A Hot Piece of A

A Hot Piece of A is the 15th episode in Season 2 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on January 9, 2012.

Synopsis
After their recent encounter with "A," Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer think they may be closer than ever to figuring out who "A" really is. They head back into the greenhouse to look for the box and decide what to do next. They have a contest over who has had the worse day. Spencer suggests calling Caleb to help them recover information from the phone, but Hanna doesn't want to get him involved. The phone rings, caller unknown; each girl is afraid to answer it. They never get the chance because more glass comes crashing down from the ceiling. They drive away, heading straight to Caleb against Hanna's wishes.

Caleb hooks the phone up to his laptop and explains the recovery process. While downloading the information, the owner of the phone shuts it down remotely. Caleb agrees to try to unlock the files they do have if Hanna is okay with it.She reluctantly agrees.

Aria leaves her room in the morning before school. Byron walks by and tells her to change her clothes because she is dressed inappropriately. Before an argument can break out, Ella steps in. She tells Aria to pick her battles while choosing new clothes for her to wear. Aria had hoped perhaps Ella would be more accepting of her relationship with Ezra, but Ella is in agreement with Byron and forbids Aria from seeing, and even saying goodbye to, Ezra. She admits to having liked Ezra prior to his confession yesterday.

Spencer approaches Toby outside his house to apologize for not being able to tell him why it's not safe to be together. They sit in his truck for privacy and begin to kiss despite the conversation they just had.

Caleb works on decrypting the files on his laptop at school. Hanna is concerned someone may figure out what he's doing, but he assures her he hasn't told anyone. He tries to get her to tell him what it is all about. Hanna calls out Lucas' name as he walks by and makes plans for a study session later on, even though Lucas doesn't seem to have time for it.

Garrett pulls up to the house, interrupting Toby and Spencer's make-out session, shouting into his cell phone, clearly speaking to Jenna. He pleads with her to open the door and says it was a bad idea to bring a third person into their plan. Spencer wonders who he could be referring to then ducks when Garrett looks their way.

Emily is having trouble focusing on anything with so much going on. She asks Ella if she can postpone the makeup test again because she didn't have time to read the last chapters. Ella agrees to reschedule, then asks Emily if there are more things she does not know about her daughter. Emily says Aria is the same person she has always been; someone to be proud of.

Hanna lends Aria her cell phone to call Ezra. Aria leaves him a voicemail telling him how much she loves him and that things will blow over eventually. Spencer approaches Emily in the hall hoping to enlist her help in snooping around Jason's house, believing him to be Garrett and Jenna's lackey. Emily starts community service at the crisis hotline that afternoon, Aria is on lockdown and Hanna is unhappy with Spencer at the moment for dragging Caleb into their "A" investigation. Emily suggests Spencer let Hanna use her lake house for face time with Caleb. She accidentally lets slip that Hanna has used it for that purpose before, which comes as news to Spencer.

At Hanna's house, Hanna tries to study while Lucas seems distracted. She gets a text from Spencer offering her the lake house. She gets the brilliant idea to use it to throw Caleb a surprise birthday party and enlists Lucas' help in planning it. Lucas says he cannot contribute financially, but reluctantly agrees to help.

Emily attends her first training session at the crisis hotline center. She roleplays with the supervisor, reading the transcript of a call that came in last night aloud. While reading it, Emily realizes the caller seems likely to be the person who tried to kill her in the greenhouse last night; "A's" helper.

Ezra sits alone in his apartment watching a basketball game when there is a knock at the door. He lets Byron in and offers him a beverage. Byron cuts to the chase. He knows navigating certain student-teacher relationships can be tricky and admits to making his own bad choices, pointing out that they were not with a minor. He asks for Ezra's word that he will not see Aria again, but Ezra doesn't give it to him. Instead he thanks him for helping him get the job at Hollis which enabled him to continue his relationship with Aria. Byron spies the rumpled sheets on Ezra's bed behind him and asks if he and Aria spend time at his apartment. Before Ezra can answer, Byron threatens him about going to the police and leaves.

The next day at school, Mona flags down Hanna in the hall to ask where her invitation is. Hanna didn't think Mona, and by extension, Noel, would want to attend a surprise party for Caleb, but Mona assures her all is forgiven between them; they would love to attend a cool party at Spencer's lake house.

Emily shows Spencer and Aria the transcript she swiped from the crisis center; Hanna has already seen it. Spencer thinks this is a big breakthrough and that they all should volunteer there in hopes that this person will call again. Aria declines, citing her lockdown status at home, and Hanna is too busy planning Caleb's party. Speaking of Caleb, he beckons them into a nearby classroom to show them what he recovered from the mystery phone. It is a photo of 4 porcelain dolls sitting in a row on a wooden surface in front of green floral wallpaper. The girls pretend like the photo means nothing to them.

