Pretty Little Liars - Season 3 Episode 8 - Recap and Review - Stolen Kisses
Pretty Little Liars seemed like it planned this entire episode, "Stolen Kisses," around showing off how beautiful Shay Mitchell (Emily) is. This showcase was most likely coincidental, though. Mostly, the girls just ended up bummed out and on the brink of tears. In actuality, the episode mostly focused around cracking Maya's secret website... "Maya Space!" Seriously, who has a self-portrait as their wallpaper for anything? Maya's A #2, right?
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
The episode opened with the core four scrambling over cracking Maya's password. Emily had an epiphany! She knew the password! Only, she didn't. She looked disappointed like that meant Maya secretly hated her. I could just imagine her typing out "E-M-I-L-Y-F-I-E-L-D-S." They were all frazzled, but Hanna (Ashley Benson) was especially miffed. Spencer (Troian Bellisario) knew what she had to do the whole time, but the other three girls get testy easily. She waited for the right moment to play the "hey, remember your ex, Caleb, is a computer mastermind?!" card. Hanna didn't want to do it herself, so Spencer agreed to speak with him.
Toby (Keegan Allen) made a brief appearance this week. He basically just stormed into Spencer's palace to bitch and moan about Spencer's newfound love for half-brother Jason. Spencer covered for Jason's hit and run last week. Toby covered for Spencer by lying to the cops. Jason skipped out of state to pay to fix his bumper in cash. More importantly, Toby is ready to start digging for clues as to who's still hounding Spencer and the gals via text.
"Aria (Lucy Hale), make a salad for dinner, and the whore I cheated on your mother with is probably going to be your new teacher at Rosewood High. Bye!" Aria's dad Byron (Chad Lowe) is the worst. Even rubbing one of her magic earrings couldn't ward off that nuisance!
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
Byron, however, has competition in the "worst parent ever" Olympics this week. Ezra's (Ian Harding) mother rolled into town and, surprise, she has ulterior motives. As it turns out, Ezra is super rich. He told Aria he shortened his name to "Fitz" from "Fitzgerald" because he didn't want to have to deal with living up to F. Scott Fitzgerald (Because "Fitzgerald" is such an unpopular name) but in reality he didn't want the correlation to his relatives. Mrs. Fitz(gerald) invited them both to an event at the Osgood Museum.
Hanna got some unsettling news after being prompted to meet Wren (Julian Morris) for coffee. The mental hospital was looking to ship Mona off to some far away land like Upstate New York! Hanna pleaded with Wren to do what he could to prevent that from happening, but Wren let Hanna know that Mona had been slipping pills out to some of her visitors. That doesn't bode well for Mona. Of course, Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) walked in just in time to catch Hanna on her "date" with Wren. He looked so ashamed that the girl he had dumped weeks ago could possibly be on a date with Wren. The guys on this show hate Wren!
Emily is slowly moving on from Maya, and Maya's cousin Nate (Sterling Sulieman) is helping her to do so. He dragged Emily on a hike to one of Maya's favorite places, a boathouse in the woods, and they shot the breeze over Maya stories yet again. Nate didn't know how people could bring themselves to murder until he saw Garrett in person. He could kill Garrett! Emily says, "no."
Maya's website apparently isn't a piñata, as they once assumed. You can't just crack it! Spencer used all of her tricks but inevitably did end up going to Caleb for that favor. She was pretty frank with Caleb. Strangely, he was fully on board. He still wants to look out for Hanna and more importantly, he wants to crush "Mona the Monster." His words, not mine.
A text to Spencer: "Mona's almost gone. Hanna's next."
Spencer's killer lawyer of a mother was working hardcore behind the scenes to alleviate Hanna of her woes. The police still want her blood to test against samples on evidence. Spencer eventually "stumbled" upon her mother's briefcase with Aria, and the two used their teen girl powers to snap pics with their cell phones of everything at lightning speed! What did they learn? That Maya was brutally killed with a pipe. They also got a name, Bart Comstock, of a man who could potentially ruin Garrett's reputation and case. Aria hightailed it over to the theater where he works for answers.
