Pretty Little Liars - Surfing the Aftershocks - Review: "Complicated Problems with Simple Solutions"

This week on Pretty Little Liars, we checked in on Ezra's bullet wounds, caught a glimpse of Hanna's rise to power and were (once again) reminded that the Hastings' are the most jacked up family in Rosewood.


This week's episode picked up right where last week's left off and allowed us to see that Alison wasn't taking her mother's death well at all, which you would think would be as expected, until you remember her mother hit her over the head with a shovel and buried her alive. The girls do they best they can to be good friends, but Ali really just needs to be left alone in her grief.

The day of the funeral, the girls wait downstairs as Alison gets dressed and overhear Mr. DiLaurentis and Jason bicker. As if things couldn't get more awkward, Ali comes down dressed to leave and Mr. D has a full-on freak out fest at her in front of everyone. We soon find out that Alison has chosen to wear one of her mother's dresses to the funeral in order to feel closer to her, but she didn't choose just any dress...Ali wore the very dress that Mrs. DiLaurentis wore to Alison's funeral once upon a time.

Coincidence?? Spencer thinks not...

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Pepe would have really been of some use in this scene to deflect some of the awkward, but he was nowhere to be seen this episode. Anywho, a few days after Mrs. D's funeral, the girls return to school and they're principal basically tells them

and the girls say they can deal with that. Once they're back to roaming the halls and not going to class, Spencer asks Aria to be n charge of the Get-Ezra-On-Board-With-The-Program program and Aria replies she would to annnnything for love, but she won't do that. Hanna and Emily then share with Spencer that they thing Jason's the one who hit Ali over the head with a shovel and that Mrs. D emailed she couldn't protect anymore shortly before she died.

Elsewhere in Rosewood, Mona approached Aria and tried to get her to sing a card for Mr. Fitz and uses the opportunity to make more cryptic remarks about Ezra and what happened in NY. Classic Mona.

Paige and Emily also have an awkward run-in, as they're still broken up and Paige still can't accept that. To make matters worse, there's a new cast member who won't stop staring at Emily and she's really annoying her. When Em confronted Staring New Girl, she confessed that she was a new transfer who looked up to Em and could use some pointers. Instead of just saying that, however, she got all up in Em's grill about thinking she'd be taller and asking how she feels not being able to swim due to her injury

Later that night at the Hastings house, Melissa and Spencer had the usual sisterly chat about how their dad had a kid with the neighbor and how the two families have a relationship comparable to the Borgia and Medici families of the Renaissance (they have a pretty sordid history...go learn something!) Melissa admitted to Spencer that she lied about Toby finding her to keep Wren out of things and also warned Spence to stay away from the DiLaurentis'.

Hanna and Ali met at the funeral home so that Ali could pick up something from the funeral director, but saw a painting before he came in, got freaked out and left the room and Hanna. When the director came in, he assumed Hanna was Ali based on the description, and Ali showed up just in time to make a snide Hefty Hanna reference, triggering a flashback for Hanna.

We were shown the moment Mona first approached Hanna about changing her image, 2 months after Ali's disappearance. Hanna had just binge eaten some cupcakes and Mona walked up to her all Mona-like and asked Hanna if she wanted to know the secret to being unforgettable.

Back at Casa de Hastings, Mr. Hastings asked Spencer how she'd feel about selling the house. Spencer basically says that won't solve anything to which her father cryptically replies "Complicated problems have simple solutions."

Aria goes back on her "OMG NO GUYS I CAN'T" word in a matter of minutes and is over Ezra's apartment to check on him faster than you can say "Did you miss me?". She doesn't tell him she killed Shana right away, but does manage to get him on the same page as the girls, with regards to Alison's kidnapping story. They share a couple of longing glances and Aria leaves.

We check back in on Hanna and Emily as they make their way back to Philly, determined to get more answers about Jason, and are treated to another flashback. This time, Hanna's makeover is underway and Mona urges her to put on an old top of Ali's, which Hanna doesn't initially think will fit her although it does...much like Ali's Queen Bee shoes.

Once Hanna and Em arrive in Philly, they find out that Jason was detoxing in a sketchy building while Mrs. D was being murdered, which means he couldn't have killed her, putting them back at square one. The girls head back to Rosewood and we see the flashback of Hanna and Mona's debut as the new Queen Bee's at Rosewood. The thought prompts Hanna to ask Em about coming out. Em says her coming out was moreso her shedding her fake skin and accepting who she really was, to which Hanna admitted she's never actually known. It seems like Ali's return is making Hanna question her place that she created in her absence.

Jason is planning on taking off back in Rosewood. As he sees it, his mother's funeral is over and no one needs him (plus I'm sure he's noticed people are dropping like flies) so he has no real reason to stay. Spencer then shows him the email his mother wrote to an undisclosed recipient on the night she died and asks him for his help. Jason gives Spencer a warning...don't trust their father.

Ali, who REALLY shouldn't be galavanting through Rosewood alone at all hours, shows up at Ezra's place to check on him and give him back his manuscript, which Aria gave her. Ezra insists that he only wants to help Aria at this point and tells Ali that if he were still withholding information he'd found out about the whole situation, it would only be out of protection for her. He then urges Alison to tell Aria she visited him, since his word is all he's got left.

Hanna and Emily have made it back to Rosewood and make a pit-stop at The Brew, where apparently Mona hangs out in the middle of the night as well. Hanna confronts Mona about trying to make her into an Alison replacement (which I have to admit is pretty weird. Mona skirts the question and tells Hanna she should thank her for turning her into who she is,since no one remembers who she was...not even Hanna.

Ali, who's still sneaking through Rosewood in the dead of night alone like it's just ok, is approached by Mr. Hastings who LITERALLY COMES OUT OF THE DAMN SHADOWS. He insists on giving Ali a ride, but I think we all know homegirl has better sense than to get in the car with this man. You can't conceal that brand of crazy.

Once Peter makes his way back home, Spencer catches him walking in and he gives her some wack excuse about pretzels and salt. Spence wastes no time showing him the email from Mrs. D. and asking him what he knows, when Melissa walks in to defend him. She immediately rips up the email and dismisses Mrs. D as a loon, but then makes a comment to their father about how they should probably tell her THE SECRET. Mr. Hastings is NOT down with that and sends Spencer to bed like nothing just happened.

Now we all know Spencer's like a dog with a bone when it comes to secrets. She won't let go of Melissa's slip-up until she figures it out which hopefully won't be dragged out for years and years.

Finally, we see Hanna at a salon embracing a new look, while Mona looks on in the shadows. She turns and talks to another shadowy figure whose silhouette looks like...Cece? Ali? Another unknown person whom we'll probably meet in the season 7 finale?

Oh yeah and Paige begged for Emily to un-break up with her some more.

Well, that's all for this week! Check back in next Wednesday for my latest review and let me know what you thought of this week's episode in the comments below!

About the Author - Jasmine Alyce

Jasmine Alyce is the Associate Editor/Reporter for Fanbolt.com and Social Media Manager for LNP Studios.

Jasmine graduated from Georgia State University in 2009 with her BA in Broadcast Journalism and considers herself an entertainment news/ pop culture connoisseur :)