Pretty Little Liars - Recap: I'm Allergic to Mornings

Episode 18 of Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars, “Hot for Teacher,” found Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) spiraling in her drug-addled attempts to prove that Ezra (Ian Harding) is after Alison (Sasha Pieterse). Of course, even a Spencer Hastings running purely on happy pills is better than most other detectives. Hanna (Ashley Benson) trailed Hastings all episode out of sheer concern, while Aria (Lucy Hale) was left to shack up with someone who just might be a psychopath. Emily (Shay Mitchell) worked to make amends with Ali by teaming up with Shana (Aeriel Miranda). In the end, someone was kicked out of Rosewood… forever! DON’T come back soon. Here is the Recap and Review of Season 4 Episode 18 of Pretty Little Liars, “Hot for Teacher”!

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

So Episode 18 began with Hanna taking note of Spencer’s jittery state at The Brew. I’m not going to lie here and act like the conversation at this point was very important, but I think it had something to do with Emily’s father’s anemia and how many faces Shana has. Spencer managed to survive the café chat with nothing more than an herbal tea, but by the time she reached her own home turf of Hastings Manor, she was jonesing for more pills. Andrew, unfortunately for Spencer, was all out this week, but we were introduced to an unlikely new drug dealer on schools grounds! Eh, I don’t condone illegal drug use in my recaps, but I’ve also never had my high school English teacher out to murder my dead best friend. I’ll let Spencer slide, especially because this season hasn’t been as action packed and this episode was probably the best so far. No sleep = More action.

In an attempt to help Alison acquire something of value from her home, Shana gave Emily one last chance to team up. I was totally distracted by Emily’s “I’m Allergic to Mornings” pajama top, but I believe the two chatted in her bedroom that evening in an effort to open up and further win each other’s trust. Shana’s previous attempts to infiltrate Alison’s bedroom and swipe something from behind a certain French photo frame were futile, but Emily has more of an excuse to snoop considering the fact that she’d previously crashed in Ali’s actual bed for a while during her bout with homelessness. Emily searched for a “lost stud she’d left behind,” but eventually came out with an envelope containing some information and $5,000. Emily, hiding five grand in a bag of coffee grinds at The Brew was risky! Luckily, nobody walked out with a pound of Columbian and a bonus wad of cash.

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

Aria is still SO angry! At least, we’re to believe she’s enraged enough with herself to waste her guidance counselor’s time. Jesse (Wes Ramsey) seems kind of great. He looks a little like Michael Phelps and is willing to sit around with Aria and his jellybeans while she almost, maybe thinks about revealing some secrets. In the end, her meeting with Jesse actually served to initiate Fitz’s panic mode. Would Aria spill the beans on their romance or this A chaos? Mainly, Fitz spent his time during Episode 18 attempting to win back Aria’s heart in order to keep her all to himself and harassing Spencer by mocking her sloppy work and coyly referring to her continuous attempts to dig up dirt on his history. He even went as far as to steal her school record and start researching her medication use. Spencer spent her sleepless nights searching the Internet for any information on Ezra Fitzgerald, the mysterious man who apparently had leased that A studio apartment in Ravenswood. Would that prove to be the nail in Ezra’s coffin? Ezra is a crafty fellow, needless to say.

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

I appreciated the #PLLStakeout with Hanna and Emily from an entertainment perspective, though I’m more interested in Hanna’s budding new friendship(?) with Gabe aka Agent Holbrook (Sean Faris). Aria was certainly surprised to hear that Hanna had started up a private book club with the dude who’d helped to temporarily put her mother away, but I think we can forgive Gabe. Gabe is another adult male figure on this show who seems respectable and decent, like Jesse. All of the others are pretty much unsalvageable to me at this point. Take, for example, the fathers of the Liars! In any case, it was Agent Holbrook who tipped Hanna off that the devil may be in the details of Spencer’s odd behavior.

