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Pretty Little Liars Review: “Grave New World” (Season 4, Episode 13)

For a teen drama, Pretty Little Liars has done a commendable job of establishing a certain level of creepiness that sets it apart from the competition. For this season in particular, the team behind PLL has put an emphasis on this aspect of the show, but there's nothing like adding a cemetery to the mix to make for a spooktacular Halloween episode, right?

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After the mid-season finale I was adamant that Ezra (Ian Harding) wasn’t ‘A,’ even though the episode set it up to make him a very convincing candidate. Even after tonight I’m not entirely won over by the obvious theory. The easiest way to explain my hesitation would be to say that it seems too easy. Since when does Pretty Little Liars hand over answers on a silver platter with a perfect bow wrapped around them?

We are talking about the same show that is based on a premise that we now know to be false. For three and a half seasons we were led to believe that Alison was dead. The entire show is based on her murder. And now, we find out that she’s alive.

This episode signalled the turning point for the show, which also realistically marked the countdown to the end of the series. Up until now the overarching story revolved around finding out who killed Alison. Going forward, it’s about finding out why she would fake her own death (er, or make sure someone else with matching genetics conveniently ended up buried in her backyard) and go into hiding.

We know that she’s been relying on periphery characters to help her survive over the past few years, but my guess is that her main sponsor is someone far more apparent – her brother. Jason (Drew Van Acker) has the means to host a “runaway” teen, and the motive. He also never appeared to share the same eagerness to solve the case as her friends; so basically, there was always something a little off about him. Having him come back to Rosewood for a stint could have easily been a convenient excuse to fact find.

Pretty Little Liars kept it short and sweet during this mid-season treat, but now we have a little more (or, a little less, depending on how you took Caleb’s exit) to look forward to when PLL returns in January for the second half of season 4.

Let us know in the comment section below what you’re most looking forward to happening when Pretty Little Liars returns on January 7th!