'Pretty Little Liars' 100th Episode Review: Action Packed Episode Doesn't Disappoint

The 100th installment in the Pretty Little Liars series exceeded my expectations for an action packed episode. A lot happened – from Ali’s (Sasha Pieterse) return to Rosewood high, to the catfight between Alison and Mona (Janel Parrish), to Jenna’s (Tammin Sursok) return. We saw a lot of the characters’ softer sides in this episode, with reconnected love affairs and new friendships (Jenna + Mona + Sydney= BFF?!). We even saw Spencer’s mom Veronica (Lesley Fera), get teary eyed when talking about getting a divorce. It was nice seeing the tender side to many characters, and it made the characters more relatable.

Allison was especially vulnerable in this episode. I noticed Ali saying “thanks” a lot which is definitely a new word in her vocabulary and something I am still getting used to hearing Ali say. Ali really tried to repair the damage she caused to people by apologizing face to face and even giving out hugs, which was crossing the line a bit, for her. She was very susceptible to physical and emotional attack and this was her strategy to get out of the danger zone and back into being a normal high school teenager.

Allison’s niceness didn't last the whole episode – no surprise there. Being mean is just who she is and her nice act fell through when she was with Mona in the church, which could have been a defense mechanism of hers but who really knows. Then the whole slapping shenanigan went down, where Mona gave Ali a long awaited slap across the face and Ali slaps her back without hesitation. Ali left a scratch mark on Mona’s check while she herself was unscarred, which to me shows that Ali has more power (physically and mentally). Allison also got caught telling a lie to her friends about what actually happened with Mona, so the old Allison definitely isn’t completely gone.

I was so glad that most of the girls reconnected with their significant others. I was happy to see Aria (Lucy Hale) and Ezra (Ian Harding) reconcile and Spencer (Troian Bellisario) and Toby (Keegan Allen) being stronger than ever. Can we talk about those make out scenes – steamy! The most surprising hook up for me was Alison and Emily (Shay Mitchell). We all knew that Emily has been head over heels in love with Ali even before she “died” but the feelings always felt one sided.

I can’t forget to mention the characters who returned after having been MIA on the show. Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) appeared out of nowhere while Hanna (Ashley Benson) was getting coffee for herself and Travis, which was a bit shady. He then disappears on her, which left Hanna without answers, and it was very clear that her feelings for him were still there as she downed the punch at Lucas’ party. At the end of the last episode Hanna was caught back to her old ways of shoplifting and now she is getting blackout drunk? We need to keep an eye on her because she does not look like she is going down a good road.

Jenna also returned to Rosewood from New York in full force. She made it clear that she was done playing games and wants to get revenge on the girls. She was already infuriated about what they had done to her, but killing Shana was the last straw. Also, what was up in that scene with Jenna, Mona and Emily’s friend Sydney meeting up?! I am looking forward to seeing the damage that those three will do in later episodes.

Lucas (Brendan Robinson) also showed up a lot more than normal in this episode, which was unfamiliar since he had been kind of in the back burner over the past few episodes, making appearances here and there. He invited Hanna to his party, saying he wanted to introduce her to his new “girlfriend,” but his girlfriend is nowhere to be found. He also pours more punch in Hanna’s cup when she was already clearly very intoxicated, so Lucas might have a plan up his sleeve; he’s always been a sneaky, mysterious guy.

The episode ends with a bang as all of the girls, Caleb, Toby and Ezra crowd together to watch the TV as the news reports that a girl by the name Bethany Young was the one buried in Allison’s grave and then the window to the living room smashes into a thousand pieces. Outside, Toby’s house is burning. I immediately thought that Jenna and her new minions must have blown up her and Toby’s home as payback for the fire Ali started that blinded her, but the episode left us hanging, as per usual. The last scene showed the infamous black hoodie and gloves – A has returned.

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