Pretty Little Liars - Episode 4.14- "Who's In The Box?" Winter Premiere Review

Spencer, Hanna, Emily and Aria came back with their detective hats on, and tonight's premiere let us in on a few interesting facts, but was actually a pretty slow (and tangent-y) episode overall.

The girls know Ali is alive and they aren't as happy as they thought they'd be, as they all now realize that she was probably the worst friend that ever existed. Emily seems to be the liar who struggles with her emotions over Ali being alive the most, understandably enough, as Ali was her first love and heartbreak.

Hanna, who's clearly been using her brain muscles more now that Caleb isn't around to exercise her lip muscles, plays Spencer and comes up with a theory (and uses the actual word "theory"!). She finds out about a girl named Sarah Hardee from a nearby town, who disappeared around the same time as Ali, had similar physical traits as Ali, and could be the person who landed herself in Ali's grave. The girls want to know more, so Hanna and Emily arrange a meeting with Sarah's friends Hannah and Emily, who basically describe Sarah as Alison 2.0. I'm curious to see where this storyline goes, since Emily eventually finds out that Sarah was spotted after Ali went missing, so it couldn't be her in the grave. We all know that PLL would NEVER introduce a plot point only to resolve it within the same episode!

Meanwhile, Toby and Spencer make some interesting yet random discoveries that could take the story in a whole new direction.
Toby's mother's death was no accident and Radley knew it, but was keeping tight lipped. Spencer shares this cover-up info with her father (yes, Mr. Hastings is back and as sketchy as ever), whom immediately (and suspiciously) thinks the couple should head up a"Shut Radley the hell down" campaign that seems to feel more like a "Cover his own ass" campaign.

Spencer also questions her father about Jason's whereabouts, because no one's seen him for a few episodes, which we all know in Rosewood means he's probably been murdered. Mr. Hastings warns Spencer to stay away from the DiLaurentis clan... arguably the most sound piece of advise anyone's given anyone on this show in a while.

Finally, we were treated to one ship sailing (bye-bye Haleb) and another one secretly pulling back in to dock
(oh...heeey Ezria).

Hanna wasn't thrilled that Caleb came to visit from Ravenswood for only one episode and wanted him to stay for the whole season, but Caleb has his own show to worry about now and there was no way he was telling Hanna that everyone's dying over in Ravenswood too, so the couple ended up saying their tearful goodbyes as he left in enough time to make it back by 9pm EST/6pm PST.

Ezra and Aria met at a secret cabin that A-zra is "looking after for a friend" ( read: A's new lair) and promptly began doing what they do best, having a secret relationship and making out. Looks like sneaky Ezria from S1 is back, yall.

Tonight's episode felt more like a set-up for plot points that will move us through the rest of the season, as opposed to an explosive season premiere, but with some of the tidbits they gave us, I'm still excited to see how the rest of the season shapes up.


What are your thoughts about last night's premiere?
Did you enjoy the A-zra/Mon-A creep-off?
Are you even remotely interested in this new Decladine/Radley plot angle?
Do you hope smart Hanna sticks around?
What do you think Ali wrote about the girls in her journal?


Let's have a pretty little chat in the comments below!

About the Author - Jasmine Alyce

Jasmine Alyce is a co-host on 3 Girls and a Podcast, alongside Fanbolt.com's Emma Loggins and Electric Sons Band Manager Christina Guererro. The show airs Thursday nights at 11pm EST.
She is also the Co-Editor/Co-Founder of entertainment website Big Girls Don't Gossip,with fellow Co-Editor/Co-Founder Alanna Bass.

Jasmine graduated from Georgia State University in 2009 with her BA in Broadcast Journalism considers herself an entertainment news/ pop culture connoisseur.