Claire gives off her best Fox Mulder imitation by saying the truth is out there. And other questionable things happen. IN A TOTALLY FUN AND QUIRKY AND PRETTY LITTLE LIAR WAY, of course.


The Perfectionists is back at it and almost at its conclusion. As always, the episode picks up almost immediately where last week's left off. Much like its predecessor, everything is happening at a high speed pace and will leave you questioning any, and everyone's motives.

In between the action-packed episode, the students (and faculty) at Beacon Heights has a bit of a gala going on--so everyone is dressed to the nines and on the hunt for the truth. With every answer, comes six other questions and possible outcomes. The question is, where is it going? And what will happen in the climax.

Let's rewind. Firstly, the opening is all eyes on Caitlin and the revelation that her boyfriend might have had something to do with the murder of Nolan Hotchkiss and from then on out, all hell breaks loose at BHU. In more ways than one.

With such a weirdly evasive answers from her mysterious, and recently sketchy, man--viewers are left with the impression that it is just another fake out. Especially after he asks her to run away with him. He never actually says the words: "I killed Nolan Hotchkiss" and we still have one episode left. So, we can be almost certain that this is all a misunderstanding and he isn't the series' big bad. Or at least, the murderer.

Meanwhile, Booker is given even more ammunition when it comes to the group: Ava, Caitlin, Dylan, Alison, Mona and Taylor. Which will come as no shock to viewers. After Taylor and the group give her mother the recording of Booker's highly unethical investigative skills, it is revealed that she is, in fact, acting on Mommy Dearest's orders. That's right, Claire Hotchkiss is pulling Dana Booker's strings and gets sketchier by the episode.

As for the recording of Booker and its aftermath? It merely gives her a raise and gets Dylan in some hot water at the school. He is likely facing expulsion. Which is heartbreaking. I stand by what I said last week, and the week before, and pretty much from the beginning, Dylan is so sympathetic and he seems to be learning by trial and error. I think he does some questionable things but he deserves his place at BHU.

Needless to say... 

The core six really take a beating this week; not only do we find out that Caitlin's boyfriend might be the bad guy (worst case scenario, he killed Nolan and tried to kill Taylor, best case scenario he is just hiding something massive from Caitlin) and Dylan is getting kicked out, Caitlin's mother is all but forcing her to leave BHU, Ava's money is taken from her by Booker, Mona's relationship with Mason is putting her career on the line and Taylor's past seems to be even more riddled with issues than we thought.

Unfortunately for viewers, Alison gets very little screen time. She definitely has her part to play in the episode but for the most part, she is not given a plotline of her own. Which is disappointing, but it gives us a little more time with the central mystery and where it could go from here. 

By the end of the episode, we can feel something is building based on all the tension that has formed in this episode and the entire season. Now, all that's left are more questions and what will happen next?



Other highlights:

• Mona and Mason continue to play with fire by hooking up. Someone definitely knows about their relationship and Mona has to make a decision. The bad news? It looks like her job is a goner, thanks to Claire Hotchkiss. I called this last week when she and Mason hooked up. I am disappointed in this plotline and can't help but feel like the mistakes Alison and Mona are making in The Perfectionists is a big step backward in their character growth. However, it leads to some good drama.
• Claire and Mason are apparently in contact with each other. After he visits her, Claire calls Beacon Guard and requests more surveillance on him. This is, presumably, how their relationship is found out.
• Dylan and Andrew's anniversary means a bit of the day in bed. Get it, Dylan! They also give me some Sabrina/Harvey in the 90's Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom when the gift Dylan receives is a nod to the exact moment they met, from Andrew. It is so beyond sweet. Dylan gifts Andrew with a song of his own. Ah, they are SUCH an OTP. *Please don't ruin them!*
• Taylor admits Nolan loved Ava. You know, after pointing a gun at her. BECAUSE STRESS, OKAY? She proceeds to let Ava know why Nolan acted the way he did in their final days as a couple. I'm glad Ava knows. I think it gave her a bit of her peace of mind back and I think she was a bit lighter this week than she has been, despite all that is happening. 
• Whoever hijacked Beacon Guard tried to kill Taylor, but maybe not Nolan. We get a glimpse at a lone computer which we can assume is either the killer or the hacker. Or, they are the same person. The computer has one message--a list of the core six and the mysterious janitor from a few episodes back.
• Jeremy was following Nolan. Whether or not he killed him, he was stalking him. I have my theories on this and what he was hiding. We'll get to that in a minute.
• Taylor shoots Jeremy. The group is quick to assume he is dead and begin to state a story of what happened to protect a very shaken Taylor, but Jeremy survives. Whether he lives beyond the next episode is very much so up in the air. 
• Taylor is the one who built Beacon Guard after the murder of her father. She has struggled a lot with mental health issues since. This raises some concerns for obvious reasons--especially after she shoots Jeremy and evades her mother's help via a "spa" (mental health facility) by running off with the doctor's vehicle to meet up with Ava, Caitlin, Dylan, Alison and Mona.
• Alison is very keen on caring for Taylor. She definitely sees herself in this girl still and is very protective of her. I also think that she is feeling a bit lost without the twins and Emily, so her newly found maternal energy is transferring to the group--especially Taylor.
• Things seem to be completely ON with #ZAVA. Which is obviously the second best ship of The Perfectionists. I love how much they've grown in just a few episodes and Ava positively glows around Zach. They'll obviously have problems should the show continue on, given what Ava's family did to his family, but for now they are so soft and supportive and totally warm and fuzzy inducing. I hope that Ava putting down the serving tray to go off with Caitlin, Dylan, Alison, Mona and Taylor, doesn't backfire and get him in trouble.  
• Not a lot of callbacks to the original series this week. AT. LAST.

