Wednesday, June 21, 2017

PLL 7x19 Recap “Farewell My Lovely”: Mona Killed Charlotte

We finally find out who killed Charlotte in Pretty Little Liars episode 7x19 “Farewell My Lovely”. The police arrest someone for the murder of Archer Dunhill. And the ‘Liar’s Lament’ board game finally comes to an end.

Lt. Linda Tanner is ready to arrest the Liars. She’s hours away from getting the arrest warrants signed by a judge.

At the end of episode 7x18, Aria was horrified to find Archer Dunhill’s dead body in the trunk of her car. A cop car pulled up as Aria slammed the trunk shut.

Aria tells the cop that she dropped her keys in the trunk, so she called a friend who is bringing a copy of the keys. The police officer insists on helping and he quickly pops the trunk open.


Luckily for Aria, the cop is distracted when he gets a call from dispatch. Aria quickly grabs her keys and closes the trunk. The cop leaves without seeing Dunhill’s dead body.

Aria drives away has a conversation with Dunhill’s dead body. Aria still wants sacrifice herself for her friends. She decides to turn herself in to the police and confess to murdering Dunhill. They’ll have to believe her if she shows them Dunhill’s dead body.

The Liars (minus Aria) and their significant others all meet up. They think Mona is A.D. They want to turn Mona over to the cops, which would hopefully get them off the hook for Dunhill’s death.

Ezra, who is also there, can’t get in touch with Aria. He is furious at the rest of the Liars for how they treated Aria. “What I can’t understand is how you could do this, just cut her off like that,” he says. Aria screwed up and made a mistake because she was scared. There isn’t a single person in the room who hasn’t made a big mistake, Ezra reminds the group. Ezra’s right, so none of them argue with him.

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Ezra says A.D. isn’t capable of forgiving people. The only edge the Liars had over A.D. was the ability to forgive. Now they don’t even have that. After dropping that truth bomb, Ezra storms off.

Caleb chases Ezra. He agrees with everything Ezra about Aria. He offers to find Aria by tracking her car.

Hanna and Caleb aren’t having an ideal wedding night. They go stake out Mona’s apartment. Caleb promises to make it up to Hanna with an amazing honeymoon.

Mona is shocked when she realizes someone stole the ‘Liar’s Lament’ board game from her apartment. A.D. leaves her a note written on Two Crows Diner stationary that says “Time for pie. Be there.” Mona leaves in a hurry and Haleb follows her.

Mary Drake leaves another wine bottle message for Spencer. Spencer goes to the Lost Wood Resort to meet Mary again. Mary has a going away present for Spencer and Alison. She puts the Lost Woods Resort deed in Spencer and Alison’s name. Mary knows the police are about to arrest the Liars. They can mortgage the motel to pay for lawyers.

Aria is about to walk into the Rosewood police station when Ezra shows up to stop her from taking the blame. Ezra doesn’t want Aria to make any more sacrifices for her friends. Besides, he argues, there is nothing linking Aria to Dunhill. “His body is in the trunk of my car,” Aria tells him.

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Hanna and Caleb follow Mona to the Two Crows Diner. (The same place Mona was supposed to meet Charlotte the night she was killed). They watch Mona, who is waiting for someone inside. Mona looks nervous. She hasn’t even touched her pie.

Spencer joins Haleb. Hanna and Caleb argue about Mona. Caleb wants to drag Mona out of the diner and take her to the police. Hanna still doesn’t think Mona is A.D., but Caleb’s never forgiven Mona for being the original ‘A’.

“You guys are arguing like you’re married or something,” Spencer tells them. Guess the newlyweds didn’t tell their friends about their wedding yet. While Hanna and Spencer are distracted, Caleb slips into the diner.

Caleb sits across from Mona and eats her apricot pie. He tells her that they are going to go to the police station. He wants Mona to confess to being A.D. The police will believe it when they see the ‘Liar’s Lament’ game.

Mona tells Caleb that she doesn’t have the game anymore. Somebody stole it. “Somebody is always stealing the game from me,” Mona says twice. Mona looks like she’s reached her breaking point. She knew it was a bad idea to touch the game. “We swim around in this fishbowl like we’re in control. We are not. There’s always been somebody watching. Manipulating,” Mona tells Caleb.

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The waitress brings a note to the table. After reading it, Mona suspiciously wants to go to the bathroom. Hanna and Spencer come in and Mona makes a break for it. She runs to the bathroom. The trio chase after her, but she’s already gone.

Mona dropped the note in the bathroom. It said “LEAVE NOW”. Caleb finds a secret passage hidden in the bathroom. That must be how Mona left the diner the night Charlotte died. Spencer and Caleb go down to follow Mona. Caleb doesn’t want Hanna to come, especially after she was kidnapped by A.D.

