Pretty Little Liars- Season 3, Episode 23

I'm Your Puppet- We could hardly even process this episode, it was so twisty and brilliant. We had to re-watch a couple of scenes to even figure out what actually happened. If this is the penultimate episode, we can't wait for next week.



The scene with Spencer and Ali in the hospital was appropriately creepy and slightly romantic, and the revelation that Spencer has been tonguing her meds made it seem like the girl might really be crazy. Or she's faking insanity in order to spy on the A-Team. More on that later. She has to be questioning why she's hallucinating Ali if she's faking. Or was it the real Ali? Or a dream? (Didn't seem like one this time.) Or just a fantasy.

We found out that CeCe was an enemy of Ali because Ali got her thrown out of college. CeCe was meeting with Mona in Radley. We guess that pretty much seals CeCe's status as an A-Team member. Fabulous (no sarcasm). Dr. Wren helped Mona get her unauthorized visitor. Wren, you need to stop being dumb. We like the show pitting Wren and Eddie against each other a little.

We also found out that Veronica saw Ali, scared and secretive, with a blood lip right before she died. We still don't know if Toby is dead, but we are starting to like the idea that maybe he is. It would be unexpected. Unless the real twist tops his actual death, this whole plot is going to feel cheap.

One surprise? Caleb's dad isn't a thief. "A" strikes again. The scene where Caleb yelled at his dad further confirmed that the actor playing him is able to take this show to the next level. It didn't even feel like PLL for a second there, the acting was so genuine (not that most of the acting on this show is terrible; it's just average).

Aria spends the episode realizing that she needs to back away from Ezra after someone from the A-Team temporarily kidnaps Malcolm. The big shock of the episode was that Spencer said yes to Mona's offer to join the A-Team. It was Spencer who stole Malcolm from karate. She has a black hoodie and tickets to that puppet show hidden away in Radley. Oooh, eerie. So the question is whether Spencer is really insane.

Or is she just playing along to get information about her enemies, which would be a typical sneaky and brilliant Spencer move. It's probably that, but the scene with Ali makes it more possible that she's just been driven off the edge. Either way, Aria is finally going to care about what the A-Team is up to (as opposed to hanging out in Ezra's apartment). She's going to be so mad at Spence. We don't believe she and Ezra have broken up permanently for a second. It's happened too many times before.

Plenty of twists, psychological intrigue, characters plotting, a lack of the annoying Wilden, heartbreak for Hanna and Caleb, and a temporary Ezria hiatus? That's PLL at its best.

Episode grade: A+