TV REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars “Miss Me x 100”

By Nicole Bozzani

The time came for Ali to (finally) return to Rosewood High after her two year absence in last night’s Pretty Little Liars.

Ali made a lot of enemies over the years, and many of them just aren’t ready to let that go silently. Spencer finds herself with some very large family problems while Hanna is trying to cope with the return of Caleb, who finally has found closure from the events of Ravenswood. Emily must juggle her friendships with Ali and Paige, but walks the line when one of those relationships reaches a new level. Aria continues to suffer the guilt over what she did to Shauna and when an old nemesis returns to town she can’t help but feel she must come clean. Old friends return, new threats are made, where is the devious A, and what happens when it all explodes?

After the avalanche of lies Alison DiLaurentis has told over the past two years, the time has finally come for her to return to her normal life. She must want to just return to school and her friends as if nothing ever happened. Unfortunately, that’s just not entirely possible. Her return to Rosewood High was about as awkward and unwelcoming as could be expected. Amongst the gawking and staring there she is: Manipulative Mona. It’s hard not to feel a bit sorry for Alison. It must be hard to return to a situation where no one believes she is on the straight and narrow. That said, is Ali truly making amends with people in order to start fresh and be who she is now or does she have another end game? Does she want to be Queen Bee again? And would that be worth the hassle considering the sheer amount of enemies she has made along the way? Enemies who no doubt are willing to risk anything to drive her out of town or even physically harm her. It must be rough to be Ali.

One thing Mona truly excels at week after week is being so horrible it’s hard to like her. That’s the point though right? To not like her? Especially with A out of the picture. Someone has to play the villain. When Mona first appeared it was easy to feel compassion for her. For any of the people Ali mistreated really, but the longer she stuck around the crazier things became. Following Ali into the church and essentially setting her up was no exception. One thing sure is consistent with Mona: she is captain of the Get Rid of Ali ship. The girls exchange a war of words and end up slapping each other. As a viewer watching Ali stand up to Mona was fairly thrilling, and watching Mona subsequently use that exchange to manipulate the Merry Band of Misfits against Ali was enraging. Ali may have, as previously mentioned, some other end game, but for now it appears as though she’s just trying to right many wrongs. Sadly for her, she has Mona on her case nearly every second. Give it a rest, Mona.

After much speculation over Mr. Hastings very shady behavior, and apparently a bout of avoidance, Mrs. Hastings comes to lay some truths on Spencer. Well, lay down some truths and then run away with her to a hotel. It’s a rather tense exchange that Spencer just can’t let go. It felt a bit misplaced in this episode, but hopefully will, in true Pretty Little Liars fashion, unravel further down the line. Mr. Hastings has always been shady, but who knew he was this shady?

Meanwhile, Hanna worries about being labeled as Ali’s puppet once again. Long gone are the days of Hefty Hanna, and while she’s still a bit underestimated by her friends, she’s a new person. She is still tight with Lucas which is either good or bad. It’s hard to tell which one it is at this point. But the most important thing to happen to Hanna this week: Caleb! YES, Haleb is back on! Well….kind of. Hanna kinda has a thing with Travis and Caleb doesn’t want to ruin it. That’s pretty rough considering Caleb knows far more than he inevitably should about Hanna, the Liars, and A which could very well lead to some tension and a love triangle? The return of Caleb is bittersweet and does a number on Hanna. It’s very clear she still has deep feelings towards him. Could this be the grand return of Haleb? Here’s to hoping so. Sorry, Travis.