(ABC Family)
On Tuesday’s “Pretty Little Liars,” Alison and the Liars were forced to think fast and take precautions after A seemingly set up an innocent man to take the fall for Ali’s fake kidnapping.
The 10th episode of season 5 began immediately after the suspect’s questioning in last week’s episode, with Detective Tanner telling Ali’s father that his story matched hers exactly.
Ali, however, would not confirm his identity — saying she didn’t know if he was indeed the man who assaulted and kidnapped her because she was blindfolded.
The girls were angry that Ali didn’t tell the truth, but she argued, “If I can make him think that he’s going to go down with this, we can follow him to A and finally win the game,” Ali argued.
Aria shot back, “What happens when we lose?”
Spencer believed Ali had gone “rogue,” and they worried that the web of lies would have far-reaching consequences, exposing what happened in New York with Shauna.
Emily tried to convince Ali that pointing the finger at the suspect, named Cyrus, would blow up in all their faces, nevermind let an innocent man go down for something he didn’t do, but she wouldn’t back down.
Ali’s father even believed Cyrus might be responsible for Mrs. DiLaurentis’ death and Bethany Young’s too.
Spencer planned to stash Noel’s “insurance” against Ali in a top-secret place, but as she went to hide it in a spot underneath her bedroom chair, she discovered the recording of Ali’s story and medical report were already missing.
Sister Melissa, naturally, walked in just as she began to panic — and then Spence received a call in which the recording played on the other end of the line.
“Check mate,” A texted her.
Hanna filled Caleb in on the latest details as she cleaned his disgusting house, determined to start living a “normal” life and not be under Ali’s control.
“She’s in the driver’s seat of my life, and I’m supposed to watch her steer me off a cliff?” she complained.
As part of turning over a new leaf, the couple went for a run, where Spencer stopped them to update her on the missing belongings, but Hanna ran off, not wanting to hear any more.
Spence next showed Aria the surveillance footage from outside the barn, which revealed Melissa talking to a mystery man, telling him, “Do it, trust me!”
This furthered their theory that Melissa was involved with A and Cyrus, and Spencer was dead-set on getting out of the mess while they still could.
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“We have to cut the cord with Ali before she drags us down,” Spencer insisted, saying they should take all the material to Tanner and finally “tell the truth… that [Ali] lied to us like she lied to them.”
Spencer explained that they would reveal they presumed Ali to be dead until their trip to Ravenswood, and that everything in New York was done in “self-defense.”
“The truth doesn’t amount to much when it comes from a bunch of liars,” Aria pointed out, frightened about her involvement in Shauna’s death coming out.
She went to Ezra for reassurance, and he, too, seemed against going to the police, and wanted to talk to Ali.
But she wouldn’t allow him “to jump back on Ali’s crazy train,” particularly since he was finally recovered from the shooting.
“I like knowing that you’re safe,” Aria told him.
Emily again confronted Ali, saying a stranger could not go down for this, but then Alison dropped a new twist: she actually does know him.
“I don’t know how A found him, but he’s the one who gave me this,” she said, lifting up her skirt to reveal a scar on her inner thigh.
Ali went on to claim that they lived together in an abandoned basement while she was on the run, and the show flashed back to Cyrus beating and robbing her.
Emily seemed to buy the story, but reminded her that A is using the “creep” to trap them, and she has to “let him go.”
Returning home, she found Spencer at her house wanting to store the rest of the material there, and Emily said she rather “burn it” and had no interest in Spence’s plan to expose Ali.
“She’s not dangerous,” Emily said of Ali. “She’s hurt.”
Spence shot back, “And you believe her, after all the lies she told?”
Emily said she did, and that they’re “all in this together” (hello “High School Musical” reference!) and that Ali wasn’t the problem — Melissa was.
She was also convinced that if Ali didn’t ID the guy within 48 hours, Cyrus would be let go and it would all be “over.”
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Meanwhile, Hanna was at school to audition for a solo in the choir — also part of her attempt at being normal — and Mona was there to try out, too… before she suddenly passed out.
Mona came to a short time later, and demanded Hanna retrieve her bag, in which Hanna saw she had a copy of Cyrus’ mug shot.
At the café, Ezra couldn’t help but confront Ali, saying she’s not “innocent” and has hurt a lot of people.
“If one more person tells me what to do, I’ll scream,” she angrily told him, before her dad walked up and interrupted, demanding Ezra leave — just as Aria walked in.
