Previously: Ali went back to school and someone exploded Toby’s house.
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Run Ali Run
Marines: We pick this episode up right where we left off last time, with everyone looking at Toby’s house on fire. Their phones all ring and it’s a text message from A: Did you miss me, bitches? Um, actually no. Emily is still like, “but Shana is dead!” because even though a house is exploding in front of them, apparently we’re still going to find it hard to believe that A is STILL a thing.
Jessica: This attitude just explains why in 5 seasons, we’re no closer to finding out what the hell is going on with this A person/people than we were in Season 1, Episode 1.
Mari: As they look on and wonder where Toby went, the house explodes some more.
SHHHHHH.
After the credits, the girls are all in Emily’s room freaking out. Emily is still on the “but Shana is dead!” train and Aria reminds her that Shana never really admitted to be being A. So, the girls are finally twigging to the fact that A is “back.” Or as Spencer puts it, A took a nap and just woke up. That’s about the level of ridiculousness this plot point represents.
Rosewood’s One Coffee Shop. The next morning, Hanna is grabbing a coffee when she sees Caleb eating a muffin at one of the tables. She approaches him and it’s a little awkward, but they have this house explosion to talk about and it bridges the gap of ex awkwardness. (J: If only we all had explosions to erase the awkwardness of meeting exes.) Hanna wonders why A would explode Toby’s house when they were all just a few doors down. Caleb shows Hanna the newspaper. The headline is about a natural gas leak causing the explosion and Hanna can’t believe the cops aren’t going to investigate any further. Caleb knows what’s up and says the Rosewood cops should be riding around in clown cars. Pretty fitting for the LOLPD. (J: It was gangs on PCP!)
Caleb thinks the girls should tell the LOLPD A was behind the explosion but Hanna doesn’t want to because they don’t have a name or a face to report. Caleb says this isn’t a game anymore because A blew up a house. I can’t explain why that made me laugh a lot. I mean, I can: EVERYTHING IS RIDICULOUS. Anyway, Hanna says they can’t tell on A because it would unravel a lot. Things aren’t the same as when Caleb left. He takes this opportunity to say he’ll be leaving town again soon. Hanna is bummed.
Pedopartment. Aria is freaking out because she killed Shana who, it turns out, wasn’t A. Ezra distractedly tries to calm her down as he looks through a bunch of papers, trying to find a connection between Bethany Young (the body identified in Alison’s grave) and Mrs. DiLaurentis. Bethany was a patient at Radley and Mrs. D was on the board there. Bethany was buried in the spot where Alison was buried. Aria thinks this all means that A killed Bethany and Mrs. D. Ezra interviewed some people while he was writing his book and he’s sure the name Bethany Young came up but can’t remember in which file. Aria very calmly says she’ll help him look through the files after school. So we are forgetting that these are his STALKER files and he lied to her for FOREVER?
J: We knew this amnesia was coming. But it doesn’t make it any less worse.
Mari: Hastings House. Spencer goes into her room to collect some books and her creepy dad sneaks up behind her. He wants to know why Mariska Mom and Spencer are staying in a hotel. Spencer wants out of this conversation, but Papa Hastings won’t back down. Spencer explains that they know he’s a lying liar who lies and also that the same kind of medicine that killed Mrs. D is also in their medicine cabinet. Papa Hastings is like, “woah woah woah. I would do a lot to protect you, but I ain’t gonna kill anyone.” Spencer asks why he lied about where he was that night then.
We cut to lunchtime at Rosewood All Lunchtime All the Time High. Spencer is telling Aria the rest of the story– that Papa Hastings claimed that he just drove to the lake with Melissa to talk. By the lake. He didn’t say what about though and Melissa isn’t answering her calls. Aria gets a phone call from Ezra and basically it was just him calling to say he didn’t find out anything about Bethany. Spencer is suspicious and presses Aria until she confesses that she had a slip or two with Ezra.
