‘Pretty Little Liars’ Summer Finale Review: Over My Dead Body

This week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars confused me, made me curl into my covers, laugh, and gasped! Throughout the whole episode, it kept doing time jumps. The episode immediately grabs out attention. Hanna (Ashley Benson), Aria (Lucy Hale), and Spencer (Troian Bellisario) are in a police interrogation room. Uh oh. This instantly filled my mind with so many questions, when suddenly a familiar person walks into the room. Darren Wilden (Bryce Johnson), AKA the horrible police officer from season one. (Accused the girls in the first place, slept with Hanna’s mom.) After the intimidating stares and the dramatic music, we get jolted back in time.

12 Hours Earlier:
The little liars decide that it would be a good idea to check on Dr. Sullivan. Honestly, I have no clue why they didn’t do that sooner. Wait until morning? Seriously, no. Of course she isn’t there, which puts the liars into a sudden panic.

“We go into terror alert red, and hope that our phones don’t ring.” -Spencer

Ironically, Emily’s (Shay Mitchell) phone actually rings. Luckily, it’s just Maya (Bianca Lawson). Also, even though Dr. Sullivan could very well be dead, the liars just go along with their lives as if it’s nothing. Emily heads back to Hanna’s place to chat with Maya about their current status. While, Spencer talks with Toby (Keegan Allen) about severed brake-lights and babies.

“If we had a real baby, what would it look like?” -Toby
“I’m picturing a newborn with a six pack.” -Spencer

I cannot even begin to explain how much I adore these two. In all honesty, I love Spencer and Toby the most (besides Ezaria), but Hanna and Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) come in a close third! Caleb returns just in time for Hanna’s dad’s wedding! Is it just me, or did Caleb get hotter?

In other news, I hate Jackie (Paloma Guzmán). Sorry, that’s not news. First off, if Ezra proposed to me, I would say yes in a heartbeat. Only Jackie would be crazy enough to say no. LOOK AT HIM! Now, I’m sighing in frustration. She brings Ezra (Ian Harding) coffee, talking about ‘moving on.’ I’m guessing that’s her code word for, “dump Aria so that we can hookup, because you’re so freaking gorgeous.” Well, Aria just so happens to walk over, with coffee in her hands, and over heard the whole conversation. Just as she’s leaving, she gets a text.

“She’s [Dr. Sullivan] still alive. –A”

10 Hours Earlier:
When Spencer discovers a mysterious box, the liars gather at her house. The box says, “OPEN OR SHE DIES”. Yikes. Obviously, it’s referring to Dr. Sullivan, but what’s really surprising is what they find inside. They find three really creepy talking dolls, that resemble each liar.

Aria’s Doll: “Make Jackie go away.” Is it wrong that I’m slightly pleased with this doll?

Hanna’s Doll: “Stop the wedding.” Alright, I’m not agreeing with this doll at all. Not. Good.

Spencer’s Doll: “Keep Toby safe.” I agreed with this until I realize what ‘keeping Toby safe’ would entail.

What was most surprising of all, was the fact that Emily didn’t receive a doll. Maybe ‘A’ is tired of torturing Emily? No, that statement was almost laughable.

6 Hours Earlier:
The girls only have a few hours to complete their tasks, or else Dr. Sullivan dies. First up, Aria. Seeing as Jackie is trying to get her first piece of work published, having it plagiarised wouldn’t be so smart. Aria demands (kind of) that she leaves Hollis, or she’ll tell everyone. I’m pretty sure I just heard the screams of giddy Ezaria fans. Next up, Spencer. This scene was heartbreaking. The only way to keep Toby safe, was if Spencer broke up with him. I’ll admit it, I shed a few tears. Five minutes later, the giddy Ezaria fans weren’t screaming anymore. Well, they might have been, but they were probably screaming death threats at Jackie. At least I was. Jackie decided that it was her turn to make threats. Aria has to leave Ezra, or else she tells everyone about their student-teacher affair. Uh oh.

Oh, and remember how Emily never got a doll, and everyone thought it was because ‘A’ got tired of her? Well, as Emily is driving she happens to find a doll in her back seat. “I’m taking you to her! Go alone.” *Shivers* Can’t be good!

4 Hours Earlier:
WREN (Julian Morris)! Seeing as Wren is there, he partially keeps my mind off of Toby and Spencer’s break up. Partially. Also, when did Wren get so flirty? Maybe I need a season one refresher, but I don’t remember him like this!

It’s almost time for the big wedding, and Hanna still hasn’t performed her task. In fact, she waits until after the reception starts. She pulls Isabel aside to drop the news that Hanna’s dad cheated on her. Horrible. Timing. As if things couldn’t get worse, she gets a text from ‘A’ stating an address.

Speaking of, Emily arrives at the address ‘A’ gave her. It’s a big red barn with a car inside. Emily goes to inspect, which I feel is incredibly stupid. As she’s looking for Dr. Sullivan, the barn doors close, and the car is running and locked. Cue dramatic music. Emily is about to get really uncomfortable with her breathing situation.

3 Hours Earlier:
Emily appears to be dead. Especially when she opens her eyes and sees Alison (Sasha Pieterse). They have an interesting conversation about ‘A’. Apparently Alison knows who ‘A’ is, but reveals that it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell her.

