Pretty Little Liars - A Hot Piece of A

Whoa, Hanna is so protective of Caleb. We thought she was going to bite the other girls’ heads off when they suggested Caleb hack the phone. Was Ashley Benson’s yelling a little too much? It sounded inauthentic to us at some moments.

Emily is finishing community service at a crisis helpline. Is that REALLY a good idea? Having juvenile delinquents counsel people going through crises? It’s like the troubled leading the troubled. Ern mildly wondered if that was actually a thing you could volunteer for if you don’t have any psychological qualifications. Ern is pretty much ONLY good to people in a crisis. It’s important to mix tough love with coddling and good TV recommendations to distract you through the hard times, right?

One of our favorite parts was when Aria’s dad busted her for her inappropriate outfit. Knee-highs are total slutwear, not schoolwear. They are for Halloween and the bedroom only. But they are no more outlandish than what Aria usually wears. Mr. Montgomery’s intervention was long overdue. If we can get rid of the tacky feathers AND Ezra, Aria might become a character we enjoy.

We have mixed feelings about the Ezra/Aria plotline right now. On the one hand, it’s phenomenal to see the Montgomery parents saying everything we’ve been thinking about the couple and trying to shut the lovers down. We’ve been waiting for the Montgomery olds to find out about this for AGES. On the other hand, the show is spending a lot of time on their drama. It felt like nearly half the episode revolved around them. We thought creepy thoughts when Aria’s dad told Ezra, “You were there for my daughter in a way her parents couldn’t be.” Ewww.

Hanna and Emily spent time studying for/taking tests. How do these girls still have the time and energy to care about grades? If someone was stalking and trying to kill us, we are pretty sure our GPAs would take a major hit. Ezra cut Aria off, because of her parents’ threats to go to the police. Aria decided to act like clingy, depressed Bella Swan in the second Twilight book and never let Ezra go. She called him multiple times, telling him to be patient. We know a new guy, Holden, is now in the picture, but we don’t think Ezra/Aria are over.

We were shocked when the caller was Lucas. It seems like he is the person who attacked Emily in the greenhouse as well. We are kind of sad, because we liked him. Instead of going right up to him and beating the poopies out of him, Emily was all nice and advised him not to do something he would regret to Hanna. Of course, there is an obvious ambiguity here. Lucas’ words fit his love triangle with Hanna and Caleb just as much as they fit a possible collaboration with A. For the record, one of us doesn't think that Lucas attacked Emily in the greenhouse. 

How dumb was Hanna for going out on the lake with him? It’s one thing not to believe he’s bad. But it’s another to take obvious risks when you should be keeping your eyes open, due to warnings. Even though Lucas probably isn’t as bad or involved with A as he seems, Hanna jumped the gun and nearly freaking killed him. Heck, she might have actually killed him. She knocked him on the head with an oar and he fell into the water.

The episode ended with Lucas underwater, the rowboat overturned. Ern was ticked that there was a such a big cliffhanger. It’s hard enough to wait week-to-week. Leeard doesn’t mind cliffhangers if they don’t come on a season finale. She can wait a week. In other news, Jenna left for Boston to get an eye operation and isn’t talking to Garrett. Spencer made out with Toby (yesssss). Noel Kahn and Mona are dating again. So far, the second half of the season is delivering revelations and action at a fast pace.

Episode grade: B+