Who locked spencer in the steam room

UGH. Pretty Little Liars has got to stop waiting until the last few minutes to be entertaining. Halfway through tonight's episode, I wrote the following: "This is sooo boring."

"Hot Water" only delivered mostly tepid action this week. I felt like the majority of tonight's episode was dull, dull, dull. We got a few bits of important information and some romantic reunions, but there was definitely something lacking.

The number one thing missing was Spencer's confession to the girls that Toby is A. Instead of using this episode to start repairing her relationships with her friends and preparing them for the danger lurking in the shadows, Spencer moped and sulked some more, hiding out in Ella's classroom with Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" on the chalkboard. Enough! I had enough of the pity party last week, and now I'm completely over it.

When she finally does dig herself out of her funk, she decides to hook up with Wren on the street. Melissa (who I've never trusted before and especially don't tonight) may have had a point when she said: "No company is better than bad company."

Seriously, Wren? Wren's been with Melissa, Spencer, Hanna and now Spencer again. It's just getting kind of incestuous - and Wren is not trustworthy. The way he moves so easily from one to the other suggests that he's motivated by something other than genuine attraction. Plus, their little make out session made A very upset.

So, was it Toby that locked Spencer in the steam room? Seems likely and also rather psychopathic. Then again, it would be a great way to show how dangerous Toby really is...without using a do-rag. But the whole incident did inspire her to fess up. At least, that's what it looked like.

The only part of the episode that did get a little interesting was the Wilden plot. He seems really interested in shutting up the girls (especially Hanna), which suggests there might be some truth the rumor. CeCe's terrified enough to leave town right away, but not before revealing that Melissa is more involved in Ali's death that we suspected. I don't think this lets CeCe completely off the hook because it's starting to look like everyone in Rosewood is a suspect

When is someone going to actually investigate Melissa? Maybe she's hiding a blonde wig and a red coat in her closet.

I do hope that Ashley wises up and calls the police to report what happened to her. She can't expect to get away with running Wilden down and the best way to avoid being arrested is to confess that she feared for her life. This can't be the first time Wilden has abused his authority because he seems very skilled at it. In fact, we know this isn't the first time and so does Ashley.

Other than Wilden and CeCe offering up some juicy tidbits for discussion, Emily was able to break into the costume store's records and get the invoice for the Queen of Hearts costume. Guess we'll find out about that next week. Bummer for Spencer if she finds out that person who tried to kill her then was her boyfriend in drag. But it would make a for dramatic moment!

The episode featured an Ezria reunion, which unfortunately coincided with Ezra's mother returning as well. Although she's terrible at interfering in her son's lives, Mrs. Fitz-scary isn't wrong about Aria and Ezra's relationship. Aria needs to realize this probably isn't the best time for Ezra to have a relationship so far away from his son. Plus, maybe she can go back to considering Wes for more than 2.5 seconds. What do you think?

Don't forget to sound off later this week in the Pretty Little Liars Round Table - and right now on my Pretty Little Liars review.

Hot Water is the twentieth episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on February 19, 2013.

Synopsis

The four girls talk about the latest developments with respect to Jason, CeCe and the picture of Alison. Spencer receives a text and becomes very distracted. Hanna spots that it was a text from Wren to Spencer but Spencer gives a very streamlined version of what happened between them. Wilden shows up and Hanna brings up his boat ride with CeCe and Alison. He sinisterly tells Hanna, "See ya round."

At home, Aria notices that Wesley folded all of his sheets and left the book he borrowed from Aria neatly in a pile. While Hanna and her mother walk, they spot Wilden pushing CeCe into a car. Wilden gives Hanna a dirty look and Ashley notices. Hanna tries to play it off, saying that the girls know the woman he got into the car with. She says that the girls have suspicions about Wilden having a past relationship with Alison and the information came from CeCe, but she assures her mother that they're done with their suspicions. She promises to not speak with the girl again.

Melissa is having to lie to their parents about Spencer skipping school and spending most of her days in bed. She tells Spencer she won't be covering for her much longer. Emily tells Hanna that Jason is lying low at a friend's place for awhile. Hanna wants them to speak with Paige and make sure she told them everything. Hanna tells her about Jamie and the five-dollar bill, and Emily says it's probably just a coincidence.

