Recap of “Taking This One to the Grave” PLL Episode 5x12

It’s a bloody Thanksgiving for the Pretty Little Liars.  Mona’s mom is incredibly sweet, Emily gets into the Christmas spirit early, Mona decides to help the Liars, Alison throws Spencer under the bus, someone is murdered and a Liar gets arrested for murder in episode 5x12 "Taking This One to the Grave".

It’s Thanksgiving day.  Ezra holds Aria while Emily hugs Hanna, who is crying.  A police officer wants to take Hanna to the porch of the crime scene and take her statement, but Hanna refuses to go back to the house.  Aria tells Ezra that there was too much blood for anyone to have lived through that.  The girls get a text “It’s all your fault. –A”

Flashback to 36 hours earlier.

Ali is being hooked up to a polygraph machine.  Officer Holbrook is watching from another room.  He’s not willing to wait for Lt. Tanner.  The administrator of the lie detector test explains that truth uses memory and lies use imagination. 

Mona is listening to French music and reading on her bed.  Her bedroom, of course, has a lot of dolls in it.  Mona’s mom, who we meet for the first time, tells Mona she has company. 

Mona goes downstairs to find all the Liars waiting for her.  Hanna explains that they need her help.  Mona immediately realizes they came about Alison.  The Liars explain that Ali is at the police station and they don’t know what she is telling the police.  The girls have been lying for Ali ever since she came back.  They can’t ask Ali what she’s telling the cops because Ali will just lie.  Who better to ask for help from than Mona?

Mona tells the girls that Alison stole her life when she crowned Mona Rosewood’s biggest loser.  Alison was so convincing that even Mona started to believe it.  Mona knows that she owes the girls after everything she did to them.  However, she is already #1 on Alison’s hit list.  She doesn’t want to think about what Alison will do to her if she finds out Mona is helping the girls.  Spencer is surprised Mona is so scared of Alison, but Mona points out that all the Liars are just as scared as she is.

Mona’s mom brings out freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, which she remembers are Hanna’s favorite.  When Emily says that they can’t stay, Mona’s mom seems disappointed.  She offers to pack up the cookies for them.  Mona asks if the girls have ever been so focused on something that it just takes over and turns you into something you are not.  Mona finally apologizes for all she did to them as the original “A”.  She knows she took her “Ali anger” out on them and she’s sorry for that.

Aria, Spencer and Emily head toward the door, but Hanna stays behind with Mona to wait for the cookies.  The girls are still worried about Melissa’s confession video.  Emily is focused on the fact that Melissa killed Bethany Young.  Spencer defends Melissa, who was just trying to protect her.  Besides, in Melissa’s story Spencer is an accessory to murder, at best.

Mona’s mom brings Hanna a Tupperware filled with chocolate chip cookies, which Hanna says is still her favorite kind.  Mona leaves Hanna alone with her mom, but secretly listens by the stairs.

Mona’s mom asks if the bullying has started again, now that Alison is back.  Hanna doesn’t know what Ali is doing, since she isn’t friends with her anymore.  Hanna tells Mona’s mom that Mona is afraid of Alison.  Hanna confesses that they are all afraid of Alison.

Mona goes to her bedroom and calls someone.  Mona says to “send out a code “A”.  She’s plotting something big”. 

Mona rushes to a meeting location, afraid someone was following her.  She asks Lucas where everyone else is.  Lucas says no one else is coming.  Alison has convinced everyone in Mona’s Army that she is a saint and Mona is “Crazy Mona”.  Mona asks if it’s possible to be crazy and not know it.  Lucas tells her that she can’t believe that.  Otherwise, Ali wins.  Mona clarifies that she’s talking about Alison.  Mona thinks Alison has gone full on sociopath. 

Mona and the Liars meet up in the school bathroom.  Mona explains that Alison volunteered to take the polygraph test.  Mona thinks this is all a game to Alison. Alison isn’t having fun anymore, since she can’t play with her dolls anymore (Emily, Aria, Hanna and Spencer).  Alison is ending the game that she stole from Mona.  Mona thinks Alison is “A”. 

