1.5 Over Exposed - Makes Sutton Susceptible To Sleazebags

The Lying Game

Sutton, cover up. There are some serious sleazebags around here.

Previously, Alec and Ted are trying to stop Emma from searching for her birth mother while she finds the name said mother: Annie Hobbs. Also things are heating up between the girls and Nisha.


Lots of spoilers below!



Kristin and Phyllis (Char's mom) are helping out with homecoming and reminiscing about their homecoming "back in the day". Emma enters the gym, decorated with a spinning disco ball and random spheres on columns. She and Ethan discuss their homecoming plans. At home, Kristin implies that Emma would make a great homecoming queen, thus starting the competition between Emma and Nisha. In LA, it's raining and Thayer hits on Sutton after they try to locate Annie Hobbs. Sutton's oblivious to it of course.


Emma's doing a bad job at being Sutton. She and Laurel make plans for a girls night after Laurel is told she can't go to the dance. Meanwhile, Mads shoves Eduardo in a room while she goes upstairs to change for school. Eduardo overhears Alec check in with what looks like a nurse in a hospital regarding the matter that Sutton Mercer is not allowed to visit. Right now I'm assuming he means Annie. Why he wouldn't want them to meet I don't know, be her definitely has some messed up secrets.

Sutton's face after Thayer kisses her.

Laurel is helping Justin with his campaign for homecoming king while Emma breaks the news to Mads and Char that she's not running. Sutton and Thayer aren't making anymore progress than before, but when Sutton tries to reassure Thayer that he's smart and going to be successful, he misinterprets it and kisses her just before the power goes out. Out in the middle of nowhere, Emma reconsiders running for queen and then comes to a realization when Ethan compliments her drawing skills: what if Annie was an artist?

The old photo Ted lingers on, depicting him, Alec, and Annie sitting on a stairwell.

At the studio, Nisha drops a rumor on Alec and elsewhere, Dan gives Ethan a lecture about relationships. While looking through old homecoming photos, Ted lingers on one. Secrets, secrets. A phone call interrupts Emma and his conversation and leads her to school, where she finds her friends surprising her with campaign posters. They practically suck up to her, telling her that they've done all the work and all she has to do is "radiate". Back to the photo, it is of a woman and two mustached men sitting on a stairwell. 


In the morning, she convinces the Mercers to let Laurel go to the dance. Later, she and Char are in campaign overload. She even tries to convince Ethan to go to the dance with her. But not together, together. He says her "can't". Kristin is so excited for Emma that they hug it out when Emma is worried that she won't win. Finally, Sutton's online and they talk about homecoming. Sutton's somehow jealous of her own life while Emma is just grateful.

Arroyo High Homecoming 2011: The most generic looking dance ever.

Sutton rants to Ethan about how Emma is stealing her life. They both talk about how much they miss each other, but Ethan comes to the conclusion that Sutton was never going to make their relationship public so her closes the laptop on her. At the dance, which looks as generic as anything I've ever seen, Nisha all but spits on the girls faces as she flaunts her 40 extra votes. Kristin finds Emma's sketchbook! She's actually feeling regret for telling Sutton that her mother is dead. She wants to contact her while Ted, still keeping his dirty little secrets, denies everything that Kristin suggests. 


Back at the dance, Alec is letting on more than he's saying and Emma wins homecoming queen! Upon winning, she makes a speech but instead of reading it off the paper Char hands her, she folds it and speaks what's on her mind. Justin wins as well, but we don't get to hear his speech. Instead we witness the bickering of Nisha and Mads. Surprise! In the middle of the king and queen's first dance, Ethan shows up and cuts in. He confesses that he doesn't care if they are seen together and that he came for her, not Sutton. They kiss, not once, but multiple times, and finally, Emma has Sutton's life.

Justin has secrets of his own.

What Laurel predicts is probably going to come true; all good things will come to an end. Sure enough, more secrets spill out because when he hugs her, the camera lingers, creepy music plays and his smile disappears from his face. Okay, so apparently the guy who stole Sutton's laptop is Derek and goes to their school. Alec gives him one more job to do, but not before he is interrupted by  his phone. He goes off to interrupt the girls, who can't believe Emma is dating Ethan. That's so complicated. Alec got the picture Nisha took and confronts Mads about it. He leaves and replies to Mads's question about where he's going: "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to". Alec is so vague.

Sutton kisses Thayer.

Furious after seeing pictures of Ethan and Emma kissing at the dance, she decides to start something with Thayer and kisses him. We can guess what happens next. At the Mercer house, Emma notices two pages torn out of the photo album as she goes through it. Alec goes to the studio where Eduardo is dancing and wants to talk, but not about Mads. Back at home, Sutton sees Ted stuff the missing page of the photo album under a stack of magazines. Still wearing her crown and dressed in a night gown, she invites Ethan over to look at the photo and ponder her discoveries. Apparently Annie Hobbs is from Scottsdale and knows Ted and Alec, since they are the ones in the photo. 

Annie Hobbs paints twins looking up at a swirling night sky.

The scene cuts to the hospital, where the nurse is informing the staff of Sutton Mercer. The camera pans into Annie's room, where she is painting a portrait of twins looking up at a swirling night sky, the sky that looks just like the one on the ceiling in the burned down house. Annie's room is filled with sketches of the same thing: twins looking up at a sky full of stars. The question is, what is she doing there and why don't Ted and Alec want the girls to find her?
Other questions: What does Alec want Derek to do? What is Alec going to tell Eduardo? And what's going to happen between Emma, Sutton, Ethan, and Thayer in their complicated love square?


I'll be here next week!


It's 6 hours 'till bedtime; I say watch, don't wait.