(ABC Family)
On Tuesday’s “Pretty Little Liars,” Aria finally got the truth from her brother Mike, Hanna prepared for a beauty pageant with Emily’s help, and Spencer and Jonny’s friendship took a huge turn. Here’s the most important things to know about “Pretty Isn’t The Point,” the 20th episode of season 5.
1. A search of Mike’s room by the Liars uncovered a necklace with a coded message: “I’m with you.” He flipped on Aria when he found out about their snooping, and warned her she would “live to regret it.” At her request, concerned friend/tutor Andrew followed Mike to the woods behind Mona’s house, where he hid one of the blood vials in a tree. Aria later went to explore for herself, and was caught by Mike, who nearly attacked her over the blood vial that apparently didn’t belong to the Liars, but to Mona. Why the hell did he have it? Scroll down for the big twist!
2. An outing with Jonny at Hollis turned awkward for Spencer when they ran into Toby, who shot Johnny daggers and rejected her invitation to hang out later. Spence and Jonny were later shocked to see their mural, which they had illegally painted on a Hollis rooftop, was now in an art gallery on campus. Their anger, especially after one of the chopped-up pieces was sold, led them to break into the facility. They had taken back almost all of it when Jonny triggered an alarm, leading them to flee. Toby, of all people, ended up catching them at a gas station nearby, and he took Jonny away in handcuffs, despite Spencer’s tearful protests and yet another argument about the state of their relationship and how it relates to Mona’s murder investigation. Spencer’s mom bailed Jonny out, but kicked him out of the barn “effective now.” Spencer and Jonny had an emotional goodbye… sealed with their first kiss.
3. Hanna officially entered the county-wide Miss Teen pageant in hopes of winning the $20,000 prize to use for college after her father’s refusal to pay, even though Caleb was against her taking that route. She enlisted a professional coach, who told her, “These pageants aren’t just about being pretty anymore. Pretty isn’t the point.” Hanna lied and said she was also a dancer, making Emily, who apparently started taking lessons at 3 (who knew?), teach her a routine, and she became all the more determined when she discovered stepsister Kate was competing, too. Hanna was later left in tears, though, when the coach told her she wasn’t “pageant material,” and said Emily had a better chance in the competition. Hanna only felt worse when it was revealed A, or as she believed, Mike, had signed Kate up and that her nemesis wasn’t really competing: “Kate won’t win the pageant but she’s already won daddy’s heart — A.” Emily, however, vowed to compete on Hanna’s behalf and win her the money.
4. Emily and Talia agreed to take things slow, but while the caterer seemed comfortable with their arrangement, the fact that she’s married, to a guy no less, very obviously had Em on edge. When Talia’s husband Eric showed up at The Brew looking for her, he told Emily not to “feel weird” about their dalliance, but only because he believed Talia’s “experimenting” with her would be a “one-time” deal, and he’d be the one loving her for years to come. Emily later confronted Talia about his comments, telling her, “I’m not into girls because it’s trendy,” and shutting down their blossoming romance because she refused to be in a three-person relationship.
5. Back at home after their tense encounter, Mike finally told Aria the truth, swearing he never hurt Mona. Instead, via flashback, we learned Mike surprised her a few nights before Thanksgiving, only to find her on the phone with Lesli, and storing vials of blood in her room, taken from her own arm. Mona told him she was “offered a chance to make things right” for Aria and friends by exposing A and bringing him/her down. The plan was to spread her blood all over her house and mae it look like Alison murdered her, when, in actuality, Mona would just temporarily disappear, all to earn A’s trust before exposing him/her. Mike was skeptical but secretly went along with it. But when Mona never showed up at several of their proposed meeting locations, he realized she really was dead… and that A must’ve double-crossed her. As for keeping her blood, he tearfully told Aria, “She gave it to me as a promise that she was coming back… It was all I had left of her.”
After Mike’s breakdown, Aria filled in the Liars, and regretted not trusting her brother, while they all regretted pointing the finger at Ali for Mona’s murder and deeming her A when she now appeared to be innocent. The episode ended by showing a hooded figure in Mike’s room holding a wrench. And now there’s just four episodes until the “Big A Reveal” on March 24. Who do YOU think it is? Do you think Mona’s really dead?
