"Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists" Episode 1x02 'Sex, Lies and Alibis' Recap/Review

The second episode of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, titled "Sex, Lies and Alibis" introduces us to some new characters. We meet Nolan's childhood friend Mason. We also learn more about Dana Booker (Klea Scott), the new head of security in charge of the Nolan murder investigation. And we get some juicy Rosewood updates on Spoby.

The episode picks up right where we left off at the end of the pilot, with Ava sobbing on the ground after seeing Nolan's body impaled by the spikes on the gate below Thorne Hall. Caitlin wants to comfort Ava, but Ava doesn’t trust her. Nolan died the exact way Caitlin imagined it. Ava suspects that Caitlin and Dylan murdered Nolan.

We jump ahead three days. Classes have been cancelled and everyone is dealing with Nolan's death in different ways. Ava's been crying and drinking alone in her room. Dylan's been having nightmares about Nolan and relieving their hookup. Caitlin has been focusing on fitness instead of facing Nolan's death.

Alison is trying to figure out who repaired her wallpaper to cover up the "THEY'RE WATCHING" message. Alison suddenly gets a text from Nolan that says "Meet me on the roof of Thorne hall. I need your help."

Dylan and Caitlin start to bond. With Nolan gone, they can be real friends. Dylan knows Caitlin is involved in student government, track and debate, but he doesn't know much about her personally. Nolan kept them apart so they couldn’t stand up to him.

Meanwhile, Mona has gone crazy after Nolan's murder. She feels responsible for his death and her guilt has made her crack. She's spent three days holed up in her house, scribbling mathematic equations all over her walls and humming "Teddy Bear Picnic".

Alison, who assumes Mona sent her the Nolan text, storms in to confront her. Alison also asks if Mona was the one who pushed Nolan off the roof. "Who do you think I am?" Mona asks. "Well …" Alison responds.

Alison shows Mona the Nolan text. Alison thinks someone like "A" is messing with her. Mona says the text was sent before Nolan's death. The delay must be a network malfunction.

Bad news for Alison, though. The text makes it look like Alison killed Nolan.

Caitlin's boyfriend Jeremy tries to comfort Caitlin. He tells her that it's okay that she's relieved Nolan is dead. Jeremy doesn't feel bad about the murder, considering Nolan was blackmailing Caitlin.

Caitlin thinks Jeremy deserves a real girlfriend. Someone he can go on real dates with, not just car dates. They still can't date publicly, since Caitlin has to act like a grieving widow.

Mona still blaming herself for Nolan's death. He didn't belong at BHU. Mona's algorithm flagged Nolan as someone who could push another student to the point of snapping. Mona feels like she created a killer, since she looked the other way and didn't tell Claire Hotchkiss the truth about her son.

Mona is now using her code to figure out which student snapped and killed Nolan.

Alison gets that Mona feels guilty, but she needs Mona to focus on her. Alison feels like she's back in Rosewood on a hamster wheel.

Mona is too far gone into her "beautiful mind", so Alison slaps her. Mona immediately is pulled out of her spiral and helps herself to the key lime pie Alison brought over.

Alison needs Mona's advice. Should she tell the police that the text from Nolan was delayed and she didn’t see it until now?

Mona calls Alison a wuss. The slap reminded Mona of the Alison she used to know. The Alison that ruled the world because she played by her own rules. Mona doesn't think Alison can actually change who she is. She's just faking it 'til she makes it.

Meanwhile, Caitlin and Dylan break into Ava's room. They try to convince Ava that they didn't kill Nolan. They also want Ava to pretend that they are all still part of Nolan's posse so the cops won't get suspicious. They all have something to hide.

"You want me to hold your hand while you pretend to be his grieving widow," Ava says in disbelief. "I loved him".

Despite Ava's reluctance, they all attend the funeral together (#squadgoals). Ava's the only one actually grieving, though.

Alison and Mona also attend the funeral. Mona doesn't want Alison to tell the cops about the Nolan text. There was a partial Beacon Guard blackout about the time of Nolan's murder. A handful of cameras went out, including the ones near Ali's house. That explains the Nolan text delay. Bottom line? No one can prove Ali wasn't at her house that night. Anyone who says they were at Ali's house that night is safe for now. "So I don't have an alibi, but I don't not have an alibi," Ali realizes.

At the funeral, we get introduced to Nolan's childhood friend Mason (Noah Gray-Cabey). They haven't been close the past year, though. Mason cries as he stares at Nolan's casket. Dylan is suspicious, commenting that Mason looks too sad.

Dana Booker, the FBI agent who grilled Ava about her missing dad, is now BHU's new head of security. It's her job to find out who killed Nolan, now that authorities have officially ruled Nolan's death a homicide.

Ava, Caitlin and Dylan worry that their secrets will be revealed once Dana Booker finds out how Nolan was blackmailing them. Ava knows where Nolan hid his weed. Maybe that's where he hid the blackmail evidence?

Dylan and Caitlin plan to break away from the wake later that night to look. Ava tells them to go to the greenhouse where Claire used to grow roses with Taylor. Nolan's stash is hidden behind a broken cinder block. Ava doesn't want to go with them. "Well, they're your secrets. Not mine," Ava tells them.

After the funeral, Mona and Alison return to Mona's place. Alison thinks someone is trying to frame her for Nolan's murder. Mona invites Alison to stay for pie, but Alison has to prepare for her next class.

Alison knows she and Mona have been frenemies in the past, but she cares about Mona now. (How adorable does Mona look when she realizes that Alison actually cares about her?!). Alison knows how easy it is for Mona to go down the rabbit hole and never come back, so she needs Mona to stay connected to reality and people.