As Aria is walking into Ezra's apartment, she tries to get a hold of Wesley to talk about their kiss, but instead she finds Ezra is back. She's upset he never made contact, but he says that he was too busy thinking about their relationship and assures her that he wants her to be in his life. He agrees that it wasn't fair for him to think about their relationship and how everything will work with Malcolm, and says Maggie kept Malcolm a secret because his mother paid her. He invites her to go to dinner with him saying, "I never would have said this prior to meeting you, but I've actually been craving vegan takeout."

Spencer is sitting alone in Mrs. Montgomery's class room when Ella walks in. They talk about Moba, her break up with Toby, and her recent behavior. Ella tells her that she knows that Spencer is the kind of person to pick herself up from a huge disappointment and keep going. She assures her that the door to her classroom is always open. Emily and Hanna see that Paige is about to visit the Rosewood Costume Shop to check on past purchases of the Queen of Hearts costume. They say they're going with her, to Paige's reluctance. Spencer spots Aria in the hallway and turns immediately around and heads to the bathroom. Aria chases her down and speaks to her through the stall door. Aria tries to pry her out of the stall and makes it clear that they all need their friend, but Spencer doesn't budge.

At the costume shop Shana isn't thrilled that Paige didn't come alone. She tells Paige she can't give out information on past rentals. While Hanna and Paige distract her, Emily is able to get on the computer and send herself past credit card transactions related to the costume. Ezra's mother pays Aria a visit at the coffee shop. She thanks her for anything she might have said to help Wesley, who is reportedly back at his old school, and sits down. She tells Aria that her past actions against her have been in Ezra's best interest, but Aria says she thinks Ezra should have been involved in the decision. Emily wonders to Hanna if Toby might have cheated on Spencer. She also admits to being worried about Paige having some sort of relationship with Shana. Aria tells the girls about Ezra being back and that she saw Mrs. Fitzgerald .

Wilden sits down with Ashley at a restaurant. He says that an accusation like the one Hanna is making would be, "the end of me." Ashley tells him to leave. Wren and Spencer talk. She apologizes for using him to get back at Mona when all he did was care about her feelings and try to help her. Wren admits that he only came to help her because he knew about her breakup with Toby and thought he might have had a chance with her. He apologizes for jumping in too soon. She rejects him but says that being with him was "nice." Aria talks to Hanna and Emily about the fact that her relationship just got very, very grownup. She's still bothered by the fact that Ezra never called while he was away and admits there was a brief moment of attraction for Wesley.

Wren tries to kiss Spencer. She pulls away, but then goes back in for a long make out session. It looks as if somebody witnesses this. Aria goes to Ezra's for dinner and walks into an argument between Ezra and his mother. There is a gift basket for Malcolm on the table. He says he's not going to apologize for loving Aria and kicks his mother out. After she leaves, Ezra and Aria kiss. Paige admits that she had a brief relationship with Shana when Emily was working in Haiti over the summer. Paige says that she was a substitute for Emily and assures her that she has nothing to worry about and they kiss. Spencer spots someone with a red coat and blonde hair following her, but they hurry away before she can get a closer look.

Hanna misses a call from her mother while listening to music. Ashley leaves a message saying that she suspects that there is more to the story with Wilden than Hanna is telling her. She gets into her car and is followed by Wilden. Melissa smells Wren's cologne on Spencer. She tells her, "No company is better than bad company," and that she was the one who bought Wren the cologne. Ezra and Aria are enjoying each other's company and are about to watch a movie when Maggie calls to say that Ezra's mother is now trying to sell her condo out from under her. Wilden pulls Ashley over and asks her if she's been drinking. Spencer gets into the sauna, and as she is sitting in it we see a hooded figure walk past the door.

Wilden warns Ashley about keeping Hanna quiet. He grasps her arm and she argues with him, calling him out for threatening a child. She wrestles her arm from him and gets into her car, but Wilden stands there to keep her from leaving. He says that if she won't keep Hanna quiet, then he will do it himself, and reaches for his gun. In a moment of panic, Ashley runs him over and drives off. Emily goes to CeCe's apartment, where CeCe reveals that she is leaving Rosewood to, "anywhere, fast," because of Wilden. She tells Emily that she thought that she could keep the secret about Wilden and Alison. Emily tells her about the sailboat picture, and CeCe says that Alison thought he was cute, so she asked him to take them on a ride. Emily asks CeCe why she lied then, and CeCe replies that she doesn't have time to talk about it.

