"Fear cuts deeper than a sword"
In the strangely profound and foreshadowing quote from Mona , a little says a lot about her and Toby's plans for the PLL crew, and in one of the first scenes admits that she isn't the one pulling all the shots. Who is A then?!!
This episode turned the action up a notch, and twisted my stomach into knots — fear certainly ran rampant for three certain members of Rosewood: Aria , Hanna , and Spencer .
Meredith and Byron = Bonnie and Clyde?
The episode starts off with Hanna, Spencer and Emily gathered around Aria. They obsess over how sick she looks/is, which is often a tell-tale sign that something just isn't right. Aria has a unusual dependency on this elixir tea Meredith concocted — Red Flag No. 2.
Soon thereafter, Meredith begins her descent into maniac. She searches the house when Aria is sleeping, steals her phone, and when Aria requests Meredith to relay a message to her mother — Meredith tells Ella something entirely different. Aria soon realizes via a dream with Ali indicating she's being drugged, that something is wrong.
It goes downhill when Meredith returns to Aria's room at night, and after the PLL crew witnesses Meredith's fury at not being able to refill a anxiety/sleeping pill prescription, they rush to Aria's aid . It all seems too late when Meredith lures the girls to the basement and they find a knocked-out Aria .
Byron returns to save the girls in the nick of time — and Meredith flees after implying she was just as afraid as Byron of the PLL crew's discovery of the diary pages. Seems Byron wasn't the only guilty one, and their lustful affair had its share of darker secrets, too. I wonder what Meredith's involvement was...
The girls leave, and Byron is apologetic — which falls on deaf ears — however, his heartfelt retelling of the relevant series of events prompted Aria to burn the diary pages and admit she believes her father didn't kill Ali.
Hanna gets humbled
Hanna gets a highly sought after meeting with the owner of Corin's boutique. She goes to get ready and overhears Caleb on a phone call saying he was "in" and that he wants to "protect Hanna." .
Hanna asked Emily to tail Caleb, but then she gets distracted and is forced to ditch the effort. Caleb then meets Paige and they intend to do whatever it takes to take "A" down .
Meanwhile, Hanna goes to the boutique which, upon entry, seems deserted. She is surrounded by plastic mannequins and ends up getting shoved around in the dark by a hooded figure. In the oddest form of social marketing, the hashtag "#FashionVictim" pops up and it was certainly a corny mood-kill. In turn, she finally realizes that her feisty attack on Mona may have almost gotten her hurt. She notices the attacker dropped a key, and when she informs the PLL crew of what happened, Spencer is the one who keeps it for safekeeping.
Spencer's heartbreak will leave you in tears
It's the anniversary of the biggest relationship on the show, and as a result, also ends up as the most significant breakup. Now I wasn't banking on an Emmy-winning performance, but Spencer sure gives it all in this heart-wrenching episode.
Emily gets Toby's apartment key and Spencer plans on spending her anniversary by surprising Toby. Tsk tsk, Toby is a criminal, and criminals can't afford surprises. Spencer and her mom conspire a plan, tell Toby a cover-up plan, and share a lasagna recipe, all for this momentous occasion — only to have Toby ruin it with his poor timing.
Earlier in the day, Spencer lies to Toby about the key she is keeping for the girls and puts it in the kitchen drawer. When she comes down into the dark kitchen later, she catches Toby red-handed. Her heartbreak seeps into her face, and Toby disappears into the wind.
The episode ends with Spencer pleading at Toby's doorstep, begging for him to say it was a mistake and he isn't who she think he is after seeing him in a famous "A"-style hoodie. Inside, Mona smirks and enjoys the anniversary dinner as Toby is nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, Spencer, who is the most put together of the bunch, is now as broken as anyone else. She really seemed to believe he was the one!
How did this episode make you feel, readers? I think it's a safe bet that Spencer and Toby are over, but is it going to be a clean breakup? How do you think the PLL crew is going to react?