PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: Winter Premiere Recap 1/6-Did Ali Really Kill Mona?

The ABC Family hit drama PRETTY LITTLE LIARS returns tonight, and if you thought the first half of the season was suspenseful, just wait until tonight! Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna are still under the watchful eyes of A, and it doesn't look like he or she is letting them go anytime soon.

Last time we saw the liars, they were celebrating the holidays...as best as they could with their enemy-turned-ally Mona murdered supposedly by their ally-turned-enemy (possibly?) Allison. With so many questions and very little to go on, the second half of season 5 is heavily based on trying to find Mona's killer, and finding out if said person is their tormentor, A. I personally don't think either one is Ali, but I am curious to know what is causing her to behave so secretively.

Of course, even with all of the crime drama, there are also the romantic struggles and strengths. Toby, having just finished up at the Police Academy, is fully on board to help his best girl, Spencer, and her friends. Aria and Ezra seem to be in a good place. Hanna and Caleb are stronger than ever. However, with all of the good, there has to be some bad. Unfortunately that comes in the form of Emily's girlfriend Paige leaving Rosewood for California. I'm excited to see if the two of them try to brave a long-distance relationship.

The episode starts three months after Mona's tragic murder. Her body still hasn't been found, so Mrs. Vanderwaal put her late daughter's keepsakes in her coffin. Just as the service was letting out, Allison appears to pay her respects. Mona's mother was not having it and yelled at Ali and slapped her across the face (which may seem harsh, but I'm not afraid to say she deserved it). Back at the Vanderwaal house, Hanna helps Mona's mom clear out her daughter's bedroom as she apologizes for causing a scene at the funeral. Hanna comforts her as the weight of her daughter's death takes a toll on her.

At the Hastings', Spencer and her dad catch up. Wondering why he stopped by, her father tells her that Bethany Young's parents want her bail revoked and the reason she was arrested has finally surfaced. Back at the police station, Toby is reviewing Spencer's file trying to find her arrest warrant records when Detective Tanner hands them to him. It is revealed that Jessica DiLaurentis had seen Spencer in her backyard the night Bethany was buried there. Her statement had been hidden for two year, which they found peculiar.

Aria is very tentative about talking to her brother about Mona since her passing (especially since she tried to separate the couple a couple of times). Ezra offers to try to talk to him. Meanwhile, Paige and Emily are really bummed about Paige's move to California. They reminisce about all of the things they should have been doing together towards the end of the school year. Caleb and Hanna discuss Mona's unhackable hard drive and Allison's possible hiding place for Mona's body. Hanna suggests talking to Mrs. Grunwald from Rosewood for psychic assistance, but Caleb really thinks it is a bad idea.

Allison tries to talk to Aria that night as they are passing by each other, but Aria is too frightened and angry with her to stay and chat. She blows a whistle to get the attention of people around her, and Ali runs away.

At the Hastings house, the four friends are trying to comfort Spencer as she is (rightfully) freaking out. They assure her that all they have to do is connect Ali to Bethany's and Mona's murder (I know...way easier said than done, right?). Over by Ezra, he is trying to get through to Aria's brother Mike about his feelings about the whole situation, but he seems to be calm as a cucumber. Well, maybe that's a bit much-but he's not crying non-stop, which seemed to befuddle Mr. Fitz.

Meanwhile, Hanna, against Caleb's warning, went to Mrs.Grunwald for help. All she was able to tell Hanna was that Mona's soul was not at rest and that her body was not in Rosewood.

Emily and Spencer went over to the DiLaurentis house to try to get Jason to tell them the truth about his sister's alibi the night Mona was killed. Unfortunately, he didn't budge. About to give up, Spencer goes home with Emily right behind her with an idea-she had stolen Ali's hairbrush, planning on planting her DNA at the crime scene. Spencer was hesitant (which she should be...the girl is already in enough trouble as it is).

Back at his house, Jason is flipping through old family photos when Ali walked in and they think about one photo of a day their family went skiing together-they remembered things differently. He then confronts her about where she went during Thanksgiving, and although she doesn't tell him where she was, she assures him that she did not kill Mona.

Caleb is still working on cracking Mona's hard drive, but is momentarily interrupted by Aria who wants him to use his abilities to hack into a college's website to find out why she wasn't accepted. Instead of helping her directly, he decides to teach her how to do it instead.

Spencer and Emily (despite my warning them not to by yelling at my TV screen) end up going to Mona's house to plant the evidence. However, their plan gets put on the back burner when they find a camera in the molding.They try to enlist Hanna to tell Mrs. Vanderwaal, and she agrees, reluctantly.

Aria goes to check on Mike and Ezra, when she calls her brother, she hears the phone ringing behind her and a hooded figure is standing there as she turns around. Aria keeps saying Ali's name, but the hooded figure doesn't respond; they just throw her across the wall and trap her in plastic (so they can quickly grab the computer and run-Aria gets out of the plastic within seconds).

The camera found in Mona's house was given to the police and watched with Jason DiLaurentis, who admitted to lying about his sister's alibi which led to her arrest. However, before she was taken away, she warned the liars that she was being framed by A and if they didn't help her, they would be next.

At the Montgomery house, Aria waited for her brother to come home, and when he did, she sat him down and finally had the heart-to-heart she was dreading and hoping for. When she leaves him, he finally lets himself go. This was by far my favorite scene in the episode because we never really get to see much of their brother/sister dynamic, or much of Mike in general. This was a really touching moment.

Emily and Paige have a heartbreaking goodbye at the airport before Paige has to board her flight. I'm sad to see her go because I love her and Emily together (and I love Lindsay Shaw), but I'm relieved that a character I have grown fond of will be safe and away from A's grasp (but is anyone really "away" from A?).

Spencer is surprised to see Detective Tanner and Toby in her living room that night. They had been there to let Spencer know that the DA had dropped the charges against her and that Allison is being convicted of the murders of both Bethany and Mona. Toby embraces her letting her know that it's all over...that is until she and her friends are celebrating the imprisonment of Allison DiLaurentis as a firework display goes "A"-wry. These girls are just never going to get it easy, are they?

What are you all most excited for this season? Do you think Ali killed Mona? Let me know in the comments below! PRETTY LITTLE LIARS airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC Family.

Photo Credit: ABC Family

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