Pretty Little Liars returned this week with an episode that focused on the immediate aftermath of Hannah’s hit and run.

Despite a few ABC Family teases, “Moments Later” didn't reveal the identity of “A”. However, the hour continued to build the momentum of the series and brought out delivered a few great revelations.

[Photo: ABC]

Hannah clearly has bad luck with cars and this latest incident has really left a mark. Suffering a broken leg and ankle, bruised ribs, and a damaged spleen, she doesn’t regain consciousness until the next morning.

Once she gathers all the girls at the hospital, Hannah reveals her belief that “A” is Noel because she saw him write “I See You” on Mr. Fitz’s car. This forces Aria to own up to her fling with the teacher. The girls are stunned by this revelation.

From there, the girls spend more time considering the possible identity of “A” because things have gotten a lot more dangerous for everyone. It couldn’t be Toby because he was arrested before Hannah was hit. Spencer mentions the tree carved with “Allison and Ian,” but the tree is cut down before she can show it to Aria.

Suspicion falls on Ian, but he was with Melissa the night of the camping trip and was actually marrying Spencer’s sister when the tree was most likely cut down.  Perhaps the biggest (and only) “aha!” moment of the night came when the girls realized that Ali’s killer and “A” might be two different people.

Outside of the advancement of the “Who is A?” plot, the episode gave some interesting developments for some of the characters. Aria confronts Noel about his whereabouts the night of the hit and run. He confesses to being at the campground and having followed her to Mr. Fitz’s car. He assumes that Ezra is forcing her to be with him and offers to help her by going to the principal.

Other than saying “It’s not like that,” Aria does very little to defuse this situation. She merely asks that he let her “handle it.” Obviously, she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she didn’t say much to dissuade his notion that there’s something sinister about her relationship with Ezra, which will probably cause lots of problems very soon.

Elsewhere, Emily seems to have finally grown a spine, which is probably a benefit of finally being honest about who she is and what she wants. She is desperate to talk to Toby, and this leads to a colorful and slightly humorous confrontation with Jenna:
Jenna: “I’m not going to let anyone else come between us again.”
Emily: “Somebody should’ve come between you two a long time ago, maybe a social worker with a bucket of ice water.”
Jenna: “I can’t imagine why everywhere thinks you’re the sweet one.”

Emily’s definitely not just the sweet one anymore. In addition, Emily comes out to her father, who surprisingly tries to understand her struggle, unlike her mother, who just wants to fix her.

Hannah’s recuperation in the hospital offers an opportunity to repair her relationship with Mona. Mona waves the “white bra” of peace and comments, in typical shallow fashion, “You just look sort of vague.”

The two girls make up over makeup as Mona helps her friend look less like a television star playing sick and more like her popular best friend. Hannah also has Lucas to keep her company, but things get awkward when he kisses her forehead while she sleeps. She tells him she just wants to be friends, and he leaves upset.

I feel really bad for him because he is such a sweet friend to her, but at least Hannah is being honest with him. At one point, Hannah hallucinates a meeting with Alison, who claims that telling the truth to the wrong person at the wrong time was what got her killed. As the girls continue to try and figure out what it all means, Aria notices a new signature on Hannah’s cast, one she doesn’t remember getting.

It says, “Sorry I lost my temper, my bad –A.”

Overall, an exciting start to the winter season. What did everyone else think?