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‘Pretty Little Liars’ Season 4, Episode 8: 'The Guilty Girl's Handbook'

Kathy Zerbib |
July 31, 2013 | 4:41 p.m. PDT

Film Editor

What's Mona up to this week? You'll never guess! (ABC Family)
What's Mona up to this week? You'll never guess! (ABC Family)
In last week's episode of "Pretty Little Liars," Emily's house was wrecked, Hanna told her mom to plead self-defense, Toby and Caleb teamed up to hunt "A" down, the Liars broke in to Wilden's apartment, and Ezra saved Mike from being expelled. Can this week be even worse for the Liars and their cute little family units? Probably. So let's dive right in to "The Guilty Girl's Handbook" and see!

The episode opens with Emily in the Fields' new residence - a motel. "A" was totally unforgiving about Emily leading the pack into Wilden's old apartment and sweet Em' is tasting her bitter punishment. Emily's mom is on the phone with their insurance company and we learn the car that drove into the Fields' house was stolen (Of course) and there's no sign of the driver ("A" wouldn't get caught, naturally).

Aria, Hanna, and Spencer are over at the Hastings' home. Aria ponders whether or not what happened to the Fields' was an accident. Really, you'd think she'd know better. Hanna's freaked out about her mom still not being home yet and questions how long an arraignment takes. She isn't reassured when Spencer's mom comes home and tells Hanna the judge did not grant bail... Yikes. Veronica also drops another bomb - Ashley is being transferred to a state prison in Muncy until the trial. 

Hanna is upset, and she has a right to be. Not only did "A" frame her mom for a police officer's murder, but this means Hanna has to move in with her dad and the "Gruesome Twosome." Sidenote: That might just be one of the best step-family insults ever. She skips out on school, because Rosewood High never seems to care about its absent students and all that.

At school, Mike flags Aria down to tell her he's hanging out with the team buds after their game. He's acting a bit dodgy about it and Aria senses something else is going on. But she has an internal freak-out moment when she sees Mike's new bag. It's from the same karate studio where she met that teacher-guy Jake... Remember the guy who said he didn't think Ezria was over? Yeah. Hopefully, that Jake doesn't mess with Mike about dating his sister. Mike finding out Aria is still into teachers could end this sibling friendship all over again.

Speaking of Professor Ezra, he's on the phone with Malcolm. Apparently, Malcolm's artistic abilities won't make him a child prodigy anytime soon. Emily walks into his office for a college prep session. Ezra's more interested in inquiring about Emily's life, as well as probing into the "A" situation. He's definitely right when he asks if history is repeating itself, but Emily isn't about to admit that someone is still hunting her and her friends. Ezra encourages Emily to apply to small colleges, though Emily feels less than impressive without her swimming credentials. He tells Emily to reach out to her old supervisor Zoe from her volunteer days with "Habitat for Humanity" in Haiti for a recommendation.

Caleb and Spencer are talking in the hallway. Spencer suggests that maybe "A" is getting more vicious because the girls or their devoted boyfriends are closing in on the truth. The phone number Nigel called leads to three different people with three different adresses in New York. Toby is off investigating.

Hanna's mom calls her and tells her Veronica will bring her to the jail so they can say their goodbyes before Ashley's transfer. After Hanna hangs up, she walks across the room and we see... Mona. Yup, Mona is going to help Hanna confess to killing Wilden and get Ashley off the hook. Hanna wants Mona to help her lie sound perfect, seeing as how Mona knows how to "live in a lie." Mona seems flattered. She schools Hanna on how to confess ("You can't just keep repeating 'I did it.' You have to tell them how you did it and why you did it!"). Bless Mona's heart. She's trying to teach Hanna how to look guilty, but Hanna just looks so lost...

Spencer comes home to a Beckett Frye in her kitchen. He introduces himself as her mother's intern. He's there to wade through paperwork on the case, which was sent to the Hastings' home address instead of Veronica's office by mistake. Spencer knows an opportunity when she sees one and offers to help out. While the intern is on the phone with Veronica, Spencer nabs a folder. 

Aria meets with Jake, that teacher-guy from the karate studio. He's in a tank top and has tussled hair... He knows what he's doing. Aria tells Jake she knows Mike is one of his students and that she's worried about him. She asks if Mike told Jake anything. Jake says Mike said, "It's hard to focus on the game when your own teammates are playing against you." Oh? Does that explain why Mike is so keen to hang out with his team buds, because he feels like they've distanced themselves from him? Is Mike now an easy target after what happened with Connor? Is that why he needs self-defense classes? Jake proceeds to call the Montgomery clan weird. Little does he know...