Aria was pissed at Ezra for doing the opposite of what they agreed on, seeing it as another violation of trust, and he tried to defend his “split-second decision.”
But she pointed out that talking to Ali in public, near her dad, where Tanner could find out, was something he never should’ve done, and stormed off.
Hanna confronted Mona outside the police station, where she was keeping watch with surveillance equipment because she, too, wanted to find out the truth about Cyrus — but without anyone else’s involvement.
“We both know that Ali brings out in the A in you, so whether you’re behind this or not, I’m not leaving here without answers,” Hanna insisted after Mona tried to get her to go.
At home, Melissa asked Spencer why she was in the barn, and Spence claimed she was just looking for a sweater — before admitting she was on her older sister’s computer and knew she was looking at international flights and working with Mona.
“I only helped Mona because I wanted you to see that Ali hasn’t changed,” said Melissa. “She’s as toxic as ever. We both know Ali wasn’t kidnapped and sooner or later she’s going to get what she deserves and I don’t want you standing too close when it happens.”
Spencer wasn’t believing the “sisterly concern,” and demanded to know the secret she’s been hiding.
Melissa tearfully refused to share, but then stunned by saying, “It’s not safe for me here. Or for you. Maybe you should come with me.”
Detective Tanner brought Ali and her dad to the basement where Cyrus claimed to keep her, saying they don’t have “physical evidence” to hold him much longer, and needed her to identify the venue.
The show flashbacked again, to Ali bringing Cyrus to meet mystery friends she had there, only to later find him trying to disappear with her bag of possessions as she slept.
A struggle ensued, and he slashed Ali on the thigh before running off with a mystery brunette.
Back in the present time, asked if she “remembered this place,” Ali told Tanner, “I could never forget it.”
Still outside the precinct, waiting for Cyrus to be released, Mona revealed she fainted due to anxiety she’s been experiencing since Ali’s return.
“Why do you think I went on the offensive? She scares me to death,” she said.
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When Caleb called, Hanna lied about her whereabouts, and they heard over the police radio that Ali had identified the location, and Cyrus was not to be let go.
At Aria’s home, Ella, who was earlier distraught about canceling her wedding to Zach, heard Aria talking on the phone with Emily about her fight with Ezra, and was surprised that her daughter hadn’t come to her about the exes being sorta-involved again.
Aria explained that she thought he was “gone” from her life, until his accident, and she can’t shake all the “thoughts and feelings” that happen every time she sees him.
“I want to be able to trust him again,” she said. “Just start over.”
Aria worried that Zach proved that “people can’t change,” but Ella insisted that wasn’t true — they’ve all changed, even ex-husband/dad Byron, who was helping her through the broken engagement.
“Zach is not going to write the book on relationships in this family,” the matriarch said. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Emily was waiting outside Ali’s house when she returned home, upset that she made the identification and “turned” on them, without any regard to how they would be affected.
Ali explained that she had to, and they weren’t with her when everything happened, prompting Emily to list some of the horrifying things that happened to them while she was out carrying on this charade for two years.
Once again, though, Alison insisted she had a plan.
“The problem is, you’ll throw us all under a bus to make it happen,” Emily retorted, pointing out she stood up for her against “everyone,” adding, “I wasted so much time on you.”
Ali swore she could still “make it right,” and uncover A, but Emily stormed off saying she was “done.”
But matters were complicated by another twist — Cyrus was released just before Tanner’s message came through, and he disappeared, likely with A’s help, the girls figured.
At Hanna’s, the Liars gathered without Ali, where Hanna told Caleb the truth about where she was earlier, and they reaffirmed their love for each other.
Emily showed up saying Spencer was right, that Ali could not be trusted, and brought over all the material she was holding.
“We need to cut ties with Ali now. Tonight,” she insisted.
The show then cut to Cyrus meeting with ALISON IN DISGUISE!
He was angry that there was a warrant out of his arrest, and that this — whatever this is – didn’t go according to plan.
Ali cryptically said that he’s alive because of her, and warned him not to tell the truth, giving him money to disappear with and telling him to start over.
Then the show cut to Melissa filming a confessional for Spencer, saying, “You’re right. I have to tell you the truth before it’s too late.”
And then it cut to A’s lair where he or she was packing up all their black clothes… and a candy striper outfit.
WhAt is going on?!
And there’s just two weeks until the “fAtAl finAle!”
THOUGHTS?
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