Ali showed her true colors in Pretty Little Liars’ “A Dark Ali” when she positively identified an innocent man as her kidnapper, betraying her friends in the process.

Ali Considers Identifying Cyrus As Her Kidnapper

After a man, Cyrus Petrillo (Jake Weary), turned himself in and confessed to kidnapping Ali, Ali (Sasha Pieterse) is faced with a choice: positively identify him as her fake kidnapper, or deny his guilt and run the risk that the police will continue to poke holes in her fabricated story. At first, Ali tells the police that she doesn’t know whether or not Cyrus is the man who held her hostage during the year she was believed to be dead. When Emily (Shay Mitchell) confronts her about why she didn’t let an innocent man walk free, Ali tells a sob story about how she met Cyrus when she was on the run. She thought he liked her, but he seduced her so that he could rob her and ended up stabbing her in the thigh, giving her the scar that was exposed in her physical. Emily believes her, but she still doesn’t want Ali to convict him for a crime he didn’t commit. He may deserve to be in jail, but the girls think that A is the one who got him to confess. If Ali turns him in, she could be playing right into A’s hands.

Spencer Plans To Cut Ties With Ali

Meanwhile, Spencer (Troian Bellisario) is going crazy trying to find the recording of Ali’s story, which has gone missing from her secret hiding space in her room (the one we saw a hooded figure breaking into a few episodes ago). Melissa (Torrey DeVitto) interrupts her as Spencer is searching her room and asks her what she’s looking for. Spencer then gets a call from A that plays the recording and a message: “Checkmate.” Freaking out, Spencer calls Aria over to her house to watch the surveillance video she set up to spy on Melissa. On the video, Melissa is handing something over to a hooded figure and saying, “Do it. Trust me. Do it.” If Cyrus is the hooded figure, then did Melissa convince him to confess to Ali’s fake kidnapping? And, if so, why?

With Ali still debating whether or not to let Cyrus take the fall for her disappearance, Spencer doesn’t trust her and comes up with a plan to get out from under Ali’s thumb for good. They take the evidence stolen from Noel Kahn to Detective Tanner (Roma Maffia) and tell her everything, including how Aria killed Shana in self-defense, and let Ali deal with the fallout. Both Aria (Lucy Hale) and Emily are firmly against Spencer’s plan, and Emily tells Spencer that, instead of trying to get away from Ali, she should be interrogating her sister.

Ezria: Can Aria Trust Ezra Again?

Aria isn’t on board with telling the truth, and she goes straight to Ezra (Ian Harding) to fill him in on Ali’s predicament. He thinks he can try to talk her out of putting Cyrus in jail, but Aria begs him not to do anything. She doesn’t want him going anywhere near Ali; she wants him to be safe. Later, Aria walks in on Ezra talking to Ali at The Brew. She’s gone to collect some of her mother’s things from Zack and is leaving when she sees Ali’s father asking Ezra to leave his daughter alone. Aria is furious, but it’s not just because he spoke to Ali. When their relationship started, he was looking for information for his book, and that betrayal is still there. With Ella (Holly Marie Combs) going through a tough breakup, saying that she should have known better than to think Zack could change, Aria’s not sure she’ll ever be able to trust Ezra again. Ella, however, encourages her to give people second chances.

Hanna And Mona Work Together

Meanwhile, Hanna (Ashley Benson) is trying to stay away from all things Ali. Instead, she focuses on Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) and their recent unhealthy binge. Alcohol and fried foods are thrown away, and instead of watching TV all afternoon, she insists they go on a run. Hanna even makes plans to audition for a solo in chorus. Of course, Mona (Janel Parrish) is there too, and showing off her vocals in the waiting room. Just when Hanna has had enough, they are called in for their audition, but Mona faints suddenly. In her purse, Hanna finds a copy of Cyrus’ mug shot, so she decides to follow her that night.

She finds Mona parked outside the Rosewood Police Station, and, though Mona protests, Hanna insists she won’t leave until she knows what Mona knows. Mona admits to Hanna that she fainted because she has been getting panic attacks ever since Ali’s return. She also insists that she didn’t have a hand in digging up Cyrus, but she’s there to find out who did.

Ali Betrays Emily

Ali and her father arrive at the police station just as Cyrus’ 48-hour hold is about to expire, but, instead of taking her inside, Tanner takes them to the basement where Cyrus says he held Ali – the same basement where he stabbed her and robbed her. Standing in that basement, Ali flashes back to that night and confirms that this is where she was held, which, for Tanner, is as good as a positive ID.

It’s too late, however, and Cyrus was released just before Ali identified him. Now, he’s on the run, and Mona and Hanna weren’t able to see who took him away from the police station. Later, he meets a dark figure in the woods. There’s a warrant out for his arrest now, and that’s not what they agreed on, he says. The figure hands Cyrus a plane ticket and…it’s Ali wearing her dark wig (a la Vivian Darkbloom). She and Cyrus exchange threats, hinting that they share a law breaking past, and Ali tells him this is his last chance to start over.

When Ali returns home, Emily is waiting for her. She feels betrayed, and tells Ali that she is done. She can see that Ali is willing to throw them all under the bus, and she is not going to stand up for her anymore. Emily then meets up with Spencer, Aria and Hanna. They need to act, now, and she’s in favor of Spencer’s plan to turn on Ali if Aria is.

The episode ended with Melissa recording a confession for Spencer. She’s leaving town because it’s not safe for her here, and she even suggests that Spencer go with her, but she agrees that Spencer deserves to know the truth. Finally, a person in a black hoodie and black gloves is folding another hoodie and a candy striper outfit (the same ones Ali used to sneak into the hospital to visit Hanna, and then that the girls used to get Ali’s autopsy) – is it A or Ali?

Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.