn’t to be questioned over the stick. He burns it. Oh man! Spencer goes to talk to Toby and claims her dad thinks that she killed Ali and she’s determined to find out what happened. Toby says the cops probably know what was used to kill Ali.

Back at sleepover central, Em and Han talk about Caleb’s thing and Em’s life. They hear Han’s parents come home drunk and laughing. Oh and they make out (the parents, not Emily and Hanna). Whoa. Of course the girls spy! This is going to lead to not so good things. Meanwhile, Aria confronts Mike who apparently took Jenna’s pottery creation from Garrett Reynolds’ apartment. More pieces are coming together. Crazy! Spencer talks to Garrett who keeps reiterating it was Ian who killed Ali. Just then, Spencer gets a text not to trust Garrett. He asks her who she thinks killed Ali, and then the end of episode is A with a syringe. Wow.

This episode was clearly action packed, especially the ending. I love that Garrett Reynolds closely mirrors who Darren Wilden was in the books. I also loved Spencer geting herself into a sticky situation with someone that should be trusted (he’s a police officer!) and that Garrett has some sort of crazy connection to Jenna and maybe Ian and Ali. As I said before, the parents’ talking was such a great moment. I would love to see some sort of confrontation between Ella and Ashley and Peter Hastings. Because something is very clearly up with him. I also like that this episode set up something interesting for Hanna’s parents. They were drunkenly making out, but will this last? I also am very curious about how Jenna will factor back into the picture. This episode certainly set up some great stuff. I can’t wait for more!

Pretty Little Liars airs Mondays at 8 PM on ABC Family.