Mona claims that she has a life. Every night she plays chess with a brilliant opponent, but she doesn't know who she's playing against. It's an anonymous game through an online campus chess club.

Caitlin and Dylan are about to sneak off to find Nolan's stash, when Mason appears. In a twist, we find out Mason is Caitlin's ex-boyfriend. Mason wants to hang out with Caitlin as friends, so Dylan goes to the greenhouse by himself.

Mason can't imagine a future without Nolan. He found a way to push everyone to their limits.

Caitlin doesn't think that was always a good thing. Back when Caitlin and Mason were dating, Mason wasn't exactly thrilled to be Nolan's #2. Mason says he learned to accept that Nolan was always going to be #1 in everything he did. Caitlin says she's too competitive to accept it the way Mason did.

Mason knows Caitlin loves to win, but she also has a big heart. She always found a way to make him feel special. He sweetly offers to help her with anything she needs, but things take a dark turn when he offers to give her an alibi for the night Nolan was murdered. "Why would I need an alibi?" Caitlin asks. "We all do. Until they figure out who killed him," Mason says.

In the greenhouse, Dylan pulls away the loose cinder block. Instead of finding Nolan's secret stash, he finds an "A"-like note that says "I found what you're looking for. Who knew you were so naughty".

Ava shows up to Nolan's candlelight vigil drunk. Caitlin and Dylan tell her that someone beat them to Nolan's stash. If Nolan had anything on Ava, she's as screwed as they are.

"It's just like you imagined it," someone whispers. Ava, Caitlin and Dylan freak out, but they don't know who said it.

Since someone heard the trio talk about their Nolan death fantasies hours before Nolan died, they return to the woods. They want to find evidence that points to who overheard them. They think whoever heard them must have killed Nolan and framed them for the murder.

Dylan finds gum wrappers on the floor. "Great. So we can rule out students with braces. That's fantastic, Dylan. Thank you. We're on a roll," Ava tells him. Ava says she doesn't care about Caitlin or Dylan. She doesn't care about anything right now. Dylan and Caitlin both have other people in their lives, but Ava is all alone.

Alison has a run in with Dana Booker. Dana already knows Alison is the new TA who took over Taylor's class. Dana knows Alison assigned papers about Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Since the story is about whether murder can be justified, Dana thinks writing those papers could have triggered a student to killed Nolan. She wants to read the papers.

Ava goes home to drink some more. She listens to messages from Dylan and Caitlin. Both of them called to let her know that she's not alone. If she needs them, they'll be there for her. Ava lays on her bed and sobs.

Alison returns home and finds the window open. A light suddenly turns on, startling Alison. Claire Hotchkiss is drinking in the dark, waiting for Alison to return home. Claire knows it's inappropriate for her to be there, but this was Taylor's house "before she went missing. Before she took her life," Claire says. Was that a slipup? Does Claire know Taylor isn't actually dead?

Claire says she came over to feel closer to Taylor. Claire points out the "THEY'RE WATCHING" message on the wall. She says they should have painted over that before the wallpaper was installed.

Claire says Taylor was put together when she was younger. Everything came easy to her: sports, grades, love. Something changed when she started teaching. She became paranoid and sometimes delusional. Maybe she didn’t like her job, but she didn’t want to disappoint Claire. Claire tried to get Taylor help, but she didn't trust anyone.

Claire says Taylor and Nolan were close. They learned very early that two against one were good odds. They stuck together like glue when either one of them got in trouble. They never turned on each other. Claire pretend like it bothered her, but she was proud of them. She was happy that they would have each other when she was gone.

Claire has some advice for Alison. "Don’t waste your time here pretending to be something you're not. If you really did come here to help our students, you need to be yourself. You're a survivor, Alison. At all costs. And that's what you need to teach them," Claire tells Alison.

Great advice, but why isn't Claire more torn up over Nolan's murder? She is clearly grieving over the loss of her daughter Taylor, but what about Nolan? After all, it was his funeral everyone just attended.

Mona stares at the mathematical scribbles on her wall and realizes that Alison is right. She needs to stay connected to people to avoid going down the rabbit hole.

Mona reaches out and calls her BFF Hanna Marin. "Just needed to hear a friend's voice," Mona says. We get some juicy Rosewood gossip. Spencer and Toby eloped! Mona also asks how Hanna and Caleb's baby is.

In class, Ava texts Dylan and Caitlin to thank them for their messages. Dana Booker shows up and asks to speak to Ava, Dylan and Caitlin.

Outside, Dana asks the trio where they were the night Nolan was murdered. Alison interrupts to give them an alibi. She lies, saying she was discussing Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with them all night at her house.

Alison and Dana have a bit of a showdown. "You've convinced me to read the book again. Seems I've missed a few things the first time around. But I won't make that mistake again," Dana says.

"Bring it on, bitch," Alison says as Dana Booker walks away. Queen Bee Alison is back!

Thoughts:
The highlight of the episode was Mona reaching out and calling Hanna. Mona telling Hanna "I so love hearing your voice, too. I really miss you" was pure gold. The last few years of Pretty Little Liars, Mona desperately wanted to be part of the group and reconnect as besties with Mona. Looks like she finally did.

And it seems like the old Alison is back. She's done playing nice, which will be fun to watch.

What did you think of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists episode 1x02 "Sex, Lies and Alibis"? Do you think Ava has secrets that Nolan was blackmailing her with? What do you think of Nolan's childhood friend Mason? Do you think Claire knows Taylor is alive? Are you surprised that Spencer and Toby eloped? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

Best Quotes from Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists 1x02 "Sex, Lies and Alibis":

Alison: "Bring it on, bitch."

Dylan: "It felt like I was being buried alive one shovel of dirt at a time."