Pretty Little Liars - The Talented Mr. Rollins - Review

Finally! I feel like this is the episode of Pretty Little Liars that I’ve been waiting for! It had everything I wanted - excitement, clues, and drama.

This week, Hanna was still struggling with everything that happened to her during her kidnapping. Aria tried to talk to her multiple times but Hanna remained closed off. I think that she’s always been that way, so although she’s developed a lot over the years, this stood out to me as a major aspect of her character that has not developed, or rather has developed in a negative way. When I think of her in the early days of the show, she was so carefree and open but everything that’s happened over the years has really changed her. Not only that but it has effected her relationships with the other girls as well. The traumatic experiences that they’ve all been through together should bring them closer but this time it’s driving her apart from them. This is understandable seeing as how she was basically singled out. They all experienced the dollhouse together but Hanna was the only one kidnapped this time so she was right in telling Aria that it’s completely different. I have to think that whoever orchestrated this was smart enough to know that their plan would lead to this emotional isolation. Hanna is my favorite character though, so it hurts me to see her like this.

During this episode, we also find out that Toby and Yvonne are engaged now, which really sucks for Spencer. It seems like it doesn't bother her but I think it really does. Spencer also confronts Caleb about the awkwardness between them and he confesses his kiss with Hanna! When she asks if it was just a kiss or if he still has feelings for Hanna, his hesitation really gives him away. Throughout the episode he continues to deny any feelings, even when she flat out asks if he would date Hanna now, if she were available. He says no, but lets be honest - it’s a total lie. Spencer even confronts Hanna about it but she also denies feelings and she’s lying about still being with Jordan. I need for Spencer and Caleb to just admit that they’re not right for each other, at this point it’s just dragging the show down. Spencer was completely right when she said he likes her but she loves him, and she wants someone who really loves her - and that’s what she deserves! It seems like they’re basically broken up now but we’ll see if it lasts. Emily has some dating prospects as well after this episode. She asked out Sabrina at the beginning of the episode and got rejected, however, by the end it seems as though they might be getting together after all. It should be interesting to see how this all plays out now that Ali is back because all this show needs is another love triangle…

Now on to the real action of the episode! One of the best parts of this episode were the clues - we got tons of them! I’m not sure if they’re Uber A clues or just Mary/Elliott clues or if they’re even related in any way but it was still nice to finally get at least some information.

Emily told everyone what she saw with Elliott and Mary at the hospital and now they’re searching for a connection between them. In the meantime, things are getting worse for Ali. Elliott is basically keeping her constantly drugged up and even restrained her face with a disturbing mask after Ali escapes her restraints and fights him in her hospital room. After last week’s super boring episode this exchange was very welcome and got the episode off to a thrilling start. I actually feel really bad for Alison. I don’t think she had anything to do with Charlotte’s death and she’s been through enough already, they all have. All of the girls went to the hospital to help Ali but when they got there Elliott had made everything look normal and it seems like he’s treating her just fine. Obviously they don’t trust him and they decide to go look in his secret trunk that Ezra and Aria saw when they were hiding in his closet. Aria finds a bunch of weird tools in there, a list of ingredients to make latex (which the masks are made of), and they also figure out from some blue contacts that he must have made a mask of Wilden as well, all so that Ali would think she’s crazy.

They also discovered that when Elliott and Ali went to visit his family they stayed in a B&B. This seems a little suspicious so Aria and Hanna go there to see if they can get some information on his history. When they arrive, they find that no one with the name Rollins has ever even lived there. They also meet a little girl who knew Charlotte and she has a set of Liar dolls that Charlotte gave her. It’s all pretty creepy. The little girl also reveals that Elliott and Charlotte were a couple and he was in love with her. As they’re leaving, Hanna has a flashback of the cattle prod that was used on her when she was kidnapped. I’m not sure if it was that exact one or an unrelated one, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see for more information. Although Spencer decided not to enlist Toby’s help with looking into Elliott, Emily decided to go behind everyone’s back and gave Mary’s file to Toby so he can try to find a connection to Elliott. Toby ends up finding a moving violation for Elliott Rollins but it’s from 1958. This is interesting because now we know for sure that he’s not who he says he is.

Meanwhile, Elliott realizes that someone got into his secret chest because Aria put the key back in the wrong part of the light. It seems like he’s trying to leave town and he’s taking Ali somewhere with him in his car. Somehow she’s able to send Emily her location and a message from Elliott’s phone, which is never explained or shown so I don’t know how that happened. The Liars take off after Ali and luckily Elliott’s car gets a flat tire and Ali seizes the opportunity to escape and make a run for it. As soon as I saw what was happening I was worried. Since the beginning of the premiere we’ve known that someone was going to die and they were going to have to bury a body. I was really worried that Ali was going to be the one that was hit by their car. Thankfully it ends up being Elliott who Hanna hits and it’s a truly gross car accident. I know a lot of people think that he’s not really dead and somehow he’ll come back, but I think he’s really dead. You can’t fake your head going through a windshield like that - he looks very, very dead. Next week will be the cover up and, even though it’s expected, its pretty annoying that yet again they're not going call the cops and cover it up themselves. They just keep making the same mistakes and never learn. I guess if they didn’t there wouldn’t be a show though. I’m not sure about the clue’s we got during this episode. I feel like Elliott and Mary are totally separate from Uber A so I’m not sure if this will all end up leading to who killed Charlotte or who Uber A is. Regardless, I thought this was a great episode that really had it all, and I hope the rest of the season continues in the same way.

It’s been fun filling in for Gavin the past couple of weeks! Let me know what you thought of this episode in the comments and thanks for reading!

About the Author - Kate Sidwell

Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!

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