Pretty Little Liars - Recap: You Would Make a Great Medusa!

Episode 3 of Season 4 saw the original A, Mona, taking a week off. Where could she have run off to? Is she on vacation? Not that it matters. The Liars were happy to have a break from wondering whether or not Mona was a friend or an A… yet again. Meanwhile, Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) returned from his quest to patch things up with dad, and what do you know, it was as though nothing had gone down at all. With all of the death and destruction going on in this town, I’d forgotten that people could, well, just leave. One thing I know for certain; the black widow known as Melissa Hastings (Torrey Devitto) has no intention of ever truly leaving Rosewood for “Washington.” She has four Pretty Little Liars to torment in her web of sinister schemes and scary business casual ensembles. Let us begin the recap and review of Season 4 Episode 3, "Cat's Cradle"!

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The episode opened with our four Liars, Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Hanna (Ashley Benson), and Spencer (Troian Bellisario), sifting through yet another box of Alison’s old belongings that had been handed over by her mother. Take a stab; how many journals could one Alison possibly fill up? More importantly, the girls dug up an old mask that had been shellacked with glitter. Don’t look now, Spencer, but the evil older sister who most likely wants to burn you alive just strolled in for her daily dose of pure venom coffee. The two exchanged some uneasy words surrounding Melissa’s trip to “Washington,” otherwise known as the scene of every crime that had gone down surrounding the Season 3 finale. At this point, Spencer seems totally at peace with the fact that the official mascot for the scorned women of Rosewood has it out for her own flesh and blood.

It might be time for both of us to get out of this little town… if we know what’s good for us.

Theories? Melissa attempted to kill Alison and Spencer finished the job? Spencer killed Alison and Melissa witnessed her crime?

Much of Episode 3, “Cat’s Cradle,” surrounded A’s latest desire to ruin the lives of the Liars’ mothers. Spencer’s mom seems pretty unflappable at this point, so she got to sit this round out. Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton) and Pam Fields (Nia Peeples) were not so lucky. Aria, on the other hand, was gift-wrapped an opportunity thanks to Ella’s (Holly Marie Combs) younger beau. The man had been offered a job opportunity overseas in Vienna, and he’d invited Aria’s mother to tag along for several months. At first, Aria seemed to leave the decision in her mother’s hands, choosing instead to be somewhat jealous of her own mother’s awesome love life; jealous in the most positive sense of the word, though.

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Meanwhile, Aria’s own budding new romance continued to heat up. Jake (Ryan Guzman) joined Aria at her place for an old black-and-white bit of film noir. After joking about thinking of black-and-white as “broken,” Aria was quick to snap, prompting Jake to, once again, challenge Aria to think outside the box. She and Ezra had been so much alike that the idea of being with someone who doesn’t see things exactly the way she does makes Aria uncomfortable; again, uncomfortable in the most positive sense of the word. It’s only been a two-episode arc thus far, but I’m enjoying the Jake/ Aria relationship. As I’ve said before, Ezra never really challenged the littlest Liar to get introspective or to push herself.

Ashley continued to look her daughter in the eye and dish out some straight-up lies. Hanna is ¼ of the Pretty Little Liars, though, and the girl was not ready to let her mom off the hook, especially if it meant saving her from prison. Hanna had been told that her mother had the opportunity to take in a Broadway show while in Manhattan, only to find a card in Ashley’s office wastebasket that suggested she’d skipped the show. Don’t worry, Ashley. Anything Goes was apparently a dud! Both of our favorite Marins were fuming over Hanna’s discovery, but at least Hanna had her boyfriend back in town to vent to. Caleb is ambitious and proactive, though, so venting rarely leads purely to conversation between these two.

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Caleb took it upon himself to pay Mr. Marin (Roark Critchlow) a visit outside of his office. Ashley needs and attorney and Hanna clearly needs her father. Seriously, if Ashley goes to prison we’re basically going to be looking at an orphan dating situation between Hanna and Caleb. Hanna’s dad came up short upon Caleb’s first approach, coldly brushing Rivers (Yes, that's Caleb's actual last name. I know, right? What's up with that?) off; however, by the episode’s close, he managed to track Caleb down with some vital information. Ashley had indeed approached him at his home when she was supposed to be  in New York. The two spoke in his home office where Ashley requested some quick cash… and lots of it. In the end, Hanna’s father couldn’t help, but he did notice that his gun had gone missing later that night. Pretty Little Liars adores putting Ashley into legal trouble and criminal situations. None of the other Liars’ parents seem to ever have to deal with such nonsense. Unless, of course, she did murder Wilden.

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I spoke too soon. Pam Fields is in trouble, Liars. After slipping to her doctor that she’d taken pain medication that hadn’t been prescribed to her, the man made a call to Emily’s mother in concern. Outside of Rosewood High, Pam attempted to quietly approach Emily about the subject, realizing that Emily had stolen the meds from her own supply. I wasn’t exactly sure where the show was going with this plot at first. To me, they made it seem as though Emily had an actually drug problem after slipping merely seven pain pills. More on this later, though.

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Episode 4 also saw Toby (Keegan Allen) continuing the desperate search for answers surrounding his mother’s death. Please, Pretty Little Liars, tie this plot into the general story arc of the show. I know that A handed Toby the information to get things started, but I for one am never really interested in following the boys on their own chaotic adventures. Someone just tried to kill Mona, that heinous Melissa is back in town, Hanna is completely twisted up in Wilden’s murder investigation, etc. If this is just a means for us to get to know Toby better, I’m not sure it’s worth the time investment. Fans already love Toby.

