HOLLYWOOD—Television’s guiltiest pleasure returned on Tuesday after a hiatus that seemed all, but too long. The Halloween episode unveiled something we’ve been speculating for the past three seasons, Alison (Sasha Pieterse) is indeed alive, and that Ezra (Ian Harding) may be after her. So where do we go from here? Well for starters, episode 14, “Who’s in the Box” asks the question audiences want to know.

Aria (Lucy Hale), Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Hanna (Ashley Benson) were wrapping their minds around the revelation that their BFF and nemesis is very much alive and hiding from a sinister being. The ladies threw their minds for a loop wondering where Alison has been hiding all this time. None of the ladies were too happy to learn she was alive, and they started speculating potential suspects that Alison was afraid of. Hanna proposed the question of who was buried in Alison’s casket, which for once was the question audiences have been tinkering with since the Halloween special.

Emily picked the brain of Mrs. DiLaurentis (Andrea Parker) about Jason’s whereabouts, while Hanna began doing investigative work on who could be in Ali’s casket, just as her mother (Laura Leighton) made it her mission to search for work.  Love was indeed in the air as Spencer reunited with Toby (Keegan Allen).  I can’t help, but fear that Toby is still harboring some deep secrets, the same applies for Mona (Janel Parrish) who was back in full force. She did her best to rebuild her friendship with Hanna, but our favorite liar was a bit skeptical. Mr. Fitz may have been delivering clues to the liars about Mr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde, but none of them picked up on it. Hanna informed Spencer and Emily about a missing girl who could be in Ali’s casket, just as a video revealed to the ladies that “A” is onto them.

Ezra laid his emotions on the line to Aria, could it be hope for Ezria once after all? Hmm, wonder how she’d respond to him being “A.” Wow, Mr. Hastings (Nolan North) finally returned to Rosewood, after being M.I.A. for what almost appears to be two seasons.  The discussion between Spencer and her father proved once again that he is indeed hiding something. Toby gave Spencer an update on his mother’s death, and the question of Radley came to the forefront again. Emily was on the defensive with her friends about Alison’s return, just as Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) decided to take a break from Ravenswood.

The lairs discovered common ground with a few girls who also ‘lost’ their BFF. It was almost like the audience was looking at the liars again from a different light. The liars discovered they may have run into a dead end with the missing girl. What a surprise, Mr. Fitz had an interesting conversation with Mona about ‘mentoring’ her. Is uber “A” planning to mentor little “A.”  Hanna was a bit stunned to discover that Mrs. DiLaurentis was willing to offer her mom a job, and that Alison may have been responsible for the offer.

I thought it was interesting that Mona was pinpointing that she knows about Ezra’s ‘secret,’ and he made subtle threats that indeed showed the teacher in a new light. It was indeed a scary conversation to say the least. Caleb revealed to Hanna that he is going back to Ravenswood to further investigate his past. This does indeed look like the end of Haleb, as she begged him to fight for them, but he refused to tell Hanna the truth about Ravenswood.

Mr. Hastings was not too pleased to discover the news involving Declodyne and Spencer’s involvement. Does he have something to hide?  Emily was startled when she received an unexpected visit from Claire, who revealed that her friend’s condition has worsened, and that Sarah was just as devious as Alison. Was Claire hinting that one of the liars may have been the guilty party in Alison’s disappearance to begin with?

Surprise, Ezra has another hideout, where he took Aria to shed more light about himself. I had a feeling he was secretly telling Aria that he was “A,” but she was too lost in the clouds to see it. He gave her a key to his place, oh Aria, Jake will not be too happy with the betrayal, not to mention that you are sleeping with the enemy.  Spencer confronted her father about attempting to close down Radley, which means he’s keeping secrets. It appears Ezra’s new abode has a secret lair. Emily was on the verge of telling Paige (Lindsey Shaw) about Alison being alive, but instead revealed that she shared a kiss with Alison a long time ago.

Hanna revealed to her friends that she stole Alison’s diary when they were in “A’s” lair, which frightened the liars about what Alison wrote about her BFF’s.  The final moments of the episode concluded with “A” entering the lair in Ezra’s new abode. Until next Tuesday “Pretty Little Liars” fanatics!

By LaDale Anderson