Recap of "Free Fall" PLL Episode 4x20

This week on Pretty Little Liars, the truth about Ezra is finally revealed and Spencer continues to unravel.

Spencer wakes up in Ezra’s classroom.  She fell asleep at his desk with Ali’s journal as her pillow.  Ezra walks in to start class and is startled to find Spencer there.  He asks if she slept there last night.  Spencer quickly hides Ali’s journal in her bag.  Ezra asks her if she is all right.  He tells her that she is going down a dangerous path.  Spencer insists that she is fine and leaves as other students start to come in.

Spencer changes into sandals and a hoodie sweatshirt in the bathroom.  Emily and Hanna come in and are shocked to see how Spencer is dressed.  Spencer tells them that it was all she had in her gym locker and it was an emergency.  Emily asks if that’s is why Spencer called her at four in the morning.  Spencer thinks that she accidentally sleep-dialed Emily.  Spencer is adamant that they tell Aria about Ezra ASAP.  The longer they wait, the more dangerous the situation becomes.  Emily doesn’t think that they can do that.  Aria loves Ezra, gave up a lot to be with him, and will have a hard time believing that he is capable of being “A”.

Ezra stops Aria in the hallway and asks if she talked to Spencer.  He tells her that Spencer’s work has been sloppy and rambling. She comes into class with circles under her eyes.  Aria thinks that it is just Spencer being Spencer.  She’s a stress case.  Ezra tells Aria that it is more than that.  Spencer has a problem with amphetamines.  Aria thinks that is crazy, but Ezra explains that some students use the pills to improve academically.  Spencer is a ticking time bomb and he doesn’t want Aria to be hit by shrapnel when Spencer explodes.  Aria is still doubtful, but Ezra insists that he is sure.  He pulls out a folder and hands it to Aria.  He says that he is willing to break the rules if it means helping Spencer.  He’s not trying to be the bad guy.

Spencer, wearing Hanna’s clothes, meets Toby outside the school.  He asks her to go for a ride on his motorcycle, but she has a quiz after lunch. He brought lunch for them to share, but Spencer doesn’t seem enthusiastic.  He asks if she is mad at him for taking the Radley settlement money.  Spencer denies being mad, but she admits that she is a little disappointed.  Toby doesn’t think his mom would be disappointed.  His mom would want him to live his life to the fullest and share it with the people he loves.  Spencer and Toby hug.

Hanna, who gets extra hungry when she is nervous and sad, steals Emily’s string cheese.  She’s stressed out from avoiding Aria all day.  Emily had to finish her homework in a toilet stall to avoid being seen by Aria.  Hanna wonders if Aria will hate all of them when they tell her about Ezra.

Aria joins Hanna and Emily.  She’s texted them at least five times.  They need to find Spencer and talk to her.  She tells them that Spencer is strung out and she has a serious problem.  The girls are skeptical, but Aria tells them that this is not the first time that this has happened.  It also happened two years ago and Spencer’s parents asked the school for help.  Aria hands the girls Spencer’s school file.
 

Aria, Emily and Hanna go to Spencer’s house to have an intervention.  The girls act weird when Spencer offers them drinks, so Spencer assumes that they already told Aria about Ezra.  Emily says that they came to talk about something else.  Aria says that they are worried about her.  Hanna asks Spencer if she is a speed freak.  Spencer doesn’t respond when the girls ask if she has been taking pills to stay awake.  They know it’s been a problem for her. 

Aria gives Spencer the records that Ezra gave her.  Spencer freaks out and blurts out that Ezra is “A”.  He tried to kill Ali and has been torturing them every since.  He is undermining her because he is “A”.  Aria says that Ezra found Spencer passed out at school, barefoot and in her pajamas.  She didn’t even know where she was.  Is that true?  Spencer admits that she sleepwalked and ended up at school.  She took a few pills.  Not a big deal.  Spencer totally loses it and loses her grip on reality.  She asks when Aria will wake up to the fact that Ezra is “A”.  This is the deer in headlight behavior that almost got her shot at the back of a night club.  The girls have no clue what Spencer is talking about, since she is confusing reality with the fantasy she had in the last episode “Shadow Play”.  Spencer insists that she is not crazy.  She grabs her purse and the contents spill out onto the counter.  Dr. Wren Kingston’s blank prescription pad falls out of her purse.  Spencer denies ever seeing it before.
 

