by Christine Cassis
Will we ever be closer to finding out A's identity? It's always one thing after another with these girls, and it's totally distracting. I am so over Spencer being the victim here, ABCFam! C'mon, give us another clue already. With just one more episode until the season finale, we're no closer to knowing whether Ian killed Alison or if Jenna is A than, well, ever.
Anyway, Hanna is sleeping with the enemy, but not for long! Because when Emily and Aria overhear Caleb on the phone with (whom they suspect is) a girl, Hanna breaks it off. But not before wishing and hoping that it isn't true. She's finally convinced when she sees Jenna wearing the owl necklace she found in Caleb's backpack that she thought was a gift for her. Not to mention, she double confirms her suspicions when she breaks into his locker using "2-1-4." Mystery solved! Jenna's chicken-scratch, Braille note is Caleb's combo. Hanna confronts him, and of course, Caleb has an excuse, but she can't be too careful these days so she kicks him out. Poor girl is left heartbroken.
Ah, but there is nothing sweeter than revenge, Crushers! Because when Hanna runs into Jenna in the bathroom she tells her girls she has some choice words for Jenna. Aria and Emily try to usher her out but Hanna smacks Jenna right across the face. "It's Hanna, if you couldn't tell," she says, picking Jenna's sunglasses up off the floor as a single tear streams down Jenna's face. And for a second I almost feel bad for Jenna...until I remember she's an evil wench who wants to have sex with her step-brother. How retro, '90s "Clueless" of her... Yuck!
Aria is busy trying to ward off her parents' suspicions after accidentally sexting her mom about a pair of smoldering eyes. Ella teases Aria about the boy she's crushing on, but when Aria won't budge on fessing up to the hot-for-teacher romance, mom backs off. Ella spills the beans to Byron that their daughter's got a boyfriend but asks that he not snoop. If Aria wants to keep it private Ella respects that. Byron, however, is desperate to know who Aria is seeing. They can't agree to disagree, which causes the pair to push back Ella's possible move in back to the Montgomery household...
Meanwhile, Emily is distracted by Paige's budding romance with Hanna's ex, Sean. Hanna—pre-Caleb-dumping—was fully in support of Sean being happy, but Emily is bitter. She likes Paige and it shows, but she'll never tell. When Paige dishes to Emily that she's got a date with Sean it's probably the most heated Emily's ever been, but it's all in vain because Paige's heart is with Emily. After her date with Sean, Paige has a near breakdown, one that has her high-tailing it over to Emily's house and praising her secret girl-crush for having the courage to live her life out loud and proud. But that's when Emily corrects her. Sure, Emily's out, but she didn't step out gracefully. Instead, "I fell on my face," she says. She tells Paige it wasn't easy, but it's better now. The girls kiss and make up (aww!) and we're left wondering...when the hell is this Sean guy going to catch a break?!
But per usual it's Spencer who's in total meltdown mode. With the cops stalking her every move, she's covering her tracks more than ever, but it's a search warrant that has her going bananas this time. She's a "person of interest" in Alison's murder investigation and the victim of someone who is really good at framing people. The timing couldn't be worse with Ian around and her parents convinced she's caught the crazy. So it seems like Toby is her only ally. The two of them share a moment by the fire where they talk about running away from home. Spencer admits to once fleeing after an argument with Melissa when she was 7 years old, but returned before anybody had the chance to notice she was gone. Toby asks that she tell him if she were ever to run away again and she agrees.
But it's a comment from Ian later on that's all too convenient. In an attempt to relate to Spencer, as a previous "person of interest," he tells her he understands how she feels. He even says he knows she might consider running away from it all. Spencer picks up on his positive tone: Ian is totally telling her he'd help in her attempts to escape, no?! Not phased by being buddy-buddy with the man of the hour, Spencer storms off. Is he for real?
Worried that the cops will continue to consider her a suspect, Spencer talks to her mom, but mom's got it under control. In fact, she's positive the search warrant will be dropped. That's the good news. The bad: They found some fibers matching the blood-stained sweater found in Toby's closet that Alison was wearing the night she died. So...the theory is that Spencer took the sweater after killing Alison and hid it in Toby's closet... Apparently it isn't even considered that the bracelet could have been in contact with the sweater Alison was wearing when the girls were hanging out before she was killed, but hey...that's television.
Could Haleb be done for good? Are Emily and Paige destined to be together? Is Byron on to Ezria's romance? Tell us in the comments and on Twitter!