‘Pretty Little Liars’ season 5, episode 9 review: Byron returns, Ali’s ‘kidnapper’ revealed

Every now and then, there are episodes of “Pretty Little Liars” that really make us wonder whether or not the show is moving at a steady enough pace. We’ve wondered that really for the past several weeks, where the biggest “shockers” have been that Hanna is blaming it on the alcohol, and that Aria’s fiance is a total sleaze.

However, what we did learn tonight is that “A” (or someone) played a role in Zack hitting on Hanna, but the guy’s reputation was still bad enough to force Ella to break up with him. The bigger question here was whether or not Aria and Hanna’s relationship was fixed as a result of the truth coming out. It started to this week, thanks mostly to the news that Aria wasn’t trying to doubt Hanna so much as she was wanting to believe that her mother could be happy.

Meanwhile, tonight brought other information when it comes to Sydney (she was a plant from Jenna all along who eventually realized that Emily wasn’t so bad) and Noel Kahn (who Spencer confronted over who should keep bad information on Alison).

This episode was better than most of the other ones recently, and was capped by two interesting moments: The first being Byron (back from wherever) comforting his ex and giving us hope they can be back together, and the latter being some mystery guy who allegedly is the kidnapper of Ali. While the police have him in custody, we have no idea who he is … for now. Maybe we’ll know in another week. Grade: B+.

What did you think about tonight’s episode of “Pretty Little Liars”? Share below, and to get a tease on what lies ahead for the show, just visit this link. You can also sign up now to get further updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: ABC Family