TV REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars “Scream For Me”

By Nicole Bozzani

Nothing in Rosewood is ever as it appears to be. There was a storm brewing in last night’s “Scream For Me” but was A to blame or was Ali up to her old tricks? The episode had plenty of twists and turns to go around, not to mention the promise of bright new futures, more details about Bethany, and some awful displays of friendship.

Ella is getting married to seemingly wonderful coffee shop owner, Zack. Naturally she asks Aria to be her maid of honor and Aria agrees. Unfortunately, her snooping for clues at Radley get in the way, and she begins to drop the ball on all her maid of honor duties. The important part of this story is Zack. The few times he’s appeared, he’s been nothing but normal. He could even be considered sweet. Anyone would be happy to see Ella moving on to someone so great and whose practically the total opposite of Aria’s dad, Byron. But this episode Zack’s creeptastic self came out in full force. Despite the fact everyone turns out to be someone else, he’s far more sketchy than any faithful Pretty Little Liars viewer could have imagined. Zack put the moves on Hanna. Not only is that uncomfortable, but it’s hard to figure out where that whole story is going. Hanna turns down his advances and attempts to tell Aria. Aria doesn’t believe her which is entirely unfair.

Sure, Hanna has been drinking quite a bit lately. More than any teenager probably should. Her friends are “concerned” but are they really all that concerned? The Liars seem to use her insecurities against her and underestimate her all the time. She may not be the inherently smartest character on the show, but she says what everyone is thinking. She’s blunt and to the point. Ali is perhaps the worst when it comes to preying on Hanna. She has a certain control over her that involves making Hanna feel lower than low. “Scream for Me” saw Ali taking it one step further and preying on Ms. Marin. Ali may need a motherly figure in her life right now for multiple reasons. Safety and security mostly, but also to keep her story from unraveling. If one parent can be an advocate for her who could possibly be willing to challenge them?

(ABC FAMILY/Eric McCandless)
LAURA LEIGHTON, SASHA PIETERSE

With the information Aria is given by Big Ronda at Radley, Spencer and Emily take a little journey to the horse stables. As with any of these little trips, A won’t stand down and traps them inside. Of course, they discover a random clue: Melissa’s riding helmet. Was it planted? Is it an actual clue? Or was it something simple like a donation to the stable because she had outgrown it?

The girls also had stories of their own to deal with. Toby, who finally got a wonderful haircut, decided he wanted to join the Rosewood Police Department. It’s actually a fairly brilliant plan until realizing his entire goal of getting intel is spoiled by the fact the entire police force is as corrupt than a 9 year old playing Monopoly. Meanwhile, Emily is still dealing with Sydney. After spilling the proverbial beans to her, Hanna is enemy number one, but Emily is still willing to do damage control for her. Mainly to protect the rest of her friends, but she does it. Sydney definitely doesn’t buy it and changes the subject to Emily becoming assistant coach for the swim team. Apparently that’s just a thing that can happen. The more Sydney speaks the more the leaves from her shady tree begin to fall. Emily should probably watch her back.

There were plenty of breadcrumbs that just fell onto the ground in last night’s episode. Eddie Lamb no longer works at Radley. Where could he have gone so suddenly? What the heck is going on with Caleb and is he really going to drag Hanna down with him? Is Aria ever going to believe Hanna about Zack’s creepy behavior? Heck, will anyone tell Ella before it’s too late? And when the heck is Noel Kahn going to stop being Ali’s little puppet? Where there’s a will there’s a way, well, unless you’re being tortured by A.