I'm Your Puppet

"You don't have to ask me again, Mona. I'm in."

- Spencer to Mona

I'm Your Puppet is the twenty-third episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on March 12, 2013. It is the last episode before the season 3 finale.

Synopsis
Hanna, Emily, and Aria go to visit Spencer in Radley. They try to convince her that the body found wasn't Toby, but she won't believe them. She leaves suddenly, and when the nurse enters her room to tell her that her friends have left, she shoves something under her pillow.

Hanna and Emily return to Emily's house. Hanna is looking worriedly out the window for Detective Wilden, who apparently knows she's staying there, while Emily stresses about Spencer. Then, Emily makes her mom promise to tell her if any more information is released about the body found in the woods.

Aria and Ezra are discussing the possibility of hiding their relationship (again) as he's applying for a substitute teacher position in Rosewood. Aria offers to pick up Malcolm from his karate class, and worries that she'll screw it up and Maggie will never forgive her.

Caleb and Hanna are together and happy, and Caleb is so glad Hanna got his father, Jamie, the job at the church. Hanna seems unenthusiastic and is still worrying about the church money she saw that Jamie had.

Meanwhile, Shana and Emily are texting and Aria suspects that while Paige is out of town, they are crushing on each other. Emily realizes that they can go to the morgue and photograph the body so that Spencer knows it isn't Toby.

Wren visits Spencer, and there is some obvious tension between him and Eddie Lamb. Then, Wren points out a game Spencer has in front of her that Mona was obsessed with when she was a patient at Radley. After Wren gets up and leaves, Spencer inspects the game to see that Mona has drawn a map of Radley on top of the board. Spencer visits a point marked on the map, which leads to a large window. She opens the window, but doesn't climb out.

Back at school, Hanna is taken aside by Mrs. Montgomery, who needs to speak with Ashley. Hanna asks her what's going on, and Mrs. Montgomery explains that the church's bell has been replaced to one about $8,000 less in value. They suspect Jamie took it, and Hanna is told not to tell Caleb. While she's out to dinner with Jamie and Caleb, she receives a necklace in thanks from Jamie, and is skeptical about it. After she puts it on, Jamie receives a call from Ted telling him that he's fired.

Spencer is visited by her mother, who tries to bring Spencer home, and Spencer snaps. She yells at her mom, and her mom asks her what's going on. Mrs. Hastings reveals that weeks before Alison died, she was in the same state as Spencer, distraught and clinging onto a deep secret. While Ali was sleeping over at Spencer's one night, she came into the house, teary-eyed with a bloody lip. Mrs. Hastings asked her what had happened, and Ali told her that she had to promise not to tell her parents. Mrs. Hastings embraced her, and Ali suddenly quit her tearful act and smiled, telling her that she was just overreacting.

Emily, Hanna, and Aria break into the morgue dressed as nurses, and Hanna and Emily find an unlabeled body, while Aria is on the lookout. Aria spots 'redcoat' and follows her, almost catching her before she slips into an elevator.

Spencer asks Eddie about Wren, who reveals that Wren isn't trustworthy. She puts her pill into her mouth and Eddie leaves, but after he's gone, she removes it from her mouth and stores it in a bag hidden in her pillow.

Hanna and Emily prepare to photograph the body, and they open the body bag to find a mask over a body they don't recognize. A noise is heard outside, and they flee, leaving the mask on the table.

Caleb rants to Hanna about how his father is innocent about the church bell, and she reveals that she saw her money donation to the church in Jamie's wallet. Caleb is heartbroken, but believes her.

Aria goes to pick up Malcolm, and he isn't there. His instructor reveals that he was picked up by someone using her name. In his cubby is a poster for a carnival with one of the "A"s circled, where Aria immediately goes. She spots him with a figure wearing a black hoodie, and runs after them, but loses them.

Back at Radley, Wren and Eddie have a tense conversation where they argue over giving Spencer a book, and Wren says, "We're not having the same problem again, are we Eddie?"