Mona says Alison assembled the perfect group.  Spencer is smart, Emily is loyal, Hanna is admiring and Aria is compassionate.  Spencer catches on to what Mona is saying.  It was the perfect group for a sociopath to manipulate.  Alison would have gotten bored with one of them, but all together the girls were a challenge.

Aria admits that she never knew why Ali wanted to be friends with her.  Mona says that when a person doesn’t feel anything, it is fun to mess with someone who feels a lot.  Alison picked Aria because Aria cares, which is something Alison can’t do.  Emily realizes that Ali never loved her, but Aria says Ali never loved any of them.  Spencer thinks Ali went to the cops to convince the police that she is innocent and the other Liars are guilty.

Mona agrees to help find out what Alison told the cops, in order to give the Liars a fighting chance to get their stories straight.  Hanna wonders why Mona is helping them.  Mona got accepted early admission to three colleges, but she can’t survive senior year alone.  Emily warns Mona that this isn’t going to make them best friends.  Mona doesn’t want to hold hands in the hallway.  In fact, she doesn’t want anyone to find out she is helping them.  This includes the Liars bed buddies.  Mona wants the girls to act normal.

The twins Cindy and Mindy enter the bathroom and go into stalls.  As soon as Mona and the Liars leave, the twins open the stall doors and smile at each other.

At her locker, Emily tells Paige that she’s behind with her Christmas decorating.  Paige offers to help.  Emily mentions that they never got to have their talk.  Paige is tired of talking, so she kisses Emily.  Paige and Emily both look happy after the kiss.

Mona’s mom leaves Principal Hackett’s office.  Mona sees her mom in the hallway, but Mona’s mom claims she was in the cafeteria dropping off food for the holiday food drive.

Mona sees Alison down the hall with her new gang of friends.   There’s an announcement on the intercom, requesting that Ali report to the principal’s office.  Ali smiles at Mona as she passes, while Mona looks freaked out. 

Aria wipes pumpkin guts off Ezra’s face while Ezra makes homemade pumpkin pie.  Aria thinks they should just buy pies from Paula’s.  Ezra wants to impress Aria’s family, since he is invited to Thanksgiving dinner.  Aria bluntly points out that her family will be too busy judging him, so they won’t have time to judge his cooking.  Her family wants to make sure Ezra’s worth a second look.  Ezra feels like a used car.  Soon Aria’s family will start kicking his tires and checking under the hood.

Spencer flips through a photo album.  She looks at a photo of herself with Aria, Hanna, Emily and Ali.  Ali wrote on the photo “My four besties.  Kisses Ali”.  Toby comes in wearing his police uniform.  Spencer and Toby playfully flirt before Spencer hands over a present.  It’s an engraved pocket watch that says “You are my once upon a time. – S”. 

Mona enlists Lucas’s help to find out what Alison told the cops.  Lucas goes to the Rosewood Police Station, pretending to be interested in the high school liaison program.  When the cop leaves the room to get an application, Lucas connects to the police station computer and text “Go” to Mona, who’s sitting in the bathroom with her laptop.  Mona has trouble downloading the files without a password, but eventually she is able to copy all the files.

Emily, full of holiday spirit, recruits Paige, Hanna and Caleb to help decorate her house with Christmas decorations.  Emily is refusing to let Ali take away her holiday traditions.  Hanna’s not feeling the Christmas spirit.  Emily warns Hanna that if she can’t find Christmas in her heart, she won’t find it under the tree.  Caleb, disturbed by Emily’s cheerful disposition, wonders what is wrong with Emily.  Emily gets concerned when she can’t find the Jesus that belongs in the nativity scene, but Paige finds it.

Mona calls Hanna, who lies to Caleb and says it is her mom calling.  Caleb has a chat with Emily and realizes her Christmas spirit stems from the fact that her dad always finds a way to come home for Christmas.  Looking at the decorations is how she and her mom remind themselves that Emily’s dad will be home soon.

