Father Knows Best - Part 1 of 2 - The Best

It's the father-daughter dance at Rosewood, and Spencer's dad tries to keep things hidden from Spence, while Aria's dad tries to make amends. Emily's dad's in town for the dance, and even helps his daughter try to locate a missing Maya, while Hanna's dad skips the dance and Hanna's mom steps in as her date. While trying to keep their daughters safe, Ashley and Ella (Aria's mom) begin to have their own suspicions about 'A'. On the A front, the girls discover that Ali was getting messages from another location - a creepy doll shop - and Melissa looks even more guilty as Ali's murderer. Maya bought a ticket for San Fran, but ended up disappearing with someone in a car instead (Garrett?!). Oh, and Mike Montgomery has replaced Eric van der Woodsen (because he's now gone from the UES to the Hamptons) as 'the wise little brother'.

Ashley continues her reign as best-dressed TV mother. I thought Lily van der Woodsen would knock her off her pedestal. Her crown was almost threatened by Revenge newcomer Victoria Grayson's bandage dress collection.

Shame you can't really see the gorgeous black trench, but Ashley even dresses impressively to have secret meetings with Officer McSleazy.

Requisite boring mom outfits that Ashley manages to make look good. Like really, how does she do it?? Must help having a bangin' bod!

YOU GUYS. Emily. In. A. Dress. I may or may not have gasped at my laptop in shock. Not that we haven't seen her in a dress before, it's just a nice change from those oversized Ts. I love the color on her, and I especially love the draped sleeves.

Well at least she has an oversized coat to go with those oversized Ts.

Ignore the typical Emily oversized T mess and instead focus on the leather jacket. Vampire worthy, methinks.

The army-and-jean combo makes me want to throw things, but I have a feeling the camo print has something to do with her dad's return to Afghanistan, so we'll let this one go.

Emily's dad in dress uniform for their father-daughter dance? Adorable. I think he won the best father award for this episode.

That furry burgundy red blazer looks like it belongs in Aria's closet. Either that, or Hanna fashioned it out of a burgundy poncho of Aria's.

Hard to tell in these pictures, but Hanna's sweater had sparkly thread running through it. I'm a sucker for anything sparkly. And lacy. So obviously I loved her casual outfit.

THAT COAT!! The fit! The buttons! The slightly puffed shoulders! I barely even noticed her hair (it's like she was trying to replicate Serena's weird half-braids).

Maybe the soup kitchen and elderly home is good for Mona. Her style's definitely improved. Less gaudy. Like this gorgeous striped skirt and blazer combo. Love.

And this! Such an improvement from last week's dress choices. 

Father Knows Best - Part 2 of 2 - The Worst

I'm not sure what to make of Melissa's newfound holey knits obsession, but I do know Spencer should under no circumstances go live with her.

I think I've professed my love for Spencer's preppy style one too many times. Suffice to say, I am in love with this outfit.

Spencer needs to teach Emily how to pull off oversized sweaters, because she did so flawlessly here.

And Emily could help Spencer out in the dress department. Short, tight, shiny, and boa-feathered? Not sure why ultra-preppy Spencer would choose this for a father-daughter dance. It did, unfortunately, land her in the Worst-dressed category (although her other outfits were fab).

She redeems herself with this outfit. Fantastic wool coat and lace-up boots.

Once again, PLL brings the dramz and we YKYLF staffers forget that the cast of this show actually wears clothes. Which is how I overlooked Aria's completely ridiculous ensemble. Maxi leopard print skirt and starry scarfshirt? Where does Aria FIND these things? I can't imagine she was able to bring that many clothes back from Iceland...

That's a chandelier print dress, and it's the weirdest, most Aria-like thing I've ever seen.

Love the very on-trend burgundy skinnies, and am guessing the shirt is Ezra's, because we all know the PLLs like to wear their boyfriend's clothes.

I'm not really sure what's going on with her belt, but her shirt has a very Christopher Kane-esque vibe to it, so I'm going to go with it.

Personally, I'd rather freeze than wear my dead best friend's coat, but hey, that's just me.

So who is the mysterious (obviously hot, because this is PLL) guy who mistook Aria for Vivian? What was Aria thinking, wearing Ali's old coat? Why are there broken dolls in a Doll Hospital's window? Will the PLL moms find A before the girls do? Is Melissa crazy and capable of murder? What the heck is up with Spencer's dad? Where's Maya? And perhaps most importantly, WHO IS A? We're getting close, folks!!

Mini Recap: Father Knows Best

Spencer's dad is one shady dude. I just can't figure him out. One minute he's trying to hide the fact that Jason is his secret love child, then he's investigating Ali's death to make sure his own daughter didn't kill the girl. I'm really looking forward to figuring that man out when the season ends! In Aria world, her brother Mike returns and makes Byron see really what an ass he's been. Finally someone made him realize it! Ella and Ashley are sniffing real close to A--they don't know what they're getting themselves in to! 

Drama-rama du jour
Maya is officially missing.  

Gratuitous Male Shirtlessness
This category is coming this close to removal status :( 

Best Outfit
I actually loved Aria's father-daughter dance dress but I have to give Best Outfit to Em. It was so nice to see her something girly and flirty!

Best 'A' Message
I do not believe A sent anything this week. Must be because he/she needs to step up the game since the PLLs are hot on his/her trail. 

Current 'A' Suspect
Each and every secret we're finding out about Melissa is shining a really bad light on her...  

Steph is recapping this week. Look for it on Thursday!