It Happened 'That Night'

It Happened 'That Night' is the first episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on June 5, 2012.

Synopsis
Five months have passed since Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer found out about Mona being A|"A" and Maya's death. The girls are having a sleepover and discussing their summer plans: Aria has been taking photography classes; Spencer has been taking a full course load at Hollis; Hanna has been expanding her vocabulary and taking cooking classes with Caleb; and Emily has been constructing houses in Haiti. Emily has clearly not been taking Maya's death well, excessively drinking, and snapping at her friends when they try to take away the bottle from her.

Later, Aria and Hanna wake up to find Spencer and Emily missing and the door left wide open. Then, Spencer returns, saying she's looked everywhere for Emily. Hanna tries to call Emily.

Emily is then seen standing over Alison's grave, holding a shovel. The grave has been dug up, and Alison's body is missing from the casket. The other girls join Emily at the graveyard. A dazed Emily doesn’t remember a thing after getting so wasted at the sleepover. Spencer goes through Emily's phone and finds out that Emily had received a blocked call from somebody at 11pm, and from Spencer's phone at midnight, meaning someone was in Spencer's house, while they were all sleeping. That means it’s a setup for Emily to take the fall.

The girls decide to cover for Emily, so Hanna and Aria wipe any fingerprints off the shovel and bury it in the middle of the woods. On the way back to Spencer's house, they see Lucas drive off in the middle of the night. At Spencer's house, Spencer burns the clothes Emily was wearing so that there is no evidence against her. She then leaves a note to her mom saying they were at the lakehouse since that afternoon, providing them a solid alibi.

The next day, at the lakehouse, Spencer receives a call from her mother, stating that there were no witnesses, and relief spreads across the girls. Emily feels guilty, but the others comfort her saying that it was not her fault. They get their stories straight, and make a decision to pretend like last night never happened.

The scene cuts to Aria waking up from a nightmare in Ezra's apartment. Apparently she's been having them since they discovered who "A" is. We learn from the newspaper that Maya may have kept something she found in the bag belonging to Ali which connects Garrett to Alison's murder. Ezra tells her this Labor Day weekend, not only is it the anniversary of Ali’s death, it is also their anniversary. Ezra wants to recreate their first date, so Ezra asks her to meet him the next day at the Grille. Aria reminds him that they ended the night in the bathroom, to which Ezra hoists her onto the kitchen counter and kisses her, the same way he did that night.

Meanwhile, Hanna and her mother are shopping, along with Spencer and her mother. When Hanna pulls Spencer away, Ashley expresses to Veronica how relieved she is that the girls were out of town last night, away from this mess. Spencer gets a call from a blocked number, which she ignores. Hanna and Spencer notice some people gossiping about them. Hanna tells them if they take a picture, it'll last longer and the women disappear, still whispering to each other. Spencer asks Hanna to go to a movie with her, but Hanna says she has to see Dr. Sullivan. Spencer is surprised to hear this and immediately worries that Hanna would tell her about last night. Hanna assures her that she wouldn't do that to Emily, or the rest of the girls since they were all there. When Ashley say it's time to go, Hanna almost leaves with a necklace from the store, but puts it back. Clearly, she has come a long way since her shoplifting days.

Emily unpacks from her trip to Haiti. She drapes the scarf Maya gave her when they first started seeing each other over a framed photo of them together. Pam informs Emily reporters are asking questions again and that she slammed the door in their faces as usual. She tells Emily she's proud of her for making a difference this summer and Maya would be too, and that with time, her grief will lessen.

We then see Hanna going to visit Mona under the name "Rivers." So, she lied about seeing Dr. Sullivan. Apparently, Hanna has been doing this for weeks now. She tries to talk to Mona, but Mona does not acknowledge her presence. Hanna gets fed up and tells her that it's not easy for her to visit her. She is doing it because she wants to know what she ever did to make Mona hate her so much.

Just as she leaves the room, she runs into Wren, who is surprised to see her. She immediately asks him not to tell anyone about seeing her. She tells him that she has been visiting because she really needs some answers from Mona, but its starting to prove futile. Wren and Hanna walk away and then the camera pans to Mona's room. She has been listening to the whole conversation through the door which means that she is not ill after all.

