Pretty Little Liars recap Season 6, Episode 9: Last Dance

July 19, 2024

I’ll admit it: senior prom ended up being better than I expected.

I got a little verklempt seeing our girls make it to his high school milestone and I appreciated their A+ fashion game. The obligatory cliffhanger ending was made palatable by some genuine surprises along the way. The best of these was Veronica Hastings and the rest of the PLL moms getting tipsy on cabernet and setting off on their own A-related adventure. That was really fun.

This week, the Liars learned what we already knew: that the school board had decided not to let them attend out of concern for the safety of Rosewood High’s other students. After A’s disturbing exhibit at Aria’s gallery showing, the girls begrudgingly agreed to make do with a “promette” in the Hastings barn. “No one wants to put on ball gowns and get splinters in their butts,” Emily concluded.

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Of course, where there’s a will, there’s a capital A way and the girls made it to their official fairy tale-themed high school prom. You’d think security would have been a bit tighter given everything that’s happened in Rosewood, but they all managed to waltz right in, noticed only by a crabby teacher who ordered them to hit the exits, but didn’t seem interested in following up on her demand.

The Liars were wary of Charles’s attendance, having already attended a prom of his design. But they still managed to have somewhat of a normal prom experience — dancing, romance, idealistic conversations about the future. Ali, on the other hand, was there on business, trying to find Charles, who was wearing a red cape and a mask…like 15 or so other attendees.

All of this fairy tale drama, of course, was to get us to next week, when we finally see A’s face. In the meantime, let’s review what this week’s episode revealed:

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Aria won the competition that A’s handiwork stalled last week. She won a cash prize and an internship in Los Angeles. But she’s worried that she won’t be able to leave Rosewood without knowing that A is caught. “He’s probably waiting for me at baggage claim,” Aria says. And she’s probably right.

Ezra is going to Thailand to work with Habitat for Humanity, not — as Aria assumed — following her to LA. The two agreed that it could be a fresh start for both of them. Who says you can’t be friends with your ex?

Clark is a cop and he has the badge to prove it. This was a twist I definitely did not see coming. Aria had been trying to get in touch with her suddenly elusive friend Clark to find out why Emily, Spencer and Hanna spotted him at the abandoned doll factory. When Aria saw Clark taking photos at Rosewood’s prom, he made up some lame story about not wanting to upset her since he knew she was banned from prom. It turns out he’s undercover — a cover that was almost blown when the girls (with Toby and Ezra) confronted him and his department-issued firearm at the prom.

Caleb is going to be making bank as an “information risk analyst” in New York. He wants to take Hanna with him and live happily ever after while paying her tuition and living in a big house. He assured Hanna that his new gig had nothing to do with A, but he was also pretty shady about it, initially telling her that he was going to visit his dad. In the end, he couldn’t even tell her the name of the company. Let’s just hope it’s not The Carissimi Group.

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The other moms didn’t know about Jessica DiLaurentis’s affair with Peter Hastings, which resulted in Spencer and Ali’s shared half-brother, Jason.

Veronica is not over the affair…or the fact that Jessica was buried in her lawn. Is it wrong that I laughed when she slurred: “That’s where the dog dug her up”?

The girls get it from their mamas. After maybe one too many glasses of wine, Veronica decided to go over to the DiLaurentis house and ask Kenneth a few pointed questions. Kenneth was nowhere to be found, but the moms did find the photo of Jessica, Jason and Charles and they started looking around for other clues.

While they were browsing, Rhys Matthews strolled in through the already open door and asked for Kenneth. This would appear to throw a wrench into at least one PLL theory — the Rhys as Charles theory, since Charles was (supposedly) playing hide-and-seek with Ali at prom. It might also throw a wrench in the Charles as A theory — as Emily’s mom notes that Charles and A aren’t necessarily the same person.

Another clue that there are multiple players in the A game: the moms ended up getting locked in the basement, where a light fixture conveniently fell and enveloped them in darkness. “How did they get through it, our girls?” Heather asked, irony noted. “They went through this and much worse.” The only thing that separated the teens from the parents in this scenario was this Veronica Hastings wisdom that echoes some of my own PLL questions: “Why didn’t any of us bring our phone?”

Sara and Emily ended up at the prom together after all. Sara ended up leaving her school’s prom early to coming to dance with Emily and deliver a (possibly foreboding?) message: “Emily, I just want you to know, whatever happens, you mean a lot to me.”

Charles might want to hurt Ali. Despite her insistence that Charles has never been threatening with her, Ali’s encounter with the person we presume to be Charles was pretty menacing. “Looks like it’s just the two of us,” he texted her, before covering her scream with his glove and whisking her to a deserted hallway.

“Please Charles, just talk to me” Ali pleaded as he lifted his mask. Ali’s response: “Oh my God” could mean any number of things, but I think we’re meant to take it as her coming face-to-face with A. I don’t think it’s hit me fully, but next week we could be having this very same reaction. I’m so excited I might wear a ball gown.

Kidding. Sort of.

Lingering questions: Is Kenneth DiLaurentis okay? Is Rhys Charles or A? Neither? Or both? Who locked the #PLLMoms in the basement? Where is Jason? Where is Mona? Is Clark the only undercover cop among us?

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