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

While Spencer continued her excessive research, Aria joined Ezra for a weekend up at his evil cabin lair. Spencer considered raining on Aria’s parade and cluing her in via voice mail, but she inevitably decided against that until she can find 100% solid evidence. Aria, for what it’s worth, spent much of Episode 18 struggling in this endless cycle of lying to her friends and family about her boyfriend. Aria, by the way, how's mom? Ezra, however, seems to be taking a new approach now. This new Ezra wants Aria all to himself, and it almost seemed like he’s begun working on putting a permanent wedge between his girlfriend and the other three Liars. The cabin weekend getaway is where things started getting truly interesting. While Ezra whipped up his famous tagine, he faked forgetting chickpeas in an effort to buy himself some time away from Aria. With Aria off to the market, we watched as he journeyed down to his cellar of doom and began sifting through countless photos of the Liars and their pals. We saw Emily and Shana, Hanna and Holbrook, etc. Mostly, however, the focus fell on Shana. Before we knew it, someone assaulted Ali’s childhood chum in her car, and she’d never make her meeting to pick up the money from Emily. Now, the time situation was a bit vague here. We don’t really know who attacked Shana from the backseat of her car. It’s still pretty clear, at least to me, that Ezra has people helping him if he is indeed the mastermind behind A.

Later that evening, as Aria slept, we witnessed Ezra on the move. When Ezra puts on his cap, he means business. From the cover of his car, Ezra used his tablet to witness a security breach at his Rosewood apartment. There, Spencer, who’d been sideswiped by an incessant Hanna, was searching for evidence. As the two neared Ezra’s door, Hanna couldn’t seem to put the pieces together. I mean, to me the evidence thus far has seemed totally clear, and even Spencer’s jittery state couldn’t cloud that. She caught the man eating the exact order at the exact bar with the Board Short brand ale. Plus, there was the matter of the apartment in Ravenswood. Hanna saw this evidence for herself when she snuck into Spencer’s bedroom alone just prior. Did it really seem that ludicrous? In any case, Ezra watched from a security cam hidden in a hallway vent as Spencer located his spare key. My favorite part of Episode 18 had to be Ezra’s mutter to himself as he watched live from his tablet:

Walk away… Spencer.

Only for us to then witness Hastings just barely catching a glimpse of the little red recording light. Knowing that she was being watched, she quite hilariously feigned exhaustion and admitted to being “crazy” for even considering Ezra. Back in her bedroom, the two were joined by Emily and the evidence continued to get pieced together. It seems these other two Liars are now on Spencer’s A-train, and Fitz might very well have been thrown off by Spencer’s cunning move in front of his apartment. Still, Ezra Fitz is everywhere, and we found out that he wears New Balance sneakers this week. As all of this was transpiring, little Aria awoke in the night to find Ezra missing, and while she’s not privy to all that Spencer has uncovered, she certainly has had her own creep-o-meter set off a few times now. Take, for example, the time Ezra arose from the shadows while Aria tiptoed around searching for him. That was, in my opinion, one of the scariest things I've ever seen in my life. Well…

To close the recap, Episode 18 of Season 4 ended with Shana awaking on the outskirts of town. Still in her car, her headlights revealed that the Rosewood town sign had been altered… DON’T Come back soon! Shana, terrified, could barely utter anything to Alison over the phone before destroying her cell and hightailing it out of dodge. Ali, desperate and without the money in Emily’s possession, hopped on a waiting bus. Where is she heading? A, meanwhile, closed out his/ her arc this week watching an old black-and-white film before revealing a stack of letterhead with Wren’s information on it. Which A was this? Wren? Mona? Someone else? Aria loves old movies…

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 18, “Hot for Teacher”? How much does Ezra know? How much does Aria know? Is he looking to confess to her in his latest decision to be as “honest” as possible in their relationship? Who is working for Ezra? Where is Ali going? Will Spencer find what she’s looking for?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 18, “Hot for Teacher”!