Pretty Little Liars - Season 3 Episode 20 - Recap and Review - Hot Water

By the close of this week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars, Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) was ready to blow the lid off of Toby’s terrible secret. “Hot Water” saw Big Spence transition through the final stages of realizing someone you love is an A. From denial, delusion, and depression… then on to anger, insanity, exhaustion… and finally over to “screw you, I’m telling Aria (Lucy Hale).”

The episode opened with the Liars discussing their recent findings late-night at The Brew. Cece Drake (Vanessay Ray) had, of course, become their new target after the revelation had been brought to light that she’d actually known Officer Wilden (Bryce Johnson) and lied to cover her own ass. Spencer could barely pretend to be following along, dozing off while glancing at her cell. She was able to clear Mona from taking credit for the elevator debacle. She was busy strangling her, after all.

Wilden arrived just in time to make everybody feel uncomfortable and stalked. Emily (Shay Mitchell) attempted to use her powers as a barista to shoo him off, only to have Hanna (Ashley Benson) verbally explode with the details of what they’d discovered. Suddenly, Wilden started to get that feeling in his stomach like when you know you’ve done something incredibly stupid and everyone is about to find out. He attempted to play it cool and intimidating, only to look somewhat manic the next morning while he wrangled Cece into his car. Hanna and her mother Ashley (Laura Leighton) watched from across the street. With no way to skate by Ashley’s questioning, Hanna was forced to explain what’d gone down. Ashley was not pleased at all with the fact that Hanna had accused Wilden of sleeping with Alison and getting her pregnant, especially since he actively hates their family.

At school, Hanna opened up to Emily about catching Caleb’s father spending the dollar she’d donated to the church, the one with the pair of dice drawn on it with marker. Emily figured it was just a coincidence (Come on, Emily). Also, Emily was still hung up on the idea of confronting Cece to clear up her lies. Paige (Lindsey Shaw) attempted to dodge the two when they caught her sneaking off to further investigate at the costume shop. Her car GPS gave her scheme away, and the duo hopped on board. Hmm, I wonder what brand is sponsoring this show.

Paige hadn’t yet given up on discovering who’d purchased the Queen of Hearts costume, and she was planning on following up with her friend Shawna. At the costume shop, it became clear that the cashier, Shawna, was none other than the girl Hanna had seen flirting with Paige at the lesbian bar. You could cut the lesbian love vibes here with a knife, and Hanna, needless to say, felt a little left out. Having discovered that Paige had brought her girlfriend, Emily, Shawna backed out of helping Paige, claiming that the company had a confidentiality policy. Emily thought on her feet and pretended to have to pee so that Hanna could distract Shawna. Once the coast was clear, Emily hacked the company laptop and managed to email herself a copy of the credit card statement attached to the Queen of Hearts sale. Finally, we’ll find out whom Paige violently embarrassed on the A-Train!

#EzrasBack, everyone! Little Aria could finally put her mind to rest regarding why Ezra (Ian Harding) had given her the silent treatment for a few weeks while he visited his son. Ezra’s excuse seemed kind of lousy to me; he didn’t want to get Aria involved? She was involved before he was! Well, they ended up smooching and making amends.

Melissa (Torrey Devitto), it’s never a good idea to get the same haircut as your mom, but I do appreciate that you covered for Spencer while she skipped school a bunch of times. Still, Melissa was done giving Spencer room to mope. Anymore bad behavior, and their parents would find out. As I said previously, Spencer seemed flat out exhausted this episode. All of that mounding crazy sure piled up fast, and well, Spencer’s not really crazy. In the end, I guess she just ended up tired. Aria’s mother Ella (Holly Marie Combs) caught her napping in her classroom during her free period. She offered Spencer a tiny bit of a pep talk, claiming that Spencer has never been one to let a failure defeat her before.

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Shortly after, Aria caught Spencer quite obviously ignoring her in the hallway and followed her into the bathroom. Spencer hid in a stall and sat silently, while Aria attempted to pull some signature Sparia advice out of her surrounding the whole Ezra situation. I guess dodging her friends’ condolences had been one thing, but ignoring a needy friend, especially Aria, was another. It started to become clear that Spencer was getting over herself.

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With no Spencer to sing to, our little bird had nowhere to go but The Brew. Too bad these girls can’t legally drink yet, right? Dealing with A and this entire freak show of a town would be so much easier. Could things get any worse for Aria? Of course! Ezra’s evil mother found Aria sulking and attempted to pull one over on her. “Thanking” her for ushering Wes back to his home life, she seemed more concerned with planting seeds of doubt in Aria’s mind regarding Maggie and Malcolm, Ezra’s new son. Truthfully, Ezra is the type to put his son first, and Aria is in high school! Thankfully, Aria decided to settle for Hanna and Emily’s advice. According to them, she was being foolish for talking to everyone around Ezra but not Ezra himself.

