Free Fall is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of Pretty Little Liars, an American mystery drama television series based on the novel series written by Sara Shepard, and is the ninety-first episode of the series. The episode, directed by Melanie Mayron and written by Maya Goldsmith, originally aired on February 18, 2014 on ABC Family. In the episode, Spencer is ready to tell Aria that Ezra is "A", while Hanna and Emily, worried that Aria will be hurt, remain hesitant. Meanwhile, Spencer’s addiction to amphetamines is exposed, causing damage to her credibility among the Liars.
"Free Fall" yielded 2.56 million viewers and a 1.0 demo rating, up from the previous episode. It received highly positive reviews from contemporary critics, with the performances of Bellisario and Hale receiving widespread acclaim, as well as praise for the episode's dialogue between Ashley Benson and Shay Mitchell's characters, drawing comparisons to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Plot[]
Spencer is eager to tell Aria that Ezra is "A", but Hanna and Emily are not sure when the best time is. After catching Spencer in his classroom in her pajamas, Ezra tells Aria about Spencer’s addiction to amphetamines as well as a previous incident involving them. She tells Hanna and Emily and they all hold an intervention at Spencer’s house. When confronted with the truth, Spencer breaks down and confesses that Ezra is "A" while continuing to deny the truth.
Spencer tries to explain to Hanna and Emily the inconsistencies she discovered in Alison’s journal, which leads to a plan to lure Ezra out of obscurity using a bag of money for Ali. Hanna and Emily meet at Ambrose Pavilion to catch Ezra and wait for Spencer to arrive, who is supposed to be dressed as Alison. Someone dressed as Alison arrives and the girls assume it’s Spencer. Spencer comes later and the girls realize it was "A", not Spencer. They attempt to follow the girl but she runs off and the room’s lights start short-circuiting. As the girls are about to leave, Emily notices the bag and takes it, while Hanna notices a blonde wig in the trash.
Aria tells Ezra about the intervention and he lets slip some information that Aria did not share with him, causing some suspicion. She later goes to his cabin, where she finds his manuscript detailing the lives of all the girls, including Alison. She runs off into the forest, trying to hide from Ezra, and eventually boards a ski lift. Ezra catches her as the lift is about to go and tries to explain everything. Aria, in disbelief, threatens to expose the manuscript but Ezra knocks it out of her hands.
Meanwhile, Mona and Mike continue their relationship, but Mona struggles to keep her past behind as Ezra continues pressing her for help. Veronica and Toby discovers Spencer’s relapse.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings
- Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin
- Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
- Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery
- Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal
Guest Cast[]
- Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh
- Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
- Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings
- Cody Christian as Mike Montgomery
Featured Music[]
- Lily Lane: Nothing But Trouble (Spencer looking at her new necklace)
Transcript[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Spencer will look her worst in this episode.
- Veronica will have a "good" scene with Spencer.
- Hanna and Emily will have a scene together.
- Mike will have a really "sweet" scene.
- Lucy posted a video of Ian taking care of her on set when she was sick and in the background there was a ski lift. There will be an intense scene between Aria and Ezra on it.
- The shirt Hanna gives to Spencer in this episode, was previously worn by Hanna on the episode "Face Time". Coincidentally, the shirt says "Happy Ashley" which is the name of the actress who plays Hanna (and the name of Hanna's mother).
- Mike will have a scene with Mona.
- There will be a scene at a zoo.
- It's unclear and unknown how Aria and Ezra got out of the ski lift. If the ski lift let them down, Aria could've picked up the pages from the book and read them, but at the end, "A" is seen picking them up.
- It's unclear if Ezra was the one who pretented to be dead just for Spencer to see, or if it was Toby playing dead.
- B26 was first mentioned in "Pilot".
- Aria, Emily and Hanna find out about Spencer's addiction to pills.
- Ezra and Aria will have an epic and emotional showdown.
- Spencer wears a blonde wig to distract 'A'.
- There was a theory amongst fans that the blonde girl at the zoo is no other than Sara Harvey. Other fans also say that the girl could've been Mona, but if you take a closer look, the skin tone is white, not brown, so she couldn't have been Mona.
Errors[]
- When Ezra arrives at the cabin, it is daytime. However, as Aria escapes the cabin into the woods, it is night.
Production Notes[]
- The table read was on September 17, 2013.
- Filming began on September 18, 2013 and ended on September 25, 2013.
- The entire script to this episode was leaked before the episode aired.