‘Pretty Little Liars’ Recap: Alison’s Reunion With The Girls Turns Deadly

Gangsters, gumshoes and gunshots galore? Best. Drug-induced. Hallucination. Ever. With the evidence against Ezra (Ian Harding) piling up, and the amount of pills in Spencer's (Troian Bellisario) tummy at an all-time high, there was only one place left for the residents of Rosewood to go from here: a black-and-white movie! Yes, the Feb. 11 episode of Pretty Little Liars shifted into a full-on tribute to film noir -- and a beautiful one at that.

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Reading Time: 2 minute
February 11, 2014 9:00PM EST
Pretty Little Liars 4x19
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Family

‘Pretty Little Liars’: 5 Game-Changing Reveals

While I wasn’t sure totally which parts were actually happening, and which parts were merely part of Spencer’s hallucination — for example, I’m pretty sure Hanna (Ashley Benson) doesn’t work for the phone company — here were the biggest moments from the episode that I think happened:

1. Ezra told Toby (Keegan Allen) that, not only is Alison (Sasha Pieterse) alive, but Spencer knows where to find her.

2. Ezra told Aria (Lucy Hale) that he knows she knows Alison is alive.

3. Aria told Spencer she’s been “really seeing” Ezra again.

4. The girls came face-to-face with Alison, and Spencer accused her of setting them up for… “something.”

5. And, of course, Spencer proved to Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Hanna that Ezra is “A.”

‘Pretty Little Liars’ Black & White Episode: My Review

So now that we’ve gotten that messy plot out of the way, can we just talk about how incredible this episode was? I understand that it’s probably the show’s most polarizing hour of all time — some fans will love it, while others will wonder why it was made in the first place — but even with its bizarre origins, you have to appreciate how beautifully this thing was filmed.

The lighting! The music! The costumes! Everything worked together in perfect harmony to capture the most authentic tribute to old-school noir I’ve seen in a long time. There’s a reason more shows don’t do this; it’s hard work! In terms of the acting, I think we can all agree that Troian was totally in her element; it’s like she was born to do this.

And that scene between Emily and Paige (Lindsey Shaw)? You know the one I’m talking about. Good. Lord. I think I finally understand what all the Paily fuss is about. Plus, two dames necking in a black-and-white picture? Now that‘s something I never thought I’d see!

Kudos to writer/director Joseph Dougherty. This episode was the bee’s knees.

HollywoodLifers, did you love this week’s episode as much as I did? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.

— Andy Swift

More ‘Pretty Little Liars’:

  1. ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Recap: Spencer Threatens To Expose Ezra’s Secret
  2. ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Cast & Crew Preview Black & White Noir Episode
  3. Aria’s Bold Blue Jacket From ‘Pretty Little Liars’ — Get It For $59.75