Pretty Little Liars closes the curtains on season four with one of the most intense episodes yet, but not before Alison (Sasha Pieterse) fills in a few blanks for us. And she’s not the only one with a story to tell. Cece Drake (Vanessa Ray) is in custody for the murder of Detective Wilden, courtesy of A, and she finally gets the chance to tell her side of the story, too.
With so much history packed between these two stories, fans were in for a varied blast from the past. Not only are there characters involved that we haven’t seen all season (some for several seasons), but some in capacities you never saw coming. Namely, Noel Kahn (Brant Daugherty), who despite antagonizing the Liars more than once during Mona’s (Janel Parrish) reign as A, has actually been helping Ali. Which begs the question, how many people actually knew that Ali was alive?
Although fans will have to wait until season five premieres in June for the bulk of Cece’s tale, you can be sure it includes a few things that Ali left out. A major revelation will be how Wilden relates to the events. Viewers already know that he was part of Ali’s summer plans, but since Ezra took his place as Board Shorts – apparently nicknamed after a brand of beer as opposed to having something to do with the cape – his role in everything is now fuzzy at best. That includes what he did to get himself killed, unless he is actually tied to the mystery dead girl that passed as Ali for so long – according to the autopsy, she was pregnant. Allow yourself to speculate accordingly.
The episode itself is a hodgepodge of new information mixed deeply with our preexisting knowledge. There are scenes cut in that you probably recognize from previous episodes, and if you’re a more recent viewer, the age differences in characters are a pretty easy tell (e.g. Ian (Ryan Merriman) with hair versus Ian with a severely receding hair line). The biggest reveal isn’t in the details, however, but in the main event.
Who is Ali’s mom covering up for? It seems unlikely that even in a frantic state, Mrs. DiLaurentis (Andrea Parker) wouldn’t have thought to check for a pulse before jumping to the covering up portion of the evening. Even if this was an oversight, it seems like the obvious suspect would be Jason DiLaurentis (Drew Van Acker), yet neither Ali nor the Liars came to that conclusion. It’s possible that the five of them might not be able to figure it out if that scenario didn’t cross their minds within the first five minutes. Especially after learning that since they discovered that Ali was still alive themselves, Jason conveniently checked himself into a rehab facility that didn’t exist. Also, who besides Spencer (Troian Bellisario) had a summer to remember, but couldn’t? The more the story starts to come together, the more he becomes the only option.
A may be (err, may have been) Ali’s mother still, but she definitely had help of the male persuasion. We can eliminate Mr. Hastings, since he was convinced Spencer was the culprit and went to great lengths to protect her. Toby (Keegan Allen) had already expressed his debt of gratitude to Ali at that point in the timeline. Ezra (Ian Harding) was writing a book uncovering the truth. Ian wouldn’t have risked anyone else finding the videos by killing her before he had a chance to recover them. Garrett (Yani Gellman) is dead, so he’s clearly not still terrorizing anyone (at least not anymore). The list of suspects that fit the part is dwindling, and unless there’s a guy waiting in the wings that has masterfully stayed off the radar for all this time, Jason is the most likely candidate.
If this is the case, do you blame Mrs. DiLaurentis for deciding to protect Jason after she thought he killed Ali? Are the last couple scenes just him trying to bury the truth now that everyone knows that Ali is alive? How unexpected did you think Ezra’s arrival was? Fingers crossed that his noble acts weren’t in vain and we see him on the flip side in season five.
Let us know what else you hope is coming our way when Pretty Little Liars returns this spring!