Caitlin's recovery and one of her moms, ill-timed fashion shows and disgruntled side characters, oh my!



Tonight's episode once again picks up almost immediately after last weeks ended. The bad news? It is still too reminiscent of the original Pretty Little Liars, Hanna gets hit by a car, moment. The good news? We keep getting more of Alison and Mona's friendship, the trio make up and Caitlin survives.

Not that we had any doubt that BHU's Golden Girl would ever bite the dust. Even better? We finally get to meet one of her moms--the Senator is here! Which surely will lead to even more drama on her front in the future, let's just leave it at that. There's been a serious distance between Caitlin and her mother, and let's just say that things are to a boiling point.

Complications arise as the trio deal with the aftermath of someone literally running down Caitlin, Alison and Mona try to track down Taylor Hotchkiss, Dylan goes directly against his doctor's orders on taking it easy/taking a break from playing, Mason may or may not be after the trio and Caitlin has to make a decision about her moms relationship.

Ava's intelligence shines through this week and her patience does, too. Once again, she is this new series' standout. Definitely one of the most intriguing and developed characters of the trio. She was clearly labeled as a punching bag for the new boy and even though I saw his anger, and backstory, coming from a mile away, it did add a little extra tension.

While Mona stakes out Taylor's trailer, Alison follows a hunch to try and get some answers. I had an uneasy feeling about Mona's plotline the whole episode--from the very moment she went to Taylor's, I knew she'd find some answers, gain more questions, but be at serious risk doing so. And when she began playing her game with Bad Bishop, I had the feeling grow.

The feeling of fear continues as viewers wonder--what the hell is going on at BHU?

What I loved about the episode: 
 

• We keep getting so many good Alison/Mona scenes which is, honestly, all I ever wanted from the original show. They have such an interestingly tense dynamic. As teenagers, this was bad. As adults, it's more complex and respectful while still being full of banter. I think these two need each other. Plus, they understand Taylor Hotchkiss in a way that no one else on the show can, because they've both been there. 
• Alison finding Taylor, again, and Mona finding the electronic goods (aka, access to Beacon Guard) at Taylor's trailer. Fits together perfectly and gives an extra twist in the plotline. 
• Caitlin's confrontation of her mother about the affair. It starts off generic in terms of dialogue, and leads straight into a pretty interesting conversation. I thought it was handled pretty well. It was, again, a little too reminiscent to the original Pretty Little Liars series, but it was still a good scene.  
• Dylan's scenes are subtly heartbreaking. I liked that he confessing to Ava that he would have told her, eventually, about Nolan and him. He just needed to figure out how to do so gently. I believe him, it was a very genuine scene. Seeing him deal with that gap in his relationship and how he is pushing himself to play his music even though it is hurting him really sums up the inner turmoil he is facing right now. 
• Mona snooping even more. I just really love this. 
• Claire's reaction to Taylor being alive. Slow motion dramatics in couture? The glass dropping? Cheesy as hell, but a total mood. 
• Caitlin's man returns to visit her in the hospital. What can I say? I'm a sucker for his accent and face. 
• Dylan's music is always on point. The episodes music in general is great. But, I love the classical music with a twist. 
• Ava's speech at the end of her fashion show. She really does get the best material of the series. I have decided to stan forever.

What I did not: 

• Booker. I'm just... so over her. Everything she does is insufferable and predictable and I really am bored. I will say the actress plays what's given to her very well. I just wish she wasn't a Tanner and Wilden hybrid because, hi, we've seen this already. Her blatant hatred of Ava, Dylan and Caitlin is really annoying.
• Caitlin's accident. Again.  
• We're still very much so at a standstill about Beacon Guard. It's just... going nowhere yet. I don't expect everything to get resolved immediately but there's barely been any legitimate building when it comes to that. 
• Ava walking away from her fashion show. It was predictable but not fun. The fashion show in general was another Lite Pretty Little Liars moment, in my opinion. We really need to focus on making original plots.
• Another predictable thing: Alison leaving without her phone. Sigh. You really expect me to believe that she doeesn't know better? After everything that happened in Rosewood? Right. 
• The balloon, then Ava falling into the sewer, and Dylan going after her. The PIGMAN? Lord. No. Just, no.
• Mason showing up at the hospital. His whole line was so... bad. Like, the dialogue was awful. I cringed. We can do better. I've been saying for weeks that he probably wasn't the big bad but he is still a jerk.

Theories: 

• So, I got a bit uneasy at how Taylor smiled at Alison when she found her at the cemetery. It wasn't really an "ah, I knew you'd find me" smile. Something about it was off. If it was intentional, I am sticking to something being wrong with Taylor or the Hotchkiss family in general. Not sure what, but, it felt weird. 
• One of the big bads has to be Booker, Claire or Taylor. See prior theories from the first few episodes. 

Next weeks episode looks so much better. From the cliffhanger of this weeks episode about Nolan being at Mona's apartment, leading into the cupcakes she was sent in the promo and the way that Ava replied to Mona's mention of the infamous Doll House, I think it's safe to say it'll be one of the best of the season.

Overall, this week felt a lot more high pace that the last episode. While I still think we need to ditch all the callbacks to the original series, or at least cutback on half of them, the whole episode felt very much like the series is finally getting into its own groove. I just hope we don't revert back to some pretty little unfortunate habits.