Friday, January 29, 2016

Pretty Little Liars - The Gloves are On


Five Years Forward continues to reintroduce characters in "The Gloves are On" as Hanna (Ashley Benson) turns to Lucas (Brendan Robinson) for help after the police begin questioning her mother about the missing footage from the hotel which Hanna erased, Emily (Shay Mitchell) becomes increasingly paranoid after noticing Sara Harvey (Dre Davis) shadowing her around town, and Melissa (Torrey DeVitto) immediately notices the obvious chemistry between Spencer (Troian Bellisario) and Caleb (Tyler Blackburn) which will finally prove to be the push the pair need to act on their feelings.

"The Gloves are On" offers some pretty anti-climactic reveals concerning Sara Harvey's injuries and the reasons behind Emily's doctor visits. That said, the scenes of Emily coming clean with both Hanna and her mother about her failures at college are far more effective. And, after weeks of teasing us about putting Spencer and Caleb together, I'm glad to Spencer makes a conscious effort to get Hanna's permission beforehand (although I am curious to see how Toby may react to the news). Five years later it seems Hanna's leap before think philosophy hasn't changed as her choice to erase the tape only makes her friends look more guilty and she widens the circle of lies by one without considering the consequences.

The Ezra (Ian Harding) subplot continues to point to him as the most obvious murder suspect, with even all four Liars trying to coerce a confession out of their former high school teacher at one point in the episode. Aria's (Lucy Hale) reaction to his outburst and unfinished manuscript is... unique but still classic Aria. With the episode ending in a text message from the new A it won't be long before some of these lies come back to haunt the Liars.

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