Forgery, invasion of privacy, theft—for girls who are scrambling desperately to prove their innocence, the "Pretty Little Liars" sure do break a lot of laws. Luckily for them, the parental units aren't attentive to their adolescent plight. (Honestly, Spencer's parents barely live in Rosewood, it seems; Hanna's mom and dad are too busy flirting with each other to be bothered and even Emily, she of the strict upbringing, has a selectively gullible mom—kind of makes you wonder why the girls are so worried about pretending to uphold the therapist's orders).
Might-as-well-be-an-orphan Spencer has it best and worst in the no-parental-control department. With perpetually absent parents comes the freedom to do things like steal your sister's lost wedding ring and pawn it to buy your boyfriend a truck (Toby wouldn't have stopped working for Jason without it, to be fair). But it also comes with a downside, like the fear of death when big sis outright refuses to protect you from her psycho hubby, who you both know is actually alive.
For Hanna, the parental situation seems to be taking a turn for the better for the first time since that whole dad-walking-out-without-so-much-as-a-goodbye thing. It's like old people flirting and a lot of it. It would be gross if you didn't know Hanna was rooting hardcore for a reconciliation. Hanna spends the episode putting her own love on the back burner (which means, sadly, no Caleb spottings) to play matchmaker. When it comes to her mom and dad, this involves a little bad girl behavior—deleting an "I love you" text from dad's fiancee after she knows they've been struggling. But wait! The Hanna matchmaking doesn't end there! She doesn't just know what's best for adults in love, she's also an expert at the high school game, quickly picking up on Lucas' feelings for new yearbook grunt worker Danielle and orchestrating a coffee date for the two of them. Lucas is suspicious at first, but Hanna manages to convince him that she's turned over a new leaf and just does nice stuff now. He seems to kind of believe her. Should we?
The Good Girl Hanna bursting with kindness doesn't really extend to advising Emily on whether or not to lie her way into another year at Rosewood. Desperate to stay and unable to get a solid commitment from the swim scout about Danby, Em forges a letter promising herself a spot on the team (and a full freshman year scholarship) if she stays at Rosewood as MVP. Aria and Hanna play life-sized shoulder angel and devil, with Aria warning how the plan could (and probably would) go totally awry while Hanna touts its brilliance. The shoulder devil wins out until a small, but gushy moment between Emily and her mom that ends with a very "I accept and still love you" vibe that prompts Emily to rip up the fake letter and save that family relationship instead, even if it means moving to Texas. This would be great if Emily didn't have her very own stalker/torturer who kind of needs her in the proximity to screw up her life. A sends the fake letter instead (bum bum bum!).
I know I called Spencer the might-as-well-be-orphan before, but Aria is a pretty close second. At least Spencer's parents get the courtesy of a "my parents are out of town" line. At least they have an excuse for not policing their daughter's bad behavior. Aria has moved to openly dating Ezra at her father's place of work, and he is apparently still none the wiser (though, considering the moment of TLC that Jackie spotted when Aria was on campus visiting Ezra, that probably won't be the case for much longer). For once though, her love affair with Ezra isn't Aria's biggest dilemma. She takes a class at Hollis (convenient for the romance), and Jenna is in it (of course she is, right?). Aria lets Jenna think she's someone else and we see, for the first time ever, a less creepy, more compassionate side of the maybe-villain. As soon as Aria speaks up and Jenna realizes it's her though, the jig is up and it's back to full-on scary.
So where are we now? Oh yeah, Ian. What about Ian? As they usually do in the final moments of an episode, the girls go into Sherlock mode, this time deciding to track Melissa's every move until they find out where she's been sneaking off to. They follow her to a car, and after much suspense, we find out that Wren is the person she's rendezvousing with. Yeah, Wren. The ex-fiance who Spencer kissed. What is he doing here? He was a med student, so maybe fixing up a badly wounded person? Like someone who fell from a bell tower, for instance?
Why do you think Wren is back? What do you think A has planned next for the liars? Tell us in the comments and on Twitter!