These Boots Were Made for Stalking

“	We're all scrambling like mice, like we're still in high school.	”
	— Emily to The Liars

These Boots Were Made for Stalking

Season: 7

Episode: 12

Information

Airdate

April 25, 2017

Written by

Oliver Goldstick

Directed by

Ron Lagomarsino

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These Boots Were Made for Stalking is the twelfth episode of Season 7 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on April 25th, 2017.

Synopsis

Emily butts heads with teenager Addison, who appears to be a new version of high school Ali, and who may be connected to a familiar foe. Spencer confronts her mother about keeping family secrets. Aria confides in Holden about her relationship with Ezra, while Spencer turns to Detective Furey for help. And Jenna stirs up even more trouble when she returns to Rosewood with some insight into Noel Kahn and recent events.^[1]

Plot

The Liars discuss who could have made the board game. Emily tells them that they're not playing the game, but Hanna says it's too late, and Spencer insists that she's sorry for initiating it. Aria tells Spencer that she doesn't have to apologize as they understand why she did it. Hanna pushes back on Aria, as she doesn't get why Spencer initiated the game, as the letter was probably bait that Spencer decided to take. Alison says it's from Jenna, which circles them back to questioning who made the board game. Aria brings up Sydney, and Emily shuts her down, telling the girls that it's not about who started the game, it's about how they're getting what they want: "We're all scrambling like mice, like we're still in high school." Hanna makes a remark that she's still in high school. Emily comments that she parks in the faculty lot now. Emily tells them that she's not letting anyone turn her into a 10th-grade victim again. Spencer points out that "they" have evidence of the girls burying Rollins' body, which they can't let get to the police. Emily tells them that she'll tell the police what they left out when they thought Hanna was kidnapped. Spencer tells her that they still broke a few laws. Emily tells them that they didn't break "enough" laws to have to play the game, and she walks out of the Hastings barn. Hanna is still mad and tells them that she doesn't get to walk out like that; they need to be in it together. Spencer tells her that they are.

Aria meets a journalist covering the Nicole and Ezra story. She informs him that there is no Nicole and Ezra, that Ezra is engaged to her, and was never committed to Nicole.

At Rosewood High, Paige and Emily talk about personal things, which is overheard by a new high school bully, Addison. Emily questions why she missed yesterday's practice, and Addison tells her she had a headache and remarks that Emily probably wishes it were a brain tumor. Emily sternly tells her to go to class.

At the Hastings household, Spencer comes home. Veronica tries to talk to her, but she wants to switch to ask where her father is. Veronica tells Spencer that he's not avoiding her and is hurting, too. Spencer questions what Melissa knows about her birth, because she acted surprised when she found out she and Spencer were related to Jason. Spencer questions if Melissa knew that Spencer was her half-sister, why she didn't tell her, and why she acted surprised. Veronica tells Spencer that Melissa is not aware of the situation. Spencer then remarks that only Veronica and Peter could know the "bitter irony" of Spencer checking into the same mental institution where she was born. Veronica shuts her down, saying it was hard for her to walk into Radley when Spencer was checked in. Spencer tells her that at least she got to walk out because it feels like a part of her will always be living there.

Mona brings around clothes, and Hanna realizes they aren't from the rack of clothes Hanna made; they're from Hanna's personal closet. Mona says that Kate wants to see the best, and Hanna was not there at the time; it was also before they created boundaries and told Katie that Mona isn't Hanna's boss. Mona takes out a black dress and tells her that Katie really liked it. Hanna realizes that the dress was not made by her but doesn't tell Mona. She tells Mona that she can't wear the dress, but doesn't say why, which leads Mona to believe that Hanna is just insecure about the design and wants it to be a masterpiece. Mona walks out of the loft and tells her to call her back when she drinks some coffee.

At Rosewood High, Alison is teaching a class, and Addison stays behind. Emily enters the class and tries to talk to Addison, informing her that there's no record of her leaving sick, and that she can't miss practice without a valid enough excuse. Alison begins to overhear them talking. Addison interrupts Emily, asking her if she wants an X-ray, and reiterates that she had a headache and listening to Emily's whistle was not going to help. Emily tells her that she's off the line-up and walks away, but Addison brings her back with an almost-threat. Addison walks out. Emily walks over to Alison, and she comments that she's basically a mini-Alison in high school, but Alison remarks that Addison is worse. Emily and Alison then talk on personal terms, but unknown to them, Addison didn't walk far and was listening.

