Pretty Little Liars - Recap: Hanna Marin Forced to Wear Cowgirl Costume

Episode 11 of Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars, “Bring Down the Hoe,” took our four Liars to a Rosewood hoedown. What do you know? Lucy Hale can really break it down when it comes to line dancing. #MovesLikeAria, we were prompted to tweet in support. Maybe I would have had I not been so fixated on my favorite moment of the season. That’s right, Liars. How could I not dwell on the awesomeness that was a grizzled Ezra (Ian Harding) slaying Emily (Shay Mitchell) Willy Wonka style (Bear with me. All will be explained!) over a glowing recommendation letter. Meanwhile, Toby (Keegan Allen) continued to trust this new A in his quest to find more clues surrounding the untimely death of his mother. Also, relentless Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) forced a depressed Hanna (Ashley Benson) into donning a cowgirl costume. She sobbed on the inside, I’m sure. Here is my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 11, “Bring Down the Hoe”! There’s nothing quite like having to eat lunch with an “old” person when you’re a high school it-girl, huh Liars? Detective Tanner (Roma Mafia) paid the girls an unannounced visit during their courtyard gossip time, if only to drop the bomb of the discovered muddy stiletto found at the scene of the Fields family car wreck. Remember, our latest A planted that bit of evidence following Mona’s rash decision to shake up the framing of Hanna’s mother by falsely confessing to Wilden’s murder. Hanna puked, literally, before crying her eyes out for all to see in the school hallway. Of course, no one paid attention but a fresh new face. The boy glared as the halls emptied out, and Hanna frantically wiped away the tears. Honestly, at this point, it’s pretty clear that this Detective Tanner has no personal vendetta against the Liars. Why not just confess to another stalking situation? Could it possibly hurt their cause in any way? You know what would totally cheer Hanna up? Partaking in a hoedown! Not. Caleb, though, was adamant in hauling his girlfriend to the barn under strict orders from Hanna’s mom.

Giddy Up, Lil’ doggie!

I actually got a request to add Caleb’s western-inspired invite (quoted above) to this recap and review. How could I leave it out? I’m sure Tyler Blackburn loved delivering that line.

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Meanwhile, Ezra, still reeling over the impending loss of his former son, Malcolm, decided to quit shaving in favor of developing a brand spankin’ new troublesome attitude. Emily, who’d received a stellar college recommendation from her supervisor Zoe, decided to ask Fitz’s opinion. Was it possible to be too highly recommended? Paige seemed to think so prior. Ezra, on the other hand, found himself nothing but fuming mad over Emily's nerve. How dare a student as a teacher for advice on applying to college! If you’re looking for a refresher on the infamous lashing of Emily by Fitz, just watch the video clip embedded below!

Yeah, that sums it up. Emily handled herself with grace before receiving a begrudging apology from Ezra. He has a lot on his plate now, Fields! Take, for example, what was going on right outside. Aria casually invited Jake (Ryan Guzman) to the looming school dance, and, what do you know, he accepted with ease. See, it is possible for things to be normal in Rosewood! Not for long though. Later in the episode, Fitz would sideswipe Aria at The Brew, even stubblier than before. Aria, remember, had been dodging her former lover left and right, refusing to even take his calls for fear of screwing things up with Jake. Once Jake arrived, Ezra was shooed back into wherever it is that English teachers go when they’re not in a school environment. Guess what Jake’s special power is, Liars? He has the uncanny ability to size ladies’ feet from a distance! Was Aria supposed to be charmed by the fact that he correctly guessed her shoe size, or a little put off and freaked out? In any case, it was the gesture that mattered. Jake bought Aria some rocking new turquoise cowgirl boots for the dance. Get ready… #MovesLikeAria is coming.