“Two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead.” -Alison

Alright, so here is the time for speculation. If Alison’s words are true, than she’s not really dead. Or maybe Emily’s just insane, and inhaled too many fumes. We won’t know until 2012!

We flash forward to the police station, and witness a very interesting encounter with Jason (Drew Van Acker) and Spencer’s dad.

“Does she [Spencer’s mom] know?” -Jason
“No, and she’s not going to find out tonight.” -Peter Hastings

What could this mean? As I said before, we won’t know until 2012!

2 Hours Earlier:
Cue the dramatic music, and the intense stares at a shovel… On the shovel, it had coordinates. We’re guessing to Dr. Sullivan. They see a yellow stick, and immediately run towards it. They started to dig furiously, trying to save Dr. Sullivan before it was too late. When they finally reach the body, it turns out to be plastic. ‘A’ set them up.

Present:
In the last five minutes of the episode, we’re hit with some pretty huge bombshells. Ezra is confronted by Ella Montgomery (Holly Marie Combs) about dating… Spencer? The look on his face was priceless. Not only that, but it turns out that Jenna (Tammin Sursok) and Garrett (Yani Gellman) are ‘A’?! Okay, we need to back this up! After two whole seasons of speculation on who ‘A’ is, it turns out that the most obvious culprit really was ‘A’?! Never use the logic of, ‘that’s too obvious,” again.

Garrett and Jenna set them up completely, planting the murder weapon on them. The awkward shovel with the coordinates? Should. Have. Known. Jenna really did kill Alison, and what’s even worse is that she doesn’t care one bit. Just as we think this amazing summer finale is over, we get hit with another cliff hanger. It turns out that Jenna and Garrett aren’t the only ‘As’ in town. They show a shot of Dr. Sullivan with an unseen ‘A’. It turns out that she was blackmailed to stay under the radar.

Oh man, this is the longest review (more like recap) ever. This week’s ‘Pretty Little Liars’ took awhile to process, but I think I understand it completely now. Okay, I lied. I’m still so confused, and I’ve watched this episode three times. Can it please be 2012 yet? The only thing that makes me remotely happy, is the fact that their showing a Pretty Little Liars Halloween prequel, October 19th. So. Excited. After this summer finale, I’m in desperate need of another PLL. This had to be my favorite finale this summer. It was perfection.

Rating: A++++++

Questions:

  • Do you think Ali’s still alive?
  • What was your favorite moment during the summer finale?
  • What do you think is in store for the second half of season 2?

Voice your speculations in the comments below!

Responses

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  1. Jenna isn’t ‘A’…i’m pretty sure there’s going to be some twist to that…
    at the end the real ‘A’ is who Dr. Sullivan talks to at the cafe…’A’ probably had something on her and blackmailed her to leave…if it was Jenna then they would have gone ahead and shown her face…

  2. i love caleb. he was great at the wedding. and looked amazing in that black suit. but i kinda felt bad that hanna just left him there (but A texted so she had to leave). now that Dr. Sullivan has been blackmailed into being quiet, the girls are on their own again. i hope spenser lets toby back in. and i dont want her hooking up with the dr. guy.

  3. OMG THIS PRETTY LITTLE LIARS WAS AWESOME!i was totally confused 2. But just because jenna and garrett killed allison doesnt mean they are for sure A because in the last sceen with doctor sullivan they would have showed her face. and the diner lady said hello pretty eyes and jenna never shows her eyes. and in the homecoming episode 4 season 1 aria’s mom was passing out coats to people after includeing A! and she didnt recognize him/her so we never know who A is till 2012. i cant wait!!!

  4. 1. we dont know what time Dr. S met with “A”.
    2. I think its one of the girls. (Emily)
    3. I think that Jenna and Garret ment to kill Ali but she is really alive.
    4. I also think that there is more then one “A”. i’m thinking its Ali and Emily.
    5. Do we know for sure that Maya was calling Emily?
    6. I also believe that Jason and Spencer or half siblings, her dad being his father.
    7. OR “A” is someone that they grew up with and was sent away and now has returned. “A” was a former client of Dr. S bc she was able to figure out who “A” is.

  5. Hey, guys! Loving the comments. 🙂
    It’s all so confusing, but like I said in my review, I honestly think that there’s more than one ‘A’. Possibly a group of people Ali tortured? Man, I can’t believe we have to wait until 2012 to see the next episode!

  6. Wow, did you see the look on Garrets face when Jenna says: she deserved to die! It looked like he is regretting something…… that could be getting interesting!!!!!

    Yes, indeed.. we don’t know everything
    – What’s whith Jason and Spencers father?
    And Garrett has said: Jason already knows he is not the killer of Alison… so i keep thinking spencers father has something to do with that!

  7. A is alisons twin, it’s currently mona, because when mia threw out ali’s old stuff onto the side walk, mona picked up a’s old diary, which she then uses to blackmail the girls..

  8. Jasmine Hutchinson, please don’t post spoilers from the book. Also, the show and book are extremely different. I doubt that they’ll keep that plot.

  9. yeah i think i read somewhere that they changed the killer from the book to keep things more interesting and everyone guessing who A could be.