#sarah harvey
We’re back and Mona has been driven crazy by her isolation pit so is rocking back and forth singing to herself. I love that because the actress Janel has an amazing voice the writers constantly get her to sing. I think we are all like Hanna in the choir room “Ok Mona we get it you can friggin’ sing.” Anyway she’s singing the popular lullaby “Hush little baby don’t say a word, Momma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird” and crying. Poor Mona. This kind of derails my Mona is shady and actually still on the A team theory I guess.
Theory: All this Mockingbird imagery (the cafe Ali was hiding out in New York was called Mockingbird Cafe, Ezra was teaching this book at Rosewood etc) makes me wonder whether we should be looking at the storyline of To Kill A Mockingbird for A’s motives. I’ve only read synopsises but from what I can tell the main character is thought of as a freak but he just wants friends and to protect the people he loves. Could Charles bringing the girls to the Dollhouse be his way of protecting them? Doesn’t really explain the torture I guess but this is possibly the only way I can imagine feeling sorry for Charles as Marlene has said so many times we will.
Back to Ali. She’s arrived at her destination according to the satnav and low and behold the gas tank is empty. How many times must A have practiced that run to make sure the car conked out at exactly the right time? Forgetting she’s on a murder mystery drama and also that she’s ran away from the police she calls road side assistance but a man’s voice tells her to look in the trunk of her car. Creepy AF! Ali get’s out of the car and I’m like screaming NO YOU DUMB BITCH STAY IN THE CAR. It’s just like in horror films when they go investigate that noise they heard in the basement and you’re just watching like ‘you are going to die dumbass!’
Sidenote: The voice kind of sounds like it could be Bryon, Aria’s Dad. Chad Lowe who plays Byron directed this episode so perhaps he lent his voice to it or perhaps this is actually Charles’ voice not Bryon’s and the PLL writers are teasing us. OMG just had a realisation. The PLL writers are like the PLL fan’s very own A… they’ve literally been tormenting us for years (well you guys… I’ve only known this show existed since January).
Back to the hardy bros (honestly if you’re a true PLL fan and you don’t listen to Bros Watch PLL Too you need to sort your priorities out) aka Team Ezleb and they have a pretty funny exchange whilst catching up with Ali… Ezra’s driving too fast for Caleb’s liking. Ezra says “She’s still not moving?” Caleb replies “No she’s at a dead stop” Ezra comes back with “That’s a poor choice of words.” One liners on form tonight bravo Marlene.
Meanwhile Tanner is looking through a box full of Andrew Campbell’s confiscated possessions. She’s reading a very interesting diary entry which paints him as the culprit. He details his obsession with wanting to turn the girls on each other and fantasising about tormenting them. Now I’m torn about this because if it’s an A plant then snoozefest we’ve seen this happen a million times but if it’s real then woh maybe Andrew is A and that would be equally boring because he’s such an irrelevant 2D character. Also am I the only one who’s like ‘Do teenagers seriously keep paper diaries these days?’ I mean I know we’re supposedly in 2012 but still, pretty sure most teenagers use Twitter as their diary these days because the concept of privacy has been eroded away.
Anyway Toby busts in and says they have a lead on Andrew’s car which is around Tyler State Park (have your mind blown with this connection http://www.reddit.com/r/PrettyLittleLiars/comments/38dknp/tyler_state_park_where_the_dollhouse_is_is_in/) where Ali has broken down. Rosewood PD are on the case!
Ezra and Caleb pull up to Ali’s empty car. The trunk (we call it a boot in England) is open and her clothes are splayed out. “The signal stopped here” Caleb brings us up to speed. They find the welcome card Hanna was talking about. The girls voice from the dollhouse says “Put on the clothes and start walking. Leave everything else behind or they die.” Wow that escalated quickly - nothing says welcome more than a death threat. The messages are pretty cute in the card despite the fact A forced the Liars to write them. The boys run off into the woods after Ali basing their geographical decision on how Ali positioned her boots. Pretty smart!
We cut to Ali running through the trees part 3 (or maybe 4… I’ve lost count). Surprise surprise Charles has dressed her in the infamous yellow top. Sasha Pieterse who plays Ali must despise that top. Now 19, she’s been wearing the bluddy thing since she was 12. Charles definitely put in a bulk order for these bad boys - probably saw Ali and Bethany (and CeCe… shit 3 people in the same outfit just like in the Dollhouse) wearing it that night and Amazon Primed it so he could have his 100 yellow tops the next day then thought shit I need some girls to actually wear them. Guess I’ll go on a kidnapping spree then.
It’s midnight and the generator is down so the Liars spring into action and storm towards the playroom to look for a secret passage to A’s vault or ‘soul’ room. I’m still reluctant to say this A has a soul considering all the torture and the death threats and the kidnapping etc but we’ll roll with that name for now. Spencer tells them about the C.D toy she found in Ali’s room she says “Some of the toys were Ali’s and some were his” Aria adds “Feel like they grew up together.”
Theory: Presumably Charles put those boxes in Ali’s room for the liars to unpack so why would he purposefully include some of his own? The same goes with the anagrams. Why aren’t the liars questioning who is giving them these clues and why? If A really is Charles then he obviously wants them to find out. Also if you took the show completely out of it’s social media vortex and watched it with no external information you would just think Spencer was barking up the wrong tree again because let’s face it when Spencer thinks someone is A they 100% are not. At this point the only reason I believe Charles is A is because Marlene King has gone on the record saying he is but she’s lied plenty in the past so why would this be any different?
