As the police get closer to finding the truth about Archer Dunhill, A.D. presents the Liars with an impossible choice and exposes the traitor amongst the group.
In this week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars entitled, “Choose or Lose,” the Rosewood P.D.turns up the heat on their investigation and the game presents the Liars with an impossible choice to make. The episode picks up with the Rosewood P.D. at each of the PLLs’ house with search warrants to look for information relating to Archer Dunhill’s (Huw Collins) death. Spencer (Troian Bellisario) learns Tanner (Roma Maffia) has taken over the investigation after Detective Furey (Nicholas Gonzalez) stepped down from the case, but not before telling her everything. While almost everyone meets at the Radley, Mona (Janel Parrish) comes in with some serious accusations about Aria (Lucy Hale) and pretty damning information. Meanwhile, Aria finds a phone connected to A.D.and makes plans for them to meet up. When she goes to meet A.D. she encounters Hanna (Ashley Benson), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Ali (Sasha Pieterse) and Spencer.
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The Liars are summoned to the police station, where Tanner goes over some of the evidence against them and offers a chance for them to tell their side, but they don’t. Everyone goes their separate ways to find a bit of happiness before the clock runs out on their choice from A.D.and hell breaks lose. While Aria and Ezra (Ian Harding) stay home and she promises him the truth, Spencer heads to Toby’s (Keegan Allen) to get away. And Ali and Em have a candle lit picnic together. Elsewhere, Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) has Hanna meet him at the Justice of the Peace with the notion they get married now. Ashley (Laura Leighton) even shows up and arranged for them to be able to marry right away, so they do. Later, after A.D. cuts ties with Aria, she has a plan but makes a horrifying discovery in the trunk of her car, Archer’s body. Meanwhile, Toby and Ezra track down where the game’s being controlled and can tell it’s a woman. And now Mona looks even more guilty of being A.D. then last week.
There’s a familiar face back in Rosewood to head the investigation and they’re extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the Liars.
This week’s episode kicks off with a bang. The Liars barely have a chance to have their morning coffee and the Rosewood P.D. are knocking on each of the Liars’ front door. Armed with search warrants, the police even take their phones. If the search isn’t bad enough, Em and Ali panic the police will find the Liar’s Lament, which happened to magically appear in their room. Luckily, the game disappeared just as quietly as it arrived. Spencer’s pissed and goes to the police station looking for Marco, but she finds Detective Tanner has taken his place as head of Archer’s murder. Turns out Furey took himself off the case but not before telling Tanner all about his relationship with Spencer, everything. She offers Spencer a chance, to tell the truth, but obviously, she doesn’t trust Tanner or take the bait. Instead, Spencer decides to leave, but not before Tanner gives her an ominous warning.
“You should know something: I’m a closer.” – Tanner.
Marco’s interactions with Spencer recently had been so cold and he was so adamant about doing things by the book.So, I guess it’s not a huge surprise he thought he had to step down from the case because of his relationship with Spencer. But Tanner returning to Rosewood to take the lead on the investigation was definitely a surprise.Her return could either be a good or extremely bad thing for the PLLs. She did end up saving the Liars from A’s dollhouse of horrors. However, this time it’s looking like Tanner being back isn’t going to be a good thing. I’ll be super pissed if the series ends with all the Liars in jail.
Aria’s busted! Sporting her black hoodie, she’s discovering by the Liars and feels the wrath of Spencer Hastings.
At the Brew as the police leave, Ezra follows them outside arguing over what they can and can’t seize. Aria hears a phone ringing and discovers a phone hidden in a vent. It’s A.D. Aria’s had enough, stands up A.D. and demands to meet them. After some hesitation, A.D. agrees as long as she wears her ‘uniform.’ But when Aria goes to meet A.D. at some creepy, abandoned playground she runs straight into the PLLs in the woods. She is busted! Immediately Aria confesses that she was trying to meet A.D. The girls are furious and hurt especially after learning why she did it. And she didn’t even come to them for help. Ultimately, Aria chose Ezra over them. Emily explains the “Choose or Lose,” task from A.D. and of course, Aria had no clue. Spencer’s livid. Aria reminds her about when Spencer had to kidnap Ezra’s kid, but Spencer goes off. She blames Aria for destroying her family.
“I want to meet you… I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me.” Aria.
I confess a part of me let out a squeal in delight when the Liars found Aria in the woods sporting her ‘A’ black hoodie. She has caused so much chaos, especially for Spencer the past couple episodes. It Is about time she got outed. Yes, she deserved some sort of backlash from her friends but Spencer was a bit harsh. She should forget she one was part of the ‘A’ Team with Toby and did some shitty things as well. Spencer is really struggling with all the lies surrounding her family and she needs someone to blame. Sadly, I think she’s taking it out on Aria. But the real question is; did A.D. set her up? Or did Mona? I refuse to believe Mona’s A.D. or involved again. It’s too predictable.
“Because of you, my parents are getting a divorce. You’ve ruined everything I ever had.” – Spencer.
With A.D. threatening their ‘Happily Ever After,’ Haleb makes the most of their freedom.
The Liars are summoned to the police station by Tanner and Caleb runs into Hanna’s mom at the Radley. He finally lets her know what’s going on. Later, everyone makes the best of what very well might be their last night before going to jail. While Aria and Ezra stay in, Spencer visits Toby at his cabin and Ali surprises Em with a romantic, candlelit picnic in the woods. As they all have hot hook-ups, Caleb has other plans. He surprises Hanna by taking her to the justice of the peace. He suggests they best of their freedom and get married while they still can. Caleb also invited Hanna’s mom, Ashley assures Hanna everything will be okay/ She hired a lawyer to handle the Dunhill stuff and everyone can enjoy the night. Then Ashley reveals she’s convinced the justice of the peace to stay open after hours to marry Hanna and Caleb. And the pair makes it official.
