I'm Only Happy When It Rains

S01E02

The morning, Hanna pours some coffee in silence as Melrose Mom moves around adding some milk to their beverages. Their morning routine is like a well-practiced routine, as they both end up checking their makeup in the mirror simultaneously. In the background, a TV shows Det. Wilden talking about the case of the dead teenager. Hanna looks upset as Det. Wilden explains that her body showed signs of a blunt force head trauma, but that it was suffocation that killed her. Melrose Mom quickly turns off the TV, presumably so that her daughter doesn't ruin her makeup. She advises Hanna to think of Alison as a beautiful, popular girl and not as a sad, dead girl who gets talked about on the news. Hanna takes this opportunity to apologize for the fact that her mother had to sleep with a cop so that she wouldn't get charged with shoplifting. Then they go back to discussing makeup.

Holly Marie Mom is having breakfast with Aria, and they aren't discussing makeup, but they are discussing fashion. Specifically, the sexy dress that Hanna wore to Alison's funeral. And then Holly Marie Mom reminds us that Hanna used to be oh-so-chubby back in the day. Yes, we've seen the flashbacks and she was practically a hippopotamus. Disgusting, really. How could she have lived with herself. ChadDad walks in to wonder who shops at Curvy Girl (did Lane Bryant not let them use their name?), before he grabs coffee and says that he'll be working late. Aria wonders what that's about. He lists off a host of reasons, none of them involving another woman, that he'd be busy after a year, but a lot of his "reasons" seem like things he could work on at home. He doesn't need to create his curriculum at his office, that's fine to do with the family around. Holly Marie Mom stays out of the conversation, but when Aria storms out of the house to go to school, she does wonder why these two are suddenly at each other's throats. He doesn't own up to his cheating ways, he just blames it on teenage hormones.

Emily sits on her porch reading, and Maya walks over to ask if Em is doing OK. Maya wanted to go to the funeral, but felt weird about going to remember someone she didn't know. Maya looks like crap, and Em wonders why. It has something to do with the fact that Maya was up all night looking at pictures of Alison that were found in a box in the basement. It's more than just a little unsettling to be living in the room of a dead girl. Really, it's good that Alison's parents sold the house before the body was found, because that sort of thing has to decrease property values. Maya says that it's troubling to see the posters of the dead girl all around town, and Emily wishes that someone would take them down so that she doesn't have to face her emotions. Emily gets a big hug from Maya, as Nia walks up in workout gear and momentarily pauses at the hug. But when she greets the girls, she gets a big affectionate hug from Maya as well. Guess she's one of those huggy type of people. Nia tries to welcome her to the neighborhood, but what with her backyard being overrun by people leaving candles and teddy bears, it seems a bit inappropriate. When Nia finds out that Maya hasn't been sleeping, she offers to let this total stranger come stay with them... in her daughter's room. Neither girl seems too upset by this proposition.

We see Spencer practicing her golf swing when Maya and Emily walk up. Introductions are a little bit awkward, especially when Maya says she's the new girl living in the dead girl's house. Yeah, that needs some reworking. Spencer tries her best to shrug it off and says that they're all just trying to cope the best way they know how. They offer to take Spencer for caffeinated beverages, but she declines because she's got to practice.

In the hallowed halls of Rosewood High School, Mr. Fitz runs into Aria, who wants to talk to him about transferring out of his class. He escorts her into his classroom for a private conversation. He wishes she would stay in his class and insist he can keep his feelings in check. She doesn't want to keep her feelings in check, because it is too hard and because she doesn't like pretending that she doesn't know him. He reluctantly signs her transfer request. As she walks out, he stares at her longingly.

In the now-crowded hallway, just two minutes after Aria and Mr. Fitz were totally alone, Hanna takes notice of the way that the English professor looks at his underage student. She's not even distracted by Mona talking about someone's bad boob job. The appearance of a cute guy by the name of Sean does capture her attention, however. She walks off as we zoom in on Emily. She's at her locker and then gets kissed by her boyfriend Ben, who wants to know if they're on for the movies later. She lets him know that Maya's staying for a few days, and he hornily wonders what kind of pajamas the new girl wears. Teenage boys are just all class... and so subtle. He heads to class, and Emily looks at Maya, who seems to have made some friends already. Over the loudspeaker, the four girls are called to the office. They all meet up in the hallway and Hanna is wearing a skirt that barely covers her ass. In my day, that alone would have merited a trip to the principal's office, but then again, I'm really old. As they head off, Aria gets a text from "A," which just says "Dead Girls Walking." If only there were a green mile stripe painted on the hallway.

They all sit on a couch while Det. Wilden questions their timeline. He asks Spencer if she heard the scream and confirms that she went looking for her. He then asks if the girls were having a slumber party, and Spencer bites back, asking if this is an interrogation. He claims it's a routine follow-up. He doesn't quite buy that they all fell asleep. When they say that they've told him everything, he basically accuses them of rehearsing their story, since it is nearly identical to the details they told the police the year before. Aria insists that's everything they know.

