TV REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars “Oh What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me”

There are no shortage of secrets in the town of Rosewood.

Even newcomers can sense something is off when they arrive in town. It almost feels that to be a resident of the tiny town one must come with an outlandish, secretive and sketchy past. “Oh, What Hard Luck Stories They All Hand Me” brought in some newcomers, found some missing persons, and made us see others in a whole new light.

Previously, Spencer and Toby were hitting the rocky shores of the breakup bay, mainly due to Spencer’s constant need to be ahead of the police and, well, have her nose in everyone else’s business. This week Spencer’s mom returned to, surprise, consult with the defense (but strictly to see their evidence file). Could Spencer possibly go without snooping in said file more than a millisecond after it was placed into her mother’s hands? Absolutely not. She went right for it like a mouse to cheese. After finding some very interesting tidbits in the file, Spencer’s mom confronted Spencer about the acceptance letters she ever so hastily tossed into the trash. Spencer wasn’t sure about going to college, which is understandable. She’s been under a lot of completely unreleatable stress these past few years and probably wishes she could be anyone else in the world. Enter Jonny who may just be the escape she’s looking for. Sure, Jonny created a piece of art for The Brew (it will no doubt be a brand new ‘A’ trap within days of its reveal), but he’s offering an escape for Spencer. He doesn’t know the torrid past of the town or her constant need to be the Nancy Drew of blackmail situations. Could Jonny be the new Toby? Jonny is mysterious, brooding, and a bit of an outsider just as Toby was. Boy, Spencer sure has a type, doesn’t she?

Meanwhile, an old friend of Mona’s, Lesli, comes to town and immediately garners suspicion. Not only has no one ever heard of her, but there’s just something about her that isn’t right. The girls have been burned before and they have a right to be skeptical of a random visitor. Lesli is good for one thing: leading Hanna to a mysterious tape of Bethanny’s voice taken while she was in Radley. But Lesli also reveals some startling information about Aria’s brother, Mike. Mike gets shown in an entirely new light in this episode. After finding his name on Ali’s visitor log, Spencer tells Aria and she gets defensive. He has to have a reason for this absurd behavior. Could it be the grief over the death of his girlfriend (of which Ali is accused) or could it be he’s doing her dirty work on the outside? When Lesli reveals to Hanna she heard Mike’s angry voice telling Mona to hang up the phone, she immediately tells Aria who finds no other choice but to follow her sketchy brother into the woods to a mysterious dock. Again with the blind following Aria? Really? He sees her after leaving a “trick or treat” bag for a random person who is never seen, and threatens her. Mike has always been dark, mysterious, and misunderstood, but now he’s being seen as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Where can this possibly go?

Lastly there’s Emily and her new love interest Talia. Things have been getting more obvious to viewers and more confusing to their characters in the past few weeks. It’s fairly obvious that Talia is interested in Emily as more than a friend. When Emily talks to Caleb about it, she reveals she’s just very confused. Caleb, on the other hand, seems to be having an entirely different conversation, not about relationships but rather about being someone else who doesn’t have to deal with being questioned by police on the daily. Now, there’s really no where else to go for Talia and Emily. They were stuck in a limbo of confusion, but never fear: enter Jonny’s secret contraption. Emily smoothly attempts to slide into home base with her secret whispers which ultimately are met with even more confusion. The two would be an interesting change from Paily, but again, is there suspicion or ulterior motives here in the ranks?

“Oh What Hard Luck Stories They Hand Me” had more events than an elementary school fundraising carnival. But what do these twists and revelations mean for the town of Rosewood? Now that Holbrook is on administrative leave and (of course) not doing work for Ali, can he possibly help the Liars? Why was Ali’s blood in/around that disgusting barrel of sin? Where the heck has Toby gone? How long will it be until A begins using Jonny’s secret machine to blackmail the girls?