User:Miss X-Factor/A is for Answers

"A is for Answers" is the twenty fourth episode of the fourth season of the American mystery drama television series Pretty Little Liars. The episode was written and directed by I. Marlene King. It originally aired on ABC Family on March 18, 2014. The episode guest stars Nolan North as Peter Hastings, Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings, Vanessa Ray as CeCe Drake, Brant Daugherty as Noel Kahn, Ryan Merriman as Ian Thomas Ryan Merriman as Ian Thomas, Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery.

The season continues from where it left off in the third season finale, where the girls were rescued from the burning building by who they believe is Alison. The girls begin looking for answers that could lead to Alison’s whereabouts while dealing with the aftermath of Detective Wilden’s murder and “A” intervening in their personal lives. It introduces new characters to the story, including Detective Gabriel Holbrook and Lieutenant Linda Tanner, played by Sean Faris and Roma Maffia, who are brought in to investigate the deaths of Detective Wilden and Detective Reynolds.

The episode follows Alison DiLaurentis as she tells the Liars about the night of her "death" along with other secrets that answers their question along with who buried Ali. The episode garnered 3.12 million viewers.

Plot
The girls have been brought to an apartment by Noel. He leaves and Alison walks in. The girls share quick hugs.The girls ask her why she trusts Noel and Ali tells them that he has secrets too. They tell her they think her mother is A and she doesn't look shocked. She tells the girls she's ready to tell them everything and if they can't figure things out that night she's going to disappear again and this time for it will be good.

Holbrook interviews CeCe. Holbrook asks her about Wilden's murder but she does not give any straight answer. She tells him she knows who killed the girl the police thought was Alison. She says it's the same person who is actively trying to hurt Alison, whom she can prove is alive. Veronica is seen talking with Ashley and Ella whose girls are also missing. She says the Pam also haven't seen Emily since the charity event at the DiLaurentis house. Holbrook is having Spencer's home searched. He tells Veronica they have probable cause the girls know the whereabouts of a missing person and shows her a picture of them talking to Alison wearing period clothes. Veronica is shocked to see that Ali is alive. Someone opens the door and comes in. Veronica thinks it's Spencer but...Melissa walks in and surprises her mom.

Alison flashes back to being with Ian the morning of the day she supposedly died, when Melissa arrives and confronts him. While Melissa and Ian argue, Alison copies Ian's hard drive when she finds a video of Jenna and Toby's sexual relationship. Ian and Melissa gets back together and when Ian goes back to the room, Ali is gone. Ali uses the video to intimidate Jenna, gets a text from A saying she was going to kill her which meant Jenna wasn't A and she cut Jenna off of her A suspect list. Alison tells the girls when she returned home she got yet another threat from A written with lipstick on her mirror. That night Alison and Jessica got in a fight because she didn't want her daughter going to the Hastings barn and party with the girls. She warns Ali about the Hastings family. Alison takes 3 of her mother's sleeping pills while she is tallking with someone on the phone. She meets the girls at the barn and slips some of the pills into their drink, hoping to cross them off if another A threat arrived. She met with Toby that night and said she knew he wasn't A, either. Ezra pulls up and Alison gets in the car. He won't let her leave.

At the station Holbrook asks Veronica about Spencer's recent activities. She doesn't like it and wants to contact her husband. Holbrook leaves her to give her privacy. An officer tells Holbrook they have a warrant for the GPS signal on the girls' phones. Melissa is being interviewed in another room and according to her Toby went to London and told her that Spencer was missing her. So she came back to Rosewood. Peter is also being interviewed and doesn't know Veronica is there as well. Holbrook asks Peter about hiring a private investigator that summer and shows him the file with Spencer's name all over it. Holbrook references Spencer's "erratic" behavior and Peter stops talking. In the hall Holbrook is told the girls are in Philly. Peter sees Melissa and finds out Veronica is also there. Peter begins to panic and Melissa seems to think her father believes Spencer killed that girl.

Alison tells the girls about meeting Ezra at a pub while hanging out with CeCe. Alison tricks him into thinking she's a literature buff. Alison apologizes to Aria for "everything." The night Alison drugged the girls before meeting Toby. After she finished talking with Toby she lefts him a message to meet her at the kissing rock. A car arrives and Ali gets in it. The driver is Ezra! Ezra was mad because he'd just discovered she was actually in high school. He says he won't see her anymore. Alison then met Ian and threatened him with his videos that if she gets another text she's sending him to jail. He warns her that some of the videos could bring "everybody down, including your family." In present day Alison tells Aria that Ezra is trying to save her, thinking that it could get her back. 'That' night Alison returned to the girls and found an angry Spencer waiting for her. That night in the barn Spencer and Alison argue. Spencer grabs the shovel and eventually falls over. Alison sees Spencer speed pills and follows after her. Spencer cries and begs her not to tell anybody. Alison promises not to tell anybody.Later on that night she sees Byron and threatens him with the tapes.

