Pretty Little Liars recap Season 6, Episode 5: Shes no Angel -

It’s been a sleepy “Summer of Answers” so far in Rosewood, but I do believe we’ve reached that “Breakthrough” Hanna was texting about. Before I get too ahead of myself, I’ll admit that PLL leads often turn out to be something else entirely or … nothing at all.

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There are a lot of elements to unpack from this episode (not least of which is a Maddie Ziegler cameo!), but Hanna’s lines alone were worth the price of admission. Example: “We can’t have Mona quaking in her boots when we need that boot to kick in the door at Radley.”

Yes, this week marked the return of Mona, who turned up in Hanna’s kitchen wearing a frown and really dark shades. The only A that Mona seems concerned about is Ali, who ended up in jail as a result of Mona faking her own death. History tells Mona that it’s only a matter of time before Ali exacts her revenge. Hanna tells Mona that Ali is basically in hiding, except when she goes to church. Besides, Mona has even bigger problems: she’s likely to face charges for, you know, pretending to be dead.

It’s worth noting that Ali’s inappropriate relationship with Lorenzo, her fellow parishioner and Toby’s partner on the Rosewood police force, is heating up — they’re kissing now — and Ali’s father is not a fan of this turn of events. For the record, neither am I because Alison DiLaurentis is a high school student.

Mona wasn’t the only familiar face to turn up in Rosewood. We were also treated to the return of Mona’s friend, Lesli Stone, who has some explaining to do at the Rosewood police station, thanks to Mona. It was Lesli’s (now proven-to-be-false) testimony that landed Hanna in jail, something Hanna has not forgotten.

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Serious words were exchanged when Hanna and Mona ran into Lesli at The Brew. Of course, Hanna had the best ones:

Lesli: Do you really think I wanted to add perjury to my resume?

Hanna: I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like your tone.

So, yeah we’re still pretending that SAT whiz, Hanna Marin, doesn’t know basic words like perjury (or was it resume?). The real takeaway, of course, is that Lesli is really mad at Mona for getting her involved in a criminal investigation and leaves her with an ominous warning: “I believe in payback, too.”

In other ominous news: Spencer is still struggling to remember exactly what happened to her in the dollhouse. A nightmare only makes things more confusing: Spencer sees herself in a dark basement, alone, until a young girl comes out of nowhere. Spencer follows her into a room filled with gurneys and bathtubs and the girl does a sort of intepretive zombie dance that evokes “The Ring.” If those moves look familiar, it’s because that girl is the aforementioned Ziegler, of “Dance Moms” fame. But it’s unclear where — or if — she fits into the A narrative.

Due to her understandably frazzled nerves, Spencer’s been keeping her hands in the (pot) cookie jar. When her unusual appetite and overall weird behavior cause Hanna to ask if she’s buzzed, Spencer heads to an anonymous meeting for addicts. Just when it looks like Spencer only showed up to satisfy her munchies, we witness yet another PLL reunion — it’s Dean, Spencer’s former sober coach, who was fired when Spencer’s mom found them getting a little too close.

Dean convinces Spencer to ditch the gateway pastries and face her problems. “You’re stronger than you think.”

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This is sound advice that could apply to any of the Liars. Take Emily for example. Having realized that Sara’s mother is an alcoholic who wants to make money off her daughter’s harrowing ordeal, Emily has taken Sara under her wing. She even encourages Sara to seek emancipation. Local emancipated minor, Caleb Rivers, agrees to coach Sara through the process and hires her to work for his web design company — who knew? Emily and Sara decide to get celebratory tattoos from a parlor that apparently does not check id.

Meanwhile, Aria realizes A is trailing her as she heads to a junkyard for an impromptu photography session with her new friend Clark. As she photographs her new fear-induced obsession, dolls, Aria spots A’s hooded silhouette in a nearby mirror. Later, she discovers that A can be seen in one of Clark’s photos.

This is where the answers part of this week’s episode starts to come together. Spencer and Hanna head to Radley to search for definitive proof that Charles is dead (or not). They’re supposed to be joined by Mona, but she doesn’t show. When they get to the basement, Spencer sees a photo of the dancing zombie girl on the wall and realizes she wasn’t dreaming of the dollhouse, but of Radley. They find a work order to transport Charles’s organs. This would seem to confirm Charles’s death, but Hanna “no body, no grave, no proof” Marin isn’t ready to call off the search.

A run-in with a disturbingly lifelike CPR doll and a few too many loud noises cut Spencer and Hanna’s visit short. They run for the exit and come face-to-face with Mona, who has stolen a file of her own. It’s Lesli Stone’s file! Radley is where Mona and Lesli met. Lesli had been there for much longer, though — long enough to know both Charles and Bethany Young. The plot thickens.

After “borrowing” Clark’s negatives at Emily’s suggestion, Aria notices something — well, two things actually — that lead her to conclude that A is a girl. She fires off a group text, which Sara sees. Sara says she’s seen the hooded figure too — most recently across the street from Caleb’s apartment — and she wants to know why Emily didn’t tell her about A. As Emily tries to explain that she was just trying to protect Sara, A appears in the darkened alley (because, of course, they’re in a darkened alley).

Everyone manages to make it back to Spencer’s house, where Hanna puts two and two together for everyone: “That’s a bust and it’s Lesli Stone’s.” Mona, not invited to the Liar summit, puts in a call to Lesli. “I did everything I could, Lesli, I swear,” Mona says, adding, “they know.”

What follows is a genuine freakout from Lesli, who gives Mona a “one job” speech and tells her that she always screws everything up. It would be easy to believe that Lesli is A — she looks pretty good for it right about now, but six seasons of PLL have taught me to be skeptical of even the most obvious of theories.

PLL won’t be back for another two weeks, but A leaves us with a disturbing, yet hilarious parting gift: a gloved hand creating a tennis ball version of Aria, complete with a tiny black wig and pink highlights.

Lingering questions: Is Lesli A? Why was Lesli in Radley? Is Clark connected to A? Is Dean sticking around?

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