This week tvtag's pairing up with Jaymie Bailey of All Things PLL to discuss the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars, "Whirly Girlie." Caution, spoilers ahead!
VB: More Lies! Ali tells Holbrook she was kidnapped and says she did so to protect Aria. Do you think she's just protecting herself? Will Holbrook figure it out?
JB: Alison still relies on her old ways. I think she's protecting herself, but I think a piece of her wants to protect the people who really love her most. The Liars have done nothing but mourn the "death" of their best friend and reap what she's sewn. Now they have to cope with her back in their world. She picked Spencer, Hanna, Emily and Aria to be her friends for a reason.
With this new lie [Alison's] back at the center of attention. She's protecting Aria by not telling the truth, but she's also covering for herself. No one will really know what happened unless Alison spills the beans.
In regards to Holbrook, the only way he's going to find out the whole truth is if the girls break, and they are the expert Liars here! He knows something is off about Alison's story, but I don't think he's going to quite put his finger on what happened. The real question is, how long will Aria last before she confesses?
I got chills when Shana's violin performances popped up on Aria's iPod! I'm dying to know who added them. Aria' showing signs of unraveling.
Aria's guilt is going to consume her in a HUGE way! But I think this is how the writers are going to pull Ezra back into the picture. By no means is Ezra innocent in this situation, but I think he has genuine feelings for [Aria], and I think he truly regrets his actions. The question is will Aria let Ezra be there for her?
That's a good point, all the Liars have a habit of closing off the men in their lives. I. Marlene King recently revealed to E! that Ezra will soon return to Rosewood. It will be interesting to see how "Ezria" fares with Alison back. Ali had time to butt heads with Spencer and Emily too: Spencer's breaking away from "Planet Alison" while Emily's back in Mother Hen mode.
Spencer sort of evolved into the "leader" of the Liars, in terms of case-solving, etc. so it's likely to be a major challenge for her now that Alison is back in town.
Emily, however, will always be that Mother Hen figure when it comes to Alison. She has a part of her heart reserved, so this will definitely come into play with Alison back in their lives. Spencer and Emily will definitely have a few arguments along the way when it comes to Alison, but I think they will come together to take down the true villAin.
Speaking of villains -- Mona's exchange with Ali at the cemetery was intense and one of the best scenes of the night. She's all over the map this week: openly texting Ali threatening messages, playing nice with Mike, taking up the cause of self-defense and assault-awareness. Will we ever figure out what is going on inside her calculating brain?
The Mona/Alison scene [is] nothing less than pure genius. Mona's part of this "A" game, but since it was stolen from her I don't think Mona knows as much as she thinks she does. Everything changed for Mona once Alison disappeared, and I think she will do everything in her power to see Alison fall. From this point forward, it will be Mona vs. Alison, and I can't wait to see things explode in Rosewood! Everything she has done up to this point was to keep Alison away and seek revenge for how she'd been treated. Which side is Mona truly on? She's Team Mona.
Alright, now I've got to get on CafePress ASAP and make a Mona's Army tee. We saved the biggest moment of the night for last: the discovery of Mrs. DiLaurentis' body! We saw her being buried in last season's finale but I admit I still had hopes it was a ruse so she could escape Rosewood. What will her death mean for the show?
The death of [Alison's] mother will change her attitude and character tremendously. In order to cope Alison is going to rely on the Liars now more than ever. The rest of her family is also becoming more suspicious in the eyes of the Liars.
Even though this is a major, horrible life change for Alison the death of her mother puts her at the center of attention. Did anyone else see the almost-grin on Alison's face as the camera panned away? She's back in Rosewood, and she's going to be more popular than ever.
I caught that -- it was eerie. She looked genuinely upset at first and then as the realization sinks in that this is going to make her HUGE, the real Alison slowly uncurls on her face. Some amazing acting from Sasha Pieterse this week, really the whole cast -- I'm thrilled so many of them have been nominated for Teen Choice Awards. There's promise for even more drama in teasers for next week's episode, "Surfing the Aftershocks," we can't wait!
Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8pm on ABC Family. Image used with express permission.