HASTINGS

Aria: "I'm just glad I got your text!"
Spencer: "That I sent between scenes, apparently."
Aria: "I mean, who would I talk to about Ezra? I'd be down to 66.6% of my audience. That's an F, Spencer. F for Aria."
Spencer: "Listen, this was... Look, this was revenge. For hooking up with Wren."
Aria: "SWEET. But wait, why would Mona care about that?"

Spencer thinks about it for a long time. Her shoulders drop when she decides; maybe it's because she is exhausted, but maybe it's because it's a relief. Both, really.

Spencer: "Can you call Hanna and Emily? We need to have a meeting."
Aria: "Is it about Ezra?"
Spencer: "I know who's helping Mona."

Aria and Spencer stare at each other for about ten minutes, and it's weird but I don't think on purpose. I mean, I guess maybe Aria could be thinking, "Shit, she knows!" which would be great, or, "I knew this was about Ezra," which seems more and more likely. But mostly I think they are just staring and feeling spooky feelings: Spencer because she's about to lay down a massive burden and open herself up to all that shame she's been avoiding about being had, and Aria because she's about to lose control of the conversation and have to talk about something other than herself.

SCARY ROAD

Ashley: "Hanna, thanks for driving me to this abandoned scary road where I killed a person, because I can barely stand up straight. But this part, I should probably do alone."
Hanna: "What part is that? What actually is your aim here?"
Ashley: "I guess bury his body? Or... I don't know. Definitely not do anything with the police car footage of me killing him, from before, or the police car footage of us standing around the crime scene, in a minute."

The cop car is still there, with the door open and the lights going, but there is no Darren Wilden. Where did he go? The Marins are stumped. I'd imagine that he has gone off into the woods and run afoul of the A-Team, but that could just be blind optimism. I do love me some Detective Wilden, I'm not gonna lie. But in case he is dead, I will tell you my favorite memory of him: It was the moment I realized that at least one of the sets on Popular was painted a particular shade of blue purely to set off his eyes. I think about that a lot, still, because it was the first time I ever really realized that TV is also art, and that people were doing cool things on my favorite shows that I wasn't even noticing, and that maybe a little humility -- more openness to the story being told, rather than my desires for the story being told -- would, in the long run, help me notice and enjoy more stuff like that.