The siren starts blaring as the generator kicks back in but Emily finds a vent for the Liars to crawl through. Let me get this straight. You’ve been tortured for a month straight, been gassed several times but you’re still willing to crawl through an air vent despite not knowing where it leads? Emily Fields you are a girl after my own heart. Who’s the weakest link now hey bitch?
(Spencer checking out Emily’s ass)
So they’re in the vault and Emily’s like “A does have a soul.” They watch the home video of Mrs D with a baby girl and two boys, possibly twins but more likely brothers and A is watching them. We get a bit self-referential when Spencer looks up to the camera and says “Game On Charles.” She steps back and burns the film reel by holding it down. Surely a tech genius like A has several digital back ups though right?
Getting no reaction from Charles because he’s too preoccupied with Ali being almost in his grasp, Aria says “Let’s torch this place.” So they start burning things like dolls and the crib. Smart move girls considering you’re locked in this room. A is clearly torn between going after Ali or saving his precious room but we see him get up from his desk so he’s clearly going for one of them.
Cut to Ali looking sheepish waiting to be kidnapped. She shits herself when a twig snaps (classic horror) but it’s just Caleb and Ezra. Sasha’s scared faces are on point in this episode. She manages to do loads of different faces to convey the same emotions in her scenes this episode so props to her - great actress.
Back in the vault the Liars are realising it probably wasn’t the smartest of moves to start a blazing fire in a small room with lots of flamable items. Aria suggests they find a blanket to put it out. Erm not sure what experience you’ve had at putting out fires Aria but let me tell you a blankets not going to cut it this time love.
Emily suggests using the curtains but when they tug them down they come face to face with A. It’s pretty creepy. By the looks of things his control room is behind this window next to the vault. Also throwback to the silence of the lamb pit earlier with Mona, it looks like A is now wearing a bit of a hannibal lector mask under that hoodie.
In a last ditch attempt to get Charles to cave the liars start throwing everything into the fire. Aria gets sassy “Say goodbye to your soul” - for the last time Marlene we get it, you want us to see A’s human side well spoiler alert that’s not going to happen.
It works, A caves and pushes his emergency fire button to activate sprinklers and unlock all the doors. I love the fact that this mass torturer follows health and safety regulations. What a responsible kidnapper he is. The girls make a break for it and go off to find Mona.
Back in the woods Ali hears the alarm so Team CAZRALI (I’m not letting it go) go and investigate where the smoke is coming from.
The Liars find Mona in the hole and after some ugly crying and pleading the girls decide she’s probably been through enough without leaving her to burn to death. They grab a rope ladder and next thing we know they are running down the corridor towards a ladder which presumably leads to the exit.
Sidenote: How on earth did Charles get Mona down there in the first place unless he held a gun to her head and forced her to climb down?
This next scene is possibly the most emotional scene in PLL history so here’s a link to watch it in all it’s glory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYkam5Pqakk
So the girls are banging on the exit door coughing and spluttering. The guys are trying to break it open. Caleb looks like he gives up so Ali gets in there and it flings open (girl power) and amongst all the smoke comes rushing out the scared Liars. It’s a beautiful shot of them each running to their OTP (controversial subject I know). Hanna runs to Caleb, Aria to Ezra and Emily to Alison - all hugging each other as if their lives depended on it (ironic). Ezra says to Aria “I thought I’d lost you” and Hanna says to Caleb “Don’t ever let me go” to which he replies“Never.” This genuinely had me in tears.
The police arrive and Spencer (who is holding poor Mona at the moment) leaps into Toby’s arms for a passionate kiss. She says “We know who it is. We have a name” and Toby replies with the creepiest line of the night “It’s Andrew babe. And we’re gonna get him.” Just take a second to let that sink in. In fact go watch it on repeat a few times and see if you agree that Toby calling Spencer babe is hands down the most disturbing thing about this episode!
Just when everyones all loved up and relieved a cop shouts “Hey there’s another girl down here.” A female cop (I guess to be sensitive to the situation) goes and finds the other blonde hostage and asks for her name. The girl hesitates looking like she might say Alison (or Bethany depending on who she’s been role playing) but she stutters “Sarah. I’m Sarah Harvey”
HOLY CRAP. If you remember Sarah Harvey is the girl that went missing the day after Ali. That means she’s been locked in the dollhouse for near enough 3 years right? So the press surrounding Dre Davis playing a character called Kimberley Brown was a B.S. way of throwing us off the scent. I don’t know whether I feel betrayed or impressed but either way I’m intrigued to see how Sara plays into all of this. Or is she just an innocent victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? I highly doubt it.
Sarah is carried out on a stretcher. Melodramatic much? She was tottering around serving meals an hour ago. Mona’s being checked over by the paramedics and the gang are reunited. They remind us who Sarah Harvey is because for most of you that random plot point was thrown in half way through Season 4 so no one would blame you if you were like who the fuck is this girl if she’s not Bethany Young?
Emily then goes over to Ali and things are a little icy considering they basically just made out 5 minutes ago. Emily thanks Alison for saving their lives (no biggie) and Ali reaches for Emily’s hand. They’re about to have a moment which will break twitter and set the Emison fandom on fire when Emily says “Ali, who is Charles Dilaurentis?”
And that’s it. We are left with a blank-faced Ali who we know from the 6x02 promo has no idea who Charles Dilaurentis is. I don’t know about you guys but I’m seriously jazzed for this season and so-called Summer of Answers.
Let me know your thoughts & follow me on Twitter @thesweetestofa for a good old PLL debate.
Until next time little liars…
