HOLLYWOOD—At last the series “Pretty Little Liars” is getting back to the surface of the story: Alison (Sasha Pieterse). Episode 16 “Close Encounters” saw our favorite PLL return to Rosewood to assist the liars in uncovering the mystery surrounding her disappearance. Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Aria (Lucy Hale), Hanna (Ashley Benson) and Emily (Shay Mitchell) took a trip to the Busy Bee Inn, in hopes of locating Ali, but all they found were bits of clothing and a damaged window, and a message from A, “You’re too late.” Hanna speculated that Alison was not staying at the room; it was a set-up, which makes perfect sense when you think about it.
Spencer was not too pleased to see her father, Mr. Hastings (Nolan North) come to Toby’s (Keegan Allen) door. He admitted to his daughter that Jason’s sobriety is in jeopardy. Hmm, not certain if I buy this story, you don’t focus that much on keeping a secret of that magnitude. Ezra (Ian Harding) did his best to avoid spending time with Aria in the midst of keeping secrets from Jake (Ryan Guzman). Ezra is indeed jealous and I can see a fist fight ensuing between these two guys. Emily came face-to-face with Shana (Ariel Miranda) who delivered her a message regarding Alison’s whereabouts.
She begged Emily and her friends to stop searching for Alison and that she has known Alison since they were kids and that Ali asked her to come to Rosewood to find out who tried to kill her, and wait for it: Jenna (Tammin Sursok) is a possible suspect! So all this time, Shana has been secretly working for Ali and not for Jenna. That’s cold.
Aria gave Jake the cold shoulder in their first acquaintance in what appears to have been weeks; and delivered a game changer to her current flame about the status of their relationship, and he was well aware of her intentions with her teacher. The liars begin speculating of all the potential suspects on Alison’s list. Shana got close to Emily to divulge specific details about Alison, and informed Emily that Ali wants to meet her ‘alone.’ That does not sound good. Hanna got cozy with her new boy toy, Travis. Emily attempted to convince Spencer of Shana’s ‘story.’ Spencer was not convinced of Shana’s allegiance, and questioned Alison’s attempt to reach out to only her. Mr. Hastings treated his wife to a lavish dinner in an attempt to bond with his daughter at the same time. Our favorite detective continued to push her father which made him quite upset to say the least; he is indeed hiding something big in my opinion.
Jake came face-to-face with Ezra who was extremely upset at a blonde, who has created ‘problems’ for him, which caused Jake to worry about Aria’s safety with her former flame. Mrs. Marin was a bit pleased to see her daughter in a happier place, but scolded her daughter for trying to move on too quickly and threw stones at her mom about her past.
The little detective that she is, Spencer poked around in her father’s briefcase and discovered paperwork about Toby’s mother, as well as the fact that Jessica DiLaurentis is on the board at Radley Sanitarium. I knew he was hiding something big, there is much more to decipher from this news. Aria’s attempted to mend Jake’s broken heart, but he lashed out a bit and delivered a bit of a truth to her. The fact that Ezra lashed out a blonde and Jake witnessed it with his own eyes, forces her to question the possibility that Ezra may not be the person she suspects him to be.
Mrs. Marin knew the perfect therapy to help her daughter unleash a bit of anger by tossing some plates. Mother does indeed know best. Aria questioned Ezra about his whereabouts today, which concerned our liar to say the least. He elaborated a scheme about meeting with Maggie’s lawyer, and she unleashed a bit of anger as to why he lied to her. I think Aria is starting to see a side of Ezra that she never noticed; it’s just a matter of time before the truth about his devious actions comes to light.
Emily came face-to-face with Alison at a mysterious warehouse, where our ladies shared a heartfelt hug. She admitted she could trust Emily, but not so sure about Spencer, Aria or Hanna. That forces me to think that the others ladies may have taken part in some things the night Alison disappeared that they may have repressed. Wow, Alison has indeed changed a new leaf. From a distance, Spencer lurked in the background, which scared Ali away, but caused a bit of rage in Emily.
Spencer realized that Ali was playing mind games again to divide the group, which caused friction between the best friends. Could Alison be toying with her friends once again or is there more to the story we have yet to discover. It just seemed like Spencer couldn’t catch a break this week, between her father, Emily and Toby, she was the punching bag who took more beatings than one could suspect.
Jake learned a tough lesson about messing with Ezra, as he laced his boxing bag with a load of knives. Whoa, Ezra is not playing games.
The final moments of the episode saw “A” retrieving a picture of what appears to be Alison and Shana. Our mysterious tormentor then rips the picture in part and burns the half that represents Shana. Looks like she could be “A’s” next target! Until next week “PLL” fanatics.
By LaDale Anderson
