The mid-season finale of Pretty Little Liars aired this week and the cliffhanger will have to tide fans over until the Halloween episode in October and the eventual return of the show in early 2013.
The episode engaged in a fair bit of misdirection, of course. Aria, Hanna and Spencer confronted Emily about Paige being a very bad girl. While Emily refused to believe her friends, the audience spent a lot of the episode watching Paige engage in some very suspicious behavior, including trying to alienate Emily from her friends and sneaking away.
Meanwhile, “A” proposed a truce, but demanded that the girls bring her Maya’s bag. When Caleb got wind of the meeting he insisted that he would go with them. As Garrett’s trial for Maya’s murder heated up, Emily decided to get away for the weekend with Nate. And Mona managed to escape her asylum to rendezvous with another member of the “A” team. Thus, the stage was set for the grand finale of he episode.
The girls arrived at the graveyard while Caleb hid out of sight with Maya’s bag. At the inn, Emily got a mysterious call warning her to get out, while back at the cemetery the girls wondered why “A” was already 30 minutes late. Shortly after, Caleb and the girls split up, with each of them heading to a small town where they thought Emily might be staying. And it seems like they had good reason to worry about Emily’s safety, because it turns out that Nate not only got very creepy, very fast, but he was also apparently Maya’s stalker, not her cousin. His name is actually Lyndon James and he had Paige tied up in the closet.
Holding a knife to Paige’s throat, Lyndon was momentarily distracted from his plan to punish Emily by killing Paige, and that’s when Emily made a break for it. Lyndon pursued her through the woods while the girls realized that they had headed to the wrong inn. Emily managed to get a cell signal at the top of the lighthouse, but Lyndon soon interrupted her call to the police. The pair fought and Emily managed to stab Lyndon moments before Caleb arrived on the scene. As Caleb comforted Emily, a shot rang out.
The girls arrived at the inn in time to see Caleb being taken away on a stretcher, with Lyndon in a body bag. Afterwards, at the hospital (while waiting for Caleb to get out of surgery), the girls found out that Garrett had been released because Maya’s murder was pinned on Lyndon.
UPDATE: According to a TV Guide interview with PLL producer Marlene King, Nate is definitely Maya’s killer. Is it just me, or was that not terribly clear?
But the biggest reveal came at the end, when Mona headed back to the asylum. Accompanying her was another member of the “A” team. Who, you ask? TOBY! Toby is a secret “A” team member who slept with Spencer earlier in the episode only to betray her and all of her friends. Holy moly! Did you see that one coming, Pretty Little Liars fans?! He and Mona want to get their hands on Maya’s cell phone, which Paige unknowingly has. In the final moments of the episode, we saw Toby sitting in his creepy lair purchasing tickets for a Halloween event. Foreshadowing for the upcoming Halloween special episode?
Of course, this being Pretty Little Liars, there are still a few loose ends. Lyndon doesn’t really come out and say that he specifically killed Maya. I interpreted his anger against Emily to mean that he was jealous Maya chose Emily over him and then that Emily chose Page over him. So did he kill Maya for her betrayal or was he just crazy? Not only that, but what actually happened in the lighthouse to get Caleb shot? We never actually saw the shooter. Go read some of my theories about Toby and the other summer finale twists in our new forum and share your own thoughts as well!
Don’t miss the Halloween special of Pretty Little Liars on Tuesday, October 23 and tune in to the show’s new webseries, which premiered today. In fact, you can watch the first episode of the series here.
Don’t forget to browse and bookmark our Pretty Little Liars page for news, reviews, spoilers, and sneak peeks for the show.
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Everyone is forgetting the fact that Toby called Emily and told her to get out of the house. I think he’s trying to protect them
So true! Do you think he’s actually trying to help the girls by pretending to the “A” team that he’s really a betrayer? All this time he knew spencer was trying to protect him, why would he want to hurt her, right?
I don’t know if this is what made the gun go off and shoot Caleb but what makes a bullet go is intense heat so when he set the gun next to the lighthouse light it might have been enough heat to make to gun shoot without anyone actually pulling the trigger.
I reckon you are right Erin! I reckon Toby is trying to help the girls. Maybe initially he was in on it but then fell in love with spencer and has changed sides? I cannot believe Nate was Mayas murder! Obviously the murders aren’t linked now! But Garrets smile? Ahhhhh and Jenna warning Emily and everything linking to paige? That was super clever. i love this show.
Was it Toby in the Lair? Or the Head A? Lyndon shot Caleb. Caleb left the gun near a recently killed body. Of course the body gets up and grabs the gun.
Toby, Toby, Toby. How could you screw Spencer both ways? Hopefully he’s a double agent.
Lucie D, I think you are right to! Did you notice, after him & spencer finished their “alone time” when they were hugging, the look on his face? I rewatched the episode, & paused it. His expression is something like, “I know I shouldn’t do this” or “This is wrong”. But then I noticed at the end of the episode & he’s revealed, he has a sort of mad, or angry look on his face as he walks away. I still stick with my feeling of maybe he’s actually trying to stop this whole “A” thing by pretending. As I watch season 1 & season 2, spencer has never hurt toby, she has always helped him, & loved him, & he knew this. & the other girls were never rude to him either, besides Allison. That’s why I think there’s going to be a later twist with that…but we shall see! I know the halloween special shows in october, but when are they starting in january again, do you know?
Ather, yes that was toby. Marlene King even said so herself on twitter. She let us know a lot of things after the finale was over!