The long-awaited
Pretty Little Liars Christmas episode finally arrived and it paid homage to
Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”.
“How the ‘A’ Stole Christmas” was filled with drama. Mona haunts Ali, Jenna and Sydney make a surprising decision and someone returns to Rosewood.
Spencer, who is suspected of murdering Bethany Young, is out on bail. The Liars walk in a snowy Rosewood street and discuss Spencer and Toby’s Christmas plans. Spencer isn’t feeling the Christmas spirit because of the murder charges, so she isn’t going to exchange gifts with Toby. Instead, she is going to surprise Toby with a gesture.
Emily, who loves Christmas, wants to make a wish for Spencer. Spencer doesn’t think Santa is going to give her a Get Out of Jail free card for Christmas, but Emily still hands out snowflakes to make wishes on.
Hanna remembers the last time she was there with Mona. In a flashback, Hanna and Mona are making wishes. Mona says that Hanna is her first friend, so she wished that they would always stay close. Hanna assures her that they will and promises that they are besties forever. Hanna’s wish is for Jimmy Choo shoes. Mona is sure Hanna will get them. If Santa doesn’t bring them, they will just have to steal them.
Back in the present, Hanna tells Emily that wishes don’t come true. If they did, people wouldn’t die. Despite that, Emily still has hope. Spencer says hope is a dirty four letter word.
The Liars think Alison DiLaurentis is throwing the Ice Ball to rub it in that she ruined their lives. Spencer points out that only her life is ruined, but Emily reminds her that ruining one of them is the same thing as ruining all of them. The Liars don’t want to go to Ali’s Ice Ball.
A lawyer who was hired by Mona approaches the Liars. Mona left a package for Hanna to be delivered 30 days after her death. Turns out Mona left Hanna drawings of Ali’s house, showing all of Ali’s hiding places. Mona leaves Hanna a note, asking her to promise to never give up and keep looking. Hanna remembers her promise to Mona that they would stick together.
The Liars know that “A” keeps souvenirs and they think Alison is “A”. So they think Spencer’s Get Out of Jail Free card is hidden in Ali’s house.
A Santa walks by and Aria drops some money in his pail. Santa then hands them a snow globe. A photo of the Liars is inside. On the other side is a message from “A”, which says “‘A’ takes a holiday You should too”.
Ali is sleeping at home when the lights flicker. Suddenly, someone bangs on her bedroom door. Ali’s dead mom, Jessica Dilaurentis, comes in and says “She’s got a lot to show you. Pay attention”.
Downstairs, Ali picks up a photo of her mom and falls asleep on the couch. When she wakes up, she sees herself as a child playing the piano. Mona as the Ghost of Christmas Past appears and tells Ali to watch what happens.
In the memory, young Alison opens the piano and finds Christmas presents that her mom hide. She opens both presents and finds identical yellow dresses. Her mom comes in and tells Ali not to tell her dad about the two dresses, since he will leave them if he finds out. She instructs Ali to lie and say that she only found one dress. Young Ali agrees and recites the lie.
Mona says that “the monster was born” in that moment. Ali asks if the other dress was for Bethany, but Mona says that it isn’t going to be that easy. Ali suddenly wakes up when a Christmas ornament shatters on the floor.
Toby’s leg is in a cast, since he is still injured from the car crash. He sits at Spencer’s window and uses his camera to look at Ali’s house. Despite Spencer’s innocence, she doesn’t think the murder charges will be dismissed. After meeting the lawyers, Spencer’s mom looked like they already lost.
Spencer and Toby discuss their Ice Ball plans. If Ali leaves the dance early, Aria and Emily will stop her. And Toby will warn Spencer and Hanna if something goes wrong.
Spencer realizes that this may be her last Christmas, so she surprises Toby with her gesture. Toby turns around to see Spencer in a sexy Christmas dress and Santa hat.
Meanwhile, Hanna and Caleb are dressed up as elves and are handing out presents to little kids. Hanna gives a present to Claire, who is deaf. Hanna can use sign language because she had a roommate at fat camp who was hard of hearing.
Caleb isn’t having fun as an elf. A kid peed on him and a mean girl keeps calling him dumb-dumb. He points out the mean girl to Hanna and calls her Ali’s little mini-me.
Hanna sees the Ali mini-me pick on Claire, telling her friends to call Claire names since Claire can’t hear them.
Angry, Hanna warns her to stop messing with Claire. Ali's mini-me should start looking over her shoulder, since she is making a lot of enemies. In Rosewood, bitches get buried. Ali's mini-me wants to leave and expects her friends to follow her. Hanna tells the friends that they don’t need a leader, they just need each other. The girls decide to stay and they sit with Claire. Ali’s mini-me calls her friends losers and storms out.
Hanna tells Caleb that Mona said when a person shows you who they are, believe them. Hanna doesn’t think people change. They just get better at hiding it. Mean girls stay mean.
At the Shady Days Nursing Home, Emily, Paige, Lucas, Sydney and Jenna sing Christmas songs. Aria passes out cookies. Ezra, looking adorable in a Santa hat, gives Aria beautiful earrings as a Christmas present. He also has a second gift for her. Aria is surprised, since they said they were having a low-key Christmas. A Fitzgerald Christmas is anything but low-key. Growing up, Ezra got two ponies as a Christmas present.
Emily, still angry at Sydney, doesn’t want to talk to her. Sydney says that Jenna isn’t a bad person. Ali is the one who convinced the Liars that Jenna was the enemy. Emily isn’t interested in what Sydney has to say.
Paige tells Emily that her parents want Paige to come to California after Christmas. Before they can continue discussing California, Aria points out that Emily and Paige are standing under mistletoe.
Ali is busy giving the twins Cindy and Mindy a makeover. Ali calls it a Christmas miracle.
