Recap: Pretty Little Liars “Over My Dead Body”

I’m still stunned over last nights mid-season finale of Pretty Little Liars. It appears that Alison’s killer was revealed-again, but we are still left scratching our heads and wondering if that’s just what we are supposed to believe. Did Jenna and Garrett actually kill Alison or are they also A’s puppets? My thoughts are so scattered, but I’ll try and sort them out here.

The show begins with Spencer, Aria and Hannah in the interrogation room at the police station. They are all covered in dirt, wearing their once beautiful dresses for Tom’s wedding. The episode is shown in flashbacks up to twelve hours prior, but guess who is back? Detective Wilden, or as I like to affectionately call him, Detective Jerk Face. Yeah, I don’t like him. Never been a fan of the tough cop image and he’s got that and his own self-importance in spades.

As we go back those twelve hours, Maya wants to start fresh with Emily, Caleb comes back and Jackie is moving in on Ezra. Aria catches her in Ezra’s office and overhears him tell her that he is with someone and that’s how things are going to stay. Aria’s phone buzzes and it’s a text from A showing a photo of Dr. Sullivan and the words “She’s still alive” from A.

The scene switches to Spencer’s house with the four girls surrounding a large crate with the words “Open or she dies” painted on it. Of course, no one knows how it got INSIDE Spencer’s house which is always chilling. The girls finally open it and inside are three creepy dolls (ew!), all looking like each of the girls, and another note: “You have until 7 pm to save her, These are my demands.” The first doll goes to Aria, and as she pulls the string on the back, the doll says, “Make Jackie go away.” Her doll comes with copies of Jackie’s paper that is going to be published, and the original paper she plagiarized. A wants Aria to blackmail Jackie.

Hannah’s doll says “Stop the wedding.”  Spencer’s doll says “Keep Toby safe.” Spencer tell the girls that earlier, Toby found that his brakes had been leaking fluid because the line was cut. He thought he must have rolled over something, but now we know A was involved. Spencer figures that the only way to keep Toby safe is to keep him away from her. Emily didn’t get a doll, but Aria reminds her that she had been A’s target for weeks. Maybe A is done playing with Emily for now?

As the girls are trying to figure things out, Emily asks the six million dollar question: If this is all a game that A is playing, why? To what end? She puts the girls in positions that could ruin them, then she helps them out of it, but for what? Spencer says, “No, it’s brilliant! A is being our ultimate frenimy forcing us to get what we want but knowing that when we do…” “All hell breaks loose,” Hannah finishes. Again I ask, why? The girls realize that they have to follow their instructions because A will not hesitate in killing Dr. Sullivan. A has also effectively reined the girls into their secretive world again. If they tell anyone what’s been happening, like the confided in Dr. Sullivan, people get hurt. A can get to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Meanwhile, Garrett tells his boss about the missing 5th page in  Alison’s case file, and says that there is no evidence of that page anywhere. Page five contained the analysis of the trace evidence found on Alison’s body, which of course, would reveal her killer.

Aria’s flashback shows her bringing the plagiarized papers to Jackie, telling her to leave Hollis for good.

Hannah and Emily are in her room where Hannah is hesitating about ruining her father’s wedding as instructed. Enter, Tom. I don’t get why all is forgiven with this guy. He takes sides against his own daughter and makes her feel as if she has to apologize for her actions from the night before, and that’s alright with her? I’m not on board with that at all. Tom is a jerk and Hannah and Ashley were much better off without him and his new, skanky step-daughter.

Aria is getting ready for the wedding when Ella comes in and apologizes for making her lie about Mike’s attack. The doorbell reveals Jackie. This woman has to go. She turns the blackmail around back to Aria and tells her that she will tell everyone about the student/teacher affair if Aria doesn’t leave Ezra. I can’t wait to see her fall.

Emily is on her way to the wedding but her GPS is giving her odd directions. She looks in her back seat and there is her Chucky doll. Ack! The doll says “I’m taking you to her. Go alone!” I’m totally skeeved out now.