Spencer returns to Radley with a box of chocolates for Eddie Lamb. In it is the paperwork she nabbed from Wilden's file. When Toby's mother died, Wilden questioned E. Lamb about it. In the official report, Toby's mom Marion jumped from a window. In Wilden's paperwork, she jumped from the roof. Spencer concludes that Wilden must have been paid off to lie about Marion's death. Eddie wonders how Wilden went from patrolman to detective in such a short time. Could this be why? Who would have a motive to pay Wilden off to change the facts?

Zoe arrives to Rosewood to meet up with Emily. Ironically, she calls Rosewood "Perfect Town." Emily doesn't correct her, but we're all snickering over on our side of the screen. Zoe tells Emily that her "Habitat for Humanity" team is going to Nicaragua this summer to help rebuild. She asks if Emily wants to come and Emily says yes. Goodbye, Rosewood! Mrs. Fields shows up and basically dishes out her dirty laundry to Zoe on a golden platter. Zoe now knows that they live in a motel and not their house, and that her mom can't set foot in a police station. Awkward. Zoe looks like she doesn't know if she wants a disaster on her team, and can we blame her? It doesn't look good to a supervisor who is writing your recommendation for you.

The scene cuts to Caleb, who is visiting Ashley in jail. She tells him she's worried about what Hanna might do if her mother's situation doesn't work out. Little do they know Hanna is plotting with Mona as they speak. Ashley tells Caleb to steer her in the right direction, because she knows Hanna would do anything for her.

Meanwhile, Hanna is at home with Mona. After a long day of trying to look guilty, Hanna still isn't doing it right. Mona is trying to get her to prove it was self-defense, but the way Hanna is telling her story sounds more like she randomly pulled a gun on him. Just as they're working the kinks out in their story, Caleb is knocking on Hanna's door... And he totally catches her plotting with Mona. Uh, oh. In the next scene, we cut back to Hanna and Mona, no Caleb. Oh, well. This was getting good. Mona helps Hanna perfect her story. She does it so well, we almost believe Hanna killed Wilden. Almost. 

Aria calls Mike's phone and hears loud music and what sounds like a party in the background. Mike isn't conscious, the guy says, and hangs up on her. She calls Jake and he comes over. Aria tells him Mike's team just played Richland and the two figure out he's at an arcade. Aria asks if Jake can take the both of them there and he complies. Conveniently, Mike calls and tells her he's safe and will be spending the night at a friend's house. Abort rescue mission. Jake offers to stick around and be good company, to which Aria agrees. An ad for "Insidious 2" comes on (We see you, product placement!) and the two agree to see the movie next week. This would be really awkward if Mike came home unexpectedly and saw Aria with yet another teacher figure.

Hanna does her makeup, dolls up in a cute dress, and goes downstairs to the police station. Before she walks out the front door, however, Caleb is in her house and demanding to know what she's up to. Damn, so close. She has to tell him her scheme and Caleb is mad. Caleb used to think Ashley did it, but now he's convinced she's innocent, too. Still, he doesn't want Hanna running off to plead guilty for her.

At the motel, Emily's mom tells her she's going to start to look for a new job. The suspension is now looking permanent. Pam clearly looks beaten down. Emily totally blows it off to rave about Zoe and Nicaragua. She does a reality check and realizes her mom looks crushed. She offers to go for only part of the summer, but Pam insists she utilize the opportunity. Pam breaks down completely and we're sniffling along with her... Damn it, "A."

Next, we're at the police station. A pair of great heels walks in and they - SHOCKER! - happen to belong to Mona. Guess what, guys? She's there to confess and we're so utterly surprised.

Spencer gives back the folder she nabbed to Veronica. Spencer tells her mom what Wilden wrote about Marion's suicide and her suspicions that he was paid to lie about the truth. Veronica doesn't care and urges her daughter to help Toby move on. Veronica gets a call and it's about Mona. Yup, there's confirmation. Mona is confessing to killing Wilden. Everyone is shocked. They all show up to the police station in time to see Mona taken into a little office to be interrogated. Wow, wow, wow.

The last scene is of "A" drilling holes. We're not sure if it's metaphorical or "A" is literally trying to drill up one of the Liars' houses. Either way, it's totally disregarded by what Mona's doing.

We cannot WAIT for next week. Mona, oh goodness.

Reach Film Editor Kathy Zerbib here; Follow her on Twitter here.



 

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