In the cafeteria, Aria says that Wilden knows they're lying, and Hanna doesn't see the problem. Spencer mentions that little thing known as obstruction of justice, but Hanna still says they shouldn't tell the cop about the fact that they were drinking and that's why they passed out. Spencer gets all uppity and informs them that they should have told the detective that there was someone who might have wanted to hurt Ali. Emily says they should have told the truth about Jenna's accident back when it originally happened, and Aria says that not only that, but they should have stopped Ali when they had the opportunity. Spencer says that telling the truth now about Jenna will just ruin their lives, and Spencer is all about keeping her promising reputation intact.

They then hear the clicking of Jenna's cane, and Aria hops up and invites her to sit with them. Aria even helps with her tray. She sits Jenna down in between Hanna and Emily, and Jenna wonders if this would have been Alison's chair, but apparently these former mean girls have moved tables. Where's Mona? I'd have thought she'd have tried to weasel her way into this table to Hanna. Anyway, Jenna informs them that Alison visited her the night that Jenna had her accident. They all seem more than a little bit shocked by this information. She claims that Alison was misunderstood. Spencer wonders when Jenna returned from the Philadelphia school for the visually impaired. Jenna doesn't answer, but instead tells Spencer that she needn't be so politically correct, that saying the word blind is acceptable. All the other girls sit uncomfortably and Jenna wonders when they stopped being the fun table.

Flashback time. The girls are all trying on clothes and having a good time when Ali freaks out and heads to the window. She says that she saw the pervy Toby Cavanaugh sitting in a tree and staring at them. She thinks he saw them all naked. The girls want to tell someone, but Alison has a better idea. As fireworks go off, Alison and the girls head to Toby's house. Emily wants to leave, as she thinks this is a bad idea (and so do most of the other girls). But Alison thinks that, instead of letting the cops handle it, he really needs to be taught a lesson. They aren't even sure that it was Toby, but Alison is, and she says that it's just a stink bomb. She opens his door and throws it into his house and they all start running. There's an explosion in the garage and they all panic.

The flames fade out and in present day, Janna sits and stares at them as they all simultaneously get text messages on their phones. "If you could only see how guilty you look. - A"

Mr. Fitz is teaching and writing the words "Innocence" and "Harper Lee" on the board. They all sit down as Mona walks in and calls him Mr. Fritz before she sits down awkwardly. As he starts his discussion of innocence and its usage in To Kill a Mockingbird, Aria walks in with her transfer slip stamped "declined."

Later, Hanna studies with Sean, and it seems like he's actually paying attention to books and not her extremely short skirt. So she pours him a soda and starts kissing his neck. He says that it's too hard to stop once they start. She says they're alone, but he still puts her off. She asks him if he likes her like that, or if he thinks of her as the fat girl she used to be, and he sweetly kisses her to insist that he does actually feel for her. He's just choosing to wait, and it isn't because of his dad. I would say that it was for the best that they stopped, since Melrose Mom walks in at this point, but honestly, if she saw her daughter hooking up with a cute guy who could help her social standing, she'd probably start cheering. Melrose Mom wants Sean to let him know that they've been trying to make it to church, but she's been busy on the weekends. He jokes that his dad works weekends, too. The lame joke gets ignored as Det. Wilden walks in with Thai food, and Melrose Mom not-so-subtly tells her daughter that the preacher's son needs to get going.

Spencer has dinner with her father. Well, she's looking at a course catalog, and he's text messaging, and there doesn't seem to be food, but they're in a restaurant together at the same table. She tries to tell him about a class at Hollis she wants to take for fun, and he brushes her off, saying her mom will be home the day. Nice to know he's paying attention.

When Aria walks in, Spencer goes over to talk to her. I'm sure her dad doesn't even notice that she's left. They discuss the weird lunch, when Wren and Melissa walk in to join Spencer and her dad for what is sure to be a super-warm and cozy dinner. Spencer orders an alcoholic drink, and Melissa quickly assures the waiter that she's just joking. Maybe she wasn't, Melissa. Maybe she needs to drink to tolerate you and your pushy father. I can't say as I'd blame her.

Maya thinks that Emily and Spencer are friends because of their mutual desire to win. But for Emily, it's healthy competition; for Spencer, it's mandatory. Maya picks up a picture of the girls and says that Alison always seemed to be at the center of attention in all the photographs. Well, that sounds about right. Maya says she typically avoids the queen-bee types, and then the two girls discuss sleeping arrangements. They both like to sleep in the middle of the bed.

Back at the uncomfortable Hastings family dinner. They play a game called high-low, where they share their accomplishments. Melissa talks about some fantastic accomplishment at class. Dad talks about some big brief. Spencer freezes at her turn (even though Wren has been letting her sip from his cocktail) and Wren jumps in to say that he got a fantastic parking spot that morning. This gets giggles, and Melissa tries to apologize for her fiancé.