Wow! Hanna and Caleb are my absolute favorite. I love that the couple made it official this week. But disappointed we didn’t get an actual wedding, especially with Hanna into fashion. But the simplicity of their nuptials shows how pure and true their love is. There are so many feels this episode! No matter what ship’s your favorite, this week has plenty of feels to go around. Each couple seems to be in a good place too…but surely they all can’t be endgame. Unfortunately, history has me waiting for the other shoe to drop and something goes wrong with at least one or more of the pairs.
A game winner is declared with a ‘promise of freedom’ the prize. But winning comes at a cost.
Aria’s decides to call A.D. again to let them know she’s planning on turning herself into Tanner for Archer’s murder. But it’s too late according to A.D. ‘Time ran out.’ The game is over. A.D. reveals Aria won and her prize is her unlimited freedom. Aria has questions, but the phone catches fire and self-destructs Mission Impossible style. Aria scrambles to find her phone in the box of stuff the police returned. She takes her phone, racing to her cart and calls Spencer as she drives. Aria leaves a voicemail for Spencer explaining there might be a way to make things right. She notices something isn’t right with the car, so she stops and gets out to take a look. She opens the trunk to discover what appears to be Archer’s body judging by one finger missing on his hand. Of course, the police aren’t far behind and pull up right as Aria slams the trunk down.
“Time ran out. The game is over. And guess what? You won. The prize chosen especially for you is an unlimited supply of freedom.” – A.D.
Aria’s plan she thinks will make things right seems interesting. It can’t be turning herself in because after A.D. told her the game was over. But how the hell did Archer’s body get into Aria’s trunk? Or has it been there for a while and she just never knew? It doesn’t make sense that A.D. would grant Aria ‘unlimited freedom’ knowing his body was in her trunk. Surely, if A.D. did put Archer in there they would’ve taunted her about it. Whoever’s behind the mind games, A.D. or ‘A,’ has always got their jollies taunting the Liars. Or perhaps the notion of her freedom was just that. It’s going to be interesting to see how Aria manages to keep the cops from finding Archer in her trunk.
All signs indicate Mona might be back her old villainous ways.
Caleb’s program tracking phones to the tower it’s using gets a hit. He calls Ezra for help investigating. The location signal takes them to Mona’s apartment. Caleb and Ezra use some kind of thermal imaging camera allowing them to see through walls. They’re able to tell by the camera the person inside the apartment where the signal’s coming from is a woman.Ezra and Caleb don’t go in the apartment, but we’re able to see inside. And there’s Mona. She’s admiring, curiously looking at the game and a little jail cell pops up out of the grass. Mona needs a closer look, so she puts on her glasses. Then as she contemplates her next move or perhaps realizes who the real A.D. is, a little smirk appears on her face.
All these instances not so subtly hinting Mona’s A.D. is merely a distraction to keep us from focusing on important information. A lot of bombshells are sure to be dropped in the last episodes. I’m hoping Mona’s return to villainy isn’t one of them. I’ll say it again; I will so upset if Mona ends up being A.D. It’d be horribly detrimental to her character development. Hopefully, she’s a distraction and that smirk was just her admiring it again or maybe she got an idea to flip the script on A.D.
FINAL VERDICT: A suspense-filled episode with unexpected twists, romance to make hearts melt and an ending that’s one hell of a cliffhanger to guarantee we’ll tune in again.
“Choose or Lose,” penned by Charlie Craig keeps viewers entranced throughout from beginning to end. Opening the episode with the Rosewood P.D.knocking at each of the Liars doors with search warrants is a great way to grab viewers’ attention. And before the first commercial break, Craig surprises us again with Tanner’s return to Rosewood as head of Dunhill’s murder investigation. This could be a really good or bad thing for the Liars. Perhaps, since she didn’t get them before, she’s out for redemption. She did request the case. The surprises keep coming from Craig. It was about time. Aria’s shady dealings with A.D. were exposed to the Liars. The guilt was really getting to her and she was bound to crack. Her discovering Archer’s body in the trunk of her car was a complete shock as well. Not only does it serve a huge plot twist, but a major cliffhanger. Aria’s storyline is left with her slamming the trunk down right as the cops are pulling up. Sadly, Craig didn’t fool anyone with Mona inside the apartment where the signal was originating. Mona being or working with A.D. is so predictable and done before. Hopefully, she’s just a clever distraction.
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Holy feels! Craig includes something for each couple’s ship. it wasn’t a surprise Hanna and Caleb were getting married, but who would’ve guessed it’d be so soon. And as Haleb tied the knot, the others made the best of what could’ve been their last night of freedom and had their own romantic rendezvouses. Director. Norman Buckley, did a great job capturing the raw emotion and passion of each couple together. By alternating from one pair to another in a montage style, he overwhelms the audience with feels. Buckley has great camera work as well as by focusing in on their expressions and loving glances and panning out so show their bare bodies together. I hate to rain on Spoby’s parade, but has Toby really had enough time to mourn Yvonne’s (Kara Royster) death? Didn’t Haleb tell anyone the got married? More importantly, how the hell is Aria going to keep the police from finding Archer’s body in her trunk? OMG, what is one of the other Liar’s working with A.D. and put it there? It’s awfully coincidental it happened after she got busted. Maybe someone did choose….and chose Aria.
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS 7×19 airs TUESDAY, JUNE 20 at 8|9c. on FREEFORM
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