Since the Liars found the note under Garrett’s mom’s hospital bracelet, they’ve concocted a plan to trap ‘A,’ and surprisingly (but not really), Hanna takes the lead. Their plan is to switch the note with one they wrote, directing whoever is helping Garrett to the church’s main sanctuary. It turns out that Hanna’s really good at forging notes. After she places it where the old note used to be, Mrs. Reynold’s monitor starts buzzing, and since Hanna’s scared of old people, she runs for the hills.  

|Related: 'Pretty Little Liars' Instant Recap: "The Remains of 'A'"|

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Meanwhile, Ezra and Aria are back at his apartment having photo shoots with the new vintage camera – and Ezra’s in his PJs. After playtime, Aria stumbles upon a whole lot of cash in Ezra’s sock drawer. I’m talking like $50,000 in cash. She rushes off to work before she blurts out that she’d been snooping, but on the bright side, we get to see Ezra in a robe. People, Ezra Fitz was not wearing a sweater vest this episode. This will go down in the history books! However, Aria’s day at work is madness, and she finally tells Ezra that she saw the cash. Ezra gives a brilliant lie: he sold a car his grandfather left him, and he was embarrassed because of his professional status, so he hid the money. Seriously, is there some kind of class in Rosewood teaching its residents how to tell a really good lie? Anyway, there is a whole lot of Ezria in this episode, and now there’s this talk that Ezra might be ‘A.’ He does have a lot of cash, and Jason did offer cash to anyone who knew anything about Alison’s missing remains. However, the only thing that kind of throws me off that trail is that ‘A’ is looking at the apartment and house ads in the newspaper, and Ezra already has the perfect apartment, amirite?

While the other girls are making plans to catch ‘A’ and trying to find out why their significant others suddenly have an influx of cash, Emily is wandering around Rosewood having flashbacks from the night Alison’s body went missing. She ends up at a diner, where see remembers quite a bit from ‘that night,’ including a strange tattoo on someone’s wrist. So whoever found Emily, got the munchies and made a quick stop at a diner before they dropped her off at Alison's grave. Makes...no sense (yet). Unfortunately, she doesn't remember any faces. However, Emily does come into contact with someone with the same tattoo later that night at the church dance, and that person happened to be Holden Strauss. WHAT?!? According to Holden, the tattoo is actually a stamp from a party that changes locations, and apparently he’s seen Maya at these parties. (Could this party be similar to the one Alison wanted to attend the night she ditched Spencer’s move night? Just a theory.)

This church dance must be pretty hip because Holden isn’t the only familiar face: Detective Wilden shows up, creepy as ever. Strangely, he even appears at the designated location on the note Hanna slid under the hospital bracelet. Wilden wonders why Hanna and the other girls are trying to help Garrett and mentions that the hospital turned the note over to the police. Whatever, Wilden. WHAT-EVER. More importantly, Hanna wore at least 3 inch heels to catch Wilden being more suspicious than ever.  

Because Spencer and the girls are pretty much at a dead end and Veronica Hastings is trying to rule the evidence in Garrett’s case inadmissible, she enlists the help of her half brother, Jason. She asks about the N.A.T. Club and April Rose, and although Jason doesn’t have any helpful information off the top of his head, he eventually comes across an ad labeled “April Rose Antiques.” Road trip! After Spencer finds an oddly familiar anklet, she has a flashback of Alison wearing it the night she left for a party. Jason offers $400 for the piece of jewelry since it's not actually for sale, and they drop it off at the police station as evidence. Spencer’s convinced that this will put Garrett away forever. It seems that this jewelry is actually golden, just not in the way Spencer had hoped. According to Peter Hastings, the anklet has been missing for 2 years and the DiLaurentis family successfully kept that information out of the media. The police find traces of blood on the anklet, and that blood belongs to Alison and someone other than Garrett Reynolds! His case has officially been thrown out. And to make Spencer’s day that much better after her father drops this HUGE bomb, she gets a text message:

Hey Spence, I have one more surprise for you. Garrett isn’t their killer. – A

SumOlogy: Holden may be guilty of foul play, and Garrett did not kill Alison and Maya. Holy crap.

Grade: A-

Leftovers:

This is by far the best Mona-less episode yet, thanks to the suspiciousness of Holden & Wilden… and the fact that GARRETT DIDN’T MURDER ALISON AND MAYA.

When Spencer Hastings cries, I cry.

If it’s Lucas…“I’ll show up with a paddle and finish what I started at the lake.” –Hanna

Spencer’s trying to find April Rose, and Toby is a huge, beautiful, 6-pack abs distraction

Were Ian and Garrett paying girls to set up their friends?

The cheese fries in Rosewood must be the equivalent of gold.

Hanna and…Toby? I admit, I was thrown off a bit, but it’s never a bad thing to see Toby in a suit.

Ashley Marin goes to church and immediately wants booze. This is Rosewood – can you blame her?

I highly suggest you read Terron Moore's instant recap of this episode. He talks about Jason's enticing muscles and Ashley Marin's new pastor-friend, Goober.

What did you think of "The Remains of 'A'"? Let's discuss in the comments!

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