In the meantime, Emily and Hanna continued their own snooping. Hanna got word from Caleb that he’d be able to crack the credit card codes to track the buyer of the costume. Emily was more concerned with cheating lovers. Hanna questioned whether she was truly concerned with Toby sleeping around on Spencer or with Paige’s chemistry with Shawna. Together, they realized that they’d begun seeing the worst in the people they truly care about. That evening, Paige confronted Emily, looking for reasons as to why Shawna had gotten in trouble for releasing private information. Emily admitted to her part, but lashed back at Paige. Paige told the truth surrounding her relationship with Shawna. The two had dated for a few weeks that summer, while Paige was still pining for Emily. In the end, she was just a substitute for what Paige really wanted. I continue to like Paige more and more!

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Wren (Julian Morris) had text Spencer earlier surrounding the brawl that went down between her and Mona. In truth, he wasn’t honest with Spencer that evening either. At The Brew, the two admitted to their lies. Spencer was sorry for using Wren as a ride to Mona’s decathlon, while Wren apologized for pretending he was concerned with her craziness. In reality, he was looking to move in on a post-Toby Spencer. At first, Spencer seemed hesitant, but eventually gave in to the idea of getting back in the dating saddle. Wren took Spencer out to dinner, and the two had a great night. When Wren went in for a kiss, Spencer backed away, only to lean back in and kiss him herself. Woo, we like our Spencer Hastings taking control! Afterwards, Spencer caught a glimpse of the girl in the red jacket, but of course, she was gone in a flash. At home, Melissa caught a whiff of Wren’s cologne on Spencer and reminded her that “no company is better than bad company.”

“How did this even happen to me?” Poor Aria was through with all of that baby drama, only to walk right into a warzone between Ezra and his mother. In the end, Ezra made it perfectly clear that he wanted his mother away from his son. I guess Ezra didn’t realize how much control his mother had in this situation, though, and he found himself shocked when Maggie called to announce that her condo was up abruptly put up for sale! His mother was the owner. Seriously, though; I know this woman is a single mom, but she’s a working woman. Shouldn’t she pay for her own life now?

Emily found Cece Drake packing up her life and heading out of Rosewood. Apparently, Wilden really scared the living daylights out of her. She admitted to lying to protect her own skin, believing Wilden to have killed Alison. Knowing that this could be the last time she’d see Cece, Emily asked a few more questions. Why was she at the scene of the crime the night Alison went missing? Apparently, she got caught up in the drama surrounding the infamous dirty tapes that everyone in this damn town, Melissa included, seem to want. Who took the picture of Cece, Wilden, and Ali on the boat? Melissa Hastings!

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Ashley was out to dinner when Officer Wilden showed up with a glass of wine as a peace offering. He appeared visibly shaken to the point that Ashley offered him the wine instead. Wilden was panicked over what Hanna’s accusations could do to his reputation in such a small town. When Ashley noted that he was acting kind of guilty, the tone changed. Outside, Wilden waited for Ashley to leave, trailing her car when she did. He pulled her over for “drunk driving,” but things seriously took a turn for the worse when he truly started to crack. Standing in front of her car, he refused to let her leave, screaming that she’d have to “Shut Hanna up, or he would!” When it appeared as though he were reaching for his gun, Ashley ran him over (!) in a drastic move to escape. At home, she shared her mistake with Hanna, and the two returned to the scene to find Wilden’s body missing. The police car left behind had recorded everything!

Meanwhile, Spencer had decided to take a steam in her personal sauna. Wow, the Hastings family makes my life feel inadequate, yet again. Only for you, Spence! Spencer used the digital monitor to select the exact temperature of the steam. Yep, she can do that… because she has a sauna from the future in her house. Things took a turn for the terrifying when Spencer discovered that she’d been locked in and the steam temperature continued to rise. Whoa, this show is getting to feel more and more like Final Destination 6.  Through the scolding steam, Spencer could make out “Steamy with Wren, Steamy with me.-A” written on the mirror. With Melissa nowhere in sight, it was little Aria who saved the day. Having received a text from Spencer earlier, she arrived just in time. Realizing that Mona would never be jealous of her dating Wren, Spencer finally came to terms with the true Toby. Aria, call the gals. The time has come for Spencer to ruin Toby Cavanaugh.

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What did you all think of Pretty Little Liars, Season 3 Episode 20, “Hot Water”? Did Jason really contact Emily by text, or is someone using his phone? Are you excited to see Toby exposed next week? What is A’s endgame? Who is the girl in the red coat? Where’s Wilden?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars, Season 3 Episode 20, "Hot Water"!