'Pretty Little Liars': Boy Trouble

By Sona Charaipotra

Special to MSN TV

Last week on "Pretty Little Liars," the girls were nearly positive that they’d figure this whole A thing out – again. This time, all clues pointed to Emily’s new girlfriend, Paige, who, it turned out, had been tortured by one Allison herself.

On this week's Season 3 finale, the body count rose again. So who died? Read on.

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• The finale began with the girls – Hanna bawling – standing outside of a strange house as an ambulance carried away a body. And it was someone they knew. At first, it seemed like it might be Emily, but then there she was, standing right beside them.

• But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. First things first, Emily was still oblivious to Paige’s apparent sinister side, and the other girls were trying to figure out how to tell her about it. So they staged an intervention. Emily was furious. But then they showed her the earring they’d found in Paige’s bag – the one from Allison's bag.

• At school, Aria confessed to Hanna about Ezra and the oblivious baby-daddy situation. She didn’t know whether or not to tell Ezra, considering that his ex hadn’t bothered. At Ezra’s later, she deliberated, but didn’t say anything. Unfortunately, her secrets were about to be spilled when Maggie showed up. “It sounds cliché, but I was in the neighborhood,” she said, shock all over her face. But when Aria tried to confess, Maggie acted like she’d never met her before. When Ezra stepped away, Maggie said she needed time to decide whether or not to tell him about her son. She’d keep Aria’s secret – but Aria would have to keep hers.

• Paige confronted Spencer, telling her to leave Emily alone. "I won't let you come between us," she warned. “If you don’t back down, you’re the one who’s going to get hurt.” At home, Emily – cutting school – told Paige that the other girls thought she was the one helping Mona. That’s when Paige got a text message – from A. She lied to Emily and said she’d be busy with family stuff that weekend.

• The girls, super-worried, decided to call Emily's parents. But then they got a text from A – warning them to stand down, or Emily would get hurt. As they deliberated their next move, they got another text from A, telling them to meet at Alli's grave with Maya’s bag – and then pictures, including one of a body bag. That’s when Caleb showed up. He told them there were reporters everywhere.

• Spencer ran into Toby and they shared a slow, passionate, haven’t-seen-you-in-​ages, head-spinning kiss. Then she took him home and showed him just how happy she was to see him. He told her he loved her, then headed out the door, presumably back to Bucks County. You know, where he got that new job.

• At Hanna's, she caught Caleb packing a gun. He was worried about how violent this A was, and wanted to be prepared, but Hanna said no way. So he put it away. But later, as they headed out, he tucked it back into his bag.

• When the girls finally got through to Emily, she told them she was going out of town with Nate. Emily's mom worried, suggesting Em stay with family given Maya's trial, but she said she really needed a friend. At the Inn, Emily was asleep on the sofa when the phone rang. She answered, and heard Nate's voice – and someone else, garbled, ordering him around. She was alone, so she riffled through his bag, finding a note with her address on it. And Maya's cell phone. That's when he showed, firewood in his arms. She realized, then, that she recognized his yellow paint-splattered sneakers. They were in one of the old shots of Maya – in the woods – from the phone she'd found. Emily told him she was going to get some fresh air, and high-tailed it out of there.

• Mona, meanwhile, was busy making her escape, dressed as an old school nurse, walking right out as if she wasn’t nuts. In her seedy hotel room, she donned the signature black hoodie and gloves, then answered her phone. "I'm here," she said. Then, "I understand." In A's lair, surrounded by collages of the girls and Allison, she said, to another black hoodie-shrouded figure, "Change of plans."

• 10:40 and the girls – plus Caleb – were waiting by the grave. "I get Mona being fashionably late, but Paige? That’s not right." So she called Nate to see if Emily was okay. No response. The girls started looking up lighthouses to find the Inn – one in Belmar, one in Bayhead – and so Caleb drove off, saying he was headed to Belmar, the girls should go to Bayhead.

• Outside, Emily felt someone watching her. She turned a corner, and there was Nate. "Oh my god, you scared me half to death," she said. To which he replied: "Not really. But I will." He had a knife, and led her back inside. He made her watch a video of Maya. He told Emily that she took Maya from him. Now he was going to do to her what she did to him. "I'm going to take something from you, and you are going to watch me do it." Yup, the nut job -- still dapper, though -- had Paige bound-and-gagged and locked in the closet the whole time. When Emily told him that the girls knew they were here, that they'd be here any minute, he said she underestimated him. "They think you're here with Nate St. Germain. And he doesn't exist." He was really Linden James. And he had to do something, because he knew Jenna had seen him with Maya. So time was up. They heard a creak, and Em escaped out into the woods while Linden investigated.

• Meanwhile, outside of some a Lighthouse Inn, the girls searched for Emily. But they weren’t at the right one. Nope. So Hanna called Caleb.

• Emily climbed to the top of the Lighthouse, trying to get a signal. She heard the door creak, and knew she only had minutes. She called 911, connected, but that’s when Linden appeared, and they struggled. Emily managed to get the knife, but he was stronger. That is, until she managed to stab him. That’s when Caleb showed up. He put the gun down and gave Emily a consoling hug. And then, of course, a gunshot.

• Cut to the ambulance. Caleb on a stretcher with a gunshot wound – and Hanna bawling – but the body bag? Well, that would be Linden. Later, the girls were at the hospital waiting Caleb underwent surgery. Then, simultaneous calls, and that same, gruff voice Emily heard on the phone earlier. But no time for that. Mrs. Hastings walked into the waiting room – with Garrett Reynolds, an evil smirk, now a free man. All thanks to the girls.

• In the end, back in her nurse's uniform, Mona returned to the loony bin – accompanied by a hoodied figure. "If I knew Nate was going to get Garrett out, I would have stayed in tonight," she said. Then she told the figure to get Maya’s cell phone back. "Shouldn’t be too difficult. Paige doesn’t even know she has it." And then, as she headed into the building, and the figure turned, finally giving us a glimpse: Toby.

• Returning to the lair, the figure pondered a poster for Halloween dance, then called and ordered two tickets.

• Could Toby really be A? Or at least a member of the A Team? Or is this another run-around? We'll have to wait till season three returns with its winter episodes to find out!

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"Pretty Little Liars" will return with all new episodes later this year on ABC Family.