Pretty Little Liars Review: In the Eye Abides the Heart (Season 7 Episode 15)

Pretty Little Liars takes a little break from the “turns” that the main characters have been taking these past few weeks, in favor of a more relaxed episode that focuses on character relationships and finding clues.

Emily and Alison are one couple put under a microscope on this episode, and they are dealing with the fallout of their awkward pregnancy situation as well as can be expected.

On Season 7 Episode 14 “Power Play,” Alison discovered that she’s pregnant with Emily’s baby. This week picks up with Emily and Alison discussing what to do about the baby.

This whole situation is very screwed up! What happened to Ali is reproductive assault. Teen Vogue has a detailed op-ed discussing this topic, if you’re curious. It’s terrifying that she was violated like this in Welby, but it’s made even worse by the fact that the baby isn’t Archer’s. In short, everything Ali thought she knew about the baby she is carrying is totally wrong.

Knowing who the father is won’t change the fact that this happened against Ali’s will, and that it’s a crime committed against her by a man she only thought she knew. But in the larger context of the game, we need to know who fertilized Emily’s eggs and why, though we won’t get that answer this week. The episode doesn’t really give us much to go on, instead focusing on the fallout for Emily and Ali, and I’m okay with that.

But, of course, knowing that she’s carrying Emily’s baby changes Ali’s mind about terminating the pregnancy. Emily has a big stake in this. She is being very understanding and giving Ali space, but this changes things considerably for them — particularly because of the fact that Emily wants a chance to raise the baby.

In the end, Ali and Emily decide they are going to keep the baby. This decision also brings an end to Emily’s relationship with Paige, and the love triangle that started getting sour in Season 7 Episode 11 “PlAytime.”

So, it is starting to look like Emison is the endgame here, but I am not going to be placing any bets yet. I still think A.D. has a couple of plays up their sleeve.

Fitz and Aria have been feeling some strain too. We saw Aria join the dark side in “Power PlAy” when she met with Sydney. On this episode, A.D. has started contacting Aria with FaceTime messages. The virtual Aria is creepy and terrifying.

I spent about two minutes being oddly impressed at the lengths A.D. is going to in order to stay a secret, but we can’t lose sight of Aria’s real motives here.

Aria is doing this because of Ezra. It is to protect Ezra and a fairytale ideal she has of their wedding. But Nicole is still a factor in their relationship, and Aria’s behavior is really childish.

Ezra is supposed to go to Maine to help Nicole’s family get her set up with a new doctor, and Aria doesn’t want him to go. Ezra needs to deal with Nicole and their relationship, or she will always be between them, and I don’t think Aria has realized that yet.

When the episode ends, Aria’s phone is ringing. Presumably, it’s A.D., and Ezra has just told Aria that he didn’t get on the plane. This should symbolize a commitment, but it comes off as catty. I do not think that the Ezria relationship is going to last if this is the big rock between them.

In the end, there wasn’t too much action this episode, but we do end with a big bad who is ready to up the ante, and with Hanna getting ready for a second turn, anything can happen.

Stray Thoughts:

• Could Lucas be another one of A.D’s victims? Of course, we have to remember Mona, who played us all for fools by pretending to be one of A.D’s victims back in Season 2. Of course, Lucas also claimed he was being blackmailed by A. So, what are the odds that was a lie?
• Speaking of Mona, it’s fascinating to watch her with the game board. I can’t wait to see Mona try to beat this game.
• Mary Drake’s message in a bottle was a nice touch, but really — why a wine bottle? Also, pretty sure that’s not goodbye; we will see Mary Drake again, right?
• Detective Furey is on to Spencer and the receipt. How are the Liars going to get out of this one?
• Speaking of Spencer: That scene at the airport with Wren… did that seem odd to anyone else? Do you think it’s possible that we’ve just met Spencer’s twin, as one of many fan theories suggests?
• Charles and Lucas were friends, and while I like the comic book they found, I wish they had delved a little more into that on this episode. I understand needing to unpack Aria joining A.D. and the Emison baby reveal, but I feel like the connections between Charles and Lucas were also important. Looking forward to exploring those next episode.

What did you think of this episode of Pretty Little Liars? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.

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