6 takeaways from The Perfectionists Season 1, Episode 9

The Perfectionists close in on Jeremy in the wake of his confession as the main suspect in Nolan’s murder with Dana Booker still hot on their heels.

There is nothing like a good old-fashioned charity gala to crank all of the drama up to eleven. Everything comes to a head this week on The Perfectionists as Caitlin, Dylan, Ava, Mona, Alison, and Taylor close in on Jeremy after his confession.

He had something to do with Nolan’s death. I’m just not yet convinced he was the actual murderer. We’ll have to wait until next week to find out for sure, unfortunately.

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But Nolan’s murder isn’t the only hot ticket item on the menu this week. The Dana Booker extortion plan backfires spectacularly, Ava is in trouble (again), and everyone is leaving BHU against their will. In summation, a lot happened this week.

6. Claire is as ruthless as Dana is.

We finally know why Claire was so keen to hire Dana Booker. They’re eerily similar. The big extortion plan backfires when Claire doesn’t even blink upon the revelation her head of security is supremely corrupt. Instead, the revelation Dana was willing to blackmail Dylan pleases Claire enough to give her a raise! The tape proves to Claire that Dana is genuinely ready to do whatever it takes to find her son’s murderer.

I’m forced to question Claire’s logic on this. Why would she want Dana to blackmail Dylan? Dana admits she doesn’t believe Dylan killed Nolan, but there is not enough evidence to rule him out completely. That means she could have forged an alibi for the actual suspect.

5. More money, more problems.

I admit I forgot about Ava’s weird bag of money. It comes back in this episode because Dana is still looking for it. Ava realizes she needs to find it a better hiding place and there’s no better place than a Senator’s house, right? Wrong.

Not only is Caitlin’s mother thoroughly unimpressed with her daughter’s choice in friends (and she’s not exactly wrong either since Ava is hiding a bag of stolen money her felon father procured for her), but she also calls Dana Booker right away to investigate anything Ava might have left behind.

4. Mona is unemployed.

Mason receiving phone calls from Claire turned out to be a misdirection. They do appear to have a close relationship, but Claire is the one manipulating it to her advantage. It seems Mason does have genuine feelings for Mona. Unfortunately, his entanglement with Claire means she can use him as a pawn.

By putting him under surveillance, Claire discovers his tryst with Mona and swiftly fires her. Where was this responsibility when Ezra was sleeping with a teenager? Mona and Mason are both actually of age! It sucks for Mona though. She finally had some stability in her life.

3. Taylor created Beacon Guard.

How was Beacon Guard created? Two words, Taylor Hotchkiss. She witnessed her father’s murder, and the violence of the act inspired her to create technology that would keep people safe. If people know someone is watching, they’ll behave, in theory. After creating BG, Taylor fell into a rabbit hole. She became obsessed with the tech, trying to improve it and make it perfect. Her sanity slip is what Claire was referring to earlier in the episode when speaking with Alison.

Taylor also divulges to Ava the reason she disappeared a year ago. Someone tried to have her killed after Taylor realized someone had hacked into Beacon Guard to spy on a select group of people. She never managed to find out who. At one point in this episode, we see a computer pulling up a list of names – all the major players of The Perfectionists. What could it all mean?

2. BHU is going to be super empty next semester.

At this rate, there won’t be any students left at Beacon Heights University next semester. Dylan is at risk of being kicked out by the ethics committee due to violating the plagiarism code of conduct. Ava could wind up in prison, depending on what Dana decides to do with the money. Caitlin’s mother wants to bring her to DC to live (um Caitlin, you’re an adult though, you can say no). Claire wants to ship Taylor off to a “retreat” aka rehab (or maybe a cult, who knows). And to top it all off, Mona is now unemployed. Alison is the only one who isn’t at risk of being kicked out, for now, anyway.

1. Jeremy was involved in Nolan’s death.

Caitlin has terrible luck with cars. Luckily for her, Jeremy doesn’t make a heel-face turn and try to kill her. He does love her, enough to do crazy sh*t for her. Jeremy admits to doing something to Nolan. It sounds like he’s talking about killing him, but since he never actually says the words “I killed Nolan,” I don’t believe he did. I do think Jeremy was involved in some way. I think he could have orchestrated his death somehow, that much is legitimate given what Taylor discovers about his gait match through Beacon Guard.

But the writers were careful about not having Jeremy confess to precisely what he did. Thus, the jury is still out on who pushed Nolan off the roof. Hopefully, we’ll find out soon. For now, he’s still alive, even after Taylor shot him. Can we talk about the fact Ava snapped into I Know What You Did Last Summer mode real fast? The girl was totally on board with covering up a murder for Taylor! I guess she’s a real ride-or-die friend.

Odds & Ends

• Zach and Ava share a kiss this week so it would appear #Zava is officially ago.
• I love that Mona and Ali were debating the right way to pronounce “gala” before Claire interrupted them.
• Why would Dana want to get Dylan and Ava kicked out? If they move back home, they won’t be in her jurisdiction any longer. She is just a university security guard at the end of the day.
• Andrew appealing to the Seattle symphony guy, seems like a ploy to get Dylan to stay! If someone powerful is willing to invest in BHU for Dylan, whether in money or prestige, then Claire’s hand will be forced.

The season finale of PLL: The Perfectionists premieres May 22 at 8/7c on Freeform.