From Halloween to prom, is there any other event that sounds perfectly fitting for a high school setting with a thriller twist? The answer is yes, and having a carnival inPretty Little Liars: Original Sinnot only enables more lies to be uncovered, but yet the presence of another iconic horror-like chase. In this chapter, we get to know more about Mouse’s (Malia Pyles) dark past and fill in all the blanks about her odd habit of connecting with people that have missing children. Not only that, but Imogen (Bailee Madison) and Tabby’s (Chandler Kinney) sexual assault experiences could be an even more important story to tell with Tabby’s film project. These and other important moments for the main ensemble are showcased in Episode 7.
This episode, “Carnival of Souls,” starts off with yet another mother under fire for what she did to Angela (Gabriella Pizzolo). Elodie (Lea Salonga) receives a mysterious letter with an old invitation for a carnival inside it, the same used for the 1999 edition of the school carnival that Angela and Elodie attended together. When the two entered the mirror maze, they exchanged a kiss. Davie (the younger version played byAva DeMary) witnessed it, but Elodie blamed Angela for kissing her without her consent, fearing the response that she might get about coming out.
Now back at Millwood High, Imogen and Tabby share with the other girlsabout their short trip to Rosewoodand the revelations that they unfolded there about Angela’s backstory. Faran (Zaria Simone), Mouse, and Noa (Maia Reficco) are confused about the relevance of Angela’s issue with their mothers and “A” messing with them. Meanwhile, Tabby and Imogen haven’t told them about also facing assault, just like Angela.
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After Faran’s impressive performance in Swan Lake, her dance teacher tells her that she will be dancing as Giselle for the next recital. Her teacher also mentions that Kelly (Mallory Betchel) withdrew from her class earlier that morning, striking an apprehensive response from Faran. The liar then meets with Kelly and finds out about the incident with the mysterious person who tried to threaten Kelly until she revealed her identity. She believes the stranger to be Henry (Ben Cook), Faran’s dance partner and love interest, given that the liar had been questioning Kelly multiple times to confirm that she wasn’t Karen.
A little later, Mouse is invited to attend the annual carnival with Ash (Jordan Gonzalez), but declines it over personal trauma. Viewers later learn the reasoning behind her odd habit of meeting with people that have disappeared children. The truth is that Mouse had almost been kidnapped at a carnival when she was just a kid and ever since then, her mothers fear that she will be kidnapped again if she attends the carnival. This is key to understanding why the mothers fear the kidnapper so much, especially once we get to the revelation by the end of the episode.
Returning to Faran’s storyline, the liar shares with Henry that she feels chronic pain from the surgery that she had eight years back. Despite not telling anyone and continuing to dance as if nothing were happening, Faran says that the pain always returns. This leads Henry to tell their teacher, Madame Giry, about the liar’s health, and she gives Faran a card with the information about a doctor that could check up on her. After Faran attends that consultation, she learns that she must do physiotherapy and quit dance for at least six months before her situation gets worse. Although Faran’s mother Corey (Zakiya Young) is convinced she did the right thing by letting her daughter do the surgery during her youth, the liar confronts her for putting her through so much pain.
Imogen and Tabby are assigned different group projects that could lead to many lessons for them in their personal lives. Imogen is told to take care of a fake baby for a class, and she partners with Chip (Carson Rowland) for the assignment. While Imogen must do her project with a partner, Tabby has to make a film of her own that demonstrates a personal story. All that her mind can think about is the night of the bonfire, and capturing what happened to her. As Imogen takes care of her fake baby, she ends up losing the baby after taking a bathroom break. When she and Chip later find the baby hidden inside a closet, there is a note glued to its chest suggesting that Imogen is a bad mother. This is enough to convince Imogen into giving up her baby for adoption, and Chip is the one who goes with her to the appointment. The two get much closer to one another by the end of the episode at the carnival.
As romantic pairings and upsetting news emerge, Mouse is the protagonist that gains the most emphasis in Episode 7. When she notices that Steve (Alexander Chaplin) continues to stalk her and send her messages, she decides to confront him at his workplace. This instance leads Mouse to learn that her mother had been lying to her about attending a book club every Tuesday, when instead she has been meeting with a small group of people with missing children. This realization about her mother makes Mouse turn down their traditional mountain trip during carnival week to attend the carnival with Ash. This makes Elodie furious, but viewers still don’t know why. When the liar is chased by “A” inside the mirror maze (the same one where her mother and Angela shared a kiss), she finds a way out and spots her mother at the carnival. Elodie decides to tell her daughter the whole truth. By the end of the episode, Mouse finds out that the person who kidnapped her in the past was actually her biological father. He tried to connect with Mouse after her mother took the baby with her instead of handing it to a family that asked her to be their surrogate.
If this revelation wasn’t juicy enough, Tabby finds a way to uncover her and Imogen’s aggressor. While she tries to open up about her rape experience with the school nurse, she looks at a poster promoting blood donation. The character instantly thinks of using this opportunity to unveil the evidence of who assaulted both her and Imogen. At the end of Episode 7, Imogen and Tabby are ready to tell the girls about their stories, but “A” beats them to the punch by sending all of them a picture of Tyler’s (Brian Altemus) corpse in a bathtub. The cliffhanger is enough to keep viewers instigated to find out what will happen once the news comes out that Tyler was killed. Once again, the liars are in a tight spot with the police, and this murder could make things even more difficult for them. We’ll find out more next week!
