Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather is the fourth episode of Season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It aired on June 26, 2012.

Synopsis
The girls are sitting at the Apple Rose Grille, discussing the validity of what Jenna had said to them in the previous episode. If she is telling the truth, she cannot be on the "A" list anymore. Is Lucas on the list? Hanna doesn't think so, because Lucas is certainly not capable of digging a grave. They then discuss about the Black Swan -- she is definitely guilty of something, otherwise she wouldn't have run away from the party. She could possibly be working with Mona. Melissa and Veronica are nearby. When Hanna notices them, she feels Melissa could be the Black Swan, after all she was faking her pregnancy for a long time.

While this conversation is going on, Alison’s older brother Jason suddenly bursts through the restaurant door and stomps over to Spencer’s mother, demanding why she has decided to defend Garrett. Spencer’s mother meekly says "everyone deserves a strong legal defense," but Jason is unconvinced. He storms out of the restaurant with Spencer and her friends following. Outside, he puts up a flyer announcing a $50,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Alison’s remains. Moments later, the liars receive another mysterious text that says: "Imagine what I could do with fifty grand."

When Spencer comes home, her mother is still working on Garrett's case. She shows her the reward poster. Veronica expects Jason to get tons of calls -- mostly people trying to scam him out of his money. Spencer then asks what would happen if the person who dug up Ali's body is found. Veronica replies that he/she would get at least ten years in jail and probably a life sentence for Alison's murder.

The next day, at school, Aria tells Hanna about her dad. He's now got a new haircut, new aftershave and smells like baby wipes. Clearly, he's dating Meredith. Hanna thinks that Aria should tell her mother before Ella finds out from someone else. Following Hanna's advice, Aria goes to tell Ella, but decides against it. Instead, she encourages her mother to go out to have some fun.

Meanwhile, Hanna goes to visit Mona, but a nurse informs her that Mona has lost her visitation privileges. Hanna promises that she will be there only for a few minutes and tries to go inside, but is intimidated by a guard blocking the way.

It is Emily's first day of work at The Brew. As she is beginning work, Maya’s cousin, Nate, comes looking for her. As she is busy right now, they decide to meet later. He gives his number and reveals to Emily that he’s going to attend Hollis, so he will be staying in Rosewood. Emily is surprised as Maya hadn't mentioned any cousin attending Hollis. Nate explains that he had applied before, but got in only recently. Before leaving, he tells her that he was really looking forward to hanging out with Maya again.

At the Marin household, Hanna is talking to Wren. As she gets off the phone, Caleb surprises her with two tickets to Bon Iver, but Hanna looks at them indifferently. When Caleb asks her what's wrong, she tells him that someone had visited Mona before her meltdown, and she cannot see her now. Hanna assumes it’s Lucas before Caleb tells her. Hanna is surprised, but he justifies himself saying that he was there only to tell Mona to stop messing with her. Hanna doesn't understand why Caleb won't trust her, after all, Wren does. Caleb argues that Wren doesn't know everything that happened. Frustrated, she tells him she knows what she's doing and asks him to stay out of this. Angry, Caleb throws away the Bon Iver tickets and gets out of the house.

Hanna confides in Aria, and her friend advises that maybe it would be a good idea to tell Caleb about the new "A." If Aria were in her position, she would tell Ezra. Then, Hanna catches Aria looking up profiles of bald, fat men with unibrows online and learns that Aria is trying to find a date for her mom. Hanna realizes that Ella still doesn't know about her dad and Meredith. Aria says that maybe it’ll ease the blow if Ella found someone before she discovers the truth. As they are looking through profiles, Hanna’s mom catches the girls and suggests her to try mainlinemate -- a much better site.

At school, Spencer waits for Jason to get out of class. As he comes out, she asks him if he has gotten any calls on the flyer, and then encourages him to withdraw the reward. He is only going to get calls from people looking for money. Jason tells her he knows when someone's lying, so she doesn't have to worry. He then tells Spencer that he thinks that her mother is only trying to protect the Hastings name and doesn’t really think Garrett is innocent. He thinks Veronica has an agenda that has nothing to do with criminal defense. Before he can elaborate, he gets a call and leaves to take it.

Meanwhile, Aria and Hanna create a spicy profile for Ella on mainlinemate. They exaggerate everything. While trying to figure out a username, Hanna suggests "Hotmamma."