At the Apple Rose Grill, Mona and Mike are having a cute date night.  Mike thinks Mona must have been a cute baby.  Mona denies that and admits that she was wearing corrective lenses by the time she was teething.  She can’t believe she shared that with him and realizes that she must really like him.  Mike was hoping that Mona would say she loves him.  Mona looks genuinely touched by how much Mike cares about her.  Ezra comes into the restaurant as Mike is asking Mona what she wants to order.  Mona gets distracted when she sees Ezra walk in.  She tells Mike that she needs to discuss a reading assignment with Ezra.

Mona asks Ezra what he is doing there.  She tells him that she can’t help anymore because things are getting too complicated.  Ezra points out that it has always been complicated and it is too late to back out now, especially when he needs her help.  He tells her to enjoy dinner and he leaves with takeout food.

Hanna and Emily hang out at Hanna’s house.  Aria texted them that she is going to stay in for the night, but Hanna is sure that Aria went to see Ezra because she is addicted, too.  Love is a drug and Aria is operating in an altered state.  Hanna seems convinced that Ezra is “A”, but Emily isn’t so sure.  “A” could have planted the journal in Ezra’s desk to make him look guilty.

Spencer shows up at Hanna’s house and asks to come in.  She gives them the rest of her pills and tries to convince them that she doesn’t need them anymore.  She knows her credibility was decimated, but Ezra is still “A” and she can prove it with Ali’s journal.  They discuss the changes that “A” put in the journal to cover up Ali’s meeting place.  “A” changed “Ambrose pavilion” to “Ambrose piercing”.  Spencer has figured out where Ambrose Pavilion is.  “A” knows that Ali is still alive and out of money.  If the girls can convince Ezra that Ali is going to Ambrose Pavilion to get the money, then Ezra will show up.

Spencer’s mom is getting ready to leave for the country club when Spencer comes downstairs.  Her mom asks if Spencer is still going to join them at the club for dinner.  Spencer says that she can’t because she is having dinner with Toby.  After her mom leaves, Spencer calls Toby and cancels on him, claiming she has to have dinner with her mom at the country club.

Aria is at Ezra’s place describing what happened at Spencer’s intervention.  Spencer totally flew off the handle.  Aria almost tells him that Spencer accused him of being “A”, but she stops herself.  Ezra pushes to find out what she was about to say, but Aria just says that Spencer is out of control.  Ezra thinks that Aria needs to tell Spencer’s parents what is going on.  If she doesn’t, then he will be forced to.  And it will become a much bigger deal once a teacher is involved. 

Aria thinks that they should just let Spencer figure things out on her own.  Ezra insists that Spencer is a danger.  She didn’t even remember driving to school.  She could have killed someone.  Remember Radley?  Spencer thought Toby was dead.  All it took was seeing a helmet and a tattoo for Spencer to completely unravel.  Aria asks Ezra how he knew about the tattoo.  That wasn’t in the reports.  Ezra says that Aria must have told him.  Aria agrees, but she clearly realizes that Ezra is lying.

At The Brew, Ezra is sitting outside and Emily is working.  She asks Ezra if he wants a refill.  As she walks away, she drops some plates.  As she cleans it up, she picks up the phone and talks to Hanna and Spencer, who are watching from across the street.  They instruct Emily to mention the money that Ali needs and that they are going to take it to Ambrose Pavilion at closing time.  Ezra, who is clearly listening, jots down a note on his papers. 

Spencer is about to leave to meet up with Hanna and Emily, but she is in bad shape.  She calls the doctor’s office and impersonates her mother, asking for a prescription refill.  She then says she will call back.  Immediately after, she gets a call from Andrew.

Aria goes to Ezra’s cabin to do some investigating.  She tries various passwords to deactivate the alarm.  The code that works is B26.  She searches the room and sees the latch on the floor.  She goes down to the basement, but all the computers are long gone.  All she sees is a chair.

Spencer’s mom gets a call from Dr. Gregg’s office.  He wants to have a discussion before filling Spencer’s prescription.  Spencer’s mom is confused because they haven’t seen the doctor in years.  The office tells her that they have received several calls from her.

Emily and Hanna go to the Norris Town Zoo.  Hanna stops when she sees where they are heading.  It’s the Ambrose Reptile Pavilion.  Hanna is scared of snakes, but Emily tells her that there is nothing to be scared of.