They thank Caleb for his help and exit. Hanna stays behind trying to make a plan for Caleb's birthday, takeout perhaps, so he doesn't suspect a surprise party. He worries that her keeping the information surrounding this phone a secret could be a problem for their relationship. She assures him it is not important and they kiss.

Ella and Byron argue over what to do about the situation with Aria and Ezra. She wishes he hadn't gone to speak with him without her. She tells Byron that they cannot go to the police, much as they would like to, because it would ruin Aria's reputation. She is already considered a liar by many in town after the bell-tower incident and the recent arrest. They have to do whatever they can to protect their daughter. Byron can't argue with that.

In the neighborhood to pick up a cake, Hanna pops in on Ezra in his office to let him know she and Aria's other friends approve of their relationship.

At the crisis center, Emily's supervisor tells her to listen in on the call that just came in because it is the transcript caller calling back. He says he is in way too deep and doesn't want to have to hurt anyone. Spencer and Emily listen together and recognize the caller's voice as that of Lucas! The try to convince Hanna Lucas must have been the one in the greenhouse, but she refuses to believe it without proof. No matter what they say, they can't get through to her.

Aria calls Ezra again and this time he picks up. She says she just needed to hear his voice. He says he needed to hear hers as well, but she can't call him again. Aria tears up when he hangs up on her.

Toby watches a car service pick up Jenna and drive away, just as Garrett arrives. Garrett demands to know who was in the car with Jenna, saying he should have been the one to accompany her to Boston for her eye-surgery. He vents to Toby about doing everything Jenna ever asked and it still not being enough. Toby suggests he walk away because that is just how Jenna is. Garrett says he can't because he actually loves her and will keep proving it if he has to.

Spencer and Hanna look for tiki torches in the attic of the lake house. Hanna runs downstairs to answer the door while Spencer keeps searching. She moves around a few boxes and discovers that the wallpaper in the background of the doll photo is the same as that on the wall. "A" has been in her attic! Lucas then appears, in search of tools. Spencer backs away from him and heads downstairs after informing him there are no tools up in the attic.

Aria and her parents walk toward a restaurant in town for dinner, but stop short when they see Ezra through the window dining alone. Byron insists they go somewhere else and bickers with Ella about their earlier conversation. Aria and Ezra stare longingly at each other before she's forced to walk away. During their search for a new restaurant, they bump into an old colleague of Byron's and his son, Holden. He and Aria go way back. Their parents make plans for them to have dinner one day soon so Holden and Aria can catch up, a not-so-subtle wink wink nudge nudge that Aria should date a nice boy her own age.

Emily answers a call at crisis center even though she is only there to return the transcript she "accidentally" took home with her. This time she speaks to Lucas who discloses he has to take care of his problem tonight and how hard it will be to lose "her." Emily hears Hanna's voice in the background and heads straight to the party, fearing for her friend's safety.

At the party, which seems well underway, Spencer tells Hanna what she discovered in the attic, but Hanna is distracted by all her party-planning responsibilities. Mona and Noel inform her the pizzas she ordered all came with green peppers, then Noel leaves, offering to help hang the birthday banner. Hanna is clearly stressed out and refuses to listen to anything Spencer has to say. Emily arrives and sees Lucas standing near the cake. She reminds him what a loving and forgiving person Hanna is and tells him not to do anything he will regret. Lucas realizes Emily must know what he's planning and shoots her a strange look. Afraid she just made things worse, she tells Spencer what happened. They learn from Mona that Hanna took the rowboat out with Lucas to set up the fireworks across the lake. They watch them float away into darkness from the window.

Halfway across the lake, Lucas stops rowing. She becomes more and more frightened by Lucas' tone and asks to go back, hearing Spencer calling her name from shore. Lucas stands and shouts at her. Hanna flips, pushes him overboard, and takes the oars. She doesn't get far before a hand latches onto one of the oars and Hanna herself falls overboard. Spencer continues calling her name and directs Emily to go inside and call the police.

Aria leaves Ezra another voicemail, saying that she thinks her mom is coming around if they are just patient. Ella walks into Aria's room and Aria lies, saying she was just talking to Holden, making plans to see a movie, if she's not still grounded. Ella says maybe they can make an exception.

Other partygoers gather 'round Spencer, wondering what is going on. After a few tense moments, Hanna swims to shore. Spencer tries to warm Hanna up and find out what happened. Mona and Noel appear, half-dressed and dripping because they just "took a dip." Caleb arrives and Hanna mumbles "surprise."

