Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Review “Grave New World”

Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Episode 13 Grave New World (14)

Well, it’s just about that time of year, and that can only mean one thing for “Pretty Little Liars” fans: the traditional Halloween episode! And not unlike the classic first “Halloween” movie’s sequel, this one picked up right where we left off on the last episode, on the same night and continued on until the wee hours of the morning. Okay, so, fair warning: here there be massive spoilers, so if you’re not up to speed on the show, you may as well skip this review starting now.

Okay? Still with me? Alright, here goes. So, some of us were holding out some hope that things were not as they seemed with the Ezra reveal on the last episode, “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” and that creator I. Marlene King was pulling a fast one, a la the Toby semi-fake-out when he appeared to be “A” or on the “A-Team,” at the very least, when it turned out he was only doing so to get the skinny on what happened to his mom.

Well, King said in interviews that this was not that, and she was as true as her word, as we saw that not only was Ezra “A,” but he flat-out almost killed Spencer- and probably could have, had she not injured him and he gotten himself knocked out. If he hadn’t come to in time to stop her from removing his freaky gas mask, it would have all been over for his secret identity, but he did and it was Spencer’s turn to be knocked out.

Granted, we never saw the second reveal of Ezra, but we plainly saw him dressing up in the outfit with the gas mask, so unless there was another wackadoodle dressed in the same get-up, there’s no denying Ezra is “A” at this point. He might be working with other people and blackmailing others to do his bidding, but he’s definitely a ringleader, at the very least. So, sorry, fans o’ Ezaria, but that relationship is not going to end well.

Now, the real question is: why? Why the hell is Ezra doing all this? Did Alison threaten to blackmail him? Why does he blame the girls for it? Is he just loony tunes, period? Or is there more to it than that? We already know he’s not above sleeping with high school students- did he do the same with Ali? Is he “board shorts”? So many questions.

Nor was that all. As many predicted, Ali is indeed alive- or I suppose it could be her alleged twin sister, but she acted like she knew the girls, so I’m guessing the girl who died might have actually been her sister, and this is the real deal. Or she could just be a really good actress, I suppose. Hey, Lord knows Ali was, as we’ve seen from all those flashbacks. Still, was it me or did she still seem in the dark as to who “A” was? If it were Ali, you’d think she’d know, so maybe it is the sister, who might not. Agh!

Whatever the case, it was a fun episode, with lots of creeptastic moments that are de rigueur for the Halloween episodes of the show, from the bizarre graveyard party to the freaky mansion that turned out to be the Collins Funeral Home. A little weird that most of it seemed pretty abandoned at the time- or at least in need of a good dusting, but hey, Mrs. Grunwald can only do so much, I guess.

I liked the whole conceit of a tomb leading to an underground tunnel that leads to a spooky mansion that has a lot of hidden passages and the like, not to mention a phone booth that would give Dr. Who the willies. What the what was all that about? This episode was filled to the brim with WTF moments, from the two little girls in red that actually turned out to be a little girl and a little person; to the weird interaction with Leah and her cousin, who come to think of it, was dressed pretty similar to Ezra; to the unnerving “sessions” that played on the reel-to-reel tape recorder of Ali screaming and wigging out about someone (“You can’t keep me here!”), which happened six months ago, according to Mrs. Grunwald. (That’s not even including the wacky stuff with Caleb and Miranda, which I’ll delve into in my “Ravenswood” review.)

So, all in all, typical “Pretty Little Liars,” in that it raised more questions than answers, and typical Halloween episode in that it was pretty scary and freaky throughout. Also, I’m not sure if the costume department has been watching too many old Hammer horror movies, but there were a whole lot of heaving bosoms, I might add, at least where Emily and Hanna were concerned. Not that I’m complaining, but holy cats! Did they not have costumes in their sizes or something? No wonder Hanna was out of breath!

Favorite lines:
New gal Miranda on aforementioned outfits, to Hanna: “Do you always dress like Prom Night on the Titanic?”
Emily, after Spencer looks at her when she asks if anyone knows how to change a flat tire: “And you’re looking at me ‘cause I’m gay?”
Spencer: “No, you just happen to be the sporty one.” LOL. Maybe next year, she can go as Sporty Spice for Halloween!

What did you think of the latest Halloween episode of “Pretty Little Liars”? What was your favorite scene? Still upset that “A” is Ezra? Glad Ali’s alive? (I want to say maybe they are, maybe they aren’t on both counts, but I guess it is what it is unless someone’s got better ideas!) What was up with those tapes? What did Ali say to Hanna at the hospital? What was up with Leah and her cousin? What was going on with that phone-evator? Why the hell would anyone actually want to live in Ravenswood? Would you let your BF stay behind with a cute hottie to solve a Scooby-Doo mystery? Sound off on this and more down below in the comments section, and see you in January!