It is bittersweet that I present to you my last ever theory for Pretty Little Liars. I apologise in advance for the insane length, but this is covering all those frustrating loose ends across the entire series. I hope you can make it to the end so we can discuss. My only fear for this theory is that it is too daring and gutsy; it would re-define the show we thought we knew. Are the writers willing to ‘go there’ in just 10 episodes? I don’t know! Regardless if this is all right, partially right, or so damn wrong, I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did putting this together the past two months! For the last time before the show ends… I hope you enjoy!

ALISON DILAURENTIS

The one storyline that was never confirmed, but was constantly teased throughout the show, is that Alison deliberately faked her death. This story is making a comeback in 7B because the entire show (pre time jump) centres around it.



How do we know Ali was planning to do this?

She was blackmailing Hector Lime for hundreds of dollars and Byron for thousands of dollars - no ordinary 15 year old needs such large sums of money.

In 4B, we see Ali doing everything in her power to get more money: she was asking Shana for money, and even Emily tried sending cash to her. Ali was fretting for money whilst on the run. So clearly, there is the evidence that her scamming money off people in the early seasons was to aid her plan of faking her death.

Also throughout the series, we hear Ali’s mysterious comments, including:

- you’re going to miss me when I’m gone,

- I’m writing my diaries for you so that you can carry on when I’m gone,

- haven’t you ever wanted to die in a mysterious way and leave a beautiful corpse?

- you were the hardest to leave behind.

WHY DID ALI WANT TO FAKE HER DEATH?

To find out who A is. She had been receiving messages from A/Mona for quite some time and she wanted this to stop. If A/Mona thinks Ali is dead, the threats will stop, which would buy Ali time to find out who exactly is her harasser. We know Ali was determined to find out who A is: she spent ‘that night’ walking around Rosewood crossing people off her suspects list. Also, whilst dressed up as Vivian Darkbloom, she said “I’m watching someone”. Faking her death would be just another way to narrow down her A-suspects completely.

CHARLOTTE AND ALISON’S RELATIONSHIP

Charlotte and Alison are the two most important characters of the show. An alternative name for PLL could be TAACS - The Alison And Charlotte Show. Their friendship began in Cape May one summer, as Charlotte revealed in 307, and they’ve been extremely close ever since.

That summer, they bonded and they naturally realised their personal similarities. The way they look, walk and talk, and also shared Jessica as a ‘mother’ (Jessica raised Charlotte like we saw in 610, although Mary gave birth). Charlotte confided in Ali that summer and revealed to her that she was born as Charles, transitioned to Charlotte, and that she is the daughter of her aunt. So at Cape May that summer, Charlotte revealed to Ali that they are first cousins.

I know this because of what Charlotte told the girls when she first met them in 307: “our families rented summer homes in Cape May. We went through an intense couple weeks together.”



Well, Charlotte and Ali are family. The “intense” part about it was Ali’s learning of the existence of the Drakes. Besides, Charlotte did tell the girls in 307 that “Ali was going through such a rough time. Like a broken doll”. Well, it must be hard to learn of family you never knew you had.

Charlotte had never met Mary, as Mary confirmed in 7A. In 707 Charlotte asks Jenna “did you find my birth mother?” This is not the same as “did you find out who my birth mother is?” That summer, Charlotte was with her biological father (discussed later) when they rented summer homes at Cape May.

Ali never mentioned me to you guys? asked Charlotte.

No, replied the girls. Charlotte is Ali’s secret friend throughout the series; the one who gave Ali that anklet in 306.

Throughout 6A we see Ali asking her father “who is Charles DiLaurentis?” She already knew the answer, and was only asking her father because the girls forced her. By asking her father who is Charles, she at least has an honest answer to report back to the girls. Of course she tries to throw the girls off, by acting sad at the news Charles is dead.



CHARLOTTE WAS HELPING ALISON FAKE HER DEATH

Friends/family that are this close tell each other everything. I mean, Alison thought Wilden got her pregnant and her instant reaction was to seek Charlotte’s help. (Wilden is beach hottie, almost confirmed by Charlotte in 320 when she said Ali thought Wilden was cute.) Clearly these girls are very close. So when Alison was about to pull off the most elaborate stunt she has ever attempted, she needed someone’s help. And who better to ask than Charlotte Drake.

Charlotte was Ali’s partner in crime; she was driving her around town as she executes her plan of faking her death. Here, Charlotte was Ali’s get-away ride from Hector Lime’s mask shop after she had just scammed money off him.

BETHANY YOUNG



In order to fake a death there needs to be an actual dead body, right? Bethany Young was the person that both Ali and Charlotte agreed will take Ali’s place in the grave.

