Pretty Little Liars - S4E3 - Cat’s Cradle
Just like the past two episodes, Episode 3 of Season 4 was a very slow one; however, it was slightly more exciting than the previous episodes. One-fifth of the episode had passed and not only is Mona gone, but it is obvious that this new A has it out for the moms. The girls seemed to be enjoying not having Mona breathing down their neck though. However, just as a potential threat can leave, an old one can reappear.
The episode opened up with Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer looking through another box of Alison’s things as they converse about the parrot that can apparently sing phone numbers and Wilden, who was found dead previous episodes ago. While Aria is fixating on how her mother is getting some opposed to herself, Spencer’s face and the tone of her voice just screams judgment because she should be focused on the task at hand: figuring out who ‘A’ is. This is something that this episode seems to stray away from seeing as it opens the doors to more questions than answers.
More conflict arises for the girls when they see that Melissa Hastings is back. And off the couch. The two sisters share some uneasy words surrounding Melissa’s internship that may or may not be in the States. However, all Spencer hears is that it’s far from Rosewood and it seems more like a getaway, especially with Wilden being dead.
“It might be time for both of us to get out of this little town… if we know what’s good for us.”
Melissa may not be such a threat as most assume. It seems as if she’s trying to help her sister oppose to harm her, but then again you can never know with this show.
A’s latest desire seems to be with destroying the lives of the girls’ mothers. Ashley Marin and Pam Fields were not so lucky. Aria’s mother, Ella, seems to be the lucky one, excluding Spencer’s mom. She gets invited to Vienna by her boyfriend (who I forgot even existed). At first, Aria decides to leave the decision to her mother, but encourages her to go with him to Vienna after ‘A’ gives her a heads up about her plans to ruin the mother’s lives (Yes, ‘A’ is a female. No male will go to this extent to ruin a person’s life). It looks like someone’s going to get her cougar on.
Meanwhile, Aria’s new relationship with her new boy toy, Jake (who looks like a younger version of The Governor from The Walking Dead), is blooming. She goes on a date with him watching a black and white film where the obvious difference between Jaria and Ezria occur: Jake actually pulls Aria out of her comfort zone. They obviously don’t have much in common unlike she did with Ezra. I think it’d be interesting to see how this relationship progresses.
Ashley continues to do what her daughter has done to her so many times before: looking her in the eye and spurting lies. One of these lies involve her going to a Broadway show which Hanna discover was in fact a lie when she finds a note in a wastebasket that suggests so. Upon telling Caleb about this, Caleb took it upon himself to talk to Mr. Marin. Ashley needs an attorney and Hanna needs her father to support them. Brushing Caleb off at first, Mr. Martin does eventually give Caleb some information about Hanna’s mother. Ashley came to his home office the night she was supposed to be in New York and asked for an amount of money that one would not be able to repay back… unless you’re Bill Gates. Of course, Mr. Martin was not able to help her; however, he noticed that his gun was missing from his desk later on in the night. Everything that deals with Ashley seems to be involving some legal trouble. Give the woman a break.
Unlike Ashley’s, Pam’s trouble seems to collide with Emily’s storyline: How to Make Yourself Look like a Druggie a Book by Emily Fields. After Emily stumbles over a lie on how she got the bruise and slips out that she has been taking same drugs that were not prescribed to her, Pam gets a call from the doctor. We find out that the drugs she had been taking were her mother’s when she confronts Emily about how seven of her pills have gone missing. Emily’s refusal to talk things out causes Pam to get physical as she tries to pull her daughter to the car (she’s actually pleading to her daughter). Let’s just say Emily is so lucky to have Pam as her mom. My mom would have beaten me in front of everyone WHILE dragged me to the car. No debating, no pleading. Hours later, Emily’s finds out that ‘A’ called Family Services on her mother and father because of what went down in front of the school and has happened to Emily in recent seasons. It looks like ‘A’ is wanting Pam to get put in jail seeing as Emily gets a text of Pam photo shopped behind bars.
Earlier in the episode, Hanna is seen taking advice from Caleb and going to talk to an attorney. According to him, “the ground isn’t very solid right now”. Seriously, who talks like that? At the police station, Hanna sees and walks right into a room and sees Wilden’s death chart. Pretty much everyone who we have been introduce to in the A world, death or alive, are connected by a massive series of lines… and of course, those lines go right back to Wilden. The police are onto the girls. They aren’t that slick. Hanna gets caught trying to take a picture of the board and is escorted out of the room, only to see Melissa who the detective has an appointment with. Melissa, why are you everywhere?
This episode also centered on Toby in his search for answers about his mom. I wasn’t really interested in this story arc… just like I wasn’t interested in Caleb’s storyline. I just feel like it’s a way to get to know Toby more; but everyone loves him already, so there is no point. Spencer and Toby go and investigate to confirm the facts that were given to them about Toby’s mother from ‘A’. According to those files, she was a patient at the same mental hospital Spencer and Mona attended and committed suicide by jumped out a window. Toby and Spencer decides to investigate just to be sure… by breaking into Radley. Radley is a mental hospital. It should not be THAT easy to sneak in and out of. Just watching that scene made me wonder if every Saturday patients grab their Alprazolam and go clubbing. After a while of thinking that they came for nothing, Nancy Drew speculates the jump and the fifteen feet of roof below the window. Obviously, it wouldn’t be a clean jump. Spencer has a theory that Toby’s mom didn’t jump and advices Toby to talk to someone who saw his mother that day.
Meanwhile, Emily, Hanna, and Aria do a bit of investigating on their own. Emily and Aria discovers that the decorated mask looks a lot like Alison along with it is the mask maker’s address. Hanna immediately goes all Alpha female and takes charge, telling the girls that they need to go to the address without Spencer right now…at night…ALONE. And of course, once they get there, they are trying to figure out a plan. THIS is why you need Spencer, Hanna.
A creepy man who gave me The Silence of the Lambs creeps allowed them to come into his studio. Obviously, they have not learned much from the incident with Meredith. He goes on to telling Emily something that I can actually hear many of my guy friends using as a pick-up line.
“You would make a great Medusa…. I want your face.”
Perverted, but true; who wouldn’t want Shay Mitchell’s face. She’s gorgeous. In exchange for Emily’s face, he gives them whatever information they want. From there on, he is making a mask of Emily’s face and Hanna begins wandering all alone in his studio to do some snooping. We learn more of how conceited Alison was (she wanted to make multiple masks so her friends could look like her) and Hanna finds a mask that looks just like Melissa in his studio. This raises the question of why she made a mask, and whether or not Melissa followed Alison, vice versa, or they went together.
Just as always, it’s not an official ending to Pretty Little Liars without an ‘A’ moment. This A is seen with Emily’s shoulder x-ray, which makes me question what’s next for these liars and Emily in particular. What did you think of this episode of Pretty Little Liars and of the season so far? Any ideas on what’s next for these Liars?
