My own must confess: During the nearly two seasons we've followed the misadventures of Rosewood's four "Pretty Little Liars," I have never felt so much dread or anxiety during an episode; it was clear from the opening moments, that A wouldn't be pulling any punches.
The episode began with a sleepless Emily receiving a 3 a.m. text, which sent her fleeing Hanna's house, sans cell phone. What followed was a scene straight out of AMC's "The Killing": Emily running alone through an abandoned wood, seemingly trying to evade some assailant. When the remaining liars convened later that morning to investigate Em's disappearance, they found the text in question: a photo of Aria making out with Ezra and instructions for Emily to spill the secret to Ella if she ever wanted to be off the hook. The text, coupled with Emily's swift departure, led the girls to make probably the most logical decision they've made in the history of this delicious series—they headed for their therapist's office.
And in some serendipitous twist of mental telepathy, Emily showed up at Dr. Sullivan's office shortly after (and unharmed). All assembled, the girls finally spilled their A secret, which pretty much guaranteed Dr. Sullivan was done for (but more on that later).
Of course, A wasn't the only one stirring up trouble last night. Hanna's pretty awesome grandma came to town for Tom's wedding, or at least that was the excuse she used as she endeavored to get Ashley and Tom back together. At the Montgomery residence, Mike continued to be his usual sullen self, except this time it took a turn for the violent. When Ella tried to take away Mike's laptop, he pushed her, which led to her injuring her wrist. Aria's mom made her promise not to tell her dad about it, for fear he'd try to unnecessarily medicate Mike. Listen, lady, this kid needs help, STAT. (As does this plot line. It's dragging on way too long.)
Not to be outdone was Hanna's evil step-sister-to-be, who made it seem as though last week's nastiness was all behind her. Kate agreed to make amends and even offered Hanna some "liquid courage" in preparation of their tandem speech at the 'rents pre-wedding party. Yeah, how did Hanna fall for this? In addition to her oratory responsibilities, Kate was also put in charge of toting around her mom's wedding dress (okay...) to keep it safe. Well, if by "safe" her mom meant covered in Hanna's vomit, then job well done! Kate purposely left a clearly drunk Hanna alone in the bathroom with the gown, and well, you can put two and two together. Tom was enraged at Hanna, but awesome grandma totally saw through Kate's scheme. I think Hanna has a new ally in her battle with Kate. I mean, the ally might be 70 years old, but she's an ally nonetheless.
While Hanna was having a very unpleasant evening with her steps-to-be, Emily spent the evening chatting up Ashley, whose words of wisdom about love and all that stuff were enough to inspire Emily to call up an old flame: Maya! The two met for a very friendly dinner date, but we'll have to wait and see if these ladies will rekindle the romantic fires.
Spencer and Toby's fire was verging on four-alarm territory as they got hot and heavy inside Toby's truck, strategically parked for maximum visibility of Jason's window. When they spotted two shadows watching them, Spencer rushed the front door, only to meet her dad on the porch. Yep, her dad. Apparently, he helped the DiLaurentis' back date dead grandma's will to include Jason after Alison got Jason disowned. Murder motive much?
And, as promised, we return to Dr. Sullivan, who is now A's No. 1 target. Following a pair of disturbing phone calls in which her conversation with the girls was replayed, she set about checking her patients' files and made a major discovery: She knows who A is! Too bad she went missing before she could tell the liars. What's up doc, indeed!
What did you think of last night's episode? Are you getting weary of Mike's plot line? Do you hope Emily and Maya get back together? Do you think Hanna can take on Kate? And who is A?! Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!
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