Ezra wants Aria to run away with him. There is nothing keeping them in Rosewood. Aria can’t leave her friends, though. Aria still feels guilty for making a bad choice. Ezra says they gave up the right to be her friends after the way they treated her.

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Ezra is ready to deal with the dead body in the trunk. “I have a master’s degree in American Literature. There’s nothing I can’t handle,” Ezra tells Aria.  They run to the car, but the body is already gone.

Remember that flash forward scene at the end of PLL episode 6x10 “Game Over, Charles”? In that scene, Allison writes “Mrs. Rollins” on the chalkboard in her classroom and the Liars rush in to save her from a mysterious bad guy. We finally revisit that scene, as promised, but it turns out to be a dream.

A.D. leaks gas into Alison’s house, causing Emison to fall asleep. Emily has a nightmare of Alison getting attacked after the girls rush in to rescue her. An arm breaks through the wall and grabs Alison as she screams.

Alison and Emily wake up and the ‘Liar’s Lament’ game is back in their house. An old video of Alison saying “We don’t have a lot of time” keeps playing over and over on the game phone. (The Alison video is from PLL episode 1x10 “Keep Your Friends Close”. In the video, Alison tells Ian Thomas “Wanna see more? I know you want to. If the girls knew I was seeing you, oh my God, they would not stop talking about it. I wish they were more mature, but we don't have a lot of time. I have to get back before they wake up. I know you want to kiss me.”)

Back in the tunnel, Caleb starts to feel bad for Mona. He even says “poor Mona”, which is surprising considering how much he hates her. Caleb no longer thinks Mona is A.D. Mona was genuinely scared. And A.D. doesn’t get messages. A.D. just sends them.

Caleb tells Spencer that he got married to Hanna. Spencer is happy for them and is quick to congratulate him. Caleb feels like he has to apologize, since the two of them were dating not too long ago.

“Don’t you dare apologize for being with me. And don’t you dare forget it. Any of it. ‘Cause I won't,” Spencer fiercely tells Caleb.

Ezra, Aria, Emily and Alison all get in the car. They need to meet up with the rest of the gang. Alison apologizes to Aria for the way they treated her. They are all sorry. Aria says it’s okay, but Alison knows it isn’t. They didn’t have the right to shut Aria out and banish her from the tribe. It was a high school thing to do.

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Aria lets her friends off the hook. She knows they all panicked. When people panic, they go back to old behavior.

Hanna walks past the church bell tower and sees flower petals falling. She goes up the bell tower and sees Mona. Only this isn’t the Mona we’re used to seeing. It’s nerdy Mona. She’s wearing glasses, her hair is in pigtail braids and she’s dressed like she used to back when Alison bullied her in high school.

Clearly something isn’t right with Mona. When Hanna asks what she’s doing, Mona says “Waiting for you, Charlotte.”

We get a flashback of the night Charlotte was killed. Mona met up with Charlotte in the bell tower. They both showed up for the same reason: to see if there was anything to worry about. Mona tried to visit Charlotte in the hospital, but Alison wouldn’t let her.

Mona watched Charlotte for five years. Charlotte fooled the doctors, Alison, the court and the lawyers. Mona saw right through it. Charlotte pretty much admits it, saying that Mona was always the smart one. Not Spencer.

Mona, always trying to protect Hanna, says that she won’t let Charlotte hurt people anymore. Charlotte isn’t afraid of Mona, though. “Do you still see her when you look in the mirror? The loser, the pigtails, the frumpy sweater? I still see her,” Charlotte taunts.

“None of you are sure when you look in the mirror. None of you are really certain who you are. I did that. I took that away from you, the same way everything was stolen from me. And now I’m back and everything that happened before? That’s gonna feel like a picnic,” Charlotte threatens. Charlotte wants to bring the whole town of Rosewood down.

“I won’t let you do that to my friends,” Mona says. Mona grabs a screwdriver and holds it against Charlotte’s back. She pushes Charlotte towards the window and tells her to jump. Otherwise, she’ll push Charlotte to her death. People will think Charlotte committed suicide her first night out of Welby. “You don’t have the guts,” Charlotte tells her.

Back in the present, Mona mistakes Hanna for Charlotte. Mona tries to shove Hanna off the bell tower. Caleb rushes in and pulls Hanna to safety. Hanna tells Spencer and Caleb that Mona killed Charlotte.

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Mona puts on her glasses and quietly sits in the corner. They can’t turn Mona over to the cops now, not while she’s in this condition. They lead Mona out of the bell tower. As they leave, they find the remaining ‘Liar’s Lament’ puzzle pieces on the side mirror of the car.

The gang meets at the Lost Woods Resort. The Liars are shocked that Mona tried to kill Hanna, but Hanna defends her. Mona didn’t know who she was. Mona is probably dressed as nerdy Mona as a way to retreat to a safe place. Mona has regressed to how she was in the beginning of high school, way before the ‘A’ game started.

