Pretty Little Liars - Recap: Mona Makes Her Move

Season 4 Episode 8, “The Guilty Girl’s Handbook,” focused our attention on the relationships of our favorite Little Liars. Meaning, if you went into this week looking for more thrown cars, you were out of luck. If you’re a viewer who’d rather sit back and enjoy conversations between these four girls, their boyfriends, and the original A, Mona (Janel Parrish), then you probably would have liked Episode 8. Personally, I sat through most of the hour wondering if anything at all would be accomplished within the many mysteries of Rosewood. I mean, was it just me, or was Aria’s (Lucy Hale) plot this week almost entirely focused on plugging Insidious 2? Meanwhile, Emily (Shay Mitchell) spent a huge chunk of her screen time this episode catching up with her habitat for humanity supervisor, Zoe (Rumer Willis), and I found myself wondering whether they wrote this part in for Rumer Willis, or whether they actually needed Emily to retell her unfortunate and terrifying tales of Season 4 to someone we don’t know at all. I always love spending one-on-one time with Hanna (Ashley Benson) and Mona, but did anyone out there really think Hanna was going to end up behind bars? Lastly, Spencer (Troian Bellisario) might have uncovered an inkling of a clue linking the crooked Wilden (Bryce Johnson) to the murders of Toby’s mother and Ali, but could that link possibly incriminate him any more so than he’s already been dragged through the mud of this mess? Episode 8 did, however, close with one whopper of a game-changer. Stay tuned! Here is the Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 8, “The Guilty Girl’s Handbook”!

Episode 8 opened with Emily and her mother, Pam (Nia Peeples), settling into an absolutely gorgeous motel (Right, motel.) room following the catastrophic destruction of their living room. A driverless car, remember, was hurled straight through the wall, nearly crushing Pam in the process. See, why didn’t Emily think to do something like toss that key that got her mother suspended into the wreckage? If A can pin murders on them, she can at least pin all of the negative attention that has been pegged on her family on someone else, even a complete nobody. Pam continued to push Emily to focus on her schoolwork, specifically her future plans, while Emily continued to mope her way through Season 4. I don’t really understand what Emily has to lose from filling her mother in on the A situation, at this point in time, but you know the rules. The Pretty Little Liars only confess to being stalked if someone is about to die. People who are already dead don’t count, of course.

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Moving along, most of Emily’s storyline this week focused on three conversations. Number one; Emily would meet with Ezra (Ian Harding) to discuss college plans. I’m so tired of hearing Emily complain about how average she is! Why did it take Ezra to remind her that she volunteered in Haiti and that this piece of information would look stellar on an application? Also, it’s important to point out that Fitz seems to be growing increasingly aware of the new A on the block. You know my theory… He is A. For now, though, he’s playing concerned teacher truly well. The only reason I could see this show protecting Ezra, at this point in time, is because they wrote in a child for him, and I’m not sure father and murderous stalker go well together. In that case, I’m thinking Alison’s mom is probably working to eliminate the Liars' mother’s from their lives. Either that, or a sibling we don’t know about is working a similar scheme. Could Cece Drake actually be related to Alison? That could be a cool twist on all of those “twin” theories that keep flying around.

Next, Emily would make a call to an old friend, Zoe, who dropped by Rosewood on her way to wherever. With all that’s been going on, Emily had yet to find the time to fill her supervisor in on all of the harassment and near death experiences. More importantly, Emily decided to book a volunteering trip to Nicaragua for the summer. Apparently, she’s good with power tools! Also, kudos to Rumer Willis for doing just fine as an actress. I’m always perplexed when a normal character rolls into Rosewood.

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Meanwhile, Aria had grown more concerned surrounding Mike’s (Cody Allen Christian) possibly (?) awful behavior. Remember, we don’t know for sure who destroyed that jerk Collin’s car, but we do know that Mike got a lot of flak for it. This week, Aria’s little bro attempted to win back the support of his team by partying the night away after a lacrosse victory. Mainly, this was an opportunity for us to get more Aria/ Jake (Ryan Guzman) screen time. You see, Mike had enrolled in one of Jake’s martial arts classes, leading Aria to believe that her brother was fearing some sort of confrontation.

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That evening, Aria sat home alone, while cars whizzed past the Montgomery residence. Would a second automobile come crashing through the home of another Liar? Aria’s almost been run over, but as far as I can remember, she’s yet to have a car thrown at her! Not this week, though. Instead, she’d simply waste her time pacing back and forth, worrying for her drunken brother’s safety. After a call to Mike’s cell was picked up by a wasted friend, Aria gave Jake a ring, unsure of who to turn to for help. Jake was quick to calm Aria’s nerves, which were ultimately alleviated by Mike’s own return phone call. He’s fine, Aria! False alarm! Why are we watching this, you ask? Because Aria and Jake absolutely needed to sit down for an entire scene in order to discuss the trailer for Insidious 2. No, I’m not joking. They discussed how terrifying the first one was. Aria’s watched it twice, actually, and the two eventually made plans to go see the new sequel. Hey, Insidious 2, if I embed the trailer below this, do I get paid?

Pay me.

