For seven seasons, the best friends on the teen drama Pretty Little Liars looked into the mystery of their leader Ali’s disappearance, wore some amazing outfits, and had some epic romances. They became detectives, lied to get their way (or to get out of something), and hoped that time would heal all wounds but also allow them to leave the town of Rosewood and its secrets behind.
Seven seasons is a long time for a show to be on the air, and it’s true that not every episode is going to be stellar. But there are many episodes of PLL that deserve to be remembered. Here are the 10 best episodes of Pretty Little Liars, according to IMDb.
10. Miss Me x 100 (8.7)
In the season five episode “Miss Me x 100,” Ali is back in Rosewood, which explains the high rating. Fans were waiting for so long to have Ali back, and this episode definitely delivered.
It also includes a dramatic scene between Ali and Mona, with Mona making it clear that she really doesn’t trust Ali and doesn’t like her. Since it was never obvious whether Ali was good or evil, since she had been the Queen Bee in the past but seemed to have been struggling a lot while she was in hiding, this was really interesting.
9. Taking This One To The Grave (8.8)
Another season five episode, this one got an 8.8 out of 10 rating on IMdb. This is the season five finale as well, so a ton of massive storylines are included: Mona is killed, but before she is, she says that Ali and A are the same person. That’s what fans had thought might be the case for so many seasons, and it seemed like those thoughts were starting to pay off.
This episode also featured Spencer getting arrested. Why? Because Ali made the cops think that Spencer had killed Bethany Young, the girl who everyone thought was Ali and who was buried while she was still alive. Talk about a juicy episode.
8. Over My Dead Body (8.9)
Pretty Little Liars is known for its epic mid-season and season finales. The season two episode “Over My Dead Body” is definitely in that category.
By the end of the episode, fans knew that the liars were being held in police custody, which didn’t bode well for when the show came back. Even though the police always think that the five main characters are up to no good and they’re often getting in trouble, it still has a powerful impact every time. After all, teenagers should be going to school and dating and hanging out with friends. They shouldn’t be solving a friend’s disappearance/murder.
7. ‘A’ Is For Answers (9)
In this season four episode, which got a 9 out of 10 rating on IMDb, fans hear all about what really went down with Ali when she left Rosewood. It makes sense that this episode is one of the 10 highest-rated as this is what so much of the story had been building toward.
Ali’s tale involves Mrs. Grunwald saving her after she was buried but still alive. Ali ends up at the Lost Woods Resort thanks to Mona finding her walking away from the hospital. Mona is the one who tells her to say goodbye to Rosewood and act like she died. It’s easy to see that this episode got rated so high, but of course, the mystery kept going for several seasons after it, so fans didn’t get quite all the answers.
6. unmAsked (9)
“unmAsked” not only has a creative use of the letter “A” but a 9 out of 10 rating on IMDb, making it one of the highest-rated episodes. This season two episode is a really big one in the Pretty Little Liars universe as it features two interesting, dramatic things: a fun, over-the-top dance (the Junior League Masquerade Gala) and the girls learning who A is.
This is the episode when fans find out that Mona has been A because she got revenge since she used to be good friends with Hanna and she believed that the other girls totally ruined that friendship for her. By the end, Mona is off to Radley Sanitarium. This episode also features some Spencer/Toby romance, which fans always want to see.
5. The Lady Killer (9)
Pretty Little Liars has mid-season, summer, and season finales, and “The Lady Killer” is the third season summer finale. It also gets a 9 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
Like every finale of the show, this one has a fascinating ending that sets up a new hurdle in the girls’ fight against A. Fans learn that Toby, aka Spencer’s boyfriend and the person that she loves, is on the A Team. Yikes. Later, fans will discover that he did this to help her out, but before his good intentions are made clear, it’s bad news.
4. This Is A Dark Ride (9)
Pretty Little Liars does an awesome job with the episode titles, including the one for this third season episode, which also got a 9 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
This is a particularly fun episode as it’s Halloween-themed and the main characters are on a train that A is also on. Fans will probably remember this because it was such a great departure from the typical Rosewood small town setting.
3. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (9)
This fourth season episode gives fans some super important information about the mystery of A and Ali. The main characters find out that A has a “lair” and they think that it must be a male. Mrs. Grunwald lets the girls know that Ali isn’t actually dead after all, which is really huge news.
Of course, the biggest moment happens at the end of the episode: it turns out that Ezra is on the A Team and he’s the person with the lair. Yikes.
2. Game On, Charles (9.2)
With a 9.2 rating out of 10, “Game On, Charles” is the first episode of the sixth season. It comes after “Welcome To The Dollhouse,” which is the number one highest-rated episode of the show, according to IMDb.
The main characters have been stuck in A’s dollhouse for several weeks and they haven’t been doing well. They realize that Mona is down there, too, and Toby, Caleb, and Ezra work with Ali to rescue everyone. It’s a creepy and emotional episode.
1. Welcome To The Dollhouse (9.2)
The highest-rated episode of Pretty Little Liars is “Welcome To The Dollhouse,” the fifth season episode that is pretty impossible to forget about.
The powerful episode finds the girls in a house that A has created, each of them in a room that is an exact carbon copy of their bedrooms in their actual homes. It’s scary, the title is great (referring to the movie, of course), and it proves that no one could see what A was planning coming.