Out of everyone in Rosewood… why Bethany Young? It all comes back to the affair between Jessica and Mr Young, which is proving to be critical to the storyline. Alison was aware of the luxury that Bethany was getting from Jessica - Jessica bloody bought Bethany a horse named Custard, and signed her out of Radley to go riding. Was Ali getting such attention and affection? No. Jealousy drove Ali to want Bethany dead. Maybe then, Jessica will focus on her real daughter, end the affair and restore the DiLaurentis family. It may sound extreme to want Bethany dead over this, but Alison did need a body to take her place in the grave: it makes sense to use the girl whose death would bring a self-benefit, than to use a random girl off the street.

What Ali didn’t know is that Jessica wasn’t “slutting it up” with this affair. Jessica had her own agenda to fulfil by seeing Mr Young.

One day at work, Jessica accidentally pushed (perhaps bumped) Marion Cavanaugh off the roof at Radley, which Bethany saw. (A flashback here would be ideal: maybe the two had an argument and it wasn’t an accident?)



Jessica paid Wilden to rule Marion’s death a suicide, but that wasn’t enough to cover up her deadly mistake: she still had her witness, Bethany, to worry about. The affair with Mr Young was Jessica’s way of keeping close tabs on Bethany, ensuring she doesn’t say a word about what she saw. “I love your dad, and if you tell anyone what you saw, your dad will get upset. I know you like horses… if I take you out of Radley every now and then, will you promise not to tell anyone what you saw?”

Jessica was so determined to get some bonding time with Bethany, that she had to pose as her aunty in order to sign her out, hence Jessica asked Bethany call her “Aunt Jessie”. Many people think that Jessica forcing Bethany to call her Aunt Jessie is almost confirmation that Bethany is Mary’s daughter. However, the guy who works at the horse stable told Spencer and Emily that “I knew they weren’t related. There was something else going on”. That “something else” was Jessica bribing Bethany to shut up about what she saw on the roof. Thanks for the clue that they’re not actually related, writers.

These are Bethany’s drawings. This is how the girl spends her free time: drawing Jessica in a negative way. Clearly, Bethany hates Jessica; she sees her as a killer.

The ‘liar’ signifies Jessica having Marion’s death ruled a suicide, and also Jessica’s bribery towards Bethany (with horses) to not tell anyone the truth.

The horns represents Jessica being the devil, as she killed Marion.

And, of course, the drawing of someone falling from the roof speaks for itself.

According to Charlotte, Bethany pushed Marion and blamed her for it. If Bethany truly did it and wanted to get away with it by blaming Charlotte, Bethany wouldn’t be drawing and glorifying her deadly action for Radley staff to see. Instead, she should be acting like it was so tragic what ‘Charlotte’ did. Or even, play dumb like she doesn’t know it happened. Clearly, the plot hole in the timeline exists because Charlotte lied: she wanted the liars’ sympathy so she said that she took the blame for it. The truth is that Jessica did it. Besides, Jessica is clearly authorised as she worked at Radley. I guess we can also clear the ‘plot hole’ of young patients being on the roof alone at midnight, haha.

How could we forget Bethany’s recordings: “she’s a bitch. An evil bitch!” She’s talking about Jessica, as Spencer said in 512 (clue from the writers). She’s an evil bitch for killing Marion and bribing her to not tell anyone what she saw. Of course, because Jessica paid Wilden to rule it a suicide, no one believed the Radley-patient’s claims that Jessica is an “evil bitch”.



Bethany was Ali and Charlotte’s target that night. They wanted to use her body in Ali’s grave, so Ali can fake her death. So how do they get Bethany to Rosewood? She was just a couple letters away. Little does Bethany know, that once she arrives in Rosewood wearing the yellow top that Alison gave her, she will be killed in the place of Ali.

“Did I already thank you for the clothes in my last letter? If not, thank you times a million. Yellow is my favourite colour.” I get goosebumps reading this. Alison was getting ready to kill someone.

As confirmed by Marlene, Charlotte swapped Bethany’s dental records to be Ali’s. (Don’t ask how. She’s the intelligent Big A.) It was also Charlotte that deliberately put the Alison bracelet on Bethany’s dead body, as they needed Bethany to be identified as Alison.



THAT NIGHT:



Mona sent the below text to Ali that night - Mona wanted to kill Ali. However, because Ali had arranged for Bethany to wear the same yellow top, Mona got confused and hit the wrong blonde. Mona killed Bethany instead (of Ali), which is exactly what Ali and Charlotte wanted to do.

(Minor side note: Mona never knew that she killed Bethany - she always thought she hit Ali and that Ali was later pulled out by someone. “When I hit her, all I could hear was every awful thing Ