On this week’s episode of Pretty Little Liars, Charles plans to return to Rosewood for his birthday, which frightens Ken and causes mixed emotions for the PLLs, Spencer and Toby reunite, and Mike confronts Mona about her distance.
Spencer and Aria try calling Ali with no luck while Spencer researches information on removing the PLLs’ microchips. Soon enough though, Spencer backpedals, saying the girls should leave the chips in because it’s their only edge over Charles. Moments later, Aria gets a text from Mona saying Lesli has agreed to meet with them at all tomorrow at the Vanderwaal house. They try calling Ali again to fill her in on Charles, but there’s still no answer.
Simultaneously, Ken takes preventive measures to protect Ali from Charles by getting her out of Rosewood. Despite Ken’s lack of answers, Ali is aware that something is wrong, and when she finds the birthday card from Charles wedged between the seats of Ken’s car, she knows Charles is planning on coming for her family.
Cue opening theme.
Hanna texts Aria on her way down to breakfast and is surprised to learn that her mother obtained a 30,000 dollar scholarship from a place called The Carissimi Group to use for her college tuition. Ashley got the heads up from Jason, since his mom, Jessica donated money there all the time. Hanna is happy.
At The Brew, Emily tries to get in touch with Ali, but she comes up short. She also runs into Sara’s friend, Claire, who wants to see her and make amends. Emily promises she’ll tell Sara to call her.
Toby returns to Rosewood and hopes to catch up with Spencer, except Spencer has other plans. She claims Aria is going to help her write her valedictorian speech, though Toby seems to catch on that she’s lying. Spencer deflects Toby’s concerns, promising she’ll call him later.
At Mona’s, Lesli is a no show, which angers Hanna and the others. Mona tells them Lesli is worried talking to them might set her back, leaving them to re-group and make up for lost time.
Later, at the Fields’ house, Emily and Sara discuss the possibility of Sara meeting up with Claire. They also exchange thoughts about where they’re both at in terms of their relationship.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo looks for Ali at the DiLaurentis house, but instead finds Jason, who says that Ali’s out of town. Lorenzo is worried, since he’s called Ali and she hasn’t called him back. Jason reassures Lorenzo he’ll pass along the message then finds a birthday invitation from Charles instructing him to go to 72183 Wallaby Ave. Jason is advised to “go alone or not at all.”
At the Montgomery house, Aria makes a clean break from her “doll phase” by getting rid of all her old dolls and also discusses Mona’s distance with Mike. Aria swears she’s not responsible for her younger brother’s romantic problems.
Emily plays the third wheel while Sara and Claire catch up. Things become even more awkward when Claire invites Sara over to her house for dinner and Emily thinks it’s a no-go, since Sara won’t be as safe outside of Rosewood.
Spencer and Hanna meet at The Brew. Spencer feels bad about lying to Toby, while Hanna tries to find more insight about the Carissimi scholarship. As it turns out, the scholarship isn’t listed and Hanna is directed to an investment firm’s homepage. The firm has a link to Radley and Spencer wonders if Ali’s mom’s favorite charity was Charles’ bank account. Spencer also gets a call from Ali, who informs her half-sister that she’s being forced to hide out since Charles is alive and has threatened her father. In addition, Ali voices her concerns about Jason and his determination to meet up with their oldest brother.
While Spencer takes the call and Hanna keeps looking into The Carissimi Group, Hanna doesn’t notice Sabrina slip weed candy into Spencer’s bag.
At the hotel where Ali is staying, Ken loses his patience upon finding her on the phone against his wishes. Ali thinks Jason needs “protection;” Ken says he needs “one day to figure things out.”
Back at the Fields’ house, Emily gets a text from Spencer and Sara announces she’s going to go stay with Claire for a while, so she and Emily can have a chance at a real relationship.
Meanwhile, Hanna, Spencer, Aria look to talk to Jason at the DiLaurentis house, but he won’t answer the door.
Mike catches Mona off guard when he surprises her at her house. He brings her Aria’s old dolls and they finally talk things out. Mona still feels bad that her plan went awry and hurt Mike; Mike is just happy that Mona is alive.
Later, the PLLs fill Emily in on Charles’ homecoming and the girls are divided on how they should proceed. Emily and Aria think it’s best to let the police act, but Spencer and Hanna don’t want to wait around. Hanna used one of Caleb’s GPS trackers to keep tabs on Jason’s car, so the next step is to remove their microchips if they want to stay off Charles’ radar. Spencer also suggests they call in Toby for extra backup now that he’s a cop.
When Spencer calls Toby over and she fills him in on what’s happening, he’s upset that she lied, but agrees to help. The only condition is that the girls stay put and let him take care of everything. Though reluctant, Spencer agrees and Toby heads out, unknowingly taking the weed candy from Sabrina he spots on Spencer’s couch.
Ken worries that Ali is getting ready to leave the hotel, though she assures him she isn’t sneaking out and pretends to get ready for bed. Later, Ali sneaks out with Mona’s help and alerts the police about a possible situation at her house. The police find the invite from Charles.
At Rosewood PD, Toby eats Spencer’s weed candy from Sabrina and asks Lorenzo to help him keep watch on Charles by Wallaby Ave.
Back at the Hastings’ house, Spencer worries that Toby is hurt after not hearing any updates from him and the girls agree to help make sure he’s okay.
Jason waits for Charles at an abandoned arcade, though there’s seemingly no sign of the elder DiLaurentis brother. However, Charles spots Jason from afar and sees that all the girls’ microchips have them placed at the Hastings’ house.
Later, Jason ignores calls from his dad and comes face to face with a hooded Charles, but Toby, Lorenzo, and the PLLs burst onto the scene before they can talk. Angry that he has been betrayed, Charles causes a diversion and makes a clean getaway when Toby has a reaction to Spencer’s weed candy and cannot focus. Additional police arrive and break up the situation.
When Hanna returns home, she and her mom, Ashley argue about Charles and her scholarship money. Hanna thinks taking the money is a bad move, but Ashley says she’s already deposited the check.
At the Montgomery house, Aria and Mike talk. Mike shares news of his meeting with Mona and Aria admits she’s still scared of Charles. Mike also brings her an envelope from the photography contest she entered; when she opens it, Aria learns she’s a finalist.
Spencer tries to talk to Toby at the police stage and apologize for the mishap involving the weed candy, but he’s still high and unwilling to hear her out, so she leaves.
At the Fields’ house, Emily is upset that Sara has gone and has a small fit.
Meanwhile, at the DiLaurentis house, Ali and Jason discuss the night’s events and Jason says he wanted one moment alone with Charles so he could convince Charles to turn himself in to the police. Moments later, Ali and Jason hear a voice coming from upstairs and find an old home movie playing in their attic. They’re at the arcade for their cousin, Freddie’s birthday. Freddie pauses from the fun for a second to ask when he has to go back, but Ali and Jason’s mom, Jessica tells him he won’t have to leave for a while, allowing him to enjoy his fun again.
Remembering the movie and their mother’s instructions to keep Freddie’s birthday at the arcade a secret from their father, Ali and Jason realize that “Freddie” is actually Charles. While the movie continues to play, Ali finds a note from Charles that reads: “I wAnted to trust you.”
Meanwhile, Charles opens a birthday gift: a photo of himself, Jason, and Ali from that day at the arcade.
End of episode.
Image Credit: Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com.
Pretty Little Liars airs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC Family.