The other girls arrive at the table all looking a little shaken. Someone dropped their lunch tray while they were in line and Emily nearly jumped out of her skin. As they sit and chat, Ali gets a video message. She holds out her phone so everyone can see. I think it’s Mrs. D in a grave, a shovel-full of dirt thrown on her body. A message pops up: I buried your mom the same way I watched her bury you. -A
Marin House. I like that a really shocking thing happened at lunch but they wait until after school to have shock about it. (J: In my head canon, they finished the rest of their lunch in silence, went to class (or not) in silence, drove in silence all the way to Hanna’s house, then started talking.) Ali says that A killed her mother and Spencer starts to cry because she’s been falsely accusing her father of murder. It’s okay, girl. Everyone in your family does it. Hell, everyone in this town does it. Aria makes things worse by saying that Papa Hastings might still be a murderer if he is also A. Thanks, Aria.
Ali says they are back at square one. (J: Aaagh!!! Why??? Are they basically just starting the entire show over again, but now with Ali alive??) Aria mentions Ezra trying to find something out about Bethany and the girls agree that seems to be their best lead. Ali wants to peace out of Rosewood, but her friends tell her she can’t leave because the cops are watching her every move. Everyone knows she’s alive now so even if she ran away, there is nowhere to hide.
Radley. Spencer is the waiting room and the woman detective whose name I can’t remember is there. She’s yelling at a man about his lack of cooperation and tells him to call if he changes his mind. Spencer tries to look all casual in the waiting room and thankfully the detective is too busy storming out to notice how not casual Spencer is being.
A second later, Eddie, the nurse Spencer made friends with, meets her. Spencer asks if he thinks it’s a coincidence that Bethany Young was buried in Mrs. D’s back yard. Eddie says probably not but that’s all he’ll say because he can’t discuss patients with anyone. Spencer insists but Eddies holds his non-HIPAA violating ground.
Ali is still freaking out so she’s staying with Hanna for the night. There is a knock on the door and Ali tells Hanna she should really check who is out there before opening. That’s actually really sound advice in Rosewood. It’s just Travis, though. Ali says she’ll wait in the kitchen and Hanna goes outside. Travis reminds Han that they have dinner plans but she totally spaced on them. She can’t go because Ali is staying over. Hanna apologizes for getting drunk at Lucas’s party and hopes she didn’t do anything too embarrassing. Travis says that she was just trying to call someone all night. He gives her the opportunity to say what that was about and to admit that something is not okay, but Hanna says everything is fine and sends him along with a kiss.
Inside, Hanna finds an empty kitchen. Ali is outside on a suspicious phone call. She hangs up when Hanna approaches. Hanna asks what’s up because it sounded a lot like Ali was making plans to go somewhere. Ali says she’s running away because A is the worst and the only way to deal with it is to not use your words and just keep running away or something. Hanna thinks that sounds awesome because she offers to help Ali.
Jessica: I had to laugh a bit at this. Any time Ali says she should leave, the other Liars are like “noooo” but this time Hanna’s all “yeah you should totally do that, in fact, you should go RIGHT NOW, let me help!”
Mari: Might as well give it a try.
Pedopartment. Ezra and Aria are going through files and having relationship chats. Ezra says their sex felt right or something and Aria says that while she misses it (and corrects herself to “us”) she can’t forget that he’s been lying to her for three years. Ezra’s like, “but I’m real sorry!” That isn’t enough for Aria. At the moment..
There’s a knock on the door and it’s the female detective who helpfully provides her name again: Detective Tanner. Aria sneaks off to go hide somewhere while Ezra stands suspiciously blocking the door. Tanner hands Ezra an envelop marked with his name that was outside his door. Ezra lets her in. Tanner is here to ask questions about Shana because apparently the LOLPD is helping the NYPD collect some information. Tanner asks if Ezra ever told Shana that his family owned a theater. She also points out that Ezra was shot the day before Shana died and she had some gun residue on her sweatshirt. Ezra plays dumb all, “what was the question?” Tanner asks if he remembers anything about his mugger and Ezra says no. On her way out, Tanner notices Aria’s jacket and purse.