Elsewhere, Emily meets up with Nate. He shows her a picture Emily had sent to Maya when she was in True North. Then, he gives her the gift that Maya had intended to give Emily. Maya’s mom wanted Emily to have it. Nate explains that the present had arrived a few weeks after the funeral took place. When Em opens the box, she's clearly moved: There's note saying, 'For My Girl, Love You, Em' and a T-Shirt of the movie they went to see on their first date.

At the mental institute, Hanna tries to sneak in to see Mona, but hides when she sees Detective Wilden. Wren tries to stop him, but Wilden has a court order to see Mona. As he goes inside, Wren spots Hanna and is surprised to see her.

Emily and Nate are at the Grille. She learns that Nate's a good swimmer too. They then talk about Maya. Nate tells Emily that Maya always talked about her. She was Maya's first real love. They're silent for sometime, then Emily then asks him for Maya's parents' address for sending them a thank you note. As he is in a hurry now, Nate promises to give it to her later. After he leaves, Emily notices that he had left behind a book.

At Radley, Hanna asks Wren the reason for Wilden visiting Mona. He tells her it has something to do with Alison's missing remains. Hanna is sure Mona isn't responsible because she has never gotten out of Radley for five months. But, court orders are not issued unless there is a pretty good reason. Hanna asks Wren to sneak her in, but Wren reveals to Hanna that he was already reprimanded for extending her visiting hours, Hanna has to wait it out.

At Spencer's house, Hanna tells the other Liars about Wilden. If Mona knows that they were at Ali’s grave, they would all be in jail right now, so Spencer says. Hanna interjects that they need to find out who the Black Swan is pronto. They also need to find out where Melissa lost her baby, but Spencer is still on the defense. They know why Mona hated the Liars, but why would Melissa have a vendetta against the Liars? Aria says that Melissa knows that the liars have the video of her in Ali's room the night she disappeared. Also, she fits the costume. Immediately, Spencer decides to go to Philly to talk to Melissa.

Ashley is at the Brew, looking at the reward poster of Alison while waiting for her takeout. Ella comes in and notices her. They sympathize for the girls, and then Ashley asks Ella if she's meeting a date. Ella laughs, and tells her she hasn't been on date in a really long time. Ashley is surprised -- she must've met someone interesting on mainlinemate, but Ella doesn't even know what it is.

Hanna, Aria, and Emily are near Melissa’s Philadelphia apartment. They watch Melissa go out and Hanna calls Spencer. The plan is for Spencer to keep Melissa busy, so that the others can search her place. Spencer tells girls not go inside the apartment until Melissa meets her.

Ashley shows the profile Aria had created for her on mainlinemate. Ella is disgusted and tries to delete it, but Ashley urges her to keep it. It's not easy to find many men of their age. Even if there are, they generally look for younger girls. The ladies drink wine, discuss online dating and then Ashley gets a message from mainlinemate about a guy wanting to have coffee with her. She jokes about sharing him with Ella.

Meanwhile, the girls have been waiting near the apartment for 20 minutes now. Spencer still hasn't texted them. The three liars decide to enter anyway. Inside, they search for medical records, or anything relating to the baby.

Melissa texts Spencer that she’s got to run back to the apartment quickly for her wallet, so she'll be late. Spencer texts the girls, but they don’t see it in time. They notice Melissa through the window right as she’s about to enter the apartment. As the girls quickly try to put everything back together and hide, Melissa walks in. Melissa heads straight for the closet that the girls are hiding in to grab her wallet out of one of her coats, and it’s a close one for the girls. As they’re hanging everything back up they notice a hanging garment bag from a costume shop. It’s empty when they open it – except for 1 feather… that matches the Black Swan costume.

They show the feather to Spencer. This proves Melissa's "A," but Spencer is still does not believe it. They decide to go to Philly again and talk to Melissa together.

When Spencer gets home, she is surprised to see Melissa there. Apparently, she is there to keep an eye on Jason after the encounter at the Grille. Seizing the opportunity, Spencer confronts Melissa about losing the baby and being the black swan. Melissa says that she started faking it after Ian died, because she was so devastated that she lost Ian – she didn’t want to admit to losing his baby as well but then she started getting "those texts." Spencer asks Melissa why she was at the masquerade ball when Mrs. Hastings walks in, wondering the same thing.

Meanwhile, Hanna is on the phone with Aria. She has decided to tell everything to Caleb. Just as she gets off the phone, Hanna gets another text message from "A," sending her a threat: "I'm everywhere, Hanna. -A" along with a picture of a guy in a Montecito EMT jacket.

