Recap for “She’s Come Undone” PLL Episode 4x21

This week on Pretty Little Liars, Aria completely loses it and Spencer struggles with past memories.

Hanna, Emily and Spencer are at Aria’s house, getting the details about Ezra from Aria.  Aria read a few pages of Ezra’s manuscript before she lost it.  She cries when she tells the girls that Ezra knew who they all were before they’d met him.  He knew Ali, too.  Hanna thinks that would mean Ezra is Board Shorts.  Aria is sure that Ezra didn’t kill Ali.  His whole book is an investigation into who tried to hurt Ali.  His theory is that one of the girls hurt Ali.  Spencer wants to know which one of them he suspects.  Emily brings up the theory that Ezra is “A” and is using the novel as a way to keep suspicion away from him.  Hanna points out that Ali is alive.  Aria doesn’t believe that Ezra is “A”.  He’s a writer who found an opportunity to make a name for himself and used Aria and the girls.  Hanna brings up Ezra’s surveillance cameras.  Emily brings up the excellent point that Ezra must know about “A”, especially with all the cameras.  How could he sit back and not help Aria?  Aria says that it’s simple.  He never really loved her.

Aria stays in bed, remembering the day she first met Ezra in a bar.  Aria is so distraught from thinking about how Ezra used her that she throws up in a waste basket.
 

Spencer finds her parents in the kitchen, waiting to talk to her.  Her parents already have suitcases packed, ready to ship her off to rehab on her doctor’s recommendation.  Spencer begs them not to make her go to rehab.  She says its not like it was before and she’s not going to lose control.  She’s applying to colleges and can’t have Radley and rehab on her record.  She asks them for the chance to get off the pills on her own.  Her parents agree, with the condition that she takes her withdrawal medication under their supervision and that she come home from school immediately.  They warn her that she won’t get a second chance if she screws up.
 

At school, Hanna sees Travis dressed up in a suit.  She tries to apologize for what happened between them.  She never should have kissed him.  He insists that its fine, but he can’t talk.  Turns out he’s on his way to court.  His dad is in trouble for his deals with Wilden.  Hanna feels guilt that she made Travis choose her family over his.  He doesn’t want her to feel bad.  He tells her that if he had to do it all over again, he’d make the same choice.

Emily needs to talk to Spencer, who’s nauseous and tired.  Emily says that Shana called her from Georgia.  She needs Emily to drop off Ali’s cash at a P.O. box before 6 P.M.  Spencer doesn’t think Emily should go, but Emily wants to help Ali.  Aria walks by, so upset that she doesn’t even notice them.  They follow her and Aria tells them that she’s going to confront Ezra.  The girls try to stop her.  She deserves answers, but the conversation shouldn’t take place at school.  Aria ignores them and interrupts English class, but Ezra isn’t there.  The substitute teacher says that Mr. Fitz took time off to deal with a family emergency.  Aria leaves the classroom.  In the hallway, she tells her friends that Ezra is a liar and a coward.  Emily offers to take her home.

Spencer shows up at Toby’s, bearing gifts.  She brought cronuts, which she describes as half croissant, half donut, and all trans-fat.  Toby thinks they sound disgusting.  Spencer apologizes for ruining their dinner plans the night before.  Toby’s makes it clear that dinner isn’t what he is upset about.  How can he help her if he doesn’t know she’s in trouble?  Spencer tells him not to worry about her.  She’s got it all under control.  Toby wants her to promise to call him if she ever gets the urge to take pills again.  Spencer tries to convince him that she is completely done with that.  She thanks him for the necklace he bought her.

Emily and Paige haven’t spent much time together, so they do a little catching up.  Paige doesn’t have swim practice after school, so she wants to make plans with Emily.  Emily says that she has errands and she also wants to check in with Aria.  Paige mentions that she heard Aria flipped out in Mr. Fitz’s class.  Emily agrees to call Paige later and they’ll have dinner together.  Emily opens her bag to take out her phone and Paige sees all the cash in Emily’s bag.  When Paige asks her about it, Emily says it’s her grandmother’s cash that she is going to deposit at a bank.  Paige doesn’t seem to buy Emily’s story.

