RECAP: PRETTY LITTLE LIARS SEASON 5 EPISODE 3 – SURFING THE AFTERSHOCK

Credit: ABC FAMILY/Eric McCandless

The liars head back to Rosewood High, but school isn’t all that’s in session. Mrs. DiLaurentis’ funeral is also a hotspot in town.

Things got reflective in Season 5, Episode 3 (“Surfing the Aftershocks”) of Pretty Little Liars, as Hanna dwelled on the past, Ali worried about her future, and the Hastings argued about which historic, power-hungry family best serves as a metaphor for their current standoff with the DiLaurentis clan. And “Crazy” in Rosewood “works on a sliding scale,” according to Spencer,  Boy is she right!

This week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars opens right up to the aftermath of discovering the body of Ali’s mother. The opening sequence shows Ali lying in bed for days while he friends visit and try to get to eat or drink to no avail. She remains this way up until the day of Jessica’s funeral. Ali’s return to Rosewood has not been easy on her in the slightest and while it’s tragic, it’s a bit nice to see these different and more complex sides to Ali’s personality.

While waiting for Ali to get dressed, the girls begin a round of “Whodunit?” when discussing Jessica’s murder. Emily thinks it was Jason, Aria blames it on the deceased “A,”; meanwhile Spencer is absolutely certain that it wasn’t Jason. In this episode Spencer really tries to protect him. When Alison comes downstairs in a black dress, Kenneth flips out on her and tells her to go change. Alison cries that she just wants to wear her mom’s dress. After Kenneth and Jason storm out, Spencer explains to Alison that the dress she is wearing is the same one that Mrs. DiLaurentis wore to her funeral.

The episode skips right over the funeral. The girls are back at school and it doesn’t take long before Mona pounces on them with a “Get Well” card for Mr. Fitz and a side of blackmail to go along with it.

It appears that Emily has a new Swimfan in her life. Sydney just started at Rosewood and wants Emily to watch her while she swims. Not in a creepy way, more in an “I need help with my form” way. For now, at least.

After school Ali and Hannah head to the funeral home to pick up the guest book when Hannah is mistaken for Ali by the funeral director. Alison jokes that it used to be a lot easier to tell them apart. This brings Hannah’s insecurities to the surface as she remembers her days as “Hefty Hannah.” It’s been clear for over a season now that Hannah has been struggling with Ali being alive. We have a feeling we’re about to see a huge identity crisis go down with Hannah.

Meanwhile at home Spencer is watching the DiLaurentis house out the window, and Melissa teases her that they might throw a rock at her if they catch her. Spencer asks Melissa if she thinks Jason killed his mom, and Melissa does. Melissa threatens Spencer to stay away from the DiLaurentis family and says she wishes Spencer left Alison where she found her.

Aria has decided to head over to Ezra’s apartment when she thinks he is still in New York. She keeps insisting they are no longer together and if that’s the case then it’s pretty weird that she would go to his apartment. Before she has a chance to break in, though, Ezra emerges from his apartment. Apparently he has no clue that Shana is dead and warns Aria about how dangerous she is. Right now would have been the opportune moment to speak up, Aria. Thankfully she returns later on to tell him the truth. That’s a secret we really had no desire to see dragged out.

That night Hannah and Emily head to Philadelphia to investigate the place they followed Jason to in last week’s episode. All they find is that same crazy old man who confirms that Jason used it as a safe house to get sober in.

Later Spencer finds Jason in his house, packing his bags. He says he is leaving because he thinks his house is haunted; it is messing with his mind seeing Alison around the house. Spencer shows Jason the email that Jessica sent the night she died, saying, “I can’t protect you anymore.” Spencer speculates that his Mom was killed by whoever she “couldn’t protect anymore.” Jason warns Spencer to just “cut her losses and get out while she still can.” Before he leaves he reminds Spencer not to trust her father.