But when the girls decide to enlist Caleb’s hacking skills to help with their quest, Hanna no longer wants a part of the plan. The last thing Hanna wants is to get Caleb involved in something else shady and also to open the door to questions that Hanna can’t answer. Once the girls realize that "A" has a helper, Hanna has no other choice. Instead of focusing on figuring out who the "helper" is, Hanna decides to put all of her efforts into throwing a surprise party for Caleb. But will a surprise party at Spencer’s lake house be the diversion Hanna is looking for, or just a recipe for disaster? Meanwhile, Aria and Ezra must deal with the aftermath of coming clean.

Aria and Ezra are forbidden to see each other even though they want to. Aria is under constant house arrest and soon will not be allowed to have much contact with her friends as well. The girls ask Caleb to hack A's phone he agrees as long as Hanna is okay with it. She isn't really, but she goes along with it anyway. Before the girls are able to see anything, A disables the phone so they are only able to view the files downloaded before the phone was disabled, but to be able to view anything takes sometime so they have to wait. While this is going on Caleb and Toby are both trying to get more information out of their girlfriends about what is going on with them.They both can not say anything about what is going on for fear that A will go after them next. Hanna tells Caleb that nothing else is important besides this and kisses him. Spencer tells Toby that she still can not see him or tell him anything but she wants to so bad and that she hates shutting him out. They make out for awhile until Garret comes for Jenna with full rage as he talks to her on his cell. She refuses to let him in as Toby and Spencer overhear Garrett's frustration.

Byron goes to Ezra to yell at him and also make sure he never sees his daughter again. Ezra tries to defend himself but Byron will not hear it and promises to tell the police, but after talking to Ella she talks him out of it because they want to protect how people view their daughter. Aria continues to secretly leaves voice mails for Ezra he finally answers one of her calls saying he wants to hear her voice but stop calling she breaks down crying. Aria,Byron, and Ella go out to eat to found out Ezra is there so they leave. Aria stares at him for as long as she can with sad eyes, waiting from him to do something. But all he does is stare back. Aria and her family run into old family friend and his son, Holden, who they push on Aria. Later, Aria sneaks a voicemail to Ezra, saying that her mom might be coming around. Just then, her mom walks in. Aria lies and says it was Holden, and that they might go to a movie sometime. Emily and Spencer find out that Lucas has called the help center they are volunteering at for community service they soon worry for Hanna's safety and if he is A or A's helper. Hanna refuses to believe that Lucas is anything bad since he has always been there for her and states everyone had a problem with Ali.

Caleb finally unlocks a photo found on the A phone. It is of four dolls and old Victorian wallpaper background. Spencer asks for him to send it to all the girls phones. It is the day of the surprise party. Emily stops by the hot line to give back the script she stole to show the girls what she believed A said. Only to answer a call by Lucas saying he never wanted to hurt anyone but now he has to he just can not picture her face. Spencer and Hanna go into her Lake house attic where they are throwing Caleb's surprise party to get tiki torches.Spencer discovers that her attic has the same wallprint as A's picture of the doll's. Hanna leaves to answer the door. Lucas appears upstairs to get tools Spencer questions how he knew to go up there and what he was looking for. He says he needed something to hang the banner there is a bang he continues to say people keep tools in their attics. It cuts to the party where Hanna is freaking out to get everything perfect before Caleb arrives.

Mona and Noel complain about the green peppers that Noel is allergic to on the Pizza. Emily arrives to see Lucas. They discuss the cake and how lucky Caleb is to have Hanna's love. Emily tries to say to Lucas without telling him she was on the other end of the hotline conversation to think before he acts, his whole face turns shocked; she rushes out to find Spencer they talk then try to find Hanna. Mona says that Lucas and her went out on the lake in the boat for the fireworks. Emily and Spencer go to stop/save Hanna but they are to late they are out on the lake.

Lucas starts to stop the boat Hanna thinks he is just tired then the situation gets creepier she begs him to turn the boat around he will not listen she asks whats wrong she gets up to help he yells at her to sit down. He gets up and says this is not about the stupid fireworks and throws them Hanna hits him on the head with a paddle he slams into the water she tries to row back to dry land but she cant and is somehow tipped over. Emily and Spencer continue to scream Hanna's name. Emily goes to call the police as Hanna appears she swims to shore she is freezing and can not say a word. Noel and Mona appear wet asking what is going on. They are asked where they went and say it is the perfect night to take a dip. As the row boat gradually makes its way closer to Hanna,Spencer, and Emily Caleb arrives asking whats going Hanna says surprise still freezing. It cuts to a shoe of Lucas's floating in the water and A( a person dressed in all black retrieving the shoe with the oar).

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

Guest Stars
Shane Coffey as Holden {C Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers {C Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh {C Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal {C Brant Daugherty as Noel Kahn {C Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz {C Yani Gellman as Garrett Reynolds {C Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery

Continuity

 * Emily makes a reference to the makeout session Hanna and Caleb had on the couch of Spencer's family's cabin by the lake. Spencer is shocked because it was her grandmother's couch.