At the wedding, Kate comes up to Hannah and Caleb and needles her about having a hangover. Ugh! Go away! When Hannah goes away to answer her phone, Kate comes on to Caleb, but he tells her that although her dress is very pretty, it totally shows her fat roll. Yay, Caleb! I love that guy! On Hannah’s phone is a text from A: “She’s running out of air.”

Emily arrives at a barn as the wedding continues. Hannah interrupts and tells Isobel that she needs to talk to her. Hannah tells her about Tom’s hook-up with Ashley when he came back. Tom overhears and gives Hannah the hurt father look, which sickens me. How dare he?! At this point, Hannah receives another text from A giving her the address where Dr. Sullivan is being kept.

Emily goes inside the barn and finds Dr. Sullivan’s car and it’s running. As she looks inside, someone closes and locks the door. As she is passed out, someone drags her outside and she appears to wake up. However, we soon see that it’s only a dream as Alison appears by her side. Alison is telling Emily that she was always her favorite because no one loved her as much as she did. Emily asks if this is what dying is like and Alison says that “that b**ch” thinks that this is what Emily wants, to be totally free of A. When Emily asks if Alison knows who A is, Alison says she does but she won’t tell Emily. Em asks why and Alison repeats the words of the show’s theme song: “Because two can only keep a secret if one of them is dead.” When Em wakes up again, all three girls are there. She tells them that she saw Alison.

Flash forward and Em is finally rejoined with the other girls in the interrogation room. Spencer’s mother is trying to get in to see her daughter and Jason shows up as well. Mr. Hastings tells Jason he needs to stay far away from this mess, but Jason won’t leave. Jason tells him that he didn’t kill Alison and that not only was she good at keeping her secrets, but she was good at punishing people with the truth. What truth? Is Jason really Spencer’s brother? That’s what I think. Jason asks if Mrs. Hastings knows and the mister says no and that she is not going to find out tonight. Meaning he’s ready to tell her after they get the girls cleared?

Back to two hours prior, the girls find a shovel outside the barn with a message giving the coordinates of where to start digging. They see a tube sticking out of the ground and frantically begin digging with their hands. They find a mask and Dr. Sullivan’s clothes but no Dr. Sullivan. Then they are surrounded by the police. It was all a setup.

Present day, Ezra shows up at the police station and Ella tells him to leave before anyone finds out that he’s there for – Spencer. She is such an idiot.

Mrs. Spencer is in with the girls who are wondering how Detective Jerk Face is back on the case. She tells them that he has evidence to back up his allegations. Of course, it’s the shovel which is revealed to have been the murder weapon. Without page 5, I have no idea how this in known.

Garrett and Jenna lock themselves in another room and here is where we find out that they are the ones who set the girls up. They are also the ones who took page 5 and they actually have it with them! Garrett is ready to give up his career right away and we find out that the only reason he joined the force was to find that fifth page and take it. We also find out that they are the ones who planted the note on Jason the night of Alison’s death. Garrett tells Jenna to take page 5 home and burn it. there is no longer any evidence linking them to the night of Alison’s death. Jenna says, “She deserved to die like that.”

In the end scene, Dr. Sullivan is in a restaurant where A meets her. She says she’s done everything A has asked her to do, and A hands her an envelope. Exit Dr. Sullivan but she doesn’t look happy at all. What does A have on her that made her do as she was told against her own clients? The waitress comes to pour coffee for A and she calls A “pretty eyes”. Wha? I feel like Blues Clues, “A clue! A clue!”

Over My Dead Body was the mid-season finale, but there will be a Halloween special Wednesday, October 19, at 8/7 Central, on ABC Family.

What did you think about this episode? Do you think that Jenna and Garrett were being used by A too? They never actually said that they killed Alison, only that she deserved to die that way. But they had page 5 of the case file, so it doesn’t mean they were there.

Do you think that Jason is a Hastings too? Let’s talk about it in the comments below!