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Poor Veronica Hastings (Leslie Fera) could not catch a break this week! After receiving a lashing from Hanna following her reveal that Ashley (Laura Leighton) could not be set free on bail due to the severity of her case, Veronica would spend the episode sifting through countless files on Wilden in her own kitchen. Luckily, she had new assistant, Becker, on board to aid her in her quest for a lead. Spencer, never one to miss an opportunity, offered to “help” the dude check through files, only to drudge up paperwork surrounding the death of Toby’s mother and Wilden’s involvement. Toby, by the way, was in New York, sniffing out CeCe Drake, who’s probably been keeping busy pretending to own a boutique or be Alison.

Spencer, under the guise of a mere nostalgic visitor, took her information to good old Eddie Lamb, who is obviously forever cursed to skulk around the halls of Radley, finding himself ever-entangled in the drama of teenage girls and their whiny boyfriends. From what we gathered this week (Because in my head, I snoop with Spencer.) Wilden’s case file on the death of Toby’s mother did not match the actual report. Meaning, someone most likely paid Wilden off to twist the truth, claiming that Toby’s mother leapt to her doom from the roof. Remember, no one could have done so from the window through which she allegedly killed herself. Someone would have had to have thrown her.

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That evening, Spencer would take the information straight to her mother, forgoing the typical “put the file back exactly as I found it” for a new and assertive “I stole this. Sue me.” (Get it? Lawyer joke. I don’t promise that they’re all good.) Were we supposed to feel Clueless-like chemistry between Becker and Spencer? Probably, but we were too busy worrying about getting Hanna’s mother out of prison. Veronica, unfortunately, was not biting, reasoning with Spencer to help Toby mourn and move on rather than to feed into nonsense.

The heart of Season 4 Episode 8 centered on Hanna’s desperate effort to spring her mother from the slammer. Without anyone else to turn to, Hanna made the call to Mona, dragging the ultimate Little Liar into the thick of things. Reasoning that the law would crack down easier on herself rather than her mother, Hanna would need Mona’s help to stage a false confession. Honestly, this was a series of scenes that needed to be watched. A recap and review can only do so much because it was mostly about the chemistry between Ashley Benson and Janel Parrish. Hanna didn’t actually murder Wilden, so the series of flashback we’d witness weren’t actually informative. In truth, Mona would spend the hour training Hanna to navigate an interrogation. For example, it wasn’t merely enough to claim that Wilden got aggressive and threatened her family. Hanna would have to concoct a tale in which she met Wilden out in the woods where he got way too touchy/ feely, if you know what I mean. “You are your mother’s daughter…” was sufficiently creepy and believable enough. Did anybody enjoy the company of Wilden? I’m guessing he was the resident police force douche. What was interesting about this scene, to me, was that these girls are actresses who had to, essentially, play actresses. It was like make believing to use their imaginations, a TV show inside a TV show!

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Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) was invited to visit Ashley out of her own fear for Hanna’s wellbeing. Ashley does, indeed, know her daughter, sensing that Hanna would attempt something rash and foolish if it meant instant results. Caleb, promising to protect Hanna for Ashley, later crashed the slumber party, mocking Mona before being banished himself by Hanna. She had lying to do, Caleb! However, once Mona had left, and Hanna had prepped herself for the station confession, Caleb made his presence re-known. Blocking Hanna from confessing to a self-defensive murder, Caleb did eventually calm his girl down. Mona, on the other hand, had different plans…

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Emily closed out her arc this week with one more heart-to-heart with her mother. Well, maybe this was more like a heart-to-heartbreak. Following the reveal of Emily's plan to spend the summer in Nicaragua, Pam broke down in a flood of tears. Taking into account her recent loss of a job, the car debacle, and the Fields family's vast array of Season 4 chaos, Pam simply lost it. Everybody has their breaking point. Remember when Pam used to be scary? Emily offered a shoulder to cry on, but if you ask me, I don't think she seemed quite as guilt-ridden as she should have for keeping secrets. She offered to cook dinner, though! That's something!.. Chef Boyardee?

Marching herself down to the station, runway strutting all the way, Mona took matters into her own hands. At first, we were somewhat led to believe that she’d decided Hanna’s fate for her. Instead, a string of text messages between the Liars would reveal all. Mona had confessed to murdering Detective Wilden. As the Liars gathered in the station, a confident Mona smirked from behind the glass window before the blinds would drop. This A knows what she’s doing. What might seem like an entirely selfless effort to prove her loyalty to Hanna will most definitely come with a heaping portion of self-serving and cunning scheming. She has an agenda, and I’m guessing this will benefit Hanna and her friends more so than they can imagine.

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Our latest A closed out Season 4 Episode 8 by drilling holes in the floor of someone’s dining room. Ugh, what now, Ezra A?

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 8, “The Guilty Girl’s Handbook”? Does Mona, who’s the only Liar capable of living a lie, have a plan? What is Wilden’s connection to Toby’s mother’s death? Who do you think actually killed Wilden? Are you rushing out to see Insidious 2 now that you know Aria the Great is on her way? Should Emily clue her mother in?

Thanks for reading my Recap and Review of Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 8, “The Guilty Girl’s Handbook”!