Remembering the codes Mona had given her to override the security system, Spencer cleverly came up with the idea to break back into Radley in order to search for clues. I’m a huge fan of espionage spy Spencer. I loved that she was so thrilled to get to hack into something, in this case, Radley. There, Spoby investigated the scene of his mother’s “suicide.” At first, it seemed as though the description of her death was accurate, leading poor Toby to feel like a damn buffoon. Thankfully, Spencer, of course, managed to deduce the opposite. No woman could leap to a clean death on the pavement below considering the fifteen feet of roof below the window. Thus, the mystery continues! Was it worth giving up an entire Winnebago world of secrets that could possibly endanger Spencer terribly and drag the other Liars to the brink of death? Absolutely not. Unless, of course, this does tie into the central plot.

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Aria and Emily managed to uncover the face behind the decorated mask. What was once a mediocre Mardi Gras prop now became a replica of, you guessed it, Alison. Inside, the duo uncovered the mask maker’s address. Hanna barked orders and demanded immediate action. Any clue could bring them closer to solving not only Alison’s murder, but Wilden’s as well. The movie mask maker was sufficiently creepy and slightly perverted, if you ask me.

You would make a great Medusa!

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Pick-up line of the century! Emily the Gorgon posed for a mask of her own. The man promised to reveal the information the trio came looking for if she would offer up her face for some sort of monster movie project. Is there anything vainer than asking a prop maker to mold your face so that all of your friends can look like you? Allegedly, that’s why Alison had enlisted his help after posing as Joan of Arc for the man's project. More importantly, Hanna did some snooping as the mask maker finished his work on Emily, which looked sufficiently terrifying and, worse yet, really uncomfortable. Later, Hanna would share her discovery with Spencer, who’d skipped out on the trip. A blood red mask of Melissa Hastings would certainly seem like a massive clue. Although, to be honest, I would never have recognized Torrey Devitto’s face in the dark and after it’d been covered in paint. Had Melissa followed Alison or had Alison followed Melissa?

That evening, Spencer did a fantastic job of covering up the most horrifying mask I’ve ever seen (Because I have nightmares of Melissa Hastings as a twenty-something dude). Melissa wondered if they have so much trouble getting along due to the fact that they’re so much alike. Everybody knows that feeling of having that one person you secretly can’t stand attempt to relate yourself to him or her. Melissa might as well have said, “Maybe we have so much trouble getting along because we’re both demonic succubae who’ve escaped from the depths of Hell!” Spencer kept her cool, though. Would she protect Melissa over someone else she loved? We’ll never know, but I’m going to go with a resounding S.O.S of a “no”!

Remember the scene Pam and Emily whirled up outside of the school? Someone, meaning A, called Child Services on Pam Fields, connecting the dots of the slightly aggressive means in which Pam attempted to drag her daughter to their car with Emily’s hurt shoulder. Both of Emily’s parents will have to meet with a social worker, who also caught wind of Emily’s theft of her mother’s pills. Pretty Little Liars closed out Emily’s arc this week with an A text of Pam photo shopped behind some pretty shoddy looking jail bars. I mean, A, I’m usually a fan of your art, but that was some bad graphics design work!

A had taunted Aria with a text reminding her of Ella’s own impending doom. After witnessing the quick and tragic downfalls of Pam Fields and Ashley Marin, Aria decided to do what she felt was right in pressuring her mother to join her boyfriend in his journey overseas. True, she will miss her mother, but out of sight, out of mind, out of A’s clutches. I noticed Holly Marie Combs was listed as a “Special Guest Star” this week. Is it curtains for Ella Montgomery? Eh, I guess I’d rather see her ride off into the Austrian sunset than watch her life be further destroyed by A. Then again, with all of the stalking and murdering going on, I think Ella was pretty quick to leave Aria. Remember when Meredith attacked her with a piece of glass? No judgments, though!

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

ABC Family "Pretty Little Liars"

Hanna had made a trip to the police station earlier in Episode 3, managing to stumble upon Wilden’s death chart. Basically, it’s a massive series of lines connecting Wilden to anyone and everyone Hanna cares about. She was shooed away pretty quickly, but managed to catch a glimpse of Melissa, calm as ever and cold as ice, prior to her own questioning. Hanna’s arc during “Cat’s Cradle” closed with her listening in on her mother’s bath. From the inside of the bathroom, though, we were clued in to the fact that Ashley was, in truth, merely sitting in the dark, yet another sign from Pretty Little Liars that Miss Marin is in some deep ish.

P.S. A moment: This new A has Emily’s shoulder x-ray. She ( Toby took a stab earlier. "A always feels like a girl." Meaning, it's Ezra, right?), must truly loathe these girls if they’re going through all of this trouble to incriminate their uninvolved innocent parents. In the end, this is creepy, scary, dangerous, and, well, kind of nerdy, no? It’s kind of lame to be so obsessive over a bunch of high school girls! Then again, look at me. I love the Liars!

What did you think about Pretty Little Liars, Season 4 Episode 3, “Cat’s Cradle”? Are Ashley Marin and Pam Fields done for, or will the Liars manage to save them from their looming dooms? Do you think Toby’s plot will tie into the main plot in a relevant way? Is Mona on vacation? Do you check under your bed for Melissa Hastings at night too? (Lie to me.)

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars, Season 4 Episode 3, “Cat’s Cradle”!