While Aria journeyed to the movies, Caleb and Spencer tinkered away on his shiny new laptop. Caleb was embarrassed to admit that he was enjoying the perks of having a rich mom, but he was preaching to the choir. Spencer taught him how to be rich. She knows everything! Except Maya's password. Caleb skipped the password and hacked the page. Welcome to Maya Space! The digital equivalent of the messy bedroom of a stoned teenage girl! It was basically a compilation of video clips and archives of things Maya wanted to remember. Kind of like tumblr, only not as fun because we know she's...
Bart Comstock was pretty helpful. Aria put on the best hardcore interrogator routine she could muster up without begin too unloveable. Bart saw Maya get a ride home from Garrett the night he was arrested for supposedly murdering her.
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
Emily wanted to make things right with Paige (Lindsey Shaw) this week. It's about time, considering the way this show has been treating Paige like a fool. If you only had audio without picture, you would think she was the equivalent of someone who lived under a bridge and ate billy goats by how uninterested Emily has been. Emily needed to apologize for the small issue of Paige accidentally drugging herself by drinking a sip from Emily's flask. Paige didn't seem like she was interested in an apology, but in truth, this had nothing to do with the fact that the flask was Emily's.
Paige had put two and two together. She knew Emily was most likely also drugged. The reason she was nervous to speak with Emily was because she'd been keeping a secret, too. As it turns out, the night Emily was drugged, she went to Paige's house to subconsciously seek safety and comfort. Emily put the moves on Paige and planted one smack on her lips. Paige felt guilty kissing back because Emily was "drunk." She just liked it too much to stop. "It was like a dream!" Emily looked like she wanted to hurl.
Wren's accent couldn't fool the staff at the hospital into thinking he knew best. They write textbooks, Hanna! As a last ditch effort, Wren came up with a plan for Hanna to speak with them on Mona's behalf. Hanna started off reading stiffly from notecards, but she pulled a classic "graduation speech" movie moment and tossed them aside. She and Mona were like two peas in a pod, and Mona wouldn't have given up on her if their roles had been reversed. So what if Mona ran Hanna over with her car? She still cares! Apparently, this little showing worked, and Mona is here to stay for now! Good?
The Osgood Museum art show was a complete disaster. Ezra's scary mom coyly pulled Aria aside for some girl talk. At first, things seemed like they were going well. Until she revealed that she knew Ezra had lied about where and when they met. She also knew about every crack in Aria's family, from her brother's record to her parents separation. She won't let Aria, the girl with the lyrical name, ruin Ezra's life! Even if she hates his life. He sacrificed much for Aria, and she's sacrificed nothing for him. She even offered Aria a "real world compensation" to leave him. Wow, that is rich people speak if I've ever heard it. Aria took out her frustrations on the potted plant next to her by violently tossing her cranberry juice into it's soil before storming out like one of the Real Housewives. Ezra realized what had happened, obviously, and scolded his mother for thinking this was Gossip Girl season one.
Is Aria ruining Fitz' life? Probably. Back at the Montgomery residence, Aria had no one to cry to but horrible Byron, her dad. Getting an inch and taking a mile, Byron claimed that no one could suffer from having Aria in their life. Really? Does he not remember A? Aria cried, though, so he won.
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
Seriously, that looks like it could be Aria's cover photo on Facebook! #AriaCoverPhoto
Later, Emily got a pep talk from Nate back at the boathouse. Nate doesn't believe you're ever not truly yourself, even when you're dreaming or drunk. If you made a decision, then you probably honestly made it. This is an awakening for Emily, and she ran back to Paige to apologize once again. As it turns out, Emily does have real feelings for Paige. She's finally ready to give it a go. Another long awaited lesbian kiss! It was well worth the wait. Good for Emily and PLL! This show has gotten some ridiculous flack from hate groups, so I'm glad ABC Family still does this.
ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"
The episode ended with the girls, sans Emily, sifting aimlessly through Maya's videos. Eventually, they stumbled upon a scary one of Maya looking worried and prepping herself to do something brave. It looks like it took place just before... Well, you know.
Also, A #2 took out a boatload of cash!
What did you all think of the episode? Were you happy to see Emily moving on with Paige? Do you still hate Aria's dad? Do you think the show is still pushing Hanna and Wren together? What did Maya know that got her killed?