Hanna lies to Caleb, saying her mom wanted cranberries.  Emily accidentally contradicts Hanna’s lie.  Emily goes off to help Paige with decorations, and Caleb asks Hanna what is going on.

Mona shows Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna the video of Ali’s polygraph test.  Ali tells the cops that Aria, Hanna and Emily were in the barn the night Bethany Young was murdered.  She says Spencer came to her house that night.  Ali acknowledges that she was the unofficial leader of the group.  She thinks her friends would do anything to help her.

The police want to know if Spencer was a loyal friend.  Ali says Spencer was angry and emotional that night.  Ali knew Spencer was abusing pills, but she promised not to tell.  Ali tells the cops that she didn’t have anything to do with Bethany Young’s murder.

Emily doesn’t think the polygraph tapes showed anything incriminating.  Mona says the important thing is the questions the police asked.  The police obviously suspect Spencer killed Bethany Young.  Caleb comes in.  Hanna is annoyed, but Mona admits that she asked him for help.  She knew Hanna would blab to Caleb, anyway.

Aria and Spencer are annoyed, since they didn’t tell their bed buddies.  Hanna is sorry, but she couldn’t lie to Caleb’s adorable face.  Caleb is impressed with Mona’s military grade decoding program.  He was able to unlock two more files. 

The Rosewood cops were granted access to Radley files.  Officer Holbrook sent the DA a statement that the police no longer consider Alison DiLaurentis a person of interest in Bethany Young’s murder.  The police believe Spencer murdered Bethany to gain favor with Ali, the leader of their group.  They think Spencer would do anything for Ali, in order to keep her pill abuse a secret.  This means Ali is totally off the hook and Spencer’s now on it.

Spencer knows there will soon be an arrest warrant.  She's about to call Toby and her parents, but Mona suggests that they find out what the cops saw in Bethany’s Radley files.  Emily agrees, since it may give them a link between Ali and Bethany.  Spencer doesn’t want her friends to get in the middle of this mess, but her friends are quick to say that they will all stick together.  Mona looks a little left out while the Liars huddle together.  Spencer agrees to go along with Mona’s plan.

Caleb uses his hacking skills to help Mona and Spencer sneak into Radley.  Hanna stays in the car with him and gives coded messages to Mona and Spencer, who are dressed as nurses.  Spencer gets a text from Toby and she worries about making it to his ceremony in time.

Emily calls Paige and tells her that she’s sick with a scratchy throat.  Ali comes in.  She was surprised to get Emily’s message, since Emily made her feelings crystal last time they spoke.  Emily gets a text message from Hanna, but claims it’s from her mom who’s doing some last minute shopping.

Ali wants to know what Emily wants.  Emily says it bothers her that it is Thanksgiving, but she and Ali aren’t on speaking terms.  Ali tells Emily that she was the one she trusted the most.  She wasn’t surprised when the others turned on her.  Ali is about to leave, but Emily tells her that she doesn’t want things like this.

Aria is supervising art classes at Radley.  To create a distraction so Spencer and Mona can sneak past the nurse’s desk, Aria drops a glass jar of red paint on the floor.

Hanna and Caleb freak out when they see Officer Holbrook going into Radley.  Hanna warns Mona and Spencer that they’ve got company.

Officer Holbrook stands above Aria, who’s wiping the paint off the floor, and tells her that she’s made quite a mess of things.  Aria thinks Holbrook asks her when the lies, cover-ups, and murders started.  However, really he asked her when she started the volunteer program.  He wants to know if it was before or after the police identified Bethany Young’s body.  He asks if the volunteer work was Spencer’s idea, but Aria firmly says no.

Hanna leaves a message for Emily, updating her on the Officer Holbrook situation.  Caleb finds a list of colleges in the car.  Hanna says she did so good on the SATs that the guidance counselor accused her of cheating.

Ali doesn’t think the other Liars will let Emily be friends with her.  Emily makes it clear that she makes her own decisions.  It’s not a group vote.  Ali, tricking Emily, asks for some tea.  As soon as Emily gets up, Ali grabs Emily’s phone.  Ali knew Emily was lying, since Emily’s mom never shops at the last minute.  Ali sees the text from Hanna, asking if Emily is still keeping Ali busy.  Now Ali definitely knows that the girls suspect she is “A”.  Emily asks if she is, but Ali doesn’t answer.  Emily says it must hurt when the loyal one betrays her.  Ali purposely knocks into Emily on her way to the door. 