Theories: 

• Jeremy didn't kill Nolan but might know who did. I think his plotline centers more around something related to Caitlin's family than the Hotchkiss family. Not sure what. I just feel like if he had killed Nolan, it would have been stated instead of him dancing around whatever it is he is trying to confess. Pretty Little Liars always tries to pull a fast one on viewers. Hell, The Perfectionists did something similar when Mason was looking ultra suspicious and stopped by Caitlin's hospital room. It's not beyond them to do it again and again.
• May be possible that Claire Hotchkiss has something to do with what happened to both Taylor and Nolan. Possibly even the father's murder. I don't know. I still am going back to my original theory that ties back into the books plotline, but I'd guess this is a close second of mine. Why else would she be so keen on zeroing in, and having Booker zero in, on the trio. Now that she is keeping extra tabs on Mason and seems to know about his and Mona's affair, you have to wonder just how many strings she's pulled when it comes to everything. 
• Because of Taylor's trigger happy moment and these little hints of her moods/mental health and the past, I still go back to the above mentioned theory. It's entirely possible she is a composite character of several of the book characters. Primarily, Julie and Parker. I thought it was odd that two of the biggest characters was missing from the show and in their place Taylor Hotchkiss came to be. Now, with how hard Claire is working to get Taylor out of BHU and into some sort of care facility, and all that jazz, I have to wonder if everything's been about Taylor Hotchkiss all along. The way she jumped from zero to a hundred over Jeremy, and shot him, all the way down to her extremely intelligent mind, it feels like she might be taking over for Julie and Parker. Perhaps it was guilt over her dad's murder that triggered a series of events. The lack of sleeping. The obsessiveness in making and bettering Beacon Guard. Nearly everything about her parallels what we saw in the Julie/Parker plotline of the books and I feel like it'd be very shocking if she wasn't filling in that side of the narrative. [Spoilers to the books] I think that it's building up to the same foundation that Julie's guilt went into after Parker died. Naturally, it will deviate from the source, but, I think that the guilt Taylor holds over her father's murder--and witnessing--has played a much bigger hand than we'd ever imagined. I'm not sure how it would come into play, but, I think that it's plausible that Taylor has Dissociative Personality Disorder. It may not play out the same as Julie's. Whereas Julie becomes Parker and as Parker she kills various characters, then is able to walk away from it with no memory as she settles back into being Julie, I think Taylor's might be far more complex. If so, Taylor likely really has no idea that she killed Nolan--and that's the saddest part of all. Claire is, as always, protecting her daughter. The only remaining member of her family. 
• This isn't my theory! I mean, I definitely will put some thought behind it and consider it as a massive possibility. But, my friend suggested that the mysterious janitor, who's name is on the list, and is seemingly involved in the plotline some way, might actually be Papa Hotchkiss. After-all, it wouldn't be the first time a Hotchkiss faked their own death. But, how would this play into the story? It's on the lower end of my list but that doesn't mean it's impossible. We already know anything is possible at BHU. 
• Ava's money will be returned to her. I don't know. I find it sketchy that Booker hasn't turned it over to authorities yet. Why wouldn't she? Unless, she's keeping it for herself. Wouldn't it be funny if Booker was planning to double cross Claire all along, in some way? 
• Mona will find a way to get her job back. I don't know if that means she'll get back with Mason in the future, but! I wouldn't be surprised if she plots a few moves of her own. Even in the midst of all the chaos that happened at the end of the episode. 
• Andrew's power move in playing the song Dylan composed for him at the gala will help Dylan either stay at BHU or have an opportunity with the Seattle Symphony. 
• If next week's finale ends up being merely a season finale, I'd say it's safe to say we might get an open-ended episode. We'll likely find out whether or not Jeremy survives pretty quickly, I have a feeling some minor characters will pop around and indulge in the sketchy behavior and a lot more will go down. Perhaps a few mentions of Mary and Alex Drake. I still think it's likely we'll come face to face with Mr. Granger from the books. If it's written as a series finale, my guess is that Mona and Alison will head back to Rosewood after getting answers, and the trio will go their separate ways--but with a promise to see each other soon. 

What I hope we get closure on: 

• What exactly happened with Taylor pre-pilot episode.  
• Jeremy's secret.
• How Mona managed to lose Mary and Alex. 
• The weird pig-man-thing in the sewer.