Toby comes to Spencer's room in a towel after taking a shower because the plumbing at the loft he moved into is broken. Spencer enjoys his daily visit to use her shower and tells a shirtless Toby she can hardly remember why she had said she wanted to wait to have sex. Toby tells her she'll remember when he puts some clothes back on. He also says he is glad Spencer was out of town when Ali's body was dug up, but she doesn't want to talk about it. She gets another call from an unknown number and ignores it.

During senior registration, Hanna and Caleb make plans to make dinner together later. Then Aria, Spencer and Hanna notice Lucas talking to a skinny brunette who resembles the Black Swan. It seems that he suddenly began shutting everyone out after the masquerade ball and turned "dark." Emily watches them from the courtyard, seeing them talking and smiling while they wait their turn to register for classes. She turns around and walks away.

While Aria’s in the restroom, she sees a hooded figure in black sneakers outside her stall. Spencer and Hanna hear Aria’s screams and try to reassure their friend that Mona, a.k.a. "A," is practically in a coma at the Radley and not coming after her. Aside from nightmares, Aria has also been having panic attacks. Hanna uses the word 'jubilation' and it actually helps to cheer Aria up a little bit.

Spencer looks at the drawings of the Black Swan costume on her laptop, then shuts it and pretends to be studying when her mom comes downstairs. She turns down her offer to have a girls' night in the city. We learn that something happened to Melissa at some point over the past 5 months that requires her to "bounce back" from. Veronica leaves and Spencer packs up her things, ignoring yet another call from an unknown number.

At home, Aria helps Ella pack up her stuff because she and Byron are getting divorced. When Aria asks if she is sure that she wants the divorce, Ella simply says that it has become difficult to compromise as there have been many complications and that they are different people now. Aria thinks that the complication is her being with Ezra, but Ella assures her that it is only one of the many things they have not been able to agree on. Aria thanks her mother for letting her be herself and for letting her continue to see Ezra.

Emily meets Toby in a café. He is remodelling the loft upstairs, so he gets to live there for free until he finishes the work. He seems very happy to be out on his own. When Emily asks about Jenna, he says he hasn't talked to her since she left the town. Toby asks Emily if she's okay, and she says she's not and that she has to tell him something.

Spencer goes back to the Lost Woods Resort, and hears a noise in the bushes when she gets out of her car. Someone may be watching her. Spencer lets herself into Room 2, "A"/Mona's lair, turns on the lights and opens her laptop at the table in the centre of the room.

While cooking dinner with Caleb, Hanna receives a call from Wren, who informs her that Mona may be making progress as a result of her visits. He encourages her to come back to the Radley. When Caleb asks about the caller, Hanna pretends she is talking to Spencer.

Emily tells Toby she spent the whole summer partying too hard. He sympathizes, not being able to imagine losing someone the way Emily lost Maya. Emily tells him she went to a party once and has no memory of it. She feels like she let her friends down. Toby comforts her by saying that her friends love and accept her for who she is.

Spencer finally takes the call from the unknown caller, saying "I'm listening."

Aria is getting ready for her date with Ezra when he mother comes in and tells her that the police want to talk to her. The girls are questioned by the police separately and all tell the same story about catching up at Spencer's lake house. Outside the station, Veronica informs Ella and Ashley the questions are routine and the girls have nothing to worry about since they have an alibi. Ella steps away to talk to Ezra, who showed up to find out if Aria is okay. She tells him while his presence is appreciated, it might raise more questions than Aria should have to answer at the moment. Just then, Aria comes outside and invites her mother along to dinner.

Hanna pays another visit to Mona at the Radley. She tells Mona she will keep coming to visit if she gives her any indication the visits are helping. Mona turns her head and smiles. Hanna thinks she may have gotten through to her, until she notices Mona was actually smiling at the empty chair behind her. Mona sees Alison smiling back, in her red coat, reading a copy of Lolita.

