Pretty Little Liars: Top 5 Moments of “The Talented Mr. Rollins”

Turns Out Karma Really is a Bitch, Dr. Rollins!

On this week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars, “The Talented Mr. Rollins,” things take a deadly turn as the Liars attempt to rescue Ali (Sasha Pieterse) from the psychiatric hospital. The ladies vow to protect her from Uber A’s threats. They become suspicious of Ali’s husband, Dr. Rollins (Huw Collins), who is also her doctor at the hospital. The PLLs decide to learn more about him to find out his connection to Mary Drake (Andrea Parker) and see if he is the mystery man she’s been working with. Meanwhile, Ali takes matters into her own hands and fights back against Dr. Rollins. She’s able to give the Liars an opportunity to rescue her, but everything changes when a deadly mistake is made. Here’re the top five OMG moments from this week’s episode. In random order, of course!

Hello, Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde

At Welby Psychiatric Hospital, Ali decides to fight back and plans a sneak attack on her husband/doctor/tormentor, Elliott. Her plan backfires and she finds herself sedated again and wearing a Hannibal-Lecter-like mask or muzzle. But when Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Hanna (Ashley Benson) stop by the hospital to talk to the administrator about their concerns about Ali’s care in a very adult response to the situation, but she looks normal, and turns out she’s only taking one drug. Meanwhile, Spencer calls Jason (Drew Van Acker), who’s out of the country to discuss Ali’s hospitalization. Turns out, he had no idea his sister was even in Welby despite Elliot claiming Jason is the one who signed off on the decision.

“You Like Me, But I Love You”

After discovering Toby (Keegan Allen) put a ring on it and he and his girlfriend, Yvonne (Kara Royster), are engaged, like a glutton for punishment, Spencer (Troian Bellisario) asks Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) why he’s been “distant” since Hanna’s kidnapping. She asks him if something happened between them. He confesses they did kiss blaming “it was like we were in a time warp.” Of course, Spencer is furious. And Caleb can’t answer she asks if he still has feelings for Hanna. Their conversation is put on hold for a bit, but later once again, Spencer asks him about his relationship with Hanna. Caleb does his best to convince her that he only wants to be with her but admits a part of him with always love Hanna. Caleb goes on to list all the reasons he likes Spencer, but it’s not enough.

“That’s the problem. You like me, but I love you.” – Spencer.

Instead of saying ‘I love you’ back, which would have been an acceptable response, Caleb tears up and explains that he wants a chance to make things right. Ouch! Spencer then looks down as she tells him she doesn’t know if he could have that chance. And just like that, it seems like Spencer and Caleb are heading towards Splitsville. Bad news for #Spaleb shippers, but a glimmer of hope for a #Haleb shippers.

Damn! He’s Got A Lot of Junk in That Trunk

While Emily starts her first day at her new job bar-tending, Aria, Spencer and Hanna decide to snoop through Ali’s house for clues about Elliott. With Hanna and Spencer on the lookout, Aria goes into the house. She uses a key hidden in a light fixture to open the locked trunk she and Ezra (Ian Harding) saw Elliott in the first time she snuck into Ali’s house. Inside the trunk, Aria finds an array of old-fashioned tools. some syringes, and a bunch of jars of drugs. She rushes to take photos of everything a credit card bill in the room and a mysterious recipe as Spencer and Hanna have words with Elliot outside to stall him from finding Aria inside the house. He not so subtly threatens they stop visiting Ali warning that their “pushing” would be “detrimental to her health.” Luckily, this gives Aria just enough time get the photos, put everything back into the trunk and escape. The evil, maniacal look Elliott has on his face as he watches the ladies drive away from the window lets viewers know that he’s fully aware they were up to something.

Spencer then focuses on figuring out why Elliot had all those things in that trunks. Turns out the mysterious recipe is for latex as in for masks of Wilden and Hanna. Creepiness. There are also blue contacts, which adds to her theory that he impersonated Wilden. Couple that with the emergence of Mary Drake, who happens to look identical to Ali’s mom, Elliot wanted Ali to believe she was going crazy. Then when Emily and Spencer look back over the drugs, the notice one of the jars is almost gone. It used to contain a drug with effects similar to speed causing delusions and distorted thoughts.

