Ep 13. The First Secret

In "Pretty Little Liars" season 2 episode 13, entitled "The First Secret," fans get a glimpse into the past for the first time this season. The episode is set on Halloween in 2008, a year before the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis.

The episode starts off in flashback mode, and the first thing viewers see is Ali (Sasha Pieterse) encouraging her four best friends, Aria (Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitchell), Hanna (Ashley Benson), and Spencer (Troian Bellisario), to go out trick-or-treating with her. However, they all have other plans, and Ali decides to go alone.

As she walks around Rosewood in her costume, viewers see various characters whom they've come to know over the course of the show - including Jenna (Tammin Sursok), who is still able to see at this point, and Noel (Brant Daugherty), who flirts with Ali.

Meanwhile, Alison's mom (Andrea Parker) is throwing a party at the family's spacious home. Spencer and Melissa (Torrey DeVitto) are there with their dad, who is running for town mayor, as is Mona (Janel Parrish), who is obsessed with Ali and hopes to befriend her. Lucas (Brendan Robinson) is also at the party, dressed like Frankenstein. He admires and is intimidated by Ali at the same time.

Once Ali arrives at the party, she starts to play games with her friends. But things take a mysterious turn when they enter the barn on her property. Inside, they freak out about a "ghost" that they see and hear. However, it turns out to be just a girl in a creepy mask. Ali invites the girl to join them and begins to tell them all the secrets she's been keeping. She tells them she knows who killed the girl whose body was recently found in an abandoned shed, and that there are many secrets in Rosewood. She warns that the group must keep their secrets to themselves, or risk being exposed.

As the episode goes on, viewers get a taste of how Ali's mysterious nature affected her relationships with others. In the present day, viewers see Ali's mother coming to Spencer and Melissa's house, and asking for their help. As they tell her they haven't seen Ali, we see flashbacks of Ali treating her mom badly. She tells her mom she hates her, and that she hopes she loses her campaign. The episode's title - "The First Secret" - refers to the moment when viewers learn that Ali had secrets long before her disappearance.

As the party goes on, the girls all receive a text from "A." Curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to leave the party to investigate. This allows Jenna and Lucas to sneak into the barn where the girls had been earlier. Soon, Ali joins them in the barn, where Jenna and Lucas have rigged up a fake scare for them that includes a remote-controlled creeper machine.

When the "ghost" appears again, the girls are even more scared. The girl in the mask insists she's not behind it and runs away, revealing that she's Jenna. Ali realizes that Jenna isn't blind as she claims to be, and makes an off-hand remark that everyone at the party has secrets. Suddenly, the lights go out, and when they come back on, Ali is missing.

"The First Secret" provides viewers with a few new clues, as well. We learn that the night Ali disappeared, Jenna got a text from "A" telling her to stay home, and that the "A" game might have started even before Ali disappeared. Meanwhile, Ali's mom reveals that she was sent anonymous texts promising to reveal her secrets if she didn't pull out of the campaign. All these potential plot points will be explored as the show progresses.

Overall, this episode connects back to the beginning of the show, as well as setting up the future. By revisiting Halloween 2008 and shedding new light on Ali's past, the show is able to further deepen the mystery around her disappearance. Fans will be left with even more questions about what really happened that night.