Paige, worried about Emily’s sickness, brings her soup.  Before going in, she sees the twins Cindy and Mindy waiting in a car nearby.  Ali leaves Emily’s house and gets in the car.  Paige follows Ali and the twins.

Mona and Spencer find records of all Bethany Young’s sessions.  Mona says she got into Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth.  She’s passing on them, since they didn’t offer her a full ride.  She offers to help Spencer with colleges, but Spencer isn’t interested in Mona’s help.  Mona puts the records in her bag.  Spencer asks for the tape from August 8^th.  They play the tape and hear Bethany talking about all the lies Ms. DiLaurentis told her.  Spencer realizes Ms. DiLaurentis was having an affair with Bethany’s father.  On the tape, Bethany asks if she can trust anyone in the DiLaurentis family.  She wonders if the mother is like the daughter.  Spencer and Mona realize Ali may have known Bethany.

Spencer and Mona sneak out of Radley.  Toby calls Spencer, wondering where she is.  While on the phone, Toby gets in a car accident.

It’s Thanksgiving day and Emily is stuck working at the Brew.  Aria tries to convince Spencer that Toby’s accident isn’t her fault.  Spencer was at the hospital all night.  They look at Toby, who has a cast on his leg.  Spencer has already updated Toby on everything that’s happened.

Paige tells Emily that she stopped by last night to bring her soup.  Emily tries to explain why she lied, but Paige doesn’t care about that.  She says she followed Ali, Cindy and Mindy to an abandoned farm.  There were dozens of cars out there.  Paige tells them that Ali is building an army of her own.

Officer Holbrook comes in and arrests Spencer for the murder of Bethany Young.  Hanna, Aria and Emily all yell that Spencer didn’t do anything. 

Mona reviews the Radley transcripts in her room.  Hanna calls to tell Mona that the cops arrested Spencer.  Mona’s mom leaves for the family Thanksgiving dinner.  Mona promises to be there soon.  She locks the house door, afraid someone is watching her.

Ezra brings two pies to Aria’s house.  Aria explains that her mom has been on the phone with Spencer’s mom.  Mona calls Aria and tells her that Ali lured Bethany to Rosewood.  Ali knew about her mom’s affair.  Ali was jealous and wanted Bethany dead.  Mona knows Ali is “A” and she can prove it.  Ezra and Aria rush out the door and head to Mona’s house.

Someone in a black hoodie and wearing black gloves breaks into Mona’s house.  We see the person has long blonde hair.  Mona looks in her mirror and says “Game over Alison.  I win.”  The intruder enters her bedroom and Mona looks frightened.

Aria, Ezra, Hanna and Emily arrive at Mona’s house to find blood everywhere.  We hear one of the Liars scream loudly after going into Mona’s bedroom.

Police tape off Mona’s house as a crime scene.  Outside, Caleb holds Hanna, Paige huddles with Emily, and Ezra holds Aria.  Unseen by them, Ali watches from afar.

Officer Holbrook announces that they did not find a body.  However, the amount of blood found in the house suggests that this was a fatal attack.  Mona Vanderwaal was murdered.  Mona’s mom cries, anguished.  Lucas watches, horrified. 

Ali is the only one not upset at the crime scene.  She looks satisfied as she watches everyone.  She leaves while everyone else is mourning.

The murderer takes Emily’s Jesus from the nativity scene and places it in the trunk of a car, on top of Mona’s dead body.  The murderer places a Mona doll in Jesus’ crib on Emily’s front lawn.

“A” cuts out a photo of the Emily, Hanna, Aria and Spencer and places it inside a snow globe.  Ali is noticeably not in the photo.  Is “A” no longer after Alison and only targeting the Liars?

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars episode 5x12 "Taking This One to the Grave"?