The Liars look beautiful at the Ice Ball. Spencer goes to take a photo with Santa, who turns out to be Lucas. Spencer tells Lucas not to let Ali leave the dance while Hanna and Spencer break into Ali’s house. Spencer wants Lucas to be careful and warns him that he can’t trust anyone, since Ali has been busy building an army.
The Liars are dancing when Ali comes in with her new followers, who are wearing masks. While everyone wonders who the masked girls are, Spencer and Hanna leave the dance. Someone in a white cloak watches them leave.
Aria follows Ali, who disappears from view. Aria sees Ali kissing a guy in a Santa costume, but she can’t see the guy’s face. Aria runs to get Emily, but when they get back Ali is already gone. Emily asks if Aria is certain Ali was kissing a guy, not a girl. Aria is sure, since she got a “definite sense of male butt”. Emily stares at Lucas still dressed as Santa, while Aria looks around for the mystery Santa.
Aria is about to approach a Santa when Detective Holbrook stops her. He is dressed as Santa and tells Aria that she is on his naughty list. He is surprised to see her at the dance. He is there since it is a charity ball and he wants to give back to his community. Rosewood is starting to grow on him. Aria thinks he talks like a guy in love. Aria says she’s also at the ball because of the charity aspect, but Holbrook doesn’t believe her. He also makes it clear that he knows she is dating Ezra.
Ali goes outside and is joined by the mystery woman in the white cloak. Turns out it is CeCe Drake, who is back to give Ali a Christmas present.
Emily follows two of Ali’s masked minions. One takes off her masks and reveals herself to be Sydney. The second turns out to be Jenna. They wanted to talk to Emily without Ali seeing them.
Jenna explains that Ali offered to be her friend when she first came to Rosewood. Jenna made the mistake of rejecting her offer before. Jenna wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. They try to convince Emily that they are not the enemy. They are just doing what they have to do to survive. When Emily admits that the Liars suspect Ali killed Mona, Jenna and Sydney say that they think so, too.
CeCe gives Ali her very own fragrance as a Christmas present. CeCe knows Ali is grieving after her mom’s death. She warns Ali that her ex-friends are plotting something.
Hanna and Spencer break into Ali’s house, while Toby watches them with a camera from Spencer’s window. Hanna finds a fake passport Ali hid in a birdcage. The alias Ali chose was Holly Varjak, another reference to
Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Spencer finds newspaper clipping and wonders if Ali was communicating with someone through the personal ads, just like she did when Mona was “A”.
Paige and Caleb think it makes sense that Holbrook and Ali were kissing, since Ali is the belle of the ball and Spencer is going down for murder. Ezra wonders when Holbrook started helping Ali. Emily thinks Holbrook did Ali a favor and helped CeCe escape the country. They notice Ali, the white cloak girl and Holbrook all leaving the dance. Ezra and Caleb distract Holbrook, while the rest of them chase Ali.
They manage to corner Ali and the white cloak girl, but Ali and CeCe were a step ahead of them. They traded clothes with Cindy and Mindy. The twins are even wearing blonde wigs and Ali masks.
Hanna unlocks a trunk and finds Ali’s archery award. She also plays a cassette tape. It is a taped recording of Ali saying “Get out of my stuff or I’ll kill you”. Freaked, Hanna shuts the trunk.
Hanna finds a hat box stuffed with letters. She finds out that Ali did know Bethany. She even invited Bethany over for Labor Day.
“A” is in the house with a knife, so Spencer hides. She tries to text Hanna to warn her, but Hanna left her phone downstairs. Spencer breaks a picture frame and carries a shard of glass as a weapon.
Hanna comes downstairs and comes face-to-face with “A”. Hanna screams and Spencer races towards her. When Spencer gets there, Hanna is unconscious on the floor. Hanna wakes up and Spencer reassures her that “A” is gone. However, the girls don’t notice someone in a baby face mask in the house, watching them.
Due to the heavy snowstorm, the girls stay at Spencer’s house and can’t join their families. The Liars and their significant others all discuss the letter Hanna found. The letter proves that Ali knew Bethany Young and lured her to the house. It may be enough reasonable doubt to clear Spencer of the murder charges. Spencer finally feels a little bit of hope.
Mona shows up as the Ghost of Christmas Future. She shows Ali a terrible future. They see Ali’s dead body in a coffin. Mona’s comment? “You look pretty good considering that they never found your legs”.
The Black Widow comes in. She pulls up her black veil and we see that it is Ali’s mom. Ali’s mom thinks it is all her fault and tells Ali “they’ll be coming for you soon. I’m sorry”.
Ali asks if she is going to Hell. Ali tries to leave, but the church doors are locked. Mona yells at Ali to wake up and suddenly Ali is back in her own bedroom.
The Liars are sad that this is their first Christmas without their families. To cheer them up, Ezra, Caleb, Toby and Paige appear dressed in Santa boxers.
Paige drops a bombshell on Emily, telling her that her parents want her to move to California. They don’t think Rosewood is safe. Emily is shocked. She thought she would have more time with Paige.
Hanna is sad as she looks at a photo of Mona on her phone. She tells Caleb that Mona is the only reason they are celebrating. Mona should be there with them.
Everyone gathers around the table to enjoy a Christmas chicken feast. They are all finally happy. Outside, Ali watches them from the window. She leaves before they notice her.
Everyone hears bells jingling and Hanna wonders if it’s Santa. They all race outside and see a beautiful tree lit up in the backyard. They are all happy until a message from “A” appears on the barn. It says “Merry Christmas, Bitches – A”.
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| Credit: Marlene King's Instagram |
All the couples stare at the message and hold each other.
Absolutely loved this PLL special Christmas episode. What did you think of
Pretty Little Liars "How the 'A' Stole Christmas"?
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