Cat's Cradle

"That's immortality, my darlings"

- Emily copying Alison (Emily to Aria)

Cat's Cradle is the third episode of Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars. The episode is set to possibly air June 25, 2013. The title was confirmed by Spoilertv and Norman Buckley. It will be written by Joseph Dougherty and directed by Norman Buckley. Filming began on Thursday, April 4, 2013 and ended on Monday, April 22, 2013.

Synopsis
Hanna worries that her mother is keeping a dangerous secret and is determined to protect her at all costs, which leads her to an uncomfortable meeting with Detective Holbrook. A clue in Ali's things leads the Liars to a creepy mask maker, who takes a shine to Emily and may have ties to another Rosewood resident. Spencer and Toby continue their search into a painful chapter of Toby's past and Melissa returns to Rosewood. Meanwhile, A targets Emily's mom, leading Aria to make a desperate plea of Ella.

Title and Background
The title is a well known series of  string figures created between two people as a  game. The aim of the game is to make a set of figures including the "cat's cradle". This is created by two sets of crossed string between both hands. A second player grasps each cross horizontally using the  thumb and first fingers, pulls these outwards, down under the line which runs below the crosses from the first players wrists, and back up. The first player lets go of the figure and the second player stretches it open by bringing apart the thumbs and fingers. This figure is the "diamonds".

This title could also be a hint referring to Jenna or Toby. The only mention ever of a cat in Pretty Little Liars was in a Season 2 episode, where the liars were watching Garrett go into the Cavanaugh house. Hanna has said, "Maybe he's bringing raw meat over for Jenna's cat." Spencer had responded, "Toby lives there too and they don't have a cat." Hanna had then replied, "Well, then maybe he's bringing raw meat over for Jenna."

Main Cast

 * Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings
 * Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin
 * Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields
 * Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery
 * Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal

Guest Cast

 * Torrey Devitto as Melissa Hastings
 * Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery
 * Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers
 * Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall
 * Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh
 * TBA as Hector Lime
 * Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers
 * Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin
 * Nia Peeples as Pam Fields
 * Ryan Guzman as Jake

Trivia

 * Marina and the Diamonds' song "Living Dead" will be featured in this episode.
 * Prep for this episode and 4x04 began on March 22, 2013.
 * The read-through was on April 1, 2013.
 * Filming for this episode and 4x04 began on April 4, 2013 and ended on April 22, 2013.