Spencer pays a visit to Garrett, the unknown caller, who is in prison for killing Ali. Garrett says the cops were very close to pinning Alison's murder on Spencer. He claims that the evidence against him is bogus and there is a lot Spencer doesn't know, some of it, she wouldn't want to know. He knows he won't be getting a fair trial in Rosewood since the entire town already believes he is guilty. Garrett warns Spencer that she and her friends are not safe, and tells her that he may know who killed Ali, but he wants Spencer to get her mom to be his lawyer. Spencer is about to leave, when Garrett, already being restrained by a guard, shouts that he knows who took Ali's body.

While jogging, Emily sees a blue convertible that triggers her memory of 'that night,' but the images are vague. Emily wants to go after the car, but she receives a text stating, “I bet you remember me,” before the car drives off.

Emily goes to Spencer's, where the girls have been swimming and worrying about Emily all day. Emily promises she stuck to the story when the cops questioned her, then tells them about the car. She determined that her subconscious may be blocking memories of the that night and anything could trigger it at any time. She shows them the text. Hanna insists it can't be Mona who sent the text and proves it by telling them about her visits to the Radley. Spencer then reveals a secret of her own.

Spencer takes the other girls to the Lost Woods Resort. She shows them the 3-D diagram she created on her computer in an attempt to recreate the lair as was before it was emptied. The girls admit that they lied to Emily. The day after Maya's body was found, the other girls returned to the Lost Woods to destroy the evidence which would get themselves and their loved ones in a lot of trouble, but the room had already been emptied. They discuss the likelihood that Mona had been working with someone else, who could have given Emily the massage and helped move Ian's body from the bell tower. Spencer believes this person to be the Black Swan, who must have been guilty of something or she would have no reason to run.

Just then, the Liars hear Spencer’s car alarm go off, prompting them to go outside, leaving Spencer's laptop alone in the room. The doors are wide open, and the seats and dash and trunk are covered in photographs of the girls at the cemetery in front of Ali’s open grave. The girls then receive a simultaneous text message : “Mona played with dolls. I play with body parts. Game on, bitches. –A."

Continuity

 * There are many parallels in this episode to the Pilot.
 * The opening shot of Spencer's barn during a storm, and the girls having a sleepover
 * During the sleepover, Aria wakes up first to discover one of their group, Emily this time, is missing. Spencer informs them she has looked everywhere.
 * Aria and Ezra make out on the counter in his apartment, reminiscent of their meeting in the Pilot
 * Aria wears the same dress she wore in the Pilot for her anniversary dinner with Ezra
 * Hanna runs into Spencer while shopping.
 * There are boxes everywhere in the Montgomery house. In the Pilot, they were moving in. This time, Ella is moving out.
 * The same song is playing while Hanna is out shopping
 * The same song is playing at the very end when the 4 girls receive a simultaneous text text from "A


 * The girls being questioned individually by the police is reminiscent of the beginning of "A Person of Interest." Earlier in this episode, Spencer is wearing the same t-shirt Toby gave her at the motel in the same episode.
 * Maya gave Emily the scarf in "Can You Hear Me Now?"

Title

 * The title refers to the night of the sleepover where Emily blacked out and Alison's body went missing from the cemetery.
 * The title is also reminiscent of "It Happened One Night," the 1934 Clark Gable film Aria, Ella and Ezra all go to see in "The Jenna Thing."

Main Cast

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

Guest Stars

 * Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh
 * Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers
 * Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
 * Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwall
 * Nia Peeples as Pam Fields
 * Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman
 * Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery
 * Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin
 * Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings
 * Yani Gellman as Garrett Reynolds
 * Julian Morris as Wren Kingston

Featured Music

 * "S&M" by Rihanna (the girls have drinks at Spencer’s house)
 * "I Feel Alive" by Jules Larson (Aria and Ezra make out at his apartment)
 * "It Girl" by Twirl (Hanna tries on a necklace)
 * "Song for the Suburbs" by Ben Rector (Emily talks to Toby)
 * "Hot Button" by Anya Marina (Spencer and Toby talk & kiss in her room)
 * "Body Knows Best" by Anya Marina (Toby and Emily meet at the new cafe)
 * "Hands of Time" by Rachel Diggs (the girls get a simultaneous text from “A”)