This week, the liars learn some interesting facts about CeCe and Alison’s relationship, but there may be a new member of Team A that’s stirring up some trouble…
Mona: is asked by Wren to describe her emotional response to a picture of a happy family. She sticks to her confession, but he isn’t buying it. Wren hints toward a past honesty between them, but Mona says that it’s over since his loyalties lay somewhere else and he’s keeping secrets from her. Mona also corrects his spelling of “diagnosis” (no g), which you would think someone with a valid medical license (or high school education) would know. Wren’s counters this by accusing Mona of not taking her medication and then leaves. Later, Wren pays a little visit to Spencer’s mom. He warns her about Mona, saying that she’s going to turn the tables on Mrs. Hastings and the case. Veronica tells Wren that he could lose his medical license by breaking doctor-patient confidentiality, but he doesn’t seem too concerned. (Possibly because he doesn’t actually have a medical license to lose?) He claims that he’s just trying to make up for the past. Later, Veronica visits Mona in Radley and asks her why she is sacrificing herself, in the classic mildly threatening Hastings tone, of course. Mona sticks to her story like a champ, so Veronica eventually relents on the inquisition. Still, she doesn’t leave without threatening Mona to a lifetime in jail.
Hanna: grills Caleb with questions about the mysterious P.O. Box. He’s found an unpaid cable bill that leads to an actual address in Philadelphia. Later, Caleb comes to Hanna’s house and asks if she wants to go investigate the address, but she tells him that Aria is on it. She does, however, ask him to help her get into Radley. A heated argument erupts because Caleb thinks it’s stupid that Hanna wants to ask “the enemy” for help. He wants her to tell her parents and the police that A is back, but she refuses. Later, Hanna finds Wren at the Brew and asks him to help her get into Radley to see Mona. He says he can’t, so then Hanna asks if CeCe has contacted him. Wren acts confused until Hanna jogs his memory by admitting that she knows that he let CeCe in to see Mona before. Wren tells her that the nurse did tell him about a young blonde who tried to see Mona last night, but that he figured it was Hanna. Hanna asks him to check the security cameras to see if the young blonde got in anyway, and even though he’s reluctant, he agrees to do what he can. After Hanna leaves, Wren makes a suspicious phone call. He says, “We have a problem. I’ll take care of my end. You take care of yours.” After Hanna’s run-in with Wren, she sees Caleb outside Veronica’s office about to tell Veronica everything. Caleb says he’d rather have her hate him and be safe than the other way around. She kisses him because, well, who wouldn’t kiss a guy who says something like that? Of course, the cuteness is turned creepy once the camera angle changes and reveals Wren watching them from his car. Later, Hanna goes to the DiLaurentis’ house looking for Emily, but almost encounters someone wearing an Ali mask, a blonde wig, and a red coat instead.
That night, Hanna gathers with Caleb and Spencer at Spencer’s house. Veronica enters and says that she has been anonymously accused of obstruction of justice on grounds that she bullied Mona into her confession. Veronica says that the charges won’t hold for long, but the bad image means that she can’t be Ashley’s lawyer anymore. Spencer tries to reassure Hanna, but Hanna lashes out at her. Meanwhile, Wren chats on the phone about his suspicions that Mona’s confession was coerced while he colors in the red coat of a woman in the picture he showed Mona. It’s pretty clear whose team he’s playing on.
Aria: shows Jake photographs of himself being a karate cutie while they have a lunch date, and he mentions his regional championships that night in Philadelphia. She insists on coming, which he isn’t too upset about. Meanwhile, Aria’s ex-beau, Ezra, confronts his not-so-baby mama with the negative results of his paternity test. Maggie admits that right before they broke up, she went out to a party with her friends, drank too much, and made a mistake. (And that, kids, is why you always use protection.) Ezra is upset because he fell in love with Malcolm and considers him his child, but since he’s not his biological father he has no legal rights to stop Maggie from taking him across the country. Later, Aria is on a (wo)manhunt in Philadelphia, looking for CeCe Drake before Jake’s tournament. She meets another girl instead, who was CeCe’s roommate from her UPenn days. She says that she thought CeCe was still paying her rent after she moved to LA, but apparently not. The girl tells Aria that CeCe dropped out of UPenn, but Aria corrects her that CeCe got kicked out. The girl asks Aria how she knows that, and when Aria says that she is one of Alison’s friends, the girl tells her that she must know then that Ali was the reason CeCe got kicked out. Aria doesn’t know anything about this, but the girl won’t explain anything more than “that frat party three years ago” and that CeCe called Ali and her friends “she-devils.” (That’s probably not the only thing she called them…) As Aria returns to Jake’s tournament, she receives a call from Ezra and ignores it. Later, Aria and Jake sit on a doorstep and eat burritos, having a sweet and simple date. (Ezra who?)
