Pretty Little Liars Season 6 wasted no time diving headfirst back into the dangerous terrain of Charles’ spooky dollhouse lair. Picking right up where the spring finale left off, “Game On, Charles” found the Liars and Mona in a terrifying predicament and gave viewers a glimpse of someone who could become a very big part of this Big A mystery. Basically, Tuesday nights are back to being awesome.
Anyone else starting to seriously wish they had bought stock in whatever company produces that very distinctive yellow shirt? Because it turns out that Mona isn’t the only prisoner in Charles’ bunker sporting a very Alison-like look. Though the new girl’s identity remained a mystery at first, she was revealed later on to be none other than Sara Harvey, another girl who went missing right around the same time Ali did. And given that the walls of her prison cell were covered in tallies, odds are she’s been a prisoner of this lair for quite some time. But as for what Charles wanted with her, well, consider that the latest question for us to add to our ever-growing list.
If you thought Charles was going to forgive the Liars and Mona for their little dance and dash at prom, think again. As punishment for their attempt to flee, their host locked them out in the cold with no food or water for hours on end. And even when the doors to the bunker eventually reopened, their troubles were still far from over. After subjecting Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily to tear gas, Charles instructed them all to return to their rooms where a surprise awaited each other them. And judging by the sound of their terrified screams, it wasn’t by any means a good surprise. So much so that when the girls were finally reunited, they couldn’t even discuss what actually happened to them. Perhaps they’ll be in a more sharing-type mood later on.
Viewers still have some time until the big time Season 6 jump ensues, but Tuesday’s premiere gave fans a little taste of some time warp fun by fast-forwarding things to three weeks later. Back in Rosewood, Andrew Campbell was officially missing and considered to be the No. 1 suspect behind the Liars’ kidnapping. Meanwhile, Alison had recently been released from prison after word got out that Mona was actually still alive. There’s a different side to Ali that we’ve never really seen before one that’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring her friends safely back home.
In fact, she even helped Caleb, Ezra, and Toby create a diversion for the police to follow so that she could escape and schedule a face-to-face with A in the hopes of him leading them all back to his lair. And aside from a few hiccups, their plan went off without much of a hitch. But we’ll get to that in a minute…
Back at the bunker, the girls were forced to unpack a ton of boxes that all contained Ali’s stuff, including items back from her childhood days. Realizing that this was A’s way of letting them know that the real Ali’s arrival was at hand, Spencer decided they’d try to make a break for it that night as soon as the generator shut down.
Spencer’s line of thinking was: If they could just get into the vault where Charles keeps all of his prized possessions, they could use those items to bargain their way to freedom. And thanks to some super-sleuthing on Emily’s part, they were able to find a secret passage that lead them right to their destination. So to prove they meant business, the girls started to burn his home movies along with anything else they could get their hands on, forcing Charles to watch his memories go up in flames.
And to add further fuel to this fire, who should arrive outside the bunker at that same exact moment, but Alison herself, which left Charles with a very big decision to make. Should he rescue his things or go grab Ali?
For what has to be the first time in… well… ever, the Liars’ plan actually worked out! After setting pretty much everything in the room on fire, Charles opted to save his possessions rather than go after Ali. But it ended up being for the best, considering Caleb and Ezra weren’t too far behind her, proving that Caleb is as just as good a tracker as he is a computer hacker. They were about to open up the lair doors when the Liars themselves came bursting out in a cloud of smoke, along with Mona who they rescued from the bottom of a pit that had a very Silence of the Lambs feel to it. Of course, this all led to a very sweet reunion for many different ‘shipping pairs: Caleb and Hanna; Ezra and Aria; Spencer and Toby; and even Emily and Alison, who shared a tender, handholding exchange. Looks like Emerson is back on the table, folks!
While the police were unable to capture Charles (no surprise there), they did find and rescue Sara Harvey, whose motives and purpose still remain unclear. It was then that Emily decided to ask Alison the one question we’ve all been obsessing over since March: who is Charles DiLaurentis? Is only we knew, Emily. If only we knew.
