Mouse's Sweet Sixteen gets a Bloody Rose surprise in Pretty Little Liars: Summer School episode 3 (Recap)

The newest episode of Pretty Little Liars: Summer School is out, and this one focuses a lot on how each of the Liars approaches trust with the people in their lives. Can they learn to trust strangers, and what will happen if they trust the wrong person?

Season 2 episode 3 is titled "Chapter Thirteen: Sweet Sixteen," referencing Mouse's birthday which provides the setting for the episode's most climactic moments. As each Liar tries to juggle work and fun, they have to decide whether to let a rumored new killer keep them from enjoying their summer. Spoilers below.

Hoping for a happy birthday

At the beginning of the episode, Mouse is scrolling SpookySpaghetti, where she finds a video celebrating Archie Waters's sixteenth birthday and a new post showing not only all of the Liars' faces and names, but also their cell phone numbers. She calls an emergency meeting with the other girls but is briefly delayed by her grandmother, who insists today is her birthday.

She shakes it off, though a bit concerned that her grandmother would get the date wrong. When the rest of the girls show up at the school library, Mouse updates them on the video call from Bloody Rose, prompting them all to mention their own anonymous calls.

In addition, Mouse mentions that their numbers were posted on SpookySpaghetti, which brings out the suspect list from last episode. While none of them think their confidant would have told, they certainly don't see how anybody could have collected all five.

Despite the fear surrounding these mysteries, Mouse shares that her birthday is that weekend. While she clearly wants to celebrate, everyone says it's a bad idea, which clearly hurt her. Mouse mentions both her grandmother's odd behavior and the girls' dismissal during a therapy session, worrying that nobody in her life truly cares about her.

Cut to the girls' bathroom, where it's revealed that the other girls have actually been planning a surprise party for Mouse at the roller rink. The party is themed around the 1980 film Xanadu, and Ash is in on the secret.

However, there are signs that the party will not go as they hope. Back at Our Mother of Holy Grace, Pastor Malachai mentions that Sandy (who the audience saw get stabbed to death in episode 2) was going to be out of town for the summer, which gives Kelly the chance to take over her part. She's excited to take part in Redemption House, which is expected "to save those who are worthy."

Workplace fighting

From there, the PLL: Summer School episode shifts into showing each of the Liars at their respective workplaces. Tabby walks to work with Christian, who her mother is instantly wary of. At the Orpheum, they debate what the best vampire movie is. Christian invites Tabby over to his house to watch Blacula and see his special effects studio, which she agrees to with some apprehension.

Imogen has a possible new love interest in her co-worker, too. Johnny arrives to work topless, which gets her distracted, and proceeds to flirt with several different girls. Imogen is clearly frustrated, but Kelly arrives before she can get too upset. She had come to drop off fliers for Redemption House, and Imogen invites her to come to the surprise party.

Later, Imogen watches Johnny flirt with yet another girl. She tries to warn the girl that he's a player, but that just makes the girl lash out at them both. Imogen tells Johnny that she told the girl about his behavior, to which he tells her off for being "some kind of stuck-up prude."

At the pizza place, Noa tries to figure out whether or not to trust Jen. She asks if Jen had shared her number anywhere, which she says she didn't, but her trustworthiness is put in question soon thereafter. Their boss calls them over to say that $20 is missing from the register.

He indirectly accuses one of them of stealing, which gets Jen pissed off. Noa recounts, telling him that he'd made a mistake, but he remains suspicious. She then confronts Jen outside, admitting that she'd put her own money in to keep them out of trouble. They fight, because Jen says she needs the money more than he does, while Noa explains how important it is that she keep her job.

Finally, Faran is struggling to keep her cool at work. Surrounded by men who want to goof off and make crude jokes, she is struggling to maintain authority. They hide a bikini in her locker and label it as her captain's uniform, which she responds to by making them plank until she lets them go.

Relationships are tested

After work, the tensions rise. Tabby goes over to Christian's house, where the idea of going down into his creepy-looking basement freaks her out. But she gathers her courage to go down, where she sees just how impressive his work really is. When he leaves the room, however, she finds masks for Archie and Bloody Rose Waters, which cause her to run away.

