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‘Pretty Little Liars’ Recap: S7 E14 “Power Play”

We have arrived at the midway point of the second half of the season, which usually means it’s time for a few big reveals, and the Liars sure don’t disappoint tonight.

Ezra finally shows up to his own home after Aria texts him about Nicole showing up and claims he’s been searching for Nicole all night after she had run away from the clinic. Since Nicole is sleeping upstairs, Aria decides to leave and sleep over at Alison’s after informing Ezra that Nicole is bound to figure out the status of their relationship when she sees Aria’s possessions and photos everywhere. Ezra proves yet again that he’s the worst fiance on the planet when he just lets her go. This whole love triangle situation might actually be the thing that pushes Aria over the edge, because we all know damn well that her turn at the game will involve hurting Nicole somehow.

When Aria arrives at Ali’s, the two head to the kitchen for a late night snack and notice the game has somehow arrived at Ali’s house. It starts to go haywire trying to decide whose turn is next, at least according to Ali. Does anyone else find it to be weird as hell that Ali always makes these declarative statements where she knows exactly what’s going on with A.D.? It’s like her bad girl days have given her the ability to seep into the mind of the enemy.

Spencer wakes up in Detective Fury’s bed, and the only reason that might matter is if he begins to suspect the Liars during the investigation and she can manipulate him somehow. After getting home, Spencer finally comes face to face with her father and confronts him about her adoption and where he’s been since flying into Philly. Mr. Hastings claims he’s been searching for Mary Drake to ensure that he can’t do anything to hurt Spencer.

Back at the school, Paige breaks the news to Emily that the University of Iowa has offered her the Assistant Coach position that she had supposedly been skipped over for someone else. Chances are she didn’t even entertain the opportunity with the option of being in Rosewood with Paige on the table. As usual, right when the conversation gets going, Ali busts in to tell Emily that she has decided to have an abortion.

Emily offers to take Ali to the clinic to get her first pill, and she accepts. The two share a tender moment before Fury comes knocking on the door of Ali’s classroom. He breaks the news of Archer’s finger delivery to Ali, who actually looks physically nauseous over the confirmation that the police will be investing Archer’s death as a homicide. Or is that just morning sickness?

The next morning, Ezra and Aria discuss Nicole and the discover of Aria’s wedding dress while she was sleeping in their bed. He claims Nicole only expressed her desire to see Ezra happy, but there’s no way that didn’t total ruin Nicole’s recovery. This is exactly why he should have been honest from the beginning, because Ezra breaking the news of his relationship with Aria himself is far less damaging that Nicole just stumbling upon her wedding dress. What was she doing in Ezra’s closet anyway?

Hanna has a minor breakdown over the prospect of being outed for the responsibility of Archer’s murder just as the game comes back to life and makes its decision that Ali is up next. The group all agrees that they can’t make any more mistakes in the race against solving A.D’s riddle before the police solve the investigation. Hanna finds the Private Investigator’s phone number that Spencer’s dad was using and forces her to help try to find Mary Drake on their own. When they go to a house based on info from the P.I., Hanna’s mother’s ex boyfriend Ted answers the door. They’re really bringing everyone back around this season. Is Ted going to be a creep now too? He appears ignorant to who Mary Drake is and what her whereabouts are, but Mary shows up behind the door as soon as they walk away.

Aria arrives back at Ezra’s to find him on the floor picking up pages of his manuscript that Nicole had found and thrown at her parents. Apparently she not only read it, but scribbled some love notes to Ezra along the way.

After swim practice, Emily pleads with Paige to stay in Rosewood because she was hoping they could have a second chance at being together. In a display of emotional depth we rarely get to see from her, Paige explains to Emily that she doesn’t want to feel like she’s living through high school all over again watching the dynamic between Ali and Emily.

The abortion pamphlet from the clinic is hanging out of Ali’s purse, so of course Paige looks at it and gets caught by Ali, who is livid. I guess that somehow makes Paige feel better though, because a baby and an abortion is an acceptable secret for Emily and Ali to be bonding over. Later that night Paige tells Emily she has informed Iowa that she needs more time to decide on whether or not to accept the position, and they decide on a bicycle race to determine Paige’s future.

