Is Lucas really dead?

Lucas is Dirty

Emily's suicide hotline volunteering turned up a surprising lead in their pursuit of A. A call came in the night of their encounter from someone questioning their ability to go on in light of blowing their mission. Emily and Spencer are there the next time the person calls in and discover that it's Lucas. This instantly explains all of Lucas' strange behavior earlier in this episode, but instead of threatening harm to himself, he vows that he will hurt others. Judging by the fact that he knows all about that secluded party for Caleb, the setting for a showdown is all set.

Lucas Hits Rock Bottom

Lucas makes another call to his hotline buddy, who he may or may not know is Emily. He says that he's made his decision to possibly kill Hanna and maybe even Spencer. Emily worsens things by trying to talk him out of it and before we know it, Lucas is rowing Hanna out on...yup, you guessed it - a foggy lake. Hanna senses the danger and attacks Lucas while his back is turned, but the boat capsizes and forces Hanna to swim back to shore. Lucas is presumed dead.

The Aria and Ezra saga almost feels like it's pulled from another show. It disconnects Aria completely from the story of A and above all, it's a love affair where it would be hard to argue that they should actually be together. It seems to detract from the dominant focus of the show and becomes something I would like to fast forward. That's a testament to the strength of the mystery of A; the scene where Lucas walks in on Spencer was enthralling and was topped only by a shadowy A pulling Lucas' shoe out of the lake in the final scene. It's getting good.