Pretty Little Liars - A is for A-L-I-V-E

Pretty Little Liars returns for it's Fourth Season picking up from last season's cliffhanger with the Liars and Mona (Janel Parrish) discovering the missing Detective Wilden’s (Bryce Johnson) police cruiser (followed shortly by the discovery of the detective's dead body). Mona's quick thinking retrieves the car's hard drive and any evidence of Hanna's mother (Laura Leighton) connection to Wilden or her accidentally running over deranged cop with his own squad car. What follows is an unexpected honest discussion of A and her role in their tormentor's schemes between the Liars and Mona (including a trip to her lair).

Turning Mona from an enemy into a ally isn't the easiest thing to do, especially in a single episode, but despite the Liars' apprehension "A is for A-L-I-V-E." does a pretty good job selling such a seismic shift. Despite Hanna's (Ashley Benson) assertion that they can trust Mona and her firm belief that Allison (Sasha Pieterse) pulled the Liars from the fire, Emily (Shay Mitchell) is less convinced. Spencer (Troian Bellisario) helps Toby (Keegan Allen) search the burned down cabin for signs of the mysterious Red Coat while wondering if Hanna might be right.


It appears the love lives of the Liars won't get less complicated this year. Although Spencer and Toby appear to be happily reunited, Aria's (Lucy Hale) paranoia goes into overdrive when she learns Ezra (Ian Harding) has accepted a full-time position at the high school just as she and her friends begin their senior year. And after getting a full scholarship to Stanford, Paige (Lindsey Shaw) tries to convince Emily to come with her to California after graduation. Toby wants nothing more than to put the past behind him and move forward with Spencer, but A knows just what strings to pull to push Toby back into the fold.

The episode ends with new threats from A, who even makes an appearance at the funeral, as well as a new police investigation into the death of Wilden (whose weird fascination with the Liars is sure to raise some questions). After an ominous text message from A, the Liars and Mona head to Wilden's funeral to try and discover what their tormentor has hidden in the dead cop's coffin (which isn't what they expect).

The season premiere offers more answers than I was expecting but still finds a way to restore the status quo with A in control working behind the scenes by threatening and controlling those closest to the Liars to get whatever she wants. The episode also marks an appearance by Andrea Parker and Allison's mother who finally feels up to moving back to Rosewood unaware that several of her daughter's closest friends believe Allison is alive and has been torturing them for years.