In the Hastings' barn, Marco visits Spencer off-duty. Spencer asks him if he's still looking for Mary Drake and if he would consider making it a top priority. She hands him the letter that she received from the board game and explains the situation between herself and Mary.

At Rosewood High, Emily walks past Addison. Addison looks at her before swiping through two photos on her phone that she took of Alison and Emily when they were talking. Emily looks back at her, Addison puts away her phone, and smirks at her before walking away.

Back at Lucas' apartment, Hanna is working on the dress on a mannequin model, Caleb arrives and realizes she's doing too much. Hanna informs Caleb that the dress design is not technically hers. She designed the dress originally, but when Claudia saw it, she gave her many suggestions, and she took them on and re-designed it, so it's a collaboration and not solely her design. Because it changed the dress, it's more so Claudia's design. Caleb tells her that Claudia took a lot from her and ruined their relationship while being demanding with Hanna, so she should use the opportunity of having the dress be on a model.

At Rosewood High, Addison goes to Paige, trying to create a fake narrative that Emily was sexually inappropriate with her and benched her because she didn't respond the way Emily wanted. She then shows the pictures of Emily and Alison to Paige, assuming it will make Paige angry and turn her against Emily. Paige asks her to forward the images to her, and she'll deal with it.

Aria helps Holden with food prep. She rants about her current situation due to Holden telling her that she can't say Nicole's name, and is mad about the reporter who thought Nicole was his fiancée. Aria questions if Ezra proposed to Nicole first. Holden mentions she wrote a book with Ezra and has a history with him, so why would he keep that a secret from her? Aria doesn't think he would have when he thought she was dead. Holden reminds Aria that people have pasts they don't always like to talk about.

At Rosewood High, Paige shares the images Addison gave her with Emily. Emily becomes impulsive, so Paige tells her that Addison is accusing Emily of being inappropriate with her, so she needs to let Hackett handle the situation. Paige reminds Emily that Alison brings drama to school, and she shouldn't get sucked in; it's the reason why Addison can take her down. Emily tells Paige that it's not about Alison. Addison is a high school bully who's mad because an adult wanted to discipline her. Paige tells Emily that she won't get away with it, she'll supervise practice and put fires with the teammates Addison may have talked to before things spread.

At the police station, Spencer and Marco talk about Mary Drake. Spencer informs him that she doesn't see her as a villain in the situation and doesn't think she pulled the trigger. Jenna Marshall arrives at the station with a sob story that Noel Kahn was abusive and made her do things, and she only wanted to escape the situation, a story that Spencer knows is made up. Spencer tries to insult Jenna, but Marco stops her from doing any damage. Marco calls in someone to take in Jenna. Spencer tells Marco that she's worse than Archer is and that they need to lock her up. Marco reminds Spencer that they cannot charge Jenna with anything formally. Spencer walks out.

Hanna is trying to get through to Claudia but fails multiple times. She gets a text from Spencer informing her of Jenna's new story.

Spencer goes to see Aria and informs her, too. Aria questions why she was in Furey's office. Spencer tells her that he's helping her find Mary Drake because she's still trying to figure out things about herself that have never made sense.

Emily is at The Brew talking to Hanna on the phone; however, Jenna walks in with two other people by her side. She tells Hanna she will call her back and hangs up. She overhears Jenna speaking into her phone to send a text to someone. Emily sees Addison on the other side pull out her phone and smirk; she becomes suspicious that they're working together.

At the Hastings household, Spencer tells her mom that she'll be looking for a new job and won't be working for her anymore. Veronica gets a notification from a realtor and informs Spencer that she and Peter are selling the house. Spencer shows concern, which turns into not caring, telling Veronica that it's just a house. Veronica tells her that it's not just a house, it's home -where they all grew up. Spencer tells her that it feels different now, and that's why she doesn't care. Veronica tells her that it was a home, not because they're blood related, but because they grew up nurtured and loved, and safe. Spencer brushes her off and tells her that they should leave the house or they're gonna be late, and leaves.

Back with Holden and Aria, he notices that some mushrooms are missing -he jokes that someone must be hungry. She apologizes and explains she forgot to eat lunch. On her phone, Aria sees a news article about Nicole and Ezra being reunited with a picture of them hugging. She puts down her phone and puts her purse back on when Holden sees the news article and tells her that they never discussed the wedding menu for her and Ezra. She tells them they'll discuss it next time and walks out.

Mona sees Jenna wearing on of Hanna's designs.