The Liars can’t just dump Mona at the police station. They decide to call Dr. Sullivan. Maybe she can explain things to the police. Caleb and Ezra watch over Mona while the Liars finish the ‘Liar’s Lament’ game.

The Liars put the final two puzzle piece on the board game. The completed puzzle is a picture of someone’s face. The phone says “CLAIM THE GRAND PRIZE”. A photo of Elliot Rollins’ staff ID pops up on the phone. “THE EYES HAVE IT” the phone says.

The Liars use the phone to scan the eyes on the puzzle face. Turns out it is an augmented reality app and a small person crawls out of the screen. It walks across the ‘Liar’s Lament’ game board and stops at Aunt Carol’s house. A.D. must have hidden Dunhill’s body there.

The Liars head to Aunt Carol’s place and end up at Charles DiLaurentis’ grave. A.D. took a symbolic grave and made it a real one. The Liars, who came prepared with shovels, are ready to dig up the body.

Aria suddenly stops her friends. Every time they do this, the only graves dug are their own. This won’t end until they decide to walk away. “If we want to stop the crazy, we have to stop acting crazy,” Aria tells her friends.

The rest of the Liars realize Aria is right. If they don’t walk away, they will end up like Mona. The Liars walk away, but they don’t get far. Lt. Tanner shows up with dozens of cops and a bulldozer. Aria was right about walking away, but they probably shouldn’t have even shown up at the grave site with shovels.

The Liars, back at the police station, discuss their next move. Spencer thinks they have to tell the truth and take the punishment. They shouldn’t expect mercy. Justice is a blindfolded b*tch.

The Liars are shocked when they see Lt. Tanner interrogating Mary Drake. Through a two way mirror, the Liars watch as Mary confesses to killing Archer Dunhill. She says that she ran him over with a stolen car and buried the body in the woods.

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Mary tells Tanner that she had to stop Dunhill. He tricked her into stealing from her own family. He was an imposter. He was even plotting to kill Alison.

Mary also confesses to murdering Jessica DiLaurentis. She claims Dunhill used that murder to blackmail her into helping him.

Lt. Tanner tells the Liars to go home. Mary Drake’s statement was full of credible details, like how she got the car repaired and that she showered in Spencer’s barn after the murder.

Lt. Tanner believes Mary killed Jessica, but she obviously doesn’t believe Mary killed Dunhill. Why is she letting the Liars go? The DA is a simple man who likes clear cut cases. Mary provided them with a logical story. Tanner can’t give the DA a box of loose ends and theories that no one can prove. “You’re not criminals, not really. Try to remember that,” Tanner tells the Liars.

Spencer clearly isn’t happy that Mary took the fall for them. As Mary is taken away, she does the ‘shh’ face to the Liars.

The Liars go back to the Lost Woods Resort. They’ve already called Dr. Sullivan. She’ll be there in a few hours. Hanna apologizes to Mona for showing her the game and pulling her in.

Mona’s just happy Hanna included her. “You needed me. You don’t know what that felt like. Just like you needed me to take care of Charlotte after all the terrible things she did. I’m sorry I messed that up. Nothing ever happens the way it’s supposed to with me,” Mona tells Hanna.

We get another flashback to the night Charlotte died. Turns out Mona didn’t actually push Charlotte out the window. She just wanted to scare Charlotte. After saying “Say goodnight to the world, bully,” Mona shoved Charlotte back. She wanted Charlotte to know what dying tastes like, so she could choke on it every day for the rest of her miserable life.

Charlotte knew Mona didn’t have the guts to murder her. Charlotte lunged at Mona and attacked her. “They will never love you,” Charlotte yelled at Mona. Mona fought back. She shoved Charlotte against the bell tower wall. Charlotte’s head hit a piece of exposed metal and Charlotte died instantly. Mona, shocked, sunk to the floor next to Charlotte.

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Back in the present, the board game says “CONGRATULATIONS”. The ‘Liar’s Lament’ game shuts down. The game ended when Mona confessed to murdering Charlotte.

Now A.D. doesn’t have anything to threaten them with, but the Liars still don’t know who A.D. is.

Is A.D. going to get a happy ending? We see A.D. drive off into the sunset. A.D. has the Liars figurine game pieces stuffed in a Ziploc bag in the back of the car.

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars episode 7x19 “Farewell My Lovely”? How do you feel about Mona killing Charlotte? I definitely felt bad for Mona, especially because she protected “her friends” from Charlotte. Mona considers the Liars her friends and she does a lot to protect them. Mona’s so desperate for the Liars to accept her, but they don’t consider her a friend. They haven’t forgiven her for being the original ‘A’. Do you think Mona will get in trouble for Charlotte’s death? Mona was acting in self-defense when she accidentally killed Charlotte. And Charlotte clearly wasn’t done torturing the Liars. Who do you think A.D. is? Wren? Melissa? Does Spencer have a twin? Leave your thoughts/theories below!


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