Pretty Little Liars Premiere Recap: 'A' Is (Kinda) Revealed, [Spoiler] Is Finally Outed and More!

[Warning: If you've yet to watch Monday's Pretty Little Liars premiere, avert your eyes...now! Everyone else, read on...]

Pretty Little Liars kicked off the New Year with a jaw-dropping — and downright creepy — winter premiere. Here’s what went down when Aria and Co. returned for another go-round with the infamous “A.”

Pretty Little Brawl | Season 2.5 debuted with the girls finishing up their community service (the residual effects of Dr. Sullivan’s disappearance) — and beating the you-know-what out of each other! Thankfully, it was all a ruse to trick “A” into coming out in the open — which he or she eventually did. Having witnessed the bickering between the girls, The Sinister One reaches out to Emily and offers up his/her icky brand of friendship on the condition that they meet that night.

Close Encounters of the ‘A’ Kind | Weak link, huh? Seems Emily’s the toughest Liar of all, fearlessly facing off with “A” when he/she shows up for their scheduled rendezvous. Em quickly reveals that the girls have bested “A” and just like that, things get violent. In fact, it should be said that it’s the most physically threatening we’ve ever seen “A” get — almost stabbing Emily with a shovel! The girls do their best to catch a fleeing “A,” but they are unsuccessful.

Ezria Outed | It was the reveal heard ’round the world: Aria and Ezra, hand-in-hand, sat down with the Montgomerys and came clean about their relationship. Unfortunately, Ella and Byron were not as understanding as Ezria fans would have liked, condemning their daughter’s former teacher for his behavior. (Baby bro Mike even punched his sib’s man in the face, but we learn he was actually just trying to help.) Later, Aria attempted to smooth things over with her folks by reiterating that she and Ezra are really, truly in love. They did not budge.

Dial “A” for Awesome | The always one-step-ahead “A” slips up in a big way, dropping his/her cell phone during the aforementioned kerfuffle with the girls… However will the nefarious hoodie-wearer mess with the Liars now?

Twisted Triangle | Caleb came back from California, and while Hanna was happy to see her beau, Lucas was not. It quickly became apparent that his feelings for his former crush have returned and he is none-too-happy to see his onetime pal and current roomie. The result? He issued Caleb a little warning about messing with pretty little H’s heart.

Everything Else | Emily’s future as a swimmer was called into question due to her recent trouble with the law; Hanna’s Dad returned to town and revealed that, for the sake of his relationship with his daughter, he and his new family — including Natalie Hall’s evil Kate — are moving to Rosewood; Toby and Spencer’s relationship was still strained, but his continued efforts to fix things hint at a reconciliation for the two in the not-so-distant future; we’ve (hopefully) seen the last of Ezra’s ex, Jackie, now that she’s not blackmailing Aria, the affair is public knowledge and Hollis College’s hottest teacher told her off.

So, what did you think of the Liars‘ 2012 debut? Hit the comments with your snappy judgments!

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