This Is A Dark Ride

This Is A Dark Ride is the thirteenth episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on October 23, 2012, as part of ABC Family's "13 Nights of Halloween".

Summary
The episode starts out with Mona in the Radley Sanitarium singing the song 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' while painting a mannequin head. After she finishes singing she starts to explain why she was painting the mannequin head, for a Halloween art project. She then explains how staff at Radley don't like to bring up the holiday Halloween because it had bad connotations for some of the patients. Then the camera pans to a figure in a black sweatshirt in the back of the room. Mona says that Halloween is even better than Christmas - "more makeup". Then she stands up and walks over to the hooded figure and says,"And this is going to be the best Halloween ever." Then she hands the hooded figure three pills and four bullets and says, "I bet somebody's life on that."

Then we see the four liars walking discussing their Halloween costumes and the ghost train party together. As they're walking they see a casket in a front yard with the words "RIP Alison DiLaurentis". A very aggravated Emily Fields walks over to take it down and Clifford Yourdly jumps out of the casket and scares the girls. As the girls walk away we see Clifford hop back inside of the casket. Spencer Hastings is talking to Garrett and he is about to tell her something, but Toby walks in and tells him to leave. Toby asks what he wanted, and Spencer tells him that he was going to tell her what happened to Alison, and who stole her body. Toby responds "Well, did he?" and Spencer says Garrett isn't going to tell her unless they're alone, and Toby says "That's not going to happen". Caleb and Hanna are still trying to hide from "A", and are making out in a storage closet at a dentist's office. They discuss about how they don't want to hide anymore, but Hanna says that would be risking not only their lives, but others too. They resume kissing.

Then it shows Aria and  Ezra. Aria is about to try on her costume, only for Ezra to reveal he won't be able to make it to the Train, because he has an interview. Aria is saddened, but understands, and then trick or treaters ring the doorbell. Aria gets up saying "Night of the living pre-schoolers." and answers the door. The camera now focuses on Ezra, he seems to be thinking something over.

Later, everyone is waiting for the train to arrive, and Lucas takes pictures of Hanna, calling her beautiful. Hanna smiles, and says thank you. Hanna meets up with Spencer, Toby, and Aria, while Noel starts choking on something. Spencer tries to help...but it ends up being a prank. The girls see Jason, and everyone boards the Ghost Train.

The scene cuts to Ashley Marin, and Ted who are passing out Halloween candy to kids. Adam Lambert begins to perform a song, with everyone dancing. A scene shows a nurse checking on Mona who is in bed...but actually it's the mask Mona made, meaning that she's on the train.

With everyone dancing, a person in a white mask and black hood with cape begins to touch Hanna, and Hanna tells him/her to leave her alone. Toby is getting a drink and Jennaasks him to pass her a drink. She asks if he likes her costume, and Toby says that he does but that he likes her better when she was blind. Jenna glares at him. Spencer is wandering around the train and talks to Jason. Jason says he saw Garrett hanging out at her house, and says that "just because he's free, doesn't make him innocent". He then follows Lucas. Ashley is in the kitchen...when the little girl from Alison's story in "The First Secret" is standing in her doorway. The little girl says she wants to call her mother, and Ashley says to not be scared, and the girl says people shouldn't make scary things. Ashley tells her to call, and that when she's done she can help her with candy.

Meanwhile, the same person with the white mask and cape begins to try to talk to Hanna again, following her outside of the train car. Hanna plans to teach them a lesson, and the masked figure wonders why they thought Hanna need protection. The person takes their mask off...revealing themselves to be Caleb. They begin to kiss. Aria is sitting alone at a table, when Adam Lambert starts to talk to her asking if she came alone. Aria says her boyfriend couldn't make it and tries to tell him her name, but a train goes by next to them and it is too loud for him to hear so she spells it out on the window. Adam says he has to go back to perform again, and asks if she's going to be in the front when he's singing. Aria says she will. A person in a Queen of Hearts costume with red long fingernails opens a compartment in their ring revealing white powder. When Aria isn't looking, the person puts the powder in her drink.

Spencer is still walking around the train, when the person in the Baby zombie costume from "The First Secret" starts to cover her mouth, and then throws her in the door, closing it. The person is Garrett Reynolds. He apologizes for not trying to keep her safe, and then tells her some things about the night Alison DiLaurentis went missing. He tells her that while Melissa and Ian were still in Ali's bedroom, he took Jenna outside behind the DiLaurentis house. The scene then shows a flashback. Jenna says that they shouldn't have left Ian and Melissa together, and Garrett says that the mess they make is their problem. A smirking Alison confronts them, and tells Jenna what would happen if she same back. Jenna tries to punch Alison, but Alison easily dodges since Jenna was still blind then. Jenna then grabs Alison and they get into a first fight ending with Alison pushing her down. Jenna tells Garrett to do something, and he takes Spencer's hockey stick, and swings at Alison, but she ducks and Garrett begins to beat the tree behind her. Alison puts a finger over her mouth, and Jenna asks if she is dead. Garrett says he took care of it, and Alison picks up the now broken hockey stick staring at it. Another flashback shows Garrett going back, and he saw Alison and Byron Montgomery talking. Alison tells him, "You know what I'm capable of."

