Another week in Rosewood, another round of questions left unanswered. Between murder suspects and beestings, it’s momma drama week on PLL, with an added dose of pre-frosh fun(?) for our favorite foursome. Â
Spencer: After getting rejected from UPenn, Spenser’s mother hires a college admissions counselor to help get Spencer into another Ivy League school. However, the only thing Spencer wants to study is the phone book, since she still can’t find the root of the mysterious phone number. While flipping through the college selection book in preparation for meeting with her counselor, she discovers Cicero College, whose contact information is suspiciously similar to the phone number. Spencer is able to convince her college admissions counselor, Brendan, a surprisingly cute guy, to let her visit Cicero that weekend and drags Emily along for the ride. Once there, Spencer pumps a nerd for information, sadly saying, “You Shall Not Pass” so awkwardly that even people on the other side of the campus squirmed. She redeems herself with a Game of Thrones reference, and, if nothing else, learns that the number is somewhere on Greek Row. That night, she and Emily go to a sorority party where she discovers just another dark, creepy room, lit by a single, menacingly swinging lightbulb. It looks pretty much like the 40 other ones she’s seen up to this point, so it’s NBD. She finds an unplugged pink phone and, after plugging it in, does the next logical thing by calling Aria. Aria, clearly shaken, asks, “Who is this?” Spencer delivers her second classic line of the episode: “It ain’t Tippy the Bird.”Â
Emily:Â With her family still recovering from abuse suspicions, Emily’s mom is lying low while her dad takes over parenting duties with a morning pep talk. Emily knows she can’t get into Stanford without a swimming scholarship, which is why when she meets Brendan, she eagerly accepts his help. Emily accompanies Spencer on her trip to Cicero, secretly considering the school and a sorority scholarship. Of course, Emily doesn’t tell Spencer this until their pre-party screaming match. Spencer accuses Emily of flirting with Brendan, while Emily throws back snarky remarks about Spencer’s cushy lifestyle. The fight is conveniently broken up by a creepy sorority chorus and a commercial break. During the party, Emily talks to one of the sorority sisters who name drops “Carla Grunwald,” a former house mother with seemingly clairvoyant powers. Although it was before the sorority sister’s time there, Momma Grunwald left her paddle and mask so that the girls would always have something to remember her by. How sweet. Later, Emily sees Brendan at the party, and he slyly mentions that he’s “off-duty” for the night. Emily spots Hanna from across the room and tries to follow her outside, but is held up by Brendan. He tries to hold her hand, so she takes this moment to tell him that not only is she in a relationship but that it’s with a girl. Brendan takes the news well, but still seems a little smarmy when he offers to help her find her friend. We’re going to have to keep our eyes on this one.
Hanna: There were no sweet dreams for Hanna, as she woke up screaming.  She rushes down to look for her mother, obviously having had a nightmare about her. Hanna finds her mom sleeping on the porch, but when Hanna wakes her up, Ashely is sporting a choppy haircut and an orange prison jumpsuit. Again, Hanna wakes up screaming in this double dream sequence. She breathes a sigh of relief when her mom emerges from the hallway, wearing a full head of hair and a pair of pajamas, but she’s still on edge during breakfast. Hanna and her mother have a short but somewhat heartfelt talk about Hanna’s future and her college choices, but the fashionista only has eyes for FIT. Later, after finding her mother’s closet locked and overhearing a suspicious conversation with Spencer’s mother, Veronica, Hanna decides to put her old klepto skills to good use. She unlocks her mother’s closet and discovers the infamous gun in one of her bags. Hanna stashes the gun in her own bag and flees the house, telling her mother she’s going to meet Spencer and Emily at Cicero College. After talking to Spencer and showing her the gun, Hanna decides that she can’t wait any longer to get rid of it. She grabs an empty beer mug and leaves the sorority house for the campus grounds, looking for a place to bury the gun. Unfortunately, she’s caught mid-dig by the police and ends up in the back of a cop car. Spencer and Emily stare on at the scene, helpless as always.
Aria: Aria is no exception to the momma drama when she finds out that her mom doesn’t want to go to Austria anymore. Aria, wearing a skirt made of ties(?), follows her mom out to her car and demands to know what changed her mother’s mind. After revealing that it was Aria’s brother, Mike, who told her not to go, Ella swats a bee cavalierly. Aria gets out of her mother’s car mere seconds before it becomes swarmed by bees, courtesy of A. (It’s no coincidence that A later takes her/his tea with honey.) Aria’s mom ends up in the hospital, and Mike copes with his grief by playing video games. When Aria confronts Mike about his selfishness in not letting their mother go, he turns the tables by calling her selfish and using the word “boff” in reference to Ezra. Mike has barely been in the past season, so we’ll give him a pass for not being up to date on Aria’s love life. After their argument, Aria asks her father to talk to Ella and convince her to go. Byron does this and is successful, showing off his theoretical parenting skills. Later, Aria feels a bit left out when all of the other liars are at Cicero, and she’s having family night. We all know she’s going to end up at Hollis anyway, so what’s the point of pretending?Â
The Final Scene: The trademark black gloves pick up a china teapot and pour tea into a cup, adding honey. Then, a hand cleans off part of an old picture, just enough to reveal the head and name of Carla Grunwald, an unattractive, middle-aged woman. Although A isn’t helping out the liars, at least she/he is aiding audience understanding in her/his convenient finger swipes.
Reader’s Digest Version: Do we know who A is? No. Do we know how A takes her/his tea? Yes.