Things are getting intense on “Pretty Little Liars”! Episode 17, “Bite Your Tongue,” aired on Tuesday, Jan. 28, and the girls are getting closer and closer to “A.”

Mona’s New Friend

Despite Mona helping Hanna with her mom, the girls have iced Mona out of their group … and she has found new friends. Aria’s shocked when she discovers that Mona is not only friends with her brother, but she’s also dating him!

Disturbed by what she see’s, Aria decides to visit the new school counselor, Jesse, who set Mona up with Mike. But Jesse doesn’t have any plans on separating the two. Instead he offers Aria the opportunity to join an after school club to help with her anger issues. Needless to say, Aria declines.

Aria’s Confrontation

Maggie’s back in town to wrap up some business and things are ice cold between her and Ezra. Visiting him in school to get back the keys to her old apartment, Maggie reveals to him that she has left Malcolm in Seattle … and that he’s not going to see him.

Aria walks in as Maggie is leaving and Ezra tells her to stay out things. “People get what they deserve,” Ezra says to Aria.” “Eventually.” However Aria does the opposite when she sees Maggie in town. Approaching Ezra’s ex, Aria begins to go off on how wrong it is for her to keep Malcolm away from him. But Maggie’s in no mood to listen to Aria. Instead she calls Aria out for sleeping with Ezra and Aria responds by getting physical. Knocking a box out of Maggie’s hand, Aria’s shocked by her outburst and runs away from Maggie.

Officer Holbrook’s Return

Sean Faris returns as Officer Gabriel Holbrook in episode 17 of “Pretty Little Liars.” The police officer previously was bent on arresting Hanna’s mom for Dr. Wilden’s murder, but now resurfaced to apologize to Hanna … and drop some clues about Alison.

Hanna has been on a James Paterson murder mystery book kick since figuring out that someone else is buried in Alison’s grave. Holbrook suggests a book to her and reveals one of the major plot lines – “It all comes down to teeth.” With that in mind, Hanna decides to pay a visit to the dentist to check out the records from the days surrounding Alison’s disappearance.

Emily’s New Project

Ezra gets a visit from Emily’s dad as he’s in the middle of texting a message to a mysterious person: “There’s been a setback re: Alison.” Emily’s dad explains that his daughter has been having a hard time and is struggling with Alison’s death still. In order to help, Emily’s dad asks Ezra if he could provide her with extra curricular activities. Ezra agrees and decides to make Emily help him with the spring play.

Spencer’s Discovery

Struggling to juggle school with everything else, Spencer convinces Andrew to share some of his prescription drugs that he uses to study. But Spencer doesn’t use them to study – instead she uses them to continue deciphering one of Alison’s stories that she photographed from the stolen journal.

The story, “Love and Death,” is about Alison and the older man she was seeing. The tale leads Spencer to a pub near Hollis College (yes, the same college that Ezra went to and taught at) … where she surprisingly runs into Ezra. Her teacher bails as soon as he sees her, abandoning the poison berry pie he’s eating and canceling the rest of his order. However Spencer gets a major break in deciphering Alison’s story when the waitress decides to deliver the rest of his order to her after she leaves – a beer.

So, what’s so revealing about a beer? The beer is called is called “Board Shorts” and Alison’s story talks about her older man who had a weird order – poison berry pie and beer.

Emily’s Scare

In school after hours to help Ezra with the school play, Emily becomes frightened when “A” begins to play mind games. With head banging music coming on the loud speaker, the lights go out leaving Emily alone and in fear for her life. Calling her dad for help, Emily receives a note from “A”: “Act Normal, B*tch.”

Barricading herself in a room, Emily tries to escape through a window but can’t get it open. When Emily sees her dad pull up outside she’s relieved … until “A” tries breaking into the room. Breaking the window, Emily screams for help and gets her dad to climb up the school to help her escape. But when they get down safely her dad collapses. When the ambulance arrives Emily’s dad reveals that he’s returned home from the Army because something’s wrong with his heart.

Hanna’s Visit

Bent on investigating who switched Alison’s dental records, Hanna sneaks into the file room while the dentist is out of the room. Stealing the patient list from around the time that Alison disappeared, Hanna’s plan backfires when the dentist leaves and “A” steps in to play doctor.

Hanna’s gassed by “A” and injected with a needle when she’s knocked out. “A” uses that time to steal the files and leave Hanna his next message. But Hanna can’t get the message without her friends. Going to Aria’s house for help, Spencer uses a pair of tweezers to remove the item that “A” stuck in her mouth. With a magnified glass the girls see “A’s” latest message: “I told you. Dead girls can’t smile. Stop looking – A.”

“A’s” Next Step

The final moments of episode 17 show “A” shredding the dentist’s files and using them to line the cage of Alison’s old bird. In the background is a map of Cape May with “Wilden’s Yacht” circled near it.

What did you think of episode 17, “Bite Your Tongue”? Let us know in the comments section.

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