‘Pretty Little Liars’ recap Season 5, Episode 19: Sibling rivalry 

‘Pretty Little Liars’ recap Season 5, Episode 19: Sibling rivalry

“No blood, no cookies.” Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily convene at Rosewood High’s blood drive. (ABC Family/Eric McCandless)

That was the central question in this week’s episode of “Pretty Little Liars,” which introduced some more details about the lives of Rosewood’s mysterious new residents, Jonny and Talia.

Let’s start with Mike, who has always been a bit weird. Remember when he disappeared for an entire season? He’s been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as of late and lashed out pretty spectacularly at Aria during last week’s episode. His shady behavior — which includes recorded jail visits with Ali — have the Liars convinced that he must be working with their nemesis.

That is, everyone but Aria, who can’t believe that her little brother would help the person suspected of killing his girlfriend. But the evidence is stacking up — the Liars spot Mike in a restricted area at Rosewood High School’s blood drive, where Hanna, Aria and Spencer give blood. Aria intercepts a cryptic call from the women’s correctional facility where Ali is currently sporting an orange jumpsuit. And the girls witness Mike delivering a package to Cyrus Petrillo, the guy who claimed to have kidnapped Ali.

Aria is tasked with trying to figure out what Mike is up to, but it’s not as if she doesn’t have enough going on. She’s been conditionally accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design, but she has to improve her grades in order to ensure her spot. Coincidentally, everyone except for Ezra knows this. When Andrew — Spencer’s old decathlon chum — catches Aria cheating on a math test, she reluctantly accepts his offer to tutor her.

Aria’s first foray into getting information from her brother doesn’t go so well. When Mike’s phone is pinged with a call from Ali’s jail, purportedly from an inmate named Hank Mahoney, Aria storms up to his bedroom to find out who Hank is and why Mike was fighting with Mona the day before she died. We learn nothing except for the fact that Aria’s brother likes to lift weights without a shirt on (insert “Magic Mike” joke here).

Behind closed doors, Mike is online chatting with Hank and (rather brilliantly) using an energy drink can as a makeshift blood bank. Emily later spots him withdrawing several hundred dollars from an ATM,where he carelessly leaves a receipt showing that he’s rather flush with cash — $18,000 to be exact. When Mike abruptly takes the family car, Aria and Emily recruit Andrew to follow him under the guise that they suspect Mike is using stimulants and amphetamines. “We think he might be dabbling,” Em says.

They end up at a remote diner, where they meet up with Spencer and see Mike talking to Cyrus, who introduces himself as Hank. After giving Cyrus what the Liars realize is their blood, Mike makes a quick exit, but the girls are confronted by an angry Cyrus, who doesn’t like being followed. Andrew shows up with a bat and Cyrus goes away.

Missing from all of the action was Hanna, who met up with her father to ask him to help pay for college. Her mother warned her that her father’s contribution was pre-determined and would be minimal, but Hanna decided to talk to him anyway. He gave her a lame speech about dollars and cents (sense?) and told her that he’d be paying for Hanna’s evil stepsister Kate to go to Dartmouth.

Hanna gets a pick-me-up from an unlikely source: Ezra, who recounts his scrappy college years and how he paid for school moonlighting as a hot dog. But it looks like Hanna won’t be paying for college with any old side hustle — she sets her sights on a beauty pageant with a hefty cash prize. For the love of hot rollers, can we devote an entire episode to this plot line?

In other developments, Ashley accepted Ted’s marriage proposal and confessed that she cheated. Ted said he needed some time to think about things, but Hanna encouraged her mother to fight for what she wants. Miss Congeniality, anyone?.

Spencer and Jonny shared a moment after Jonny asked Spencer to help him paint a mural at Hollis. All in one sentence Jonny confessed that he’s single and has a penchant for unavailable women. Spoby sounds a lot better than Sponny IMHO, but it looks like Spencer and Toby’s future might be in jeopardy. Jonny’s mural turned out to be vandalism (commissioned art generally doesn’t require flashlights), but Spencer was quick to forgive.

Speaking of forgiveness, Emily gave Talia a second chance after Ezra unwittingly dropped a bombshell — Talia is married! Once she convinced Emily to talk it out, Talia explained that her husband was her high school sweetheart, their relationship is no longer romantic and that he knows she’s attracted to women. Talia’s marital status is a bit much considering Emily is still 

, but I digress. Is this Talia’s only secret?

Probably not! But right now, it looks like the biggest threat to Emily and her friends is one Mike Montgomery, who was last seen peering into a window at Spencer’s house.

Lingering questions: Where did Mike get all of that money? And why is he meeting up with Cyrus? Will Ezra and Aria sort out their issues? Are Emily and Talia really happening? Who has the stolen blood and are they really using it to frame Hanna for Mona’s murder?

Bethonie Butler is a producer and a reporter on The Post’s engagement team. She oversees online comments and has also contributed to The Style Blog and She The People.

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