Melissa tells them that a package came telling her to put on the dress, and if she did not do it, her secret about her fake pregnancy would get out. Melissa was supposed to act as a distraction for Jenna, but when Melissa saw the girls at the party, she ran away. She never received another note after the masquerade ball. Then, she goes upstairs to lie down. Mrs. Hastings tells Spencer that her father and Garrett also knew that Melissa had lost the baby. Spencer demands to know once and for all why Mrs. Hastings is representing Garrett, and it turns out that it’s because the list of witnesses Garrett’s public defender was putting together contained the name of the private investigator that the Hastings had hired to watch Melissa after Ali’s murder.

Hanna is still looking at the picture when Caleb comes in. He tells her that his mother was in a car accident...in Montecito. His mom is fine, but she told Caleb she felt like someone was trying to run her off the road. Caleb tries to get Hanna to tell him what she’s been keeping from him, but she refuses. He doesn’t get why she’s still hiding things from him; there's no more "A" now. He tells her that he feels that he “only exists in half of [her] life” and that isn’t good enough for him. When she doesn’t respond with anything but silent tears, Caleb say he’s done. When Hanna asks if that means he’s breaking up with her, he tells her that she isn’t giving him much of a choice and walks away.

Ella meets Aria and asks her about her online profile. Aria scrambles for an answer, but Ella tells her that she knows she was only trying to help. She reveals that she knows Byron is seeing Meredith again, and she is OK with it. Aria goes to delete that profile, but Ella lets it be there for some time.

Emily meets up with Nate again and gives him the book. She asks for the address, but Nate's sending them a package, and asks if he can put the letter with it. She agrees and gives him the letter. Nate says he wants to transfer, because all that people are talking about is Maya’s death, and it’s hard for him to adjust. Emily says that if he decides to stay, he’ll have a friend in her

As the episode closes we see Aria comforting Hanna over her breakup, Emily getting ready for bed with Maya’s t-shirt, Caleb sitting contemplatively..., and Spencer “out for an evening stroll” when she runs into Jason. Jason asks if it’s been a rough night, and Spencer replies it’s been a rough "two years." The two sit on the steps of Jason’s house and have a little heart to heart about Spencer wanting to leave Rosewood. tells her that he's received over 200 calls about his reward. He's going to revoke his reward and Spencer reminds him the truth comes out one way or another. Just then, Jason gets a text and abruptly ends the conversation saying he’s got to "do a few things." As Spencer walks away, Jason writes a cheque for the $50,000 reward, and then picks up his phone to tell someone to "meet him in the parking lot" in 15 minutes.

Spencer continues walking home, when Wilden drives by and asks her how far away her parents’ lake house is. When Spencer asks for a reason, he mysteriously replies, "Just curious."

At the end of the episode we see "A" at Montecito airport, enjoying a cup of cocktail, and hacking the computer system of the Radley Sanitarium allowing Mona visitors. When the airport announcer announces that the plane would leave for Philadelphia in the next 15 minutes, "A" closes her/his computer, stands up, and leaves $50 as tip for the waiters before the screen cuts to black.

Continuity

 * On the T-shirt which Nate gives Emily is the name of the movie Emily and Maya had gone to watch on their first date in "Please, Do Talk About Me When I'm Gone."

Title

 * The title may be a reference to the Black Swan from "UnmAsked."
 * The title of this episode may also refer to the saying "Birds of a feather flock together."

Main Cast
Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings

Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin

Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery

Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields

Guest Stars
Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers

Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery

Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin

Julian Morris as Wren Kingston

Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings

Lesley Fera as Veronica Hastings

Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis

Sterling Sulieman as Nathan St. Germain

Bryce Johnson as Darren Wilden

Michael Karman as Kevin

Sarah Zinsser as Nurse Lisa

Featured Music

 * "Pretty Little Thing Called Love" by Jasmine Ash (Aria and Hanna set up an online dating profile for Ella)
 * "Lies We Live In" by Ximena Sarinana (Nate meets Emily at The Brew)
 * "I See You" by Moses Blue & Katy K (Ella meets with Ashley)
 * "Life Is Good" by 8mm (Ella and Ashley talk about dating)
 * "Black Silk" by Emily Jane White (Emily meets with Nate at the Grille)
 * "Unwanted" by The Strange Familiar (Aria consoles a crying Hanna, Emily reminisces about Maya, Spencer is walking around her neighborhood at night, and while Caleb broods over his breakup with Hanna)