Aria pounds on Ezra’s apartment door and yells for him to open it.  When no one responds, she takes out a key and goes in.  She looks around, but Ezra isn’t there.  Aria sees a slip of paper on the floor that says Nate Kiss.  She opens drawers and finds rolled up papers.  She takes them out and sees that they are notes with Ali’s pictures.  She does some more investigating and finds file boxes.  She takes one out and goes through the papers and photographs.  There are numerous surveillance photos of Aria.  She takes out another box and finds a recorder.  She plays a bit of the tape and hears Ali’s voice, saying that she is safe for the moment.  It is the Grimwald tape.

Hanna, worried about Travis, goes to Officer Holbrook for help.  Officer Holbrook says that Travis’s dad is complicit in the crime.  He gave money to Wilden for throwing business his way.  Hanna explains that it happened a few times, but Wilden wouldn’t stop.  Officer Holbrook realizes that he shouldn’t be talking to Hanna about this, since he is testifying in court.  After all, he is the one who connected the money in Wilden’s safe deposit box to Travis’s dad.  Hanna thinks that Officer Holbrook would agree with the fact that Wilden was a corrupt cop and a bully.  Officer Holbrook says that his job is about facts, not about his opinion.

Still at Ezra’s apartment, Aria continues to investigate.  She pulls out a notebook filled with Ezra’s notes.  He documented all the secrets and stories Aria confided in him, including the time Aria told him that her dad had an affair with a student.  Ezra writes that Jenna being blinded by the girls is a possible motive for revenge.  By who?  A boyfriend?  Toby?  He also writes that Caleb is working with Jenna.  Interestingly, Ezra thinks Jason is a suspect, due to his drinking and lack of alibi.  Ezra even knew about the voyeuristic pictures Jason had of Aria.  He writes that Mona is not “A” and that there is a new “A”.  And, most crushing to Aria, Ezra writes that Aria doesn’t suspect a thing. 

After reading that sentence, Aria completely loses it.  She takes her anger out on the room. She trashes Ezra’s apartment, including his Hollis College diploma and a picture of Ezra and Aria together.  When she’s done trashing the place, she starts to cry.

At school, “A” has left a present in Spencer’s locker.  It’s a bottle of pills, with the message “Don’t say I never gave you anything.  -A”.  Emily points out that the pills are better than a needle in the arm.  Emily offers to toss the pills, but Spencer puts them in her bag.  She says she’ll throw toss them someplace farther away.  Emily is still planning to do the money drop because she doesn’t want to let Ali down again.  Hanna asks the girls if they’ve seen Aria.  Aria isn’t at home and she isn’t answering her phone. 

Spencer knows that Aria must be at Ezra’s, so the girls head over there.  They find Aria sitting on the floor of Ezra’s trashed place.  Aria tells her friends that Ezra wrote down every secret she told him about Ali, herself, and the others.  Hanna says if she was Aria she would have burned the place down.  Hanna and Emily pull Aria up and start to lead her out of the room, but Spencer tells them to wait.  Shouldn’t they look at the stuff from the Ravenswood lair?  Hanna says that now is not the time and Emily asks Spencer to grab Aria’s bag. 

Alone in Ezra’s apartment, Spencer sits on the couch in pain.  She notices the photograph of Ali in Spencer’s backyard the night she disappeared.  Spencer picks up a few of the papers and photographs on the floor and stuffs them in her bag.

Hanna waits outside the courtroom to see how the sentence went for Travis’s dad.  Travis says that it was better than they hoped.  Officer Holbrook told the court that Travis’s dad is a decent guy with no priors and that Wilden had a bad history.  Travis’s dad won’t get any jail time, but he will have probation and community service.