Meanwhile, Faran is talking with Henry about Redemption House, where he has been cast in multiple roles. After she brings up the way that the guys have been treating her at the pool, he tells her that she is pretty intense, and that she'll be better off if she tries to be "less of a hard-ass, more of a regular person. One of the guys."

Imogen and Tabby meet up at home to eat ice cream and commiserate about their struggles with the men in their lives. Tabby shares what she found but says she doesn't actually believe Christian is a killer. Imogen mentions blowing up on Johnny at work, and they agree that it's hard trying to date when they react so violently based on their Chip trauma.

Back at school, Imogen, Tabby, Noa, and Faran discuss their plans for Mouse's party. She arrives, eager to share that SpookySpaghetti took down the posts with their information. Now that their privacy is back, she mentions that she can have a party—but the girls insist they still should skip it, which stings.

Imogen goes back to work and attempts to apologize for blowing up on Johnny. He stops her, apologizing back and insisting that he would never do anything without full consent. He looked her up online, which brought him up to speed on much of what happened last season. He emphasizes that he might be a player, but he's not a creep.

Similarly, Tabby and Christian both apologize for the incident in his basement. He says he made the masks before he knew her, thanks to a slight addiction to SpookySpaghetti. She asks if he shared her number, which he gets insulted by, leading her to explain everything that happened with Chip. Once everything's on the table, she invites him to come to the party.

At the pool, Faran notices that the lifeguard on-duty fell asleep. To teach him a lesson, she teams up with the gys to prank him with a 'drowned' dummy. When a real child is in danger after the guys abandoned their posts, however, she gives up on trying to be their friend.

Mouse is at her moms' pawn shop with Ash, venting about how nobody in her life cares about her birthday. Seeing how hurt she is, he tells her about the party, though he refuses to give any details about it beyond when it's supposed to happen.

Noa is giving Jen the silent treatment at work after the theft incident, but then several teenage guys from Rosewood refuse to tip Jen and make sexual comments. Noa tells them off and goes to comfort Jen outside. They talk about how neither wants to go back to juvie, an agreement which seems to get them back on friendly footing. Noa invites Jen to come to the party.

At the ice cream shop, Imogen was drifting off, so Johnny told her to go take a nap in the backroom. She mentions that she's been having weird dreams, including one where Bloody Rose was waiting for her by the dumpsters. She decides to check outside to prove to herself that it wasn't real, but Rose appears and chokes her. However, that turns out to be another nightmare. In reality, he offers to let Imogen leave early, which prompts her to invite him to the party.

Finally, Faran meets back up with Henry to talk about what happened. She gets upset when he doesn't seem to understand why she's so upset by what happened. When he acknowledges her frustrations, she finally admits the truth about when she was cleared to dance. He gets upset and leaves, telling her to wish Mouse a happy birthday for him.

Two very different parties take place

After all of the stress connected to work, the girls are gathered at the roller rink, getting things ready for the party. While Henry and Shawn don't show up, Kelly and Greg do.

Mouse is back home, waiting for the party she isn't supposed to know about. Her grandma tells her to get dressed and that she's taking her somewhere for a surprise. Something that vague is destined to be bad news, and sure enough, Mouse ends up at an old, abandoned Rose E. Ricotta.

Inside, there is a rose, a cake, and a letter that says, "This is your birthday test. A final girl must escape any death trap. You hide, I seek." She tries to leave but finds that the doors are chained shut. With nothing else to do, she hides, seeing Bloody Rose stalking after her.

At the party, everything seems good. Johnny, Jen, and Christian all showed up, seemingly clearing them from being Bloody Rose. Greg is as crude as ever, but everyone seems to be having a good time.

At this point, Ash goes to pick up Mouse. Her grandmother said she already dropped her off, which makes him panic. That fear is intercut with Mouse at the Rose E Ricotta, which is now on fire. The girls get the message that something bad happened to Mouse and rush to find her.

Mouse is suffering from smoke inhalation, but there is no clear way out. She finally spots an air vent and climbs in, hopeful it will lead her out. Just as the girls and Ash get there, Mouse stumbles out of the restaurant, collapsing just outside. When asked what happened, she says, "Bloody Rose. It started again." After three episodes of mostly filler, the season's new villain has finally made herself known.

Pretty Little Liars: Summer School streams new episodes Thursdays on Max.