Jamie comes to Hanna's house, and is confronted by Caleb. Caleb yells at him, and Jamie seems confused, but leaves when Caleb tells him to. They cut off ties, and Caleb is hurt that his father betrayed him again.

Aria stumbles upon Malcolm in the now-deserted puppet show, in a trance staring at the frozen puppets. Malcolm tells Aria that her friend 'Alison' took him here and bought him ice cream.

Emily goes to the police station and runs into her mom, who's holding a missing person box and seems very stressed out. She makes Emily leave.

Late at night, Spencer sneaks around Radley, following Mona's map. She runs into Alison humming, who dances with her, and directs her to the star at the end of Mona's map. The star leads to her to a rocking horse, which has a detachable head. Inside it is a fake nurse identification for Mona as Nurse "Ali Dee", medical papers, and a visitor's pass for CeCe authorized by Wren. He walks in the room right as she pulls out the pass.

Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra are out to dinner, and Ezra says that Malcolm had a great time. He seems very happy, but Aria is terrified. After Ezra comments on how Malcolm loved the puppets, Aria tells Ezra that she doesn't think she can 'do this' anymore.

Spencer confronts Wren, and Wren admits that he let CeCe in when Mona wasn't supposed to have visitors. According to Wren, CeCe had gotten kicked out of university because of a stunt Ali had pulled at a frat party, and she desperately wanted to talk to Mona. He let her in because he thought she could be a role model for Mona. Melissa was the one who told CeCe about Mona being in Radley.

Mrs. Fields tells Emily that another body was found, a young man, late teens/early twenties, with no identification. There was "significant trauma" to the body, and the police don't know for sure who it is.

Caleb and Hanna are talking at the carnival, and Caleb sadly tells her about how he'd hoped his father would be there for him this time. When Caleb goes to get them coffee, the church bell tolls, and Hanna gets an 'A' text revealing that Jamie was framed. Caleb comes up behind her and looks at her phone, reading the text.

Aria and Hanna talk about the text, and Hanna worries that Caleb won't forgive her. She says Caleb left to find Jamie. Emily bursts in and tells them about the new body, found right by where Spencer said it was, with her purse nearby.

Then, Spencer reaches into her pillowcase and pulls out a black hoodie, and recalls her conversation with Mona, where she agreed to join the 'A' team. She also has a pair of tickets for the puppet show Malcolm was at.

At the very end, the new body is shown, with only the side showing. Toby's tattoo can be seen from under the sheet, but it's smudging.

Title

 * The title seems to foreshadow Red Coats (the leader of the A-Team) employees that Red Coat is a puppetmaster controlling his/her "puppets" into getting the one he/she hates hurt or in trouble.
 * This could be a reference to Alison's and Spencer's conversation before she disappeared. Spencer says "You think just because you brought us together you can treat us like puppets," to which Alison replies, "But you are" or Alison manipulating the Liars into her schemes (like what happened in 'The Jenna Thing').
 * Another is that the A-Team likes to control the Liars' lives.
 * In the promo, Large wooden puppets are seen to be controlled in the carnival scene.
 * This also refers to the song that Alison played on the record when she visited Spencer in Radley.
 * Could possibly refer to Spencer joining the A-Team, playing the part as their puppet, to gain information.

Featured Music

 * Ooo La La by Sarah Leitchenberg
 * Runaway Heart by The Strange Familiar
 * I Won't Let You Down Again by Matthew Perryman Jones
 * Hanging On To Long by Duffy.
 * I'm Your Puppet by Dionne Warwick

Main Cast

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

Guest Cast

 * Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
 * Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings
 * Nia Peeples as Pam Fields
 * Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery
 * Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers
 * Reggie Austin as Eddie Lamb
 * Bernard Curry as Jamie Doyle
 * Teo Briones as Malcolm Cutler
 * Sarah Zinsser as Nurse Lisa