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Hanna, meanwhile, discovered an envelope full of cash in her locker, an envelope from CeCe Drake’s (Vanessa Ray) old boutique. Had CeCe left Hanna a wad of benjamins for a reason? Spencer (Troian Bellisario) sure seemed to think so, not that her boy Toby cared at all. From the inside of his truck, the two were caught off guard by a strange tune playing from his stereo. The new A had burned a CD featuring a recording of Toby’s mom singing. Spencer, appropriately flipped, and attempted to put the kibosh on Toby’s continued efforts to play slave to A for information. Pretty Little Liars did a great job of making Toby look sick and slightly depraved during Episode 11. We’d later watch him struggle on the phone in an attempt to speak with the loony Dr. Palmer. When the hospital came up short, Toby received one last text from A; a picture of Palmer’s alleged old car and an address attached. Were Toby’s mother’s records sealed within the car? What do you think…

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Spencer, having been late due to dealing with a crumbling boyfriend, showed up to the crawlspace under the Dilaurentis house just in time to witness Aria nearly losing an eye. First, tell me if I’m crazy, but didn’t it seem pretty light down there to be using flashlights? Also, all they managed to find in that sloppy Red Coat squatting zone was a severed coat button? Red Coat always seemed sleek to me. That place was a dump. How many bags of Lays potato chips can one Red Coat scarf down? While Hanna distracted Alison’s mother at the mall, the remaining three attempted to find answers. Of course, someone had a different idea. From the ceiling above, A (or whoever wants these girls maimed this week) nearly shish-kebabed the Liars. That was certainly the last straw for Emily, who promptly decided to pack up and leave the Dilaurentis residence in favor of Hastings Manor. Of course, we’d witness a decent flashback sequence first.

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We certainly had to get something more out of having Emily live there for two episodes, am I right? After a nailpolish jogged Fields’ memory, she recalled having a conversation with Alison (Sasha Pieterse) about life, dating, and the fact that she once had a gun pulled on her by a friend’s sadistic boytoy. Alison took pride in helping her girls break up with frumps and duds; however, this time was different. Emily, confiding her memory in Spencer, deduced that Alison must have been helping CeCe break up with a volatile Wilden. Could Wilden have been harassing CeCe once she returned to Rosewood?

We did, indeed, catch a few glimpses of CeCe this week. From an undisclosed location, CeCe barked at an unknown partner in crime on the phone from a room decked out in Ali memorabilia, refusing to set foot back in Rosewood. On the chair, we’d see the red coat of the Red Coat. Universally, we the viewers subsequently wrote CeCe Drake off as a possible Red Coat suspect, correct? Who could she have been speaking with? I’m thinking it was probably CeCe who killed Wilden. It was most likely Wren on the phone. I can’t picture Red Coat picking up a phone and chatting according to how Mona has described the way in which she works.

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The hoedown seemed fun to begin with, I think? I’m not sure if the extras on set were ecstatic or mortified to get so much screen time via so many choreographed dance routines. Aria certainly threw down, and good for Lucy Hale, budding country music superstar! Seriously, that’s happening. Google it! Hanna, more importantly (No, of course not. Nothing is more important than #MovesLikeAria.), bumped into Travis, the boy who’d been “stalking” her since the beginning of Episode 11. Tired of dodging his glares, Hanna was not having any part of his invite to dance. Things changed pretty quickly, though. While Caleb got some disgusting punch and practiced his cowboy talk in the corner, Travis did dance with Hanna… while he delivered information that could clear Ashley Marin for good. Travis’ father ran an auto shop, and Travis had been driving his truck by the scene of Wilden’s murder just before the events would transpire. He saw enough to watch Ashley drive away before hearing the gunshots that would inevitably put  Wilden six feet under. Unwilling to put his family in harm’s way, Travis easily accepted the wad of cash dropped on his truck seat later as hush money. Now, he’d had enough of biting his tongue, and he was looking to help Hanna clear her mother. Well, it did take some coercing from Marin, but eventually he’d get to a place of trekking down to the police station to confess what he’d seen. Hanna, after all, didn’t want the dirty money on her own hands. She wanted her mother to be safe once and for all. Time will tell whether this was enough to clear Ashley for good, but we’re nearing the midseason finale. I’m guessing this will be. Could CeCe have left the cash for Travis in the only envelope she had on hand? Also, are we thinking that Travis could be a new love interest for Hanna now that we know Caleb is heading to Ravenswood?

