"Bin of Sin" Review
Pretty Little Liars
Season 5.17
“Bin of Sin"
This week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars put a great deal of added stress on many relationships. If it was A’s plan to divide and conquer, he/she/shim was successful with Ezria, Spoby, and Hannah/Spence. However, ain’t no mountain high enough, valley low enough, or jail cell wide enough to keep Caleb from Hanna! Awww Haleb!!!
Aria finally tells Ezra about her letter to Jackie that described how she squandered her high school experience with an older guy. After reading the letter Ezra tells her it was a brilliant move because it got her into Talmadge. Later he recants and tells her she should consider leaving him and moving on to enjoy her college experience. This is the best advice I’ve heard all season. Leave him Aria! He’s probably hiding something else from you and sees this as a way to separate from you before you find out the truth! (This relationship just bugs me...I have no tolerance for older men dating high school girls!!!) Maybe Aria is starting to see the light through her yearbook.
Meanwhile, Talia finally lets Emily know she is interested in her. Nothing that we didn’t already know Talia!
But wait, the episode is called the Bin of Sin! So when Caleb, Spence, Emily, and Aria tell Hanna to leave the barrel alone, Hanna takes matters into her own hands. She researches, purchases all the needed equipment, and recruits Caleb to help her break into the storage unit and remove all the evidence of Mona’s murder. Surprise!!! A has already removed everything except the barrel. As Haleb walks out to get the dolly to transport the barrel they run into Tanner and Toby who are coming to check out unit 1017 too. Busted!!! (good thing you returned everything to your blue bag Hanna!)
So what’s inside the barrel?!?! When Tanner and Toby open it, the smell is too much for Toby, and Tanner sends him out to call the HazMat team. That’s when she finds the droplets of blood beside the barrel. Hmmm....what did that note Alison found inside her orange jumpsuit say? Oh yes, “your friends will be joining you soon”. Well it looks like Hanna could be first in line. Remember how easy it was for A to get Hanna’s O negative blood on the Ouji board?
Meanwhile, Spencer, Aria, and Emily follow Mona’s Lo-Jacked computer. It leads them to an old ice cream factory that is full of little clues. The ice cream clown logo is very reminiscent of the clown A had in his/her/shim’s lair. The dead rat that Emily finds with the freeze dried nuts reminded me of the dead rat that was found in Paige’s locker. But the biggest find was the computer that was in the freezer playing a video of Hanna telling Caleb all about her plan to break into the storage unit. So the computer was A’s way of spying on Hanna through her own computer. Of course as soon as Sparia grabbed the computer to leave, the Black Hooded One locks them in the freezer and turns on the liquid nitrogen. This was by far the scariest and most gut wrenching scene of the night. Thank God for Emily’s quick thinking and physical strength that got them out just in time!!! But of course they leave the computer in the freezer. Liars have you learned nothing in 5 seasons!!!???
Now let’s wrap this episode up with the rest of the relationship tension. When Hanna and Caleb hear about their video on Mona’s/A’s computer Hanna tells Caleb he should stay away from her because A is trying to take her down. But Caleb assures her that will never happen....even if they both go to jail. HALEB = Solid as a rock!!!
Hanna confronts Spencer about the day’s events and asks her when Toby’s job became more important than his friends. In an argument that resembles a Spencer/Alison clash of words, Spencer yells “you can’t blame this on Toby!” But Spencer and Toby may be the relationship destined to crack under A’s pressure. Toby calls Spencer and lies to her about his whereabouts and refuses to tell her what they found in the barrel. Cue the final A scene please... Guess whose fingerprints Black Hoodie finds when he/she/shim returns to the factory? Now there is evidence that can be used against all four liars!
This episode did not answer many questions, but it sure did leave us with a lot of clues to investigate. As always, until next time Liars keep your friends close and your secrets closer!
