With the realization that
Alison was framed for Mona’s murder, the Liars (minus Hanna) do the
unthinkable. The three confront the Queen Bee herself in prison and…ask for
forgiveness? Yep, apparently in Rosewood, borderline sociopaths deserve an
apology after false accusations are made, even if everything else that has ever
come out of their mouths has been one gigantic lie after another. Boy, after
all the emotional torment they all suffered at Alison’s hands, are the Liars
forgiving or what? Thankfully, Aria stands as the voice of reason, pointing out
the absurdity of the situation. Alison’s been about as loving and caring to the
girls as a freaking wolverine.
To only make matters worse,
the Liars throw Mike under the bus by confessing to Alison of Mona’s plan
before she was murdered. This new knowledge not only sets up Mike to become a
hostile witness for Ali’s defense, but it also puts a massive bull’s-eye on his
back in the fight against “A”. Aria turns to Mrs. Hastings for legal advice,
and she comes to the horrifying conclusion that charges could be brought
against her brother if he’s forced to confess on the witness stand at Ali’s
trial.
Things thankfully aren’t
nearly as devastating for Emily, but it’s still eventful to say the least.
After Emily reconciles with Talia, her on-again/off-again beau quits her job at
the Brew, separates from her husband, and subsequently crashes at Emily’s
place. Geez, hasty much? That girl would be dangerous at a bidding auction.
With her impulsiveness, she’d walk away with every item, not to mention an
empty bank account.
The talented Ms. Fields
continues to show off her killer dance moves as she practices for the Glass
Slipper pageant. Talia crashes the rehearsal and the two share an intimate
moment that soon gets interrupted by Clare, a pageant coordinator, who tells
Emily that her connection to Alison jeopardizes the pageant. Talia doesn’t take
kindly to Clare’s “suggestion” that Emily should drop out of the competition,
and she implies ramifications for Emily’s mistreatment. Break out the cat
claws. Reow!
Aria seeks out Hanna’s help
in confronting Cyrus Petrillo. As it just so happens, Mr. Petrillo was recently
hospitalized after an “accident” occurred while working as a mechanic. The
girls go to visit him, discovering he was severely burned. Aria pleads with the
bound and bloodied A-team member for any information on what happened to him.
He only manages to scribble now a single word on a gauze package, reading, “Varjack”. And here, the plot only thickens.
Considering Alison’s adoration for Breakfast
at Tiffany’s, it only seems fitting that “A”’s new alias would be inspired
by the character Paul Varjak. Cyrus’s spelling also lends another helpful hint.
He clearly hasn’t seen the name written out to know how to spell it correctly,
implying that he’s conducted business with “A” face to face. A very determined
nurse though forces Aria and Hanna out of the burn unit before they can get
anything else out of Cyrus, leaving him alone to recuperate…or not. After the
room empties out, a fellow burn unit patient (who’s conveniently concealed by
bandages) rises from their hospital bed and stands forebodingly over Cyrus.
Then, at the worst moment
possible, Spencer gets whisked away to London for her interview at Oxford. Everything
goes swimmingly until “A”’s handiwork bites her in the butt. A mysterious vial
of blood planted by “A” breaks in her purse and leaks all over the chair in
front of Spencer’s interviewing professor. Not exactly the best first
impression to make. She flees from the interview and freaks out, only to
receive a text from “A” threatening to tamper with Spencer’s carry-on luggage
on her flight back home.
Aria does a little detective
work in Mike’s room, and something stuck to her brother’s dartboard catches her
eye. She climbs on top of Mike’s gym equipment in order to reach the note, but
the whole setup collapses right under her. Crashing to the floor, Aria’s met
with a concerned Andrew charging upstairs to her rescue. As he makes sure she’s
alright, he takes a look at the contraption and something particularly alarming
draws his attention. Apparently, the nuts and bolts on Mike’s weightlifting
equipment don’t match up with one another. If the youngest Montgomery had used
the device, the weights would have unquestionably crushed his skull, revealing
the purpose of “A”’s visit to his bedroom in the previous episode. Aria’s
emotions get the best of her at the heart wrenching revelation, and Andrew goes
into full-on Prince Charming mode, bandaging her beaten foot before planting a
kiss on her. Awww. Still don’t trust the fella though. Can you really overlook
his “All the President’s Men” plot reference about receiving messages an
all-knowing shadowy figure? Be smarter than that, Aria.
“A” truly has eyes
everywhere. Alison receives two threats from the notorious evildoer, from
prison! How exactly does this evil mastermind pull off all these elaborate
scenarios? When you can’t even give an inmate a magazine, how do you get a creepy
doll inside? Even in the midst of all the drama though, Hanna finally surrenders
into visiting Ali, in which Alison actually apologizes to her! Hell may have
seriously just frozen over here, people. The show closes with something in the
DeLaurentis file catching Mrs. Hastings’s attention, warranting a call to her
youngest daughter with a plea for Spencer to cancel her flight back home.
Uh-oh. Whatever this development may bring, it’s certainly going to give
Spencer some alone time together with Wren’s charming flat mate, Colin.
Ooh-la-la.
“Bloody Hell” certainly
raises the stakes for the upcoming reveal, but with the exclusion of Alison’s
scenes, the episode does meander a bit with the relationship portion of the
runtime. With the exception of Andrew, where are the rest of Rosewood’s
familiar male faces? Caleb’s M.I.A., Ezra’s been conveniently out of town or
off of work (despite running The Brew), Toby won’t show up unless someone’s
being arrested, and newbie Jonny apparently is too busy finding more holy
shirts to wear that he can’t make an appearance. There are so many potential
love interests for Spencer that she’s not just having her cake and eating it,
she’s practically inhaling several
others. Slow down there, honey. You’ll get a tummy ache. Alison’s confession to
Hanna, however, hits every high note. Alison finally discovers just how
uncomfortable it is walking in someone else’s shoes, and finally hearing the
Queen Bee admit to her previous wrongdoings is the moment fans have been
waiting for. Is there redemption for Ali after all?
Pretty
Little Liars: “Bloody Hell” Rating: B
