by Christine Cassis
Someone has way too much time on their hands in Rosewood. Between Spencer's framing and those stalking videos, someone is up to no good 24/7. Honestly, I don't think Ian is capable of this kind of plotting... Anyway, let's get down to business! This is the second to last episode of the season, after all, and things are about to get juicy.
The girls try to reason with Hanna, who is still upset about Caleb, but she's not having it. Even Ashley is convinced her first impression of Hanna's former bad-boy flame was wrong, so when the cutie comes to say goodbye before shipping off to Arizona, Ashley tells him where to find Hanna. Caleb finds Hanna's booth, but Mona tells him to get out of town, literally. Caleb leaves a love note, which Mona promptly rips up. She lies and tells Hanna that he wasn't there to see her. Hanna is heartbroken, but when she has one final chance to stop Caleb from boarding that bus, she stands strong and stubborn and then flees the scene.
Spencer's every move is being watched, so she can't talk to Toby. Her mom encourages her to keep a high-profile, like some sort of PR stunt to convince the town she's innocent. So Spencer agrees to help set up the town carnival, where she volunteers Ian's expertise on golf resorts—Hilton Head to be precise. Big sis Melissa chimes in, saying the couple is a big fan of the resort, with its breath-taking ocean views. But the inquiring woman says the brochures describe the ocean opposite the golf course, making it impossible to see water from that room... Suspicious!? Spencer asks Melissa if she lied to the cops about being at Hilton Head... Alibi? Stalking? What is going on?!
Emily doesn't want to be Paige's secret anymore. The girls plan to meet a local lesbian who spearheads an out-and-proud group at a nearby school, but Paige ditches last minute. Emily is stuck making small talk with Samara, who offers support since she understands what it's like to date someone in the closet. The girls meet up at the fair the next day when Emily drops by Samara's booth to check out her handmade jewelry, and Paige is instantly jealous of the girls' new-found friendship. Emily tells her she can't do it anymore and storms off, but not before Samara tells her that her skin tone matches a pair of earrings perfectly and insists she have them because she looks "so hot" in them. Budding romance? I think yes!
Later, Paige texts "Call me?" and Em ignores her desperate attempts at a reconciliation. Then a text from A chimes. "Love me, lie for me. -A," it reads, making Emily remember when Alison gave her a souvenir from her trip to grandma's. Alison told Emily she didn't bring anything back for the other girls so Emily had to keep it a secret. "You're the only one that gets me," Alison told her as she unveiled a "vintage" snow globe. "Keep it in a safe place," she warned, "it's more valuable than it looks." Emily can't stop thinking about that final, intimate interaction she had with her friend the day she died, but eventually she's distracted by the strange jingling sound coming from the base of the snow globe as she shakes it...
Meanwhile, Ezria is in hot water, again. Aria is freaking out about her mom lurking around the hallways, after last week's text-message mix-up. She tries to schedule an isolated date for the two of them at Ezra's apartment but stumbles upon an old photo of Ezra and a woman in Italy sharing more than a gelato. Jackie's her name, and Aria is not pleased, so she confides in her girlfriends. Spence reminds her that sometimes the innocent look guilty (of course), Emily tells her to be open, honest and cool (duh!) and Hanna, hot off the heels of a break up, tells her to create a fake profile online, friend Jackie and troll the internet for further condemning evidence! Aria acts irrational and takes up Hanna's offer to help her create a fake profile, but later removes Jackie as a friend immediately after the request was accepted. No harm no foul, right?
But when she confronts Ezra about who she finds out was his fiancee, with the hopes that it has been terminated and did not eventually result in marriage, Ezra dishes all. A college girlfriend, a whirlwind romance and a vacation in Italy that spawned a faulty engagement, but resulted in no matrimony. She's relieved, but Ezra can't help but think: this isn't about Aria being jealous of an ex, but rather jealousy that she can't take a picture with him in public, never mind publish it online. The solution? Aria decides to decorate brown bags with faces and snap a shot of the two in disguise. Of course, just when their night was looking up, Aria receives a text from Emily and has to cut out. In a hurry, she runs out of Ezra's apartment without covering her tracks. Unfortunately, a police officer with impeccable timing is just around the corner hoping to question Mr. Fitz about a student... but now that he's seen Aria leaving the apartment, maybe he'll have to ask about two.
Back to Emily: She shakes the snow globe and discovers there's a key hidden in its base, which must be the key Jenna was paying Caleb to snoop around for. Emily sends a mass text to round up the girls, and they're off to check out the storage space listed on the tag attached to the key, but Spencer isn't responding because she's trapped inside a funhouse. In an attempt to have a secret rendezvous with Toby she stumbles upon a series of messages scrawled in spray paint on the walls from A. "Shut up or I'll shut you up! - A," one says. Spencer hides to wait for Toby, but a mysterious person in black jams a crowbar in the revolving door leaving her stuck with calls and texts from her girlfriends that go unanswered until Ian comes to the rescue! And just then, Toby shows up. Spencer neglects her "good girl" public persona, lets go of her inhibitions by running over to Toby for a hug—not exactly the kind of high profile her mom was looking for, am I right? And just when you thought mom and Melissa's jaws couldn't drop any lower, Spencer goes in for the kiss.
Meanwhile, the other three girls have made their way to the storage space. Inside, they discover Alison's old lunchbox containing a flash-drive. Hanna takes the the evidence, leaving behind the lunchbox and the girls convene with Spencer to review its contents: a bunch of stalkerish homemade movies of the girls, mainly Alison. One particular video shows the girls celebrating the 4th of July, which means it couldn't be Toby because he had been shipped away by then... So this is what got her killed? She must have known the tapes existed, which is why she was murdered.
Is Melissa hanging her sister out to dry to follow along with Ian's alibi? Is Ezria finally caught? Did Alison know someone was watching her? Tells us what you think in the comments and on Twitter!
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