TV REVIEW: Everyone’s Running From Something in Pretty Little Liars “Run, Ali, Run”

By Nicole Bozzani

To say Alison DiLaurentis is having a tough time readjusting to life in Rosewood would be an understatement.

This week on Pretty Little Liars A made a grand return with one objective in mind: to keep Ali in Rosewood. Ali is considering making a run for it once again but Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily have a different idea in mind.

It seems Ali just can’t quit running. She ultimately returned to Rosewood believing A was dead and gone. A has other plans including  a new end game that seems a bit too suspicious. For the entire series thus far A’s motive has been to end Ali once and for all but now he or she plans to keep her alive while making her suffer. It’s hard not to believe this (possibly) new A is a member of Mona’s Merry Band of Misfits. Their entire not-so-secret society was founded under the pretense they would make Ali’s return more miserable than attending a birthday party with no cake. It really would be no surprise if one of them was the hooded villain.

Hanna agrees (for whatever reason) to help Ali run away. Maybe she felt she could get her to stay by giving in. The good ol’ reverse psychology? Or maybe she felt like she wished she could run away. It must be hard choosing between Travis and Caleb. Could there even be a triumphant return of Haleb as a serious relationship? Not if Caleb has anything to say about it. He’s on the train to reconsideration town. It seems like everyone is running from something around Rosewood these days. But what’s still the most surprising thing is A’s new trajectory. It’s strictly (so far) to harm Ali and put her in her place. Sure, the rest of the Liars still receive their magical mystery texts, but far less frequently and less threatening than Ali’s. One thing that can never be disputed: The Liars are loyal friends. Any normal person would run far, far away if they got a threatening, mysterious, blackmail text! Emily seems most loyal or just blindly in love with Alison. Enough in love to attack A and save her from certain death. That is if A planned to kill Ali from the start. But does Ali feel the same or is she just manipulating the situation?

Spencer and her mother have been living apart from her father since they believe he had a hand in killing Alison’s mother. Spencer choosing to confront her father over this issue is debatable. On the one hand, it’s a relief to Spencer that her dad (or so he claims) had nothing to do with the unfortunate events surrounding Mrs. DiLaurentis’ death. But on the other hand it creates an entirely new series of questions: What were Melissa and Mr. Hastings discussing on that fateful night? In the end Spencer’s attempt at reconciling her parents fails which, in the long run, might be for the best. Those Hastings always seem to be hiding something.

In between her attempts at getting her parents to reconcile and keeping Ali safe from the newly returned version of A, Spencer visits her old friend Eddie Lamb at Radley to gather intel on Bethany Young. Who is this mysterious former patient Bethany Young and what connection does she have to Mrs. Di? Not only can Eddie Lamb not reveal any information to Spencer regarding Bethany, but Eddie Lamb seems to be quite the lover of the arts. Well, at least the art he managed to drop by Ezra’s apartment anyway. What are you up to, Eddie Lamb?

“Run, Ali, Run” continued in the tradition of Pretty Little Liars by dropping tons more breadcrumbs onto the trail, but then introducing a a wild animal to come and mess them all up. This episode was a bit slow moving at times, and a bit too easy to check out of. It didn’t exactly end with a shocker or anything gigantic, at least that viewers know of. The little A teasers are always the most frustrating but intriguing bits of the show. For now viewers are left to wonder: What will Aria find out about Bethany Young while volunteering at Radley? Will anyone ever know what Melissa and Mr. Hastings were having a “discussion” about? What was that look between Caleb and Alison from the previous episode all about? And most importantly: who the hell is A?