Alison pays Ezra a visit and tells him that she is glad he didn’t die. She gives him back his manuscripts and tells him that she knows there is more information from all of the watching and listening that he did. He says if there is any info, he is saving it to help Aria. Alison teases that he should keep the info safe.

Back in Rosewood Hanna and Emily head to the café. Hanna sees Mona and calls her out. She wants to know why Mona took her to glamour boot camp and tried to turn her into Alison. Mona says that she should be thankful she changed her. And Alison is walking down the street in the dark and runs into Mr. Hastings. He can’t believe she is out alone at night after what just happened to her. He wants to give her a ride home to make sure she is safe. (This is not creepy! Uhm not at all!)

At the Hastings household, Spencer’s Dad returns home; Spencer shows him the email that says, “I can’t protect you anymore.” He folds the paper up. Melissa storms in and tells Spencer to leave their Dad alone. She takes the email from her Dad and tears it up. Mr. Hastings tells them both to stop arguing and he doesn’t want any more “friendly fire.” Melissa tells her Dad that maybe they should tell Spencer the truth. Mr. Hastings shuts her down and tells Spencer to go upstairs.

The episode ends with Hannah heading straight to the hair salon for a new ‘do. We guess all those Mona flashbacks really went to her head. We always love a good makeover, though. Little does she know Mona and someone else are watching her through a foggy window.

Clues

— Noel Kahn was mentioned not once, but twice in this episode! Sign of things to come, clue that he is more deeply involved in the “A” game than we ever imagined, or just evidence of how much everyone misses the studly Brant Daugherty?

— Was Alison’s funeral faux pas just an awkward coincidence or something more? Did Ali know that her mother had worn that outfit? And, if so, what purpose would she have served in wearing it? It certainly angered her father. Should we be keeping a closer eye on Mr. DiLaurentis?

— Melissa told Spencer: “People are capable of all sorts of things. Under the right pressure.” Was she referring to herself? Did she kill Mrs. DiLaurentis? At this point, this answer seems too obvious, given all of the clues the show has dropped. Mrs. Hastings was the only Hastings not in this ep. Could she be the person Melissa and her father are trying to protect? She was at the scene of the burial in last week’s episode when Mrs. D.’s body was found. At the time, it didn’t seem suspicious — she does live next door — but could this have been a clue?

— Was that painting that had Ali so freaked out at the funeral home the same one that was at Ezra’s mom’s art show and then in Ravenswood? We think so. Where did Ali run off to when she saw it? Is the painting some kind of signal for Ali to meet with someone and, if so, who?

— Who was Mona hanging with at the end of tonight’s episode? Was it Alison, as it appeared to be? Was it Ali’s twin? Was it CeCe? Or was it Hanna? Oy vey! So many people look alike on this show.

— If Mona is in cahoots with Ali’s twin, then it makes Mona’s makeover of Hanna to look just like Ali even more suspicious. Did Ali’s twin convince Mona to make Hanna over so that she would have a doppelganger in Rosewood, perhaps making it easier for her to move about unnoticed?

— What happened during Ali’s ride home with Mr. Hastings? It felt strange for the show to tease this suspenseful plot development only to leave us hanging. Is anyone else getting Veronica Mars feels from this storyline? We hope we’re wrong here.

Other Things To Be Discussed

— What happened to Shana’s body? If the police found it at the end of the Season 5 premiere, shouldn’t this have been in the news already? At the very least, Ezra should have caught wind of it given that it happened in his family’s theater. And didn’t Holbrook know Ali was at the theater that night after Ali picked up his phone call? So many lingering questions!

Moment of Wisdom

— Jason’s “Do you wanna be right or do you wanna be happy?”

— Emily’s “I wasn’t becoming something else. I was becoming who I really am.”

Line of the night:

‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water…It Can Also Be Very Slippery’ – “We can just put a koi pond out back, somebody already dug a hole,” Spencer says about the Mrs. D crime scene.

Catch the next episode of Pretty Little Liars on July 1, 2014 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. And click here for the promo.

 

Photo credit: ABC Family

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