Paige lets Emily win before telling her that she has already decided to stay, and the two seal the news with a kiss. So Emily and Paige are back together, which can only mean they’re about to be in the middle of a world of trouble. We all know these two never have it easy when they’re sharing smooches. Let’s just forget all that for the moment and enjoy these two back together though. Nothing is more adorable than seeing Emily Fields happy and in love.

Ali and Aria are video chatting about the state of the game and investigation, but just as Ali takes off to get sick, A.D. hacks the video call with a threat and a file with her name on it. A.D. leads Ali and Hanna to a baby clothing store for her turn, then video chats Aria again to confront her about knocking her game piece off the board in anger and demands the two meet up immediately. What, what? These two are just going to get together for a pow wow like old friends?

While Aria goes to find A.D., because that couldn’t possibly put her in a world of danger, the game forces Ali to to scan 10 items to a baby registry. Once she completes the task, the cashier hands Ali a gift bag with a personalized necklace that she claims is from the egg donor, and it has Emily’s name on it. Suddenly, we get flashbacks of some kind of bizarre medical procedure as Ali has a breakdown in the store but still finds her puzzle piece. I guess it turns out A.D. somehow impregnated Ali with Emily’s eggs? We’ve made it people. I never thought it could get any weird, but in the final half of the final season we have officially jumped the shark and landed straight in daytime soap opera land.

Aria follows the GPS instructions provided by A.D., which lead her to a black limo that she obviously should never get into but does anyway. Once she gets in the limo, Aria comes face to face with none other than Sydney, who claims responsibility for everything A.D. has done. Sydney tells Aria that she has revealed herself to her because Aria seems desperate, which Sydney can use. As the limo rides on, Sydney reveals that someone else who is on the other end of an earpiece is actually calling the shots. She’s just another pawn in A.D.’s game also, but it’s looking like she’s a pretty big one. A.D. has Sydney inform Aria that he/she wants Aria to switch sides, because no one likes it on the losing team of a game. Aria doesn’t immediately say no, which is absolutely insane.

Ted shows up to meet Hanna and admits he lied to her about not seeing Mary Drake, who has been sleeping at his house for the last two nights. It turns out the pair were old college friends, and after Hanna and Spencer left, Mary revealed to Ted that he is in fact Charlotte’s father. Not only that, but Hanna’s bestie Lucas is was Charlotte’s childhood friend. Can I say I told you so now? I totally called Lucas’s involvement in one way or another. Maybe the Liars are all being duped by every single other friend they’ve ever had.

Back at home, Ali tells Emily that she thinks her baby actually belongs to Emily from her donation, because A.D. stole them and somehow got them implanted them into Ali. Once the dust settles in that conversation, Ali cancels her abortion appointment over the phone. I knew the Emily and Paige bliss couldn’t last for long, but this is just bonkers. Maybe Ali will have the baby and Paige and Emily will raise it together, because that wouldn’t be weird at all. I have to say, I’m a bit disappointed in the show for choosing the lesbian character for the experimental fertilized egg implantation drama. Isn’t that a big stereotypical? Maybe I’m being too sensitive, because everything that’s happening in this episode just has my head spinning. Moving on.

Spencer’s father figures out that she contacted the investigator on her own and warns her that Mary is dangerous. In a desperate move to learn the truth, Spencer threatens to leave and never come back unless he tells her everything. The last time he saw Mary Drake was when Spencer got out of rehab. A women he assumed to be Mrs. DeLaurentis but was actually Mary Drake had broken into their home to seek revenge.

Jessica had lied to Mary about Charles and came to kill Jessica, then tried to frame Mr. Hastings when he refused to help her do so. Mr. Hastings has actually known who Charlotte was the entire time, but now has decided to help his daughter instead of sit back and watch her life be threatened. Spencer, you should probably have never left your lobbying job to come back to Rosewood for Charlotte’s hearing. You had your life together girl.

The group reconvenes and confronts Aria about abandoning Ali at the baby store, and no one bats an eye when she just casually apologizes without much of an excuse. The Liars inform Aria that A.D. stole Emily’s eggs and impregnated Ali with them, which hopefully makes Aria feel like a complete piece of garbage for meeting with A.D. behind everyone’s back. Suddenly the game jumps back to life, and instead of selecting Aria for the next turn, A.D. decides to come back around to torture Hanna again. It looks like A.D. is trying to seduce Aria to the dark side by exempting her from the game while she decides. What do you think she’ll do?

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