Pretty Little Liars Review: Truth Up

Two important things happened on Pretty Little Liars this week, and the rest was just sort of filler.  Let’s do a rundown of the other stuff first, and then we’ll get to the juicy bits.

So Hanna is in trouble for sending that picture of Kate to the school. As punishment, they are placed on the same team at Truth Up night—which is basically a school lock-in with truth-telling activities. All the students have to attend, and some of the parents are volunteering. Caleb is hacking Hanna’s phone to find where the picture came from, but before he can manage that, Hanna solves the mystery herself. That photo of Kate lacks a birthmark Kate has. Hanna gets Kate to confess to Photoshopping the picture and sending it from Hanna’s phone. Not just that, she records the convo and Kate is the one in trouble. Go Hanna!

Aria thinks Holden may be using or dealing drugs, and she decides maybe she shouldn’t spend so much time with him.  (Have I mentioned Holden annoys the crap out of me?)  But when creepy Noel Kahn tries to attack Aria while looking for Caleb (Aria was going to tell him he didn’t need to hack Hanna’s phone anymore), Holden comes to her rescue and round-house kicks Noel. Caleb isn’t the only hacker, though.  Mona decides to help Emily, who wants back on the swim team, by hacking the principal’s computer. Turns out, he takes bribes.  It’s the perfect blackmail info to get Emily on the team again. Wait, does this mean Mona has a nice side? Huh.

Caleb also got a moment to shine. While in one of the truth telling games, he totally called Jenna out on her weak and bullied act. Oh snap! He might be screwed now, but I was proud of him either way.

Okay, but here’s where it gets interesting.

At the beginning of the episode, the girls are checking out this raincoat—that’s what they got from Ali (or Vivian’s) claim ticket.  Inside the raincoat they find a phone number.  They call it and leave a message, claiming to be a friend of Vivian.  Later on, they call it again and are told by a woman that no one at that number knows a Vivian. She tells them never to call again.  But later, after all of the truth games, the girls find several missed calls from that number. They call again and this time a man answers.  He knows Vivian, and he wants answers just as much as they do.  They agree to meet him in person.

Probably not the safest idea, meeting a stranger, but I guess when you have a constant stalker nothing seems too risky anymore.

But here’s the best part of the episode. The JUICIEST bit.

Ali’s brother, Jason, is back in town, and he wants to see Spencer’s dad. He signs up as a Truth Up volunteer hoping to corner him, but Spencer’s mom claims he is out of town. Spencer gives it away that this is a lie, though. She asks Jason why he wants to see her father and admits to knowing that he changed Jason and Ali’s grandmother’s will so Jason wouldn’t be a suspect.  Jason won’t tell her, but Spencer remembers a moment with Ali, a night when her parents were fighting because Jason and Melissa had kissed. Ali said Melissa and Jason shouldn’t be a couple—they were cursed by the Gods—and downstairs heard Spencer’s Dad shouting with rage over the whole thing.

That’s when it hits Spencer. She and Jason have the same Dad.  That’s why her father covered the will for him. That’s why he didn’t want Jason and Melissa together.  Spencer confronts her mother, who admits that it’s true. Spencer is devastated and angry.  Who can blame her?

So I’m hoping next week’s episode will pick up the pace a little bit. With these two threads hanging lose, there is so much that could happen, and we are getting very close to the finale!

So what are your theories this week?

“A” Is: Melissa
The Killer Is: Melissa

Season 2, Episode 19: The Naked Truth (originally aired February 6, 2012)

Watch Pretty Little Liars Mondays at 8/7c on ABC Family.

Images courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc., ABC Family, Eric McCandless and IMDbPro.