Alison didn't receive any more texts that night, but returns home to find her mother staring out the window. Alison gets hit in the head with a rock while her mother looks on. This seems to prove Spencer couldn't have hurt the other girl and Jessica saw who did. Jessica is seen shoveling dirt over Alison, who she maybe thought was dead. In present day Alison tells the girls she tried to tell her mother she was alive but she couldn't speak. Alison heard her mother say "what have you done?" which means Jessica was trying to protect somebody. That night Alison left the hospital alone and Mona found her walking along the road. They go to a motel under a fake name, Vivian Darkbloom, and Mona thinks that perhaps Alison should let A think she's dead by disappearing. Mona puts her to sleep and goes next door to her "A headquarters." The next morning Alison thanks Mona for saving her life. She tells Mona things to do to make her popular and leaves. Alison tells the girls in present day that Mona "played me like a fool." In the police station Melissa tells Peter that "Spencer didn't kill that girl." She whispers something in his ear and he is shocked.

The girls tell Alison not to leave, even though they still don't know the identity of A. We see Alison was the hooded person who saved Spencer from Ian. She was also at the lodge trying to make sure they were safe. The girls see a strange light outside. Just then a hooded figure begins shooting at them and chasing them. They flee to the roof and find themselves trapped. Ezra shows up and gets in a fight with the hooded figure. Hanna grabs the gun that fell from the hooded person's hands when he was fighting with Ezra and asks him to take off his mask. The hooded person ends up jumping to the next rooftop. They think that it cannot be Jessica. The girls turn back and see that Ezra was shot in the exchange. We then see the Manhattan skyline. The girls are not in Philadelphia but in Manhattan! In the final shot, Jessica's dead body is dragged across the ground and is buried by an unknown figure

RevelAtions

 * Alison went to visit Jenna and taunt her about the video and warn her not to threaten her. While leaving, Ali got a text, "Bitch can't see, but I do. Tonight's the night I kill you. -A". She was able to cross Jenna off her A list.
 * Alison's mother forbade her to go to the barn. When Mrs. DiLaurentis wasn't looking as she was talking with someone on the phone about something urgent, Ali stole her sleeping pills and left.
 * As soon as she could, Ali drugged the girls so as to eliminate them from being A. She then left the barn to go meet Toby, then Ian and confront him to tell him that he's going to jail.
 * Alison then got into Ezra's car to talk to him about her lying to him. They break up later.
 * Ali went back to the barn to find a crazed Spencer, waiting for her. After the fight in the kitchen, Alison walks out and when Spencer follows with the shovel, Spencer trips and the amphetamine pills fall out of her pocket. Alison pieces two and two together, but Alison swears not to tell. She walks Spencer back to the barn and watches Spencer fall asleep. Beleiving she is victorious over A, Alison walks home. Her mother sees her through the window and looks angry. But all of a sudden, someone throws a sharp stone at Alison's head. Ali's mom sees who it is and immediately proceeds to bury the barely conscious Alison. Alison hears her mom talking to someone but does not know who. Mrs. Grunwald pulls her out and takes her to the hospital and Alison runs away, afraid.
 * Soon Mona sees Alison and takes her to the Lost Woods Resort, pretending to be a friend and helping her to get a wig and car, and telling her to sleep. In the next room, there is Mona's lair and she is brushing the Alison doll's hair. "Such a pretty, pretty girl"
 * Alison pushed Ian from the bell tower but he was still alive when she left.
 * Alison pulled Hanna out of the lodge on the night of the fire and when she arrived, Mona, Aria and Emily were already pulled out by someone.

Reception
Nick Campbell of TV.com gave it an negative review, saying "It was disappointing to see such a weak ending to an episode that was essentially created for fan service. I know a lot of people will feel cheated because A wasn't unmasked, but the episode was truly dedicated to providing clarification, if not answers, to many a question. At the very least, it cleared up the timeline and helped narrow down the field as to who A is. The problem with a show like this is that there's a general impatience with knowing the answers, and that frustration often gets conflated with a malaise concerning the show in general. Pretty Little Liars isn't perfect. God help us, we can enumerate the actual problems with the series for hours. But how it reveals the core tenet of the show isn't one of them. Someday, Pretty Little Liars will get to the point like Bones or Chuck did, where the main serial conceit will wear itself out so much that A will have to be unmasked because that premise gets old. But not just yet".