'Pretty Little Liars' Gets Chippy, 'Tyrant' Roars Back, 'Scream' Kills Again

Pretty Little Liars | For an episode filled with copious amounts of filler, out-of-character behavior and non-existent plot headway, “No Stone Unturned” did yield two last-minute morsels of new information. Charles is alive (who thought otherwise?) and the girls have been chipped by A.


You read that correctly. A chip was inserted into the back of the girls’ necks and none of them noticed until, Hanna sent off the alarm on a metal detector. Yes, there was a metal detector lying around in a lab experimenting on animals. Okay, it is far-fetched but far from unfathomable. Remember this is a show where someone supposedly had the personal funds to create a giant dollhouse with a replication of each of the Liars’ bedroom.

Honestly, the revelation wasn’t the episode’s most head scratching moment. There was Hanna’s sudden downturn in IQ points and her strange (but welcomed) reconciliation with Caleb. There was Spencer’s out of nowhere almost-kiss with her sponsor, who’s broken about every rule of sober sponsorship imaginable. Why would the Hastings hire a man to council Spencer, by the way?

Risking a romantic flirtation is the last thing she needs and where’s Toby? His girlfriend is flirting with yet another guy and he’s not available for comment. There was also the inexplicable introduction of Emily’s long lost BFF from the junior Peace Corps. Who cares about this girl and why would she fly all the way to Pennsylvania to have this conversation when she could’ve called or texted Emily on the phone? Can you say plot device?

Speaking of Emily, her hookup with the mentally unstable Sara finally happened, after a distraught Sara claimed she’d been hit by a car and the rest was history. Sara’s allegation was hard to believe given that we didn’t see it happen on-screen so it very well could’ve been a lie. There is something not right with Sara and her myriad of stories. The daunting omission of her mother’s presence continues to cast doubt on anything and everything she’s said. There’s simply no proof to back up any of it and there’s no reason to take her word for it.

As little suspicion has been cast on Sara, the exact opposite has been heaped upon Mona. Spencer is now leading the charge against her long-time nemesis with an allegation of collusion. Apparently, the Liars feel that Mona had things way too easy in the Dollhouse. Never mind that Mona seemed emotionally frail and there’s little in the way of evidence to support the accusation. Spencer is heading full steam ahead without any of that pesky evidence to slow her down.

It’s clear that Spencer is threatened by Mona, a person who’s outsmarted more than a few times. The thing is Spencer and none of the other girls are even blinking at throwing around a detrimental accusation. Have they learned nothing from what became of their accusations against Ian (dead), Garrett (dead), and Andrew? It’s reprehensible to think they’d make such a rush to judgment in light of the countless times they’ve been wrong.

Side Notes / Burning Questions: It was nice to see a supportive Ashley counsel a distraught Caleb. What does Mona have to do to prove herself to the Liars? Isn’t it obvious that Sara is working with Charles? Will we ever see Charles? Where’s Jason? Why was Hanna written like such an airhead in this episode? It’s already on the record that she got in to more schools than Spencer and presumably scored higher on her SATs. Why is Spencer the default leader of the foursome? She has proven time and again that she only leads them down the wrong roads.

Tyrant | After last week’s slow and mildly eventful episode, “Tyrant” came roaring back with an installment that put the series into overdrive. Barry finally took a stand, instead of running from who he is and by episode’s end was ready to fight back for the people of Abbudin. Sammy risking the life of his mother to get his inheritance was perhaps the most self-indulgent act of the hour. Why Molly refuses to stand up to her children and their tantrums is puzzling.

Scream | Of all of the characters that had to go, Riley was the one that deserved to stay the most and now she’s gone. Here’s hoping Brianne Tju will show up on another series soon. Her performance as Riley has been one of the major highlights of the show. Not as much of a highlight has been Emma’s decision making; which has brought her to near irredeemable levels.

Had she told her mom what was going on and alerted the police that she was in communication with the killer, Riley would’ve been saved. Thus far Emma has stayed silent as a video made to bully two girls was recorded, betrayed an old friend in the process and has now made the life-altering decision to stay quiet while her friends were the target of a maniac. She’s not exactly a front runner for TV heroine of the year.

Teen Wolf | What we learned: science and the supernatural have been melded together to create the super beast we’ve been watching cough up charcoal goop. Of all the seasons, The Scientists have to be the least interesting villains of all. What do they want? Are they human? How do they breathe in those ridiculous outfits? Why should we care? I don’t. On a positive note; Stiles, his dad, Parrish, Lydia and Malia are continuing to make the show fun and worthwhile.

Photo Credit: "Pretty Little Liars"/Freeform/ABC Family