Emily: and her mom have been offered to stay with Mrs. DiLaurentis in her house so that don’t have to live in a motel. Emily is reluctant to accept, but the other girls basically force her into the bedroom of their deceased friend, hoping that she can find some clues. Emily almost has a breakdown when she sees Ali’s perfectly preserved room. Spencer tries to console her, but Emily is still shaken because her mom is in Harrisburg pleading for her job and she and Paige aren’t “on the best terms.” Mrs. D brings in an extra blanket for Emily and apologizes that the house is so cold. She, too, almost has a breakdown when she opens Ali’s closet. Later, Emily comes downstairs for some food and finds Mrs. D looking over some divorce papers. Mrs. D vents to Emily about the deterioration of her relationship and even admits to seeing Ali some times. Emily comforts her and even relates to the “people change” theme of the conversation. Emily explains about her and Paige, and Mrs. D is totally accepting and supportive of Emily’s sexuality. (Yay progress!) Emily confides in Mrs. D that she’s not the only one who has seen Ali, and Mrs. D hints that she knew of Emily’s romantic feelings toward Alison and wished that Ali could have returned them. After Emily returns from work later that night, she and Mrs.D are told by the furnace repairman that it looks like someone was living in the basement. They go down to investigate (in the dark, of course) and discover a makeshift bed area covered with old food wrappers. Emily asks Mrs. D if they should call the police, but Mrs. D says that it looks like the person is gone now and probably left when Jason moved in. Mrs. D goes back upstairs, but Emily stays and finds holes drilled by the mysterious squatter in the floor of the DiLaurentis house.
Spencer: helps Toby decipher clues left for him in the manila envelope from last episode. A post-it note attached to the sheet music “Any Time” reads “Leave the lamb alone and go for the lion.” Spencer translates this to mean that they need to stop questioning Eddie Lamb and focus on Dr. Palmer. Toby says the significance of the sheet music is that it was one of his mom’s favorite songs. He asks Spencer to come with him to see Dr. Palmer, but she’s reluctant because she’s supposed to help Emily at the DiLaurentis’. Toby’s desperation convinces her to go with him. When they visit Dr. Palmer, he’s not very helpful until Spencer starts playing “Any Time” on the retirement home’s piano. Dr. Palmer thinks that Spencer is Toby’s mom and begins to ask her questions. She answers him, but isn’t able to learn any information about the “blonde girl” Dr. Palmer warned Toby’s mom to stay away from. However, just before Dr. Palmer is taken away, he mentions Mrs. DiLaurentis visiting his office. Later, Spencer visits the DiLaurentis home and asks Mrs.D if she knows Dr. Palmer. She says that she only met him once when Ali and CeCe were playing some kind of sick joke on Mrs.D. Apparently, Radley called Mrs. D saying that they had her daughter and that she looked like she had tried to hurt herself. When she went there, she found CeCe dressed in Ali’s clothes. Mrs. D was told by a doctor that Ali and CeCe’s friendship was toxic, so she forbid Ali from seeing CeCe again. (Not that it worked.) Mrs. D tells Spencer and Hanna that Ali and CeCe had an obsessive relationship and that they seemed to trade personalities.
The Final Scene: The trademark black gloves unwrap Ashley’s pair of muddy heels and throws them into the rubble of Emily’s home.
Reader’s Digest Version: Do we know who A is? No. Will we be cleaning out our basements this week? Definitely.