Pretty Little Liars - UnmAsked

What happened - The Liars get a clue that leads them to a hotel in the woods outside of town. The whole thing turns into a mini homage to Psycho when the girls stay there and Hanna takes a shower. They find out that Alison was stalking A and stayed in an adjacent room the day she died. They leave the creepy hotel and go to a Masquerade Ball at their high school. Mona gets Caleb to attend, and Spencer tells Mona she is a good friend for doing so. Then Spencer figures out that A rented a room at Hotel Creepy for months and surmises that this is A’s lair. Spencer grabs Mona, and the two drive back to the hotel.

We see A’s lair, and it is impossibly scary. It has pictures of the girls and Ali everywhere (with their eyes cut out). It has creepy dolls, masks, and all sorts of nasty things. It’s like the guy’s lair in Se7en, only less bloody. Mona finds a picture of a masquerade gown in the style of Black Swan. Spencer tells Mona to call Hanna and tell her to look out for someone dressed like that. We see someone is there dressed like that, and she is surrounded by Jenna and Lucas.

Ezra shows up at the ball and says he can’t stay away from Aria. Ugh. Paige tries to get Emily to date her again, and it’s adorable. Back at the hotel, Spencer realizes that Mona is A, since she finds a gum wrapper for gum that Mona often chews. Mona runs to the car and comes back wearing a black hoodie. Mona is A! Mona delivers a slap that knocks Spencer out, and then Mona puts Spencer in her car. When Spencer wakes up, Mona tells Spencer that she can join the A team or suffer the consequences. Spencer video chats the conversation to Aria, and the Liars jump in the car to go to Hanna’s rescue.

Mona monologues that she wants revenge on the Liars for taking her only friend, Hanna, and she also wants revenge on Alison for bullying her. Additionally, the Liars didn’t stop Ali from bullying Mona. It makes sense, right? Spencer escapes Mona. Hanna shows up, driving her car, and almost hits Mona. Then Spencer accidentally throws Mona off a cliff. Mona survives, intact. Cops and ambulances arrive, and so does Dr. Anne Sullivan.

Dr. Sullivan says that A threatened her son, and that Mona is crazy because she has adrenaline spikes keeping her in a constant state of hyperreality. Also, Mona is a genius. Mona is sent to a mental institution where someone comes to visit her, and we find out that Mona has been taking orders from this someone. There is a bigger A or someone controlling A. But why? Who else needs revenge that badly? Toby and Spencer reunited and kiss. Then Maya’s dead body is found, dead and buried at Emily’s house.

Comments - We hope you enjoy your job in the fast food industry, Ezra, while you molest your child girlfriend. Ugh. What is he thinking. That slap Mona gave Spencer wouldn’t knock anyone out. It was straight from her stick arm and didn’t come from the body at all. It was just a swipe, like you would swipe at a fly. We can’t believe the showrunners didn’t teach Mona a proper fake hit or that they went with that take. It totally broke the illusion of reality for us. It took one of us out of the show for a second.

So, there are multiple As. We already knew that from the books and common sense. But we’re glad that the show has revealed one of them. Leeard is okay that it’s Mona, but Ern feels really cheated and disappointed. We are both glad that Maya is dead, obviously, because she was a jerk. We loved Emily’s acting when she found out the news of Maya. We still don’t know who was dressed as the black swan or why A had a picture of her costume in her lair.

What’s up for season three?

According to the showrunners, we will see more of Mona. Maya’s death is one of the season three mysteries. Aria and Ezra are “closer than ever” and we will see Ezra’s family (mother, father, and brother). That brother better be hot. Melissa will have her baby. They will keep Jenna’s sight a secret from the PLLs for now. We will also find out more about Lucas. Of course, all this is merely possible seeing as people from this show have lied to us before (they said A wasn’t who she was in the books). Take it with a grain of salt.

Episode grade: B