TV REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars “The Bin of Sin”

Last week’s visit to Rosewood revealed one very interesting and mysterious barrel.

Did said barrel contain the remains of Mona? Why was it in a storage locker rented by Hanna? Would it cause Toby to turn his back on Spencer and Caleb and their very illegal behaviors?

“The Bin of Sin” very blindly attempted to answer all of these questions in addition to creating a whole lot more.

The Liars (with the help of Caleb) hatch a plan to remove Hanna’s ties to the storage locker, a plan she finds just won’t work fast enough for her. Surely, she does not want to join Ali in jail for the murder of Mona? She almost immediately goes against the group and plans to remove all of the evidence from the storage locker on her own. Tampering with police evidence, Hanna? Really? The most troubling thing about this entire storyline is not that she plans to tamper with evidence, but that she has internet searched how to do so and is using a Rosewood High bag to lug her evidence damaging supplies around.

In true Pretty Little Liars fashion, Hanna and Caleb are caught in the act by detective Tanner (and her new sidekick Toby). Yes, while she is carrying the gigantic suspicious Rosewood High duffle bag and an excuse Tanner most definitely doesn’t believe and shouldn’t. Having to pee as a reason to be nervous in a suspicious storage locker hallway with a giant duffle? Yeah totally logical Hanna.

Not only does Hanna have to deal with the issue of her name being on a deadly storage locker, her mother is deciding whether to marry Pastor Ted or continue her absolutely ludicrous fling with Jason DiLaurentis. Ashley Marin has made many sketchy relationships in the five seasons of Pretty Little Liars’ existence but this has to be, hands down, the worst. What could she possibly gain from this fling other than the “moving on” she suggests he does himself. Jason hasn’t always been the pillar of quality decisions or non-sketchy behavior, so why is he even doing this? Not wanting to work in the family office alone or absolutely loving her organization skills cannot be it. Hanna is expected to act like an adult in all other aspects of her life except when it comes to this absurd idea of a relationship. When she says what everyone is thinking she is ultimately shut down by her mother and essentially told it’s an adult topic for adults. Right…but being blackmailed and framed for murder is definitely a thing for a teen to be dealing with.

While Hanna and Caleb attempt to remove the evidence from the locker, Spencer, Emily and Aria, follow the GPS signal from Mona’s computer to an abandoned ice cream factory in the middle of nowhere. There are literally so many things wrong with this. First of all, these girls fall for every trap known to man. Secondly, they are constantly trapped in small spaces controlled by a machine. Remember Caleb being trapped in the kiln in weeks past? Now Spencer and Aria are trapped in a freeze dry ice cream maker because DUH. Who can possibly save these two now? Oh right, Emily who, of course, finds them in just the knick of time! How many times does this same type of trap situation have to happen before they just stop going? What could A possibly to do them for not following the breadcrumbs? Of course, the three girls don’t find Caleb or Hanna, but they do find the computer.

The final storyline of the episode involved relationships on the rocks. Aria and her very guilty conscious admitted to the letter she wrote Jackie about Ezra. Ezra pretended not to be hurt but of course the girl he loves his writing a letter to his ex about how much he has ruined her life. That really cannot feel great. His reaction, which could be anyone’s really, is to push her away with a very passive aggressive (but almost blatant) congratulatory gift: a journal for her future college experiences. Meanwhile, Toby is struggling deeply with his job honoring the law and dealing with Spencer’s constant need to break the law. The two end up fighting about it….again and Toby leaves. Emily has some serious tension with the new chef at the brew and it comes to a head when she makes Emily some mashed potatoes. How sexy are mashed potatoes? Not very, sorry.

Rosewood is constantly in state of upheaval. It’s not clear where things are going, but answers have got to come soon before this gets any more ridiculous. Who moved evidence to the ice cream factory? Where is Toby going? And what the heck is in that dang barrel?