Back at home, Spencer sorts through the things she took from Ezra’s place.  she finds a private investigator’s business card.  On the back, Ezra has written “P.I. who followed Spencer?”.  Spencer calls the number on the card, but has to lie down in pain.  She ends up taking some of the pills that “A” gave her.

At the post office, Emily puts the cash in an envelope and waits in line.  While she is waiting, Paige comes up and calls her out on her lies.  She wants to know what “A” is making Emily do.  Emily refuses to say who the money is for and Paige starts to get loud.  Emily says that they can’t talk in there, so they go outside.  Paige demands to know what Emily has been hiding from her.  Paige grabs the envelope from her and sees that it is addressed to A. D. Incorporated.  Paige doesn’t want “A” to keep controlling Emily, so she threatens to give the envelope to the police.  When Paige starts to leave with the envelope, Emily confesses that Ali is alive.

Hanna stays with Aria while Aria tears pages out from Ezra’s notebook and burns them.  Hanna asks if Aria feels better, but Aria feels worse.  The more she thinks about it, the stupider she feels.  How could she have missed all of the signs?  Hanna says that no one ever thought Ezra would be capable of doing what he did.  He fooled everyone.  Aria says that Hanna wasn’t the one sleeping with him.  he wouldn’t know personal things about the girls if she hadn’t trusted him.  Hanna wonders if that was how Ezra knew Ali was alive.  Aria isn’t sure how Ezra got the Grimwald tapes in the first place.  Hanna goes out to get some food for them.  She doesn’t want Aria to burn any more pages until she gets back.

Paige can’t believe that Emily knew that Ali is alive and never said anything.  Paige wants to know who is in Ali’s grave and if Ali’s family knows that Ali is alive.  Emily explains that the only other people who know are Shana, Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and “A”.  Paige realizes that Emily is putting herself in danger by helping Ali, since “A” knows Ali is alive.  Paige doesn’t understand why Emily would want to help someone who used and abused her.  Emily believes that Ali regrets how she acted in the past.  Paige points out that Ali is good at manipulating people.  Emily claims that Ali isn’t like that anymore.  Paige thinks that faking her death for two years proves that she is still manipulative.  She is a sick person and her family needs to handle the situation.  Paige wants to tell Ali’s family the truth, but Emily thinks that is the equivalent of handing Ali to “A”.  Emily makes it clear that she’ll never forgive Paige if anything happens to Ali.  Paige is concerned that Emily is making herself a target, so she gives Emily an ultimatum.  Paige agrees to keep Ali a secret if Emily completely cuts off communication with Ali.  Paige thinks that is the only way to make sure Emily is safe.  Emily finally agrees, but insists that she still has to give Ali the cash.  Paige tells Emily that she is doing this because she loves her.

Hanna runs into Officer Holbrook at the Brew while she is picking up some food.  Officer Holbrook thinks that it is nice that she cares about her friends so much.  It’s a great quality and she shouldn’t lose it.  Hanna throws his words back at him when she brings up what he did for Travis’s dad.  Doing the right thing to do and putting yourself on the line is a great quality he shouldn’t lose.  Hanna gives him a light kiss on the mouth.  Officer Holbrook is surprised and pulls away.  Hanna apologizes.  She doesn’t know why she kissed him.  She quickly leaves.

Spencer continues to look through Ezra’s notes.  Ezra wrote that Cece told him that she stopped by Ali’s house the day that Ali went missing.  CeCe witnessed a fight with Spencer.  Ms. DiLaurentis also witnessed the fight and she paid CeCe to stay quiet about it.  Spencer remembers part of the fight.  She remembers telling Ali not to walk away from her.  Spencer grabs a nearby shovel.  Ali tells Spencer that she is way out of her league.  Spencer asks if she is sure and she holds the shovel up higher.

