Sara Shepard Recaps Pretty Little Liars Season 5 Episode 21: Who Is Varjack? 

*This exclusive recap was written by Sara Shepard, author of the Pretty Little Liars series, The Perfectionists

The Heiresses. Follow her A-mazing musings on books, PLL, and writing on Twitter at @sarabooks.

Hello again! So listen, I think Pretty Little Liars has been awesome lately—strange, twisty, interesting, and funny as always, but there was something about last night’s episode that brought everything together and set up some great cliffhangers. I was happy to see it was written by Maya Goldsmith, who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. (I also liked her tweet about how she threw every known bit of British slang into the episode.) Anyway, here are my reactions:

1. Ali apologizing. Those of you who love Ali, I know this was a good moment. And, okay, she didn’t actually kill Mona, and we all figured out already that she isn’t A. But she’s

And don’t forget that eerie message in the dust (or was it laundry soap?) about Mona’s telling How did A get into prison anyway? I actually have a theory about this…let’s just see if I’m right.

2. Spencer’s bloody bag. I had a friend who went to Oxford for a semester, and I don’t blame Spencer for wanting to go there—it would be a perfect reprieve from Rosewood. (I can’t believe none of these Rosewood families have moved somewhere else yet.) How did A get that in there without it not showing up on the security scans? Okay, so maybe it was a liquid under four ounces, but

3. Talia to the rescue. Thus far I’ve been sort of “eh” about Talia, but I really liked how she questioned the pageant organizer about not letting Emily compete. Every girl needs a ballsy friend like that who isn’t afraid of authority. Or, in Emily’s case, maybe she’s a little

than a friend…wonder how long she’ll be living at Em’s house? How nice that her parents aren’t around!

4. Carjack-Varjak. Imagine my excitement when it turns out Cyrus Petrillo is in a burn clinic. In

Hanna sneaks around the book’s burn clinic trying to question a witness from the cruise ship…and makes a saucy new friend whose face is covered in bandages…only to find out that new friend was

under all that gauze. Same thing here, kind of! I liked the carjack/varjak mislead, too. I hope we find out who this mysterious person is in the next episode.

The Andrew Kiss. “No, Aria!” so many of you tweeted last night when that happened. I don’t really see them together—Andrew is far too sweet and normal for her or the bizarre stuff that happens in her life. But I’m a big fan of Andrew, I think he’s really helped everyone out, so it’s nice to see him get a moment. Some of you think he can’t be trusted, which is an interesting theory…but I’m not sure. He just seems like a nice smart kid to me. A smart kid who looks like he works out ten hours a day.

So what’s coming next? Will Spencer stay in the UK? When are we going to see bad cop Toby again? What’s Tanner up to? Is Mona really dead? What’s this “whole truth” Ali wants to tell? And why on earth is A putting twenties in Bibles? Luckily, we only have six days to wait.

The Lying Game Book 2: Never Have I Ever

The Lying Game Book 5: Cross My Heart, Hope To Die

The Lying Game Book 6: Seven Minutes in Heaven

book, show, and cast news via Facebook and Twitter.

I think A was putting the 20s in the bibles to get help from the prisoners. And I think Ally was “practicing” her “honesty” skills that Mrs. Hastings discussed with her on their visit. That’s all I got so far lol.

In the second book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series, Veronica Mars is back with a case that will expose the hidden workings of one of Neptune’s most murderous locations.

Because nothing gets you through the day quite like an Emison hug does!   More »

Join Sara Shepard as she reviews her favorite moments from "Bloody Hell."   More »

....or just a generally sketchy fellow.   More »

Is Hanna Marin in mAjor trouble with the law? Find out!   More »

Will A\'s antics land poor Mike in the emergency room? Take a look!   More »

© 2015 Alloy Entertainment. All rights reserved.