Inside the reptile exhibit, Hanna and Emily wait for Spencer.  Spencer should have been there already.  The girls finally see a blond girl enter the room.  They think it is Spencer, so they leave the money. 

Aria goes back up and sees a Carnivores Delight book on the table.  She opens it and finds manuscript pages.  The first line says “The first thing Alison ever told me about herself was a lie”. 

Aria hears Ezra drive up to the cabin.  Ezra gets a security notice on his phone alerting him that someone entered the cabin.  Aria grabs the manuscript pages and runs. Ezra comes in and sees Aria’s keys.  He also notices the Carnivores Delight book as been moved and the window is wide open.

Aria runs to her car, but she can’t find her keys.  She runs toward the William Tell Lodge.  Ezra chases her.  He calls her name repeatedly and asks why she is hiding from him.  He calls her cell phone to pinpoint her location.  Aria turns her phone on silent mode, but the damage is done.  Ezra appears right behind her, but he doesn’t see her from his angle.  As he asks her to come out, she presses her hands over her mouth.  Aria is completely frightened of Ezra.  After he walks away, she runs toward the ski lift, which is about to close in five minutes.  She climbs on the lift and Ezra is suddenly there.  He says that he didn’t mean for things to end this way.  He hops on the lift and a terrified Aria is trapped with him as the lift starts moving.

Meanwhile, Hanna and Spencer wonder why Spencer isn’t doing anything.  Will Ezra show up?  The girls plan to double back when Spencer gives the signal.  Spencer comes up to them, pulling her blond wig on and the girls realize that the other blond girl was not Spencer after all.  The lights start flickering and the speakers in the exhibit start repeating snake facts.  Emily runs back to grab the coffee bag filled with Ali’s cash.  A zoo worker grabs her arm and informs her that the zoo is closed.  As they leave, Hanna sees a blond wig that the mystery girl left behind.

On the ski lift, Aria hysterically screams for someone to help her.  She yells at Ezra not to touch her.  He knew Ali, yet he pretended not to.  Ezra admits that he lied and he is so sorry.  He was afraid that Aria would never forgive him if he told her the truth.  He met Ali when he was in college.  She lied about her age.  Aria insists that she doesn’t want to hear any of this.  She doesn’t even know who he is anymore.  She thinks that he wanted Ali dead and that he got her pregnant.  Ezra says that he never hurt Ali.  He was writing a true crime book about her.  When he read that she went missing, he wanted to get to the bottom of the story.

Aria asks if Ezra knew who she was when they met, and Ezra answers with a heartbreaking “yes”.  That’s why he started teaching at Rosewood.  He took advantage of the opportunity to be a good reporter and do anything to get the story, but he promises that he didn’t know he was going to fall in love with her.  He lied about a lot, but he never lied about his feelings for her.  He stopped writing when their relationship got serious, but he started it up again after they broke up.  Aria is horrified when she thinks about all the times she defended him to her family and friends and the whole time he was using her.  Ezra knows that he was an idiot and a jerk.  He wants to burn the manuscript pages.  Aria insists that she is going to read every single page.  She wants to know what was worth destroying everything they had together.  Aria pulls back when Ezra reaches for the pages and Aria accidently drops them.

Mona walks into Aria’s house and Mike tells her she missed half the movie.  Mona claims that she lost track of time.  Mike offers to get drinks from the kitchen.  Mona sits on the couch and waits.  Aria comes in, looking traumatized.  Mona, who looks surprisingly sympathetic, asks Aria if she is okay.  Aria doesn’t answer and heads straight to her bed.  She notices the book that Ezra gave her, the one that he signed with “When you need to leave Rosewood.  Ezra”.  Aria throws the book across the room.

Spencer comes home to find Toby waiting inside.  Spencer’s mom had called him, worried about Spencer.  Toby wishes that Spencer could have talked to him about what was going on.  Spencer’s mom comes in and Toby leaves to give them privacy to talk.  Before leaving, he leaves a jewelry box with her. 

Spencer’s mom confronts her about the pills.  Spencer tries to deny it, but her mom knows the truth.  Her mom can’t deal with this.  They can’t cover for Spencer again, especially with Radley on her resume.  Spencer opens the jewelry box that Toby gave her.  It is a necklace with an “S” engraved on a square.  Spencer breaks down in tears.

A person dressed in all black collects Ezra’s manuscript pages from where Aria dropped them.