Jessica: It was this same carelessness that Aria displayed when she was sneaking around Ezra’s cabin. That time, it lead to her running into the woods, and getting trapped on a ski lift in not-winter while Ezra presented her with the worst manuscript of all time. I can’t imagine that the consequences this time will be any better.
Mari: Rosewood Swim At All Hours High. Paige is the last girl in the pool and then the last girl in the locker room. Emily comes out of the shadows, like a creep, demanding that Paige hand over the names of everyone conspiring with Mona. Paige won’t, especially after seeing that video of Ali smacking Mona. Emily says that Mona altered that video, but Paige thinks no one made Ali say those things. Ali hasn’t changed a bit and is still manipulative and awful. Emily counters that whoever exploded the Cavanaugh house is after Ali. She lays some guilt on Paige because something may happen to Ali and somehow that might be partly Paige’s fault.
Spener and Mariska Mom are having dinner. Spencer is telling her mom that probably she should talk to Papa Hastings and, you know, tell him why they are breaking up. In fact, Spencer invited Papa Hastings to join them.
Marin Manor. Ali plans to take a train somewhere but Hanna wants to drive her instead. Hanna starts to pack a bag for Ali, but she wants to go home, see her dad one last time, and grab a few things for herself. Ali thanks Hanna for saving her and they hug.
Pedopartment. Aria is freaking out and moving boxes around in a nonsensical way. She’s just picking them up and putting them down again. She wants to move all this evidence out of there because she’s convinced that Tanner is coming back with a search warrant. Ezra seems pretty chill about it but guesses they could move this stuff into his storage unit. Aria says that’s not good enough because they’ll just search that too. Her brilliant plan is to move the stuff into her attic. Ezra sees the envelope from earlier. Inside is a hand drawn picture of a woman and a monster. Aria guesses it’s Mrs. DiLaurentis because the DiLaurentis house is in the background, the blonde woman in the foreground is tending her rose garden, and she’s wearing a scarf. Ezra turns the picture over and it’s signed Bethany. Aria asks who would want Ezra to have this, because she’s guessing A. Ezra is like, “well, I’m a professional stalker so I don’t have to guess. I have security cameras up in my hallway.”
Marin Manor. Hanna is counting a bunch of cash she took out for Alison when Emily storms in. Paige told her that Lucas and Melissa are working with Mona to take Ali down. EVERYONE NEEDS TO GET A DAMN LIFE.
Sorry.
Jessica: No, I totally agree. Don’t they even have sports in this town?
Mari: Sports, reading, musical instruments, knitting, underwater basket weaving, ANYTHING.
Hanna hides the wad of cash and tries to act real casual as she says that Ali went home to have dinner with her dad. Emily twigs to the weirdness and then sees a train ticket Ali left on Hanna’s desk. Emily pulls at the half-packed bag on Hanna’s bed. She figures out that Ali is planning on leaving and is pissed that Hanna wasn’t going to say anything about it. Hanna says that Ali isn’t safe, but Emily thinks Hanna has ulterior motives for wanting Ali gone. Probably she’s tired of the black patches of hair and wants to be the only blonde friend again.
Swim practice. Still. Paige reaches into her locker and out comes a dead rat. She screams really unconvincingly.
DiLaurentis Domicile. Everything is dark. Alison turns on a light and calls her dad, who presumably left her a message about being home late or not at all. Alison says that’s okay and that she loves him. After she leaves the living room, A reaches for the light and turns it off.
Hastings House. Spencer looks at a picture of her parents and has some feels. She then does some Internet research on Bethany Young and Radley.
Alison is packing and also she puts on a scarf so we can be all, “oooh scarf!” and remember the drawing Bethany made, I guess. She grabs some fake IDs and a wad of cash. Back downstairs she finds everything dark again. She pauses there a long time, though running the heck away would be the correct move HERE, Alison. (J: Right??!) She gets attacked and A uses her own scarf to choke her. Emily arrives and attacks A, but does get knocked around quite a bit. A is scared off.