Emily presses her further and she says that she thought Wilden got Ali pregnant and killed her to keep it a secret. She doesn't know if it's true and Wilden is going out of his way to deny it - and "if there's one thing Ali could do, it's tell a good lie." Since Wilden has friends on the police force, CeCe couldn't turn him in. Emily says that Jason told her that he saw CeCe at his house the night Ali disappeared. CeCe says that Ali called her that night and was freaking out about some videos that "everyone wanted," Melissa more than anyone. When CeCe showed up at the DiLaurentis house, Melissa begged her to talk to Ali. After she did, Ali left to get the videos and the next day, she was missing. Before CeCe leaves, she tells Emily that Melissa took the picture of them on the sailboat.

Spencer's sauna temperature rises higher and higher and someone has locked the door from the outside. Written on the glass is a message from "A": "Steamy with Wren, steamy with me." Spencer is saved by Aria who comes to her rescue just before she loses consciousness. Ashley tells Hanna, "I think I might have killed Detective Wilden." Spencer tells Aria that what happened was revenge for hooking up with Wren. She tells Aria to contact Emily and Hanna because she's ready to tell them who is helping Mona. Ashley and Hanna return to the scene of the accident. Wilden's car is still there, but he is nowhere to be found. We see that Wilden's car is recording the whole thing. In the end scene, "A" plays the song "Steam Heat" and chops some pink roses off their stems. "A" places the roses in a flowery wreath and drapes a ribbon over it, which says, "With Deepest Sympathy."

Notes

• Detective Wilden was confronted by the Liars about his history with Alison and what happened in Cape May the summer she disappeared.
• Detective Wilden is hit by Ashley Marin with her car after he makes threats about Hanna and the "A" team filmed it to later to use it as blackmail.
• Spencer was trapped in a steam room by "A" (Possibly Toby, because of the message written on the mirror), which could be a reference to the title of the episode.
• Melissa Hastings took the photo of Ali, CeCe, and Wilden at Cape May.
• Aria tells the girls that if they found something important, then they need to document it on their phones.
• This this the third episode to be directed by a cast member. In this case Chad Lowe, the actor that plays Byron Montgomery.

Featured Music

• Easy Fix by K.Flay (Paige, Emily and Hanna in costume shop)
• Kiss Kiss Kiss by Danica The Morning Star (Paige getting into car getting ready to go to costume shop)
• Dreams in Ashes by Amanda Abizaid (Wren talks to Spencer at the Brew)
• Glitter and Gold by Rebecca Ferguson (Hanna listening to music in her room)
• All Those Pretty lights by Andrew Belle (Ezra and Aria sitting on couch when he gets a call from Maggie)
• Steam Heat by Patti Page (End scene, A plays this on the vinyl player)

Gallery

Hot Water has a photo gallery.

Title

• Hot Water is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse. The story takes place at the Chateau Blissac, Brittany, and recounts the various romantic and criminal goings-on there during a house party.
• "Hot Water" could also be a figure of speech for being in a lot of trouble, or in a dangerous situation.
• "Hot Water" could also refer to the scene in which Spencer is locked in the steam room.

Goofs

• In the costume shop when Emily is sending an email of the previous purchases of "The Queen of Hearts" costume to herself from the shops iPad, the iPad screen is in a different window when the camera switches its view from the iPad to behind Emily with the iPad in the background as the shops phone rings. 

Main Cast

• Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings
• Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin
• Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery
• Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields

Guest Cast

• Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz
• Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers
• Julian Morris as Wren Kingston
• Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery
• Aeriel Miranda as Shana
• Vanessa Ray as CeCe Drake
• Mary Page Keller as Dianne Fitzgerald
• Bryce Johnson as Darren Wilden
• Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin
• Torrey Devitto as Melissa Hastings

Navigational

Who locked Spencer in the steamroom?

What episode does Spencer get locked in the shower?

Who broke into Spencer's house and pushed Aria?

How did Spencer find out about Toby?