TV REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars “No One Here Can Love or Understand Me”

By Nicole Bozzani

With only one more week until the ‘fatal finale,’ Pretty Little Liars’ “No One Here Can Love or Understand Me” saw secrets unravel, relationships tested, and a discovery that could change everything.

The past few episodes have seen the Liars making discoveries about Alison and the time she was missing. The photos Spencer and Emily uncovered belonging to Noel Kahn came to light again this week when A mysteriously turned a store front window into their newest blackmail tool. It was, to say the least, one of A’s creepiest tricks so far, but was it really A? The photos could not only serve to sink the girls but they also shed new light on Cyrus Petrillo. Who is this mysterious man willing to risk everything in order to confess to a crime that never existed? Rather than wait to find out, Emily decides to enlist an unlikely source to help her: Ezra.

Ezra, oh Ezra. He sure has gained a lot of intel on the girls in the past four seasons, hasn’t he? Of course he could easily get to the bottom of the mysterious barrel that is Cyrus Petrillo. Turns out Cyrus is simply a petty criminal with a string of fake names. But what is most revealing is the motive he may have had for going down with the ship: Ali had something on him that he was not ready to show to the world.

However, the real suspicion actually lies with Ezra. He essentially faked-out these characters with his ulterior motives. Now, when the quartet he preyed on need his help and he seems to be ever so thankful for their forgiveness. Are they truly forgiving or do they just know he can rise to the occasion with his newfound detective skills? A leopard never changes his spots, dear Ezra.

(ABC FAMILY/Ron Tom)
SHAY MITCHELL, IAN HARDING

Caleb is continuing his struggle with the events of Ravenswood. Hanna is worried and enlists the help of Spencer and Toby in order to curb Caleb of his drinking problem. It’s unfortunate whatever he happens to be dealing with can only be solved, in his eyes, with drinking. The most positive aspect of this bit of story is how it’s treated less like an after school special and more like an actual problem. Toby is quite blunt the way boys often are, which frankly is a far better way to handle a situation like this. However the problem still remains until Hanna uses the ultimate weapon: herself. Caleb certainly doesn’t want to lose her and was forced to open up when he would have rather have kept quiet. Caleb’s reveal wasn’t the only surprising event in the cabin that evening. In order to up the creepy level, and hype the finale, the Quija board on the table suddenly bursts to life and points to the cryptic words: goodbye. Goodbye? Time to panic.

The most important reveal of this week’s episode concerned what Melissa saw that fateful night in the backyard. Before fleeing to London for good, Melissa recorded a little goodbye message for Spencer. She reveals that she did indeed see Spencer and Ali fighting the night Ali disappeared. She saw Spencer with the shovel and Bethany Young’s body lying in the construction site. But the most shocking reveal is Melissa is the one who buried Bethany Young alive after believing she was dead. In, quite honestly, the strangest way to show affection, Melissa simply intended to protect Spencer just as any family member would do for another family member. But now that Spencer (and Aria and Emily) know the truth, what can they possibly do with this information?

In the end Aria, Spencer, and Emily have a decision to make: Can they use their new evidence to bring Ali’s lie to a swift end? The detective is on their case ready to convict all of them for the murder of Bethany Young. They were the ones closest to the area at the time, and their stories just don’t add up. That is until Spencer realizes, Bethany Young was meant to take Ali’s place so Ali could run free and no one would know the wiser. Wait…how could that be? Someone surely would notice the differences between the two girls, right?

Now even more questions have arisen about Bethany. One thing is for sure: next week’s fatal finale should be a doozy.