Spencer goes downstairs to question her dad.  She’s been thinking about the night Ali went missing, but she only remembers pieces of what happened because she had been taking pills that night.  she remembers fighting with Ali and the next thing she remembers is telling the other girls that Ali was missing and she thought she heard a scream.  Spencer’s dad tells her to stop dredging up the past and focus on getting better. 

Spencer shows her dad the private investigator card and asks if he really hired an investigator to follow Melissa.  She suspects that he actually had her followed.  Her dad asks if she got that card from his desk.  Spencer wants to know if her dad thinks that she is the one who hurt Ali.  Her dad is saved from answering the question when Toby knocks on the door.  Her dad asks Toby to take a walk with Spencer until dinner is ready.

Aria flips through Ezra’s notebook and finds a folded piece of paper.  It is a letter from Galassi Agency.  It says that Random House loved his latest installment.  All they have to do know is discuss the ending.  It is signed by Anna Gibbs, literary agent. 

Aria calls the agency.  She pretends to be Victoria Blackwell, a person in Rosewood who wants to throw a surprise party for Ezra’s book’s release date.  She asks when the release date is.  The receptionist says that Ezra is in the office right now discussing it with Anna.

Toby comes back to Spencer’s house and asks if Spencer is there.  Spencer asked Toby to get coffee at The Brew and when he got back she was gone.

Spencer goes to Ms. DiLaurentis’s house and asks if she thinks Spencer hurt Ali.  Did Ms. DiLaurentis and her father have an agreement to keep it quiet?  Ms. DiLaurentis doesn’t seem to know what Spencer is talking about.  Spencer begs her not to lie.  Ms. DiLaurentis tries to call Spencer’s parents and Spencer grabs her arm.  She asks if Ms. DiLaurentis saw her with a shovel and why she didn’t tell the cops.  Ms. DiLaurentis says that Spencer is hurting her and she wants her to leave.  Spencer leaves, crying.

Hanna pulls her car up to find Aria heading to Rosewood High’s principal’s house.  Aria tells Hanna that Ezra is moving forward with the book and is in New York.  She can’t believe he claimed that he would destroy the book to save their relationship.  Everything he said was a lie. 

Hanna reminds Aria that this will send Ezra to jail.  Aria can’t believe that Hanna is taking Ezra’s side.  Hanna assures Aria that she isn’t taking his side and she isn’t saying that she shouldn’t tell.  She just wants to make sure Aria is clear on what will happen when she does tell.  It will hurt Aria, too.  The whole story will be in the media and papers.  Aria doesn’t care, so Hanna reminds her that this will also hurt her family.  Is she sure she really wants to do this?

The principal opens his door, but no one is there.  Aria and Hanna have walked away.  Hanna assures Aria that she did the right thing, but Aria isn’t so certain.  Aria tells Hanna that she wants to be alone.  Hanna tells Aria that she’s been through this herself and knows what Aria is going through.  Aria yells that it isn’t too much to ask to be by herself.  She doesn’t want to talk to anyone.

At Emily’s house, Paige asks if Emily is still up for cooking or if she wants to go out for dinner instead.  Emily doesn’t seem up for either, claiming that she isn’t hungry and she should check on Aria.  Paige kisses Emily goodbye, but Emily doesn’t respond much.  Paige asks if they are okay and Emily says that she doesn’t like ultimatums.

Toby and Spencer’s parents are waiting when she finally comes home.  Toby tells her that she needs help.  She goes upstairs without answering.  She sits on the bedroom floor and cries.

Aria is in her room packing a bag.  Emily comes in and asks where Aria is going.  Aria has no idea.  Emily wants to go with her, but Aria tells her to get out of her way.

Paige writes a note that says “I know for a fact that Alison DiLaurentis is alive.  Start looking for her.”  She writes down the address that Emily sent the cash too.  Paige drops the note through the open window of a police car.

“A”, dressed in black, sits near the fireplace reading the manuscript pages of Ezra’s novel that Aria dropped from the ski lift.