Back to the present, Spencer goes to get the girls so Garrett can tell them too, leaving Garrett alone. Spencer asks Hanna where Aria is...but Aria is gone. They begin to look for her and find her purse on the chair she where sitting with "Aria" still on the window, but all of it is wiped off leaving only an "A". Aria's phone in her purse rings and Spencer and Hanna read a text from "A" saying, "Guess who won't be making it to the end of the line?" Aria is in a crate somewhere on the train with her mouth and hands duct taped. Emily tells Spencer and Hanna that she can't find Aria. Spencer tells Emily and Hanna what Garrett said to her. Aria is seen shaking the box she is in and manages to tip it over. Hanna gets who she thinks Caleb since the person is wearing the same mask as Caleb and tells him something is going on, but sees the real Caleb on the other side taking off his mask. She realizes this is someone else and Hanna rips of the person's mask...only to reveal another mask and a blonde wig, made to look like Alison.

Ashley asks Ted where the girl went, and finds her upstairs in Hanna's room. The girl says her mother was crying and tells her that she and her sister fight a lot, over dolls especially. Ashley feels her skin which is ice cold. Ashley calls Ted...but the girl is gone once again.

Spencer finds Garrett's mask, and is attacked by the joker who tries to throw her off the train. Paige saves her, but the joker runs away, leaving a large red fingernail caught in Spencer's hair. The scene shows Aria in the crate along with Garrett's dead body. Aria finds a nail sticking out in the crate and tries to rip the duct tape off of her wrists. Hanna meets Spencer, and sees if the red fingernail would fit Hanna's nails but it is way to big. They realize the person might be a guy, not a girl. Aria is seen still trying to get the duct tape off her wrists, but the crate gets lifted. While trying to find Toby and Caleb, Paige runs into Jenna. Jenna tells her to keep better track of people.

Jenna sees Lucas' camera...which looks like Ezra's too. Aria's crate gets lifted and two people try to push it off the train, but Aria finds a screwdriver in the crate and stabs one of the people. The two people leave the crate teetering. The girls find her and help her out and stare at Garrett's body. The party ends, and the police are called in to question everyone. The girls discuss who killed Garrett and why. They notice that everyone that was asked to stayis associated with Garrett in some way. Ezra is there and was going to surprise Aria at the end of the trains line, but having heard someone on the train was hurt he followed the train tracks until he found her. Noel and Toby have a fight, knocking the ice cooler down, revealing Alison's body bag. The scene shows then Mona, in her bed at Radley and the Alison mask laying under her bed meaning she was the one wearing the white mask of Caleb.

A flashback scene then shows where Alison was buried...and a hand comes out of the ground. The hand is wearing Alison's bracelet.

The Train's Directory Map

 * 1) Philly (Philadelphia)
 * 2) Dark Woods (random forest)Halloween_Ghost_Train_Map.png
 * 3) Hills of Horror (possibly Blue Mountain)
 * 4) Bottomless Lake (possibly a creek in the Susquehana River)
 * 5) Tunnel of Torment (ordinary Tunnel)
 * 6) Deadman's Bend (Bend on the Train Tracks)
 * 7) Harrisburg

Goofs

 * As Aria is getting out of the crate, the 'dead' Garrett is seen moving several times and is in a completely different position when the girls notice him.
 * When Mona was painting the lips on the paper mache face, it was just a streak of red, but before Mona continues the painting, the lips are already perfectly painted.

Trivia

 * The first ten minutes of the episode were leaked before the episode aired.
 * The little girl from Alison's story in "The First Secret" is in this episode.Pretty Little Liars 2x13 Opening Halloween Credits
 * The episode was inspired by Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" at the point that Aria writes her name on the window because she cannot be heard and when she is locked in the crate. and also because part of the episode takes part on a train.
 * The special opening sequence for this episode especially for Halloween was seen again like the one in First Secret.

Main Cast

 * Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery
 * Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin
 * Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
 * Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings
 * Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis

Supporting Cast/Guest Cast

 * Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
 * Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh
 * Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers
 * Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal
 * Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis
 * Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers
 * Adam Lambert as Adam
 * Brant Daugherty as Noel Kahn
 * Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall
 * Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin
 * Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery
 * Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman
 * Yani Gellman as Garrett Reynolds
 * Edward Kerr as Ted Wilson
 * Miranda Carabello as Alice (The Twin #2 from "The First Secret")

Featured Music

 * "Who Are You, Really?" by Mikky Ekko (When everyone first arrives at The Brew)
 * "Cuckoo" by Adam Lambert (The people enter the train)
 * "Trespassing" by Adam Lambert (People dance in the train)
 * "Beautifull Bizar" by Roeland Ruijsch (Adam talks to Aria on the train.)
 * "Remote Control" Schmidt (The Liars talk in the train car.)
 * "We Party (In V.I.P.)" by H.Michelle (They talk in the VIP Area.)