In the Radley, Mona talks fashion with Hanna and suggests accessories to go with the dress. Mona sees Jenna wearing the same dress Hanna is working on, but in white instead of black. Mona and Hanna try to confront her, but she refuses to talk to them. Hanna explains it's all a part of the game, but she doesn't tell Mona what she meant by that.

Emily goes to Alison, and she informs her that Addison is one of Jenna's pawns, that she's making inappropriate allegations against her, and that a few years ago, she (Emily) took a shortcut to getting her degree. She missed a final exam, and A.D. took it for her. Alison agrees to let her play the game, but she's going to go with her.

Hanna and Caleb find Jenna and her friends outside of a shop belonging to a man repairing Hanna's shoes. Hanna expresses wanting to confront her, but Caleb stops her and says they want answers, and she's only going to make it a fight. While Caleb talks to Jenna, Hanna sneaks out of the car and goes into the building. She looks for the man repairing her shoes in the dark and becomes scared.

Alison and Emily play the game. Emily is given footage of Addison smoking marijuana in a car with her boyfriend at the time she was supposed to be at practice, which is evidence that she wasn't sick and just didn't come.

Outside of The Hellman Clinic, Aria tries to get in by faking that Nicole is her friend; however, Holden sees her doing this and tells her to stop.

Back with Hanna, she looks around and enters a cage. When she gets in it, the equipment starts turning on, and due to her PTSD about being tortured, she panics and yells for help. She injures herself and sits down. Then, she gets a message from a blocked user telling her to wait for her turn regarding the game. It will come and she'll be ready. Caleb eventually finds her and helps her get out.

At Rosewood High, Emily confronts Addison, and Emily makes things personal. Paige overhears and stops Emily. She tells Addison that the principal was forwarded an e-mail about her gloating that she's getting rid of Coach Fields, and her parents were informed of her actions as well.

Holden and Aria visit a restaurant, Holden eats while they talk about her situation with Ezra and Nicole. He tells her to be patient with Ezra.

Back at Rosewood High, Emily finds a letter for her; she opens it and finds a puzzle piece for the game. She puts it away and gets a message from A.D. to embrace her darkness, like they have, because it's how you win the game.

The girls gather at Spencer's barn over the board game. Alison explains how Emily got her piece. Spencer explains that there's a map in the game, and they theorize that A.D. wants them to find something or someone.

Notes

Jenna claims that Charlotte left behind money for her eye surgery, and Noel Kahn was after the money and threatened to kill Jenna, and also murdered Sara.

Title and Background

The title was revealed by I. Marlene King on Twitter.^[2] Later, it was renamed to "These Boots Were Made for Stalking" as seen on the press release.
The title could reference the book "These Boots Are Made For Stalking" by Lisi Harrison. The book summary says, "Now that the Pretty Committee is no longer boycotting boys, the eighth-grade friends cannot decide who has a crush on whom, putting the Clique in jeopardy again."
It could also be a play with words regarding the 1966 song, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra.

Main Cast

Supporting Cast

Trivia

The table read for this episode occurred on July 15th, 2016.^[3]
Filming for this episode began on July 20th, 2016, and wrapped on July 27th, 2016.^[4]
This is Oliver Goldstick's first episode of Season 7, and the first since "We've All Got Baggage."
This episode is the 20th and final episode of the show to be directed by Ron Lagomarsino.
The episode's official press release was made public on April 5th, 2017.^[1]
The intro in this episode features Emily doing the 'Shhh'.
The episode was watched by 0.91 million viewers on its original broadcast, falling for the first time below 1 million viewers.

Featured Music

"Hope (feat. Emily Coulston)" by Ben Phipps - (Caleb tries to convince Hanna to take a break for lunch, then Hanna reveals to him that the dress Katherine likes is one that Claudia helped her make)
"Every Little Light" by Little Children - (Aria comes to work out her wedding menu while Holden works, she offers her help out though she's distracted by problems with Ezra which Holden helps her work through)
"Another Lonely Heart" by Fialta - (Hanna and Emily discuss Spencer's text message over the phone when Jenna and her friends leave The Brew, Emily ends the call to spy on Jenna and spots Addison receiving a text just after Jenna sends one)
"Youth In 21" by Chelsea Effect - (At The Radley, Mona shows off the loot she acquired for Hanna, when Jenna arrives in the lounge wearing the dress similar to the one Hanna's designed)
"Snowflake" by Carl Broemel - (Holden explains to Aria why he followed her, then suggests that she give Ezra time to deal with the Nicole situation)