Toby, blind in his obsession to find answers, shrugged off more of Spencer’s pleas to quit partnering with A for fear of being set up. Once he managed to shake the truth out of Spencer, that she'd caved under her friends' pressure and blabbed about Toby's latest quest, his fuse was lit. Come on, Toby. Let's not forget that you stole an entire winnebago full of Liars' swag and hand delivered it to A without asking permission or even apologizing. Instead, Toby decided to hightail it over to the location of Palmer’s car with the intention of breaking in. Spencer, panicked, enlisted Caleb’s help in tailing Toby. Luckily, he did make it to the scene of the future crime just in time to distract Toby as a police car pulled into the driveway. The two ran for the hills, and Spencer — of course, duh, needless to say, what else is new? — was proven to be correct in trusting her instincts. A turkey is indeed fattened before it becomes Thanksgiving dinner. At this point, Toby would make one hell of a main course.

While Toby and Caleb dodged the police, Spencer and Emily found themselves in another sticky situation. Having caught a glimpse of Red Coat exiting the party from afar, the two attempted, with no avail, to tackle her once and for all. Of course, they wasted a ton of time struggling to convince a hayride driver to lend them his truck when they could have simply chased after her to begin with. Is Red Coat a track star now? No matter, once the man left his car unattended the Liars decided to steal a ride anyway. Spencer fiddled with the clutch while Emily noticed a strange noise coming from the hay out back. We caught glimpses of red while someone moved beneath the straw. The two leapt from their seats, and Emily grabbed a nearby farm hoe and started hacking. Seriously, risky move, Emily! What if that had been someone playing a prank or something? Whatever “Bring Down the Hoe”! "Bring Down the Hoe"! All that was left behind in mess of hay was a red coat… missing a button. Well, now what? Is she running around nude?

I guess that’s not Emily’s problem! Inside, Emily set things straight with Paige, whom she’d been neglecting all throughout Episode 11. I guess there was more tension between these two than I’d realized? Emily had previously gotten snippy with Paige when she’d shown some concern in how enamored Zoe seemed to be with Emily in her recommendation letter. Emily was so put off that the two attended the dance separately; however, remembering Alison’s advice, Emily decided that she did not at all want “mushy squash” for a girlfriend (Don’t ask. Don't even bother.), and the two shared one last country dance before the lights in the barn turned off for good.

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Aria, meanwhile, found herself caught between her new boo and her old flame. Jake, recognizing that Ezra was getting a little too close for comfort, politely asked the school chaperone to back the hell off just before ordering two lemonades. Ezra totally whipped those up using some excess toilet water, I’m guessing. Eventually, Emily, who’d witnessed firsthand the rage and depression that is the new tortured Season 4 Fitz, eventually pushed Aria to speak to him alone. After a wild evening line dancing with Jake, Aria ventured over to Ezra’s apartment to get the whole story. From outside, we caught a glimpse of a hooded figure listening in. CeCe drake had indeed returned to Rosewood! Although, that hoodie looked dark navy to me.

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To close out the Recap and Review of Season 4 Episode 11, we caught a final glimpse of whom I’m guessing was the actual new A crocheting some voodoo-esque dolls of the Liars, including Mona, before jamming the needle straight down into one.

So, I’m assuming we’re supposed to peg Alison’s mom as the new A because we know of her history of knitting, right? We did, however, watch as an unknown threat attempted to impale Aria with a needle prior during the crawl space investigation scene. Hanna, remember, was distracting Dilaurentis at the time. Well, #WorldWarA will surely give us answers!

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 11, “Bring Down the Hoe”? Was there a reason CeCe appeared in an A-like hoodie, and why would she be listening in on Aria and Ezra? Team Ezra or Team Jake? Is Toby out of control? What did you think of Travis, and does this mean Ashley is in the clear? Is Red Coat even evil, or is she just keeping an eye on A? Are you ready for the Season 4 summer finale?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 11, “Bring Down the Hoe”!