In Emily's bed, the two girls sit and then spoon and Emily reaches over to hold Maya's hand. Just as she does this, her phone buzzes as she's got a new text message. "Did you get a goodnight kiss? Here's one from me. XO - A." I'm not sure who A is, but she's quite the stalker, and she had nothing on creepy Toby.

In the morning, Hanna comes downstairs shocked to see her mother cooking and even more surprised to see Det. Wilden reading the paper. Ben is driving Maya and Emily to school and "joking" with Maya about how she's at least gotten to sleep with Emily, and that's more than he can say. He's all class, this one. Maya brushes him off, saying that good girls don't kiss and tell, but he tells Maya that she doesn't seem like a good girl. Emily tells him to shut up, but he keeps asking fun questions like if they got much sleep. Maya leaves the car, then Emily grabs Ben to make out with him. Some guys hit the car and tell them to get a room. Hanna walks by and some guys make comments about how hot she looks, and she dismisses them. She's actually wearing clothes today. Nice for a change. She wants to know when Emily got so interested in PDAs, and Em just shrugs it off.

At a movie theater playing It Happened One Night, Aria stands waiting when Mr. Fitz shows up. He comes over to say hi to her, and Holly Marie Mom walks up to them. They make introductions and apparently Aria has told her mother a lot about Mr. Fitz, just left off the "really young" part. Once out of his earshot, HMM also says that she left out the "really cute" part. Way to parent. In the nearly empty theater, the Montgomery ladies sit and nosh on popcorn when Mr. Fitz finally walks in alone. Holly Marie Mom invites him to sit with them, which puts Aria right between her mom and her crush. Awkward.

Emily sits in her window seat looking sadly out the window. Nia, still in fitness wear, wants to know what's wrong. She promises that if Em is sad about her friend, it will get better. But Emily says that she also thinks there is something wrong with her. Nia doesn't think so, and she encourages her to befriend her old gaggle of friends... even if they were only ever pals because of Ali. They all need some sort of closure.

Spencer is working on some homework in her room when Wren walks by and notices that she's still rubbing her neck. He offers up another massage, but she's got a lot of homework, History and Latin to study for. He jokes in Latin with her. Her room is covered in awards, and he says that he sees that she's driven, and so is he, but he wasn't forced to be accomplished... like she is. He then flirts with her about design and appreciating beauty, before he just kisses her. Of course Melissa walks by to see the two of them kissing. Then Spencer pushes him away and says it isn't right. Melissa naturally missed that part.

The morning, Spencer wakes up in her massive room when she hears a door slamming. She looks out her window to see Wren leaving with a box of his stuff. Hanna and Mona are in a parking lot, discussing their purchases, when she spots Det. Wilden watching her. Mona says she shouldn't panic, since she paid this time. She heads over to him and says she'll pay for the glasses, but she wants him to leave her mother alone. Wilden says that his recent stalking of her has nothing to do with shoplifting, he wants answers about Alison's death. He doesn't care if the girls were drinking, he just wants to know who they think killed her.

Aria walks out of a coffee shop in the rain, Mr. Fitz drives by and stares at her, but keeps going past. She thinks he's leaving, but then he stops and opens the passenger side door. She hops in with a smile on her face. He pulls into an alley, and the two of them commence with making out, as the windshield wipers frantically move in the background.

At a bus stop, Emily looks sad and stares at her bracelet as we flashback to a lunch with all the girls, where she hands each of them a bracelet with their names on them. She claims this means they will be friends forever, but I don't understand why a girl so obsessed with popularity would give them such ugly cloth bracelets.

Aria walks into her house, still soaking wet, but clearly happy from her brief interlude in the car with her hot teacher. Chad Dad says that they need to talk, and her mom can tell she's hiding something, and from his words he could either be talking about her fling with her teacher or his affair. What is it with this family and hooking up in cars? Chad Dad is talking about himself, as he says that telling the truth would only hurt her mom, and she should let go of her anger towards him. She wants to know if she's seeing the other woman again, and he claims he isn't... though the woman does teach at Hollis with him. Aria wants to know if he was in love with Meredith. He says that he was completely taken by surprise by his attraction to her. He didn't plan on being unfaithful. Does anyone really plan on that? And he says he just gave in to his emotions, and says that she's too young to understand it. I doubt that. Then mom and the mostly absentee brother come in with Chinese food, and they all sit down together as a family. Aria's text (which comes in the form of a cute little talk bubble) says, "When students kiss teachers, someone gets HURT. That's a promise I'll keep... -- A"

After the rain, Spencer is running and she's moving right along, until she sees Jenna sitting on a bench. She's sending text messages. Spencer looks horrified.

Discuss this episode in our forums, then see how the show is like Gossip Girl and check out our spoilery guide to the best moments so far! Then see what our vlogger thinks of the show when he has No Prior Knowledge, below!

What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!