Hanna visits Caleb. She tells him about Ali almost leaving town and how she realized she wanted to help her to get rid of her. That’s why I wanted you to help her too, Hanna. No shame. Caleb gives her some wise words about how not everything will be solved if Ali leaves. See, he left his failed show Ravenswood and that crap still haunts him. (J: LOL) Hanna asks him what happened there but Caleb doesn’t reply. Hanna hopes he decides to stay. Caleb takes a swig from a flask and passes it to Hanna.
Jessica; I like to think that maybe Caleb actually had lines after Hanna’s question, but the actor couldn’t bring himself to say them, because the Ravenswood TV failure haunted him too much.
Mari: Fair. PLL is still on and Ravenswood was cancelled so you know it had to be BAD.
Pedopartment. Ezra is reviewing his security camera footage. Aria suggests just telling the police the truth and I swear the writers have some kind of game going on about how many times they can make a character suggest going to the police only to have someone else go, “NAH.” Aria is sorry she dragged Ezra into this because apparently she’s already forgotten the part where he decided to get super undercover involved with the lives of minors. I mean, Ezra says as much but Aria still holds his hand. Finally, they see what they need on the footage: Eddie Lamb dropped off the picture. Aria wonders why he would leave it for Ezra and not Spencer.
J: Ezra + amnesia = Ezramnesia? Eznesia? Terribleness?
Mari: Fields House. It’s time to information share so Emily tells Spencer about Lucas and Melissa being part of the GET A LIFE team with Mona. Plus, Ali was going to run away. Aria arrives and shows them all the drawing Eddie left. Spencer thinks it means that there is something to investigate at Radley. Aria quickly votes that Spencer infiltrate, but she insists she can’t since she was committed. She thinks she has a way in, though. Ali receives another message from A: See how easy it was for me to kill you? I will if you leave Rosewood. -A
The girls wonder why A wants Ali alive and in town. What’s worse than death? MORE SEASONS OF THIS SHOW, IS WHAT.
Later that night, Ali and Emily are alone. Ali asks if she can spend the night because she doesn’t want to be alone. Emily looks a little uncomfortable, but Ali promises that they’ll just sleep. Emily tucks Ali in and then we get a montage of her not being able to sleep that night.
Hanna sees Trevor sitting outside of school. She walks over and asks him to join her for lunch. He’s short and dry with her because he knows Caleb is back in town and that’s why she’s been so distracted. He says he can’t keep doing this relationship thing with her if she’s only in it halfway. He likes her too much for that. Hanna doesn’t have a response so he walks away.
J: Farewell, Travis. We hardly knew ye. And hardly cared.
Mari: I mostly didn’t care because it’s season 5. I can’t anymore.
Radley. A lady is looking over some papers and telling someone that their school record is great but volunteering can be challenging. The camera spins around slowly and dramatically to reveal Aria.
Emily picks Alison up before school. Detective Tanner shows up and wants Alison to come down to the station later that day with her dad to answer some questions about Shana. Tanner wants to know where Ali was the night Shana died. Ali repeats the lie about being in Philly with the Liars. Tanner asks, “specifically where in Philly?” and Alison and Emily both look like this is the hardest question in the world. Probably might want to work on the alibi a wee bit more, girls. After Tanner leaves, Alison gets another A message: Time for the caged bird to sing.
A-nonymous: A prepares a card and arrangement for Bethany Young’s parents.
Next time on Pretty Little Liars: Spencer borrows some of Ezra’s stalker-cams in S05 E07 – Silence of E. Lamb.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
I'm a chronic book nerd and love storytelling in all forms. I'm particularly excited by the rise of the television show as an art form with long, cinematically beautiful plots and complex character arcs (I also watch cartoons). My travels in the past handful of years have led me through three continents and most recently landed me among the majestic mountains of Colorado. Some day I will compile all my travel journals/blogs into one place. Some day. Until then, you can find me with craft beer in hand, ready at any moment to deeply and passionately discuss survival tactics for the zombie apocalypse.
