The TV Chick

There was a storm brewing in Rosewood last night, and not just one of the weather variety. The beginning of the episode starts with Hanna, Spencer and Aria studying for the SATs. Emily is noticeably missing, and she arrives home muddy and super distressed. She gets an ominous text from A about burying things. This story line was such a smart move on the part of the writers. Emily has always been the good one, the defender of Alison, so what was she doing coming home like that? What is she hiding? Well in Rosewood, nothing is ever as it seems.

As the day unfolds in school, Officer Wilden tells the girls that someone ruined Ali’s memorial. He talks to Emily about Toby, but she said she hadn’t heard from him. He mumbles that she should check her basement. As the episode continues, all of the girls seems to go through a journey. Emily is forced to face her past. There are flashbacks with multiple kisses with Ali (one where she reams Emily out).  The first kiss was when Ali was reading Great Expectations in the library (which A taunted Emily with in a text). I have to say, I’ve been waiting for this flashback for a while. It was a big and momentous part of the books, and I’m glad it finally happened on screen. Ali reads the letter Emily wrote about how upset she was over Ali’s reaction to their kiss in  a later part (Ali disappeared three days later). Another flashback scene was Ali and Emily in the locker room. Ali talks about going to Paris, and asks Emily to hook her bra. She kisses her shoulder, and Ali flips out. She  tells her she’s likes boys, it was just a kiss, practice for the real thing.  It is very fitting that while all the students are stuck in the locker room because of a tornado notice, this scene also took place in a locker room. Shay Mitchell had her moment to shine here. She has done some very risque scenes with Maya but this was so innocent and sweet, and I thought she did a fantastic job.

Another “liar” going through a journey is Aria. She won’t have dinner with her mom, because she refuses to accept her parents’ divorce. She ends up escaping the locker room with Noel Kahn. He plays guitar and she sings (who knew Lucy Hale had such a nice voice, I adore her even more than I already did!) They seem to be bonding, and the song reminds her of her parents. However, it is entirely short lived as Noel and Aria almost kiss and Ezra walks in on them. I think that Noel is a good guy but as I have mentioned in the past, I am a big fan of Aria and Ezra, even if it is slightly creepy. After Ezra walks in on her and Noel, Aria confronts him. Ezra says he went to New York to confront his issues, and clear his head. He interviewed at another school, and he tells her things have to change. In the end, Aria comes around to having a relationship with her mother again, and agrees to go on an actual date with Noel.

Meanwhile, Spencer is still with Alex, and doesn’t want to blow it. Her mom still doesn’t know about them. But the jig is almost up when her mom sees them together in school and is rather unfriendly to Alex. Spencer spends the day with him trying to figure out what the deal is with him and his mom. I think giving Spencer a boyfriend has been a great move. I don’t believe Alex was in the books, but I am enjoying his character.

And Hanna is just trying to deal with bitchy Mona who treats Lucas like scum. It’s rather hilarious though when Mona turns up with Hanna’s old bag that she sold on EBay. Boo Mona, you whore! (Insert Mean Girls reference here, Mona isn’t really a whore). However, despite the journeys the girls go through, I think the overall theme of this episode is unlikely pairings. Byron Montgomery and Ashley Marin end up together in the dark after he comes over to send a fax. Ashley and Byron talk, and she tells him knows why he and Ella split. They share sob stories about their divorces. I thought their bonding was sweet. In the books, there was never any romance between these two characters, and I doubt they will go that direction in the series but I like this potential friendship. It ended on a slightly awkward note when the lights went back on.

Also, in unlikely pairing world, Aria’s mom is at school to proctor because she signed up to be a substitute teacher. Ella and Ezra end up in the storage room together looking for some food and water for the students…so weird and creepy! She asks if he had noticed any changes in Aria over the past few weeks. He said he hasn’t noticed a change. She says she’s happy Ezra is in her life (ahhhhh). This scene was deliciously uncomfortable. Oh Ella, you are so naive. I also love that this episode is all set to a storm. Sure, it’s been done before. And in these classic stormy episodes, things always go wrong. But I enjoyed the slight twist of having the episode in a school setting — a supposedly safe place where none of the girls feel safe at all.

Meanwhile, Emily is the only one still in the library after all the students get ushered to the locker room. She gets freaked out by the storm and falling books, and next thing she knows, her purse is gone and so is the letter to Ali which fell out of Great Expectations. Of course, Officer Wilden finds them, and Emily is forced to admit she was at the memorial the night before. She says it was already ruined when she got there. She went back to say she was sorry to Ali. Emily admits to the other girls that she loved Ali as more than a friend. Wilden is being rather rude and the girls come to Emily’s defense. Earlier, Hanna had told Emily her crush on Maya was nothing to be ashamed of. I love her openmindedness. Ashley Benson does an amazing job of striking a balance between super compassionate Hanna, semi-stuck up Hanna and sassy, sarcastic Hanna. Anyway, a lot of teenagers wouldn’t be quite as accepting of their friends. I also thought that the girls coming together to defend Emily was very touching. Their new/old friendship seems to grow more geniune as the season continues. Of course there are still secrets and lies, as it wouldn’t be Rosewood without them.

Spencer’s mom comes in the middle of Wilden’s questioning, and takes them away from the situation and shows him who’s boss. Go Spencer’s lawyer mom! Woo! Spencer has always had a contentious relationship with her family. In fact, if the show follows closely to the books, there will be much more drama to come. So I thought it was fantastic that it was Spencer’s mom who came to the rescue, as it showed signs of repairing her and her daughter’s relationship. After her heroic move, Spencer’s mom tells her about what happened with her and Alex. She got embarrassingly drunk because she had just had a lumpectomy. She is fine now, but said their family doesn’t do well with imperfections. Spencer says being sick isn’t an imperfection. Her mom actually likes Alex, and was just embarrassed. I really liked that Spencer’s mom showed her vulnerability. Spencer has been held to such a high standard of perfection and clearly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It was great that Spencer was able to show a bit of sympathy for her mom, because in general, she is a little unforgiving.

At the end of the episode, Lucas thanks Hanna for whatever she said to Mona. She says they are friends (You totally like him Hanna, admit it!), no thanks needed. But of course, he has very muddy shoes. Hmmm shady Lucas, what were you up to? I like you! Please don’t be shady! So who is A? I know, but I’ll never tell. Unless I’m very wrong. But judging from the direction the books went, the summer finale is going to be very shocking and amazing. Secrets will be revealed, and I cannot wait.

The summer finale of Pretty Little Liars airs next Tuesday at 8 pm on ABC Family.