"Through A Glass, Darkly" Review
Pretty Little Liars
Season 5.14
“Through A Glass, Darkly"
It’s been three months since Mona Vanderwaal was viciously attacked in her home on Thanksgiving Day. The Winter Premiere picks up right after Mona’s memorial service and starts with a boom, or shall I say “the slap heard round the world”, as Alison appears to offer her condolences to Mona’s mother. If Ali wasn’t already crazy, Mrs. V slapped a few screws loose for sure before Hanna leads her away.
Hanna has become close to Mrs. V and receives two important gifts that belonged to Mona. Bungee, the stuffed dog, and the book Terminations by Henry James. I can’t wait to see what clues are held within each one! Finally, someone else (besides us) confirms that Hannah is playing dumb. Thanks to Mona in flashback, we know that Mona thought Hanna was “smarter than Spencer Hastings”.
Hands down the best scenes for me, were those with Mrs Grundwald. She meets Hanna at Mona’s crypt to use her gift of insight to shed light on who Mona’s attacker was, and delivers lines almost as creepy as her eyes: “Each one hated the other because each one feared the other…each one knew something about the other.” Who is the other one Mrs. G? (My likely suspects Mike, Paige, CeCe, the girl at the zoo with the distorted face, or the girl who was with Mona behind the frosted glass at the hair salon.)
Spencer learns why she was arrested for Bethany’s murder. Jessica DiLaurentis gave a statement to Detective Wilden that she saw Spencer in her backyard with a blond girl dressed in Ali’s clothes on the night Alison went missing. Wilden hid the statement in his files to no doubt continue his passion for extorting money for keeping secrets. Good thing they found it, because Bethany’s parents went to a judge to have Spencer’s bail revoked in order to send her back to jail. This eventually sends Spencer and Emily to Jason DiLaurentis to persuade him to tell the truth that his father would not tell about Ali’s whereabouts on Thanksgiving Day.
Ezra has purchased The Brew and seems to be converting it into a coffee and book nook. It’s here that Ezra invites Mike to come assist him with his bookshelves so that he can ask him how he is dealing with Mona’s death. Mike is not in a sharing mood, which prompts Ezra to share the most insightful statement of the evening…”You aren’t acting like you lost someone”. Hmmm…Mike what secrets did you and Mona really have?
Meanwhile, Aria visits Caleb to get help with hacking into Oberlin College’s website to find out why her application was rejected. She spies Mona’s computer and learns that Caleb’s attempts to break Mona’s codes have failed. So why, why, why Caleb, would you give Mona’s computer to a technical amateur like Aria!?!?! Of course, it was to give the masked black-hooded-one a chance to “find” Mike’s phone, call Aria to meet him/her at the The Brew, in order to plastic wrap Aria against the wall and steal said computer!!!
Aria later tells Emily that it was Ali who attacked her and swiped the computer, to which Emily asks, “Are you sure it was Ali?” Aria’s answer, “ Who else could it have been”, let’s us know for sure that Aria is not sure.
Speaking of Emily, let’s all do the happy dance, because Paige left for San Francisco!!! Or did she??? With no tears or I love you(s) at the airport, and Paige acting more sketchy than heartbroken, I wonder if she really got on that plane. When I watched Jason DiLaurentis watch the hidden camera footage of Mona’s attacker, I immediately thought of Paige, not Ali!
However, Jason confesses that Ali was not with the family during the time that Mona was killed and that it could be his sister in the video. This confession sends Ali to jail for her orange jumpsuit fitting! The girls can move on with their lives now because A is finally behind bars!!!! Absolutely not, because A puts on a fireworks display to end the episode!!! Hanna was right again. You can’t send fireworks from jail!
In typical PLL style we are left with more questions than answers.
UnAnswered questions of the week:
- How did traces of Mona’s DNA get in Ali’s car? (and when did Ali get a car?
- What kind of temporary assignment is Gabriel Holbrook on? (here-to-fore to be called Detective “ShadyBrook” because he is definitely shady, and more than likely Beach Hottie! [credit to Antuan Beard for the nickname])
- Who are Bethany Young’s parents?
- When will we see a photo of Bethany Young?
Hopefully, we will get answers to these and other questions next week. Until then...keep your friends close and your secrets closer!