“Ali wasn’t crazy when she went into Welby, but he’s making sure she is now.” – Spencer.

Dolls & Secrets of the Amish Countryside

A charge on Elliot’s credit card statement ironically coincides with the same week he and Ali went to his family’s farm. That leads Hanna and Aria to an Amish bed and breakfast. Of course, they lose cell service and no one at the B&B will talk to them, but see a young Amish girl, Eliza, watching them. Hanna tries to talk to her. Even though she isn’t supposed to talk to the ‘English,’ she does because Hanna’s pretty and looks like her dolls that Charlotte gave her. WTF Dolls? Charlotte?!?!

Eliza happily shows them her dolls that happen to be named Aria, Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Ali. While playing with the dolls, she reveals that Charlotte and Elliot visited there a lot. She confesses to seeing them kissing once, but she wasn’t supposed to tell. But the property owners insists they leave before they can ask her anything else. And as they leave, Hanna sees a cattle prod prompting flashbacks of her kidnapping because her kidnapper used the same weapon on her. Poor Hanna.

“Elliott will pay for what he did to you.” – Aria.

O.M.F.G.

Undeniably, the biggest OMG moment this week is when the mystery is solved as to who the Liars were burying in the season premiere. Knowing the Liars are on to him, Elliot puts Ali in his car and drives. She pretends to be passed out but sends Emily a pin allowing the PLLs to track their location. They all jump in the car to track Elliot down in hopes of saving Ali. As they are driving through the woods, Ali attacks her husband/doctor/tormentor, jumps out of the car and makes a run for it. Elliot chases after her through the woods and hit by the ladies. He ends up head first through Hanna’s windshield, where it’s safe to say the Elliot Rollins we know is dead. It’s safe to say it’s his grave are the Liars are digging in the season premiere. But little do they know it’s not the real Elliot Rollins in that grave. Toby discovers Elliot Rollins is a fake identity. WTH?!?! Who is Elliot Rollins? The real one and why was fake Elliot using a fake identity? What’s his real identity and how the hell is he connected to Mary Drake? Or the Amish country? This is PLL we’re talking about, so anything is possible.

Conclusion:

The third episode of Pretty Little Liars season seven, “The Talented Mr. Rollins,” is filled with so much PLL goodness that it truly is a can’t miss! The writers do a fantastic job again this week. Right from the start the writers grab viewers’ attention with Ali’s sneak attack on Dr. Rollins, which then results in him putting that horrendous Hannibal Lector-esque muzzle on her. The entire episode the audience cannot take their eyes off the screen in fear of what Dr. Rollins is willing to go next. He seriously seems to be the one who needs to be in the psychiatric hospital. The contents of his trunk of torture along with what he’s using them for is as eye-opening for the Liars as it is for viewers. It fully exposes his true character and duplicitous ways. Huw Collins is undeniably this episode’s MVP. From his ability to switch on a dime from psycho torture/doctor to a concerned husband/doctor with a maniacal ‘ I’ll set you on fire in your sleep’ stare, Huw does an amazing job illustrating Dr. Rollins’ special brand of evil.

The writers make sure there’s something for everyone.They incorporate a healthy helping of relationship drama both equally hopeful as well as disheartening. The news of Toby and Yvonne’s engagement along with Emily’s upcoming date with Sabrina (Lulu Brud) offers excitement and happiness. While Spencer’s reaction to her ex’s engagement and sad realization of her and Caleb’s relationship unraveling is hard to watch. Both Troian Bellisario and Tyler Blackburn do a great job as Spencer and Caleb when the pair finally sits down to discuss his feelings for Hanna. They come in at a close second as MVP for the episode. The episode is a roller coaster ride of emotion. It’s the perfect blend of romance and drama stirring up all those ship feels as well as suspenseful WTH moments leading to one insane death. The director does an amazing job leaving viewers with a truly haunting final shot of Elliott’s bloody face through Hanna’s windshield. The mystery surrounding who the Liars were burying in the season premiere may have been solved, but in true PLL style, we’re left with even more questions and our jaws on the floor.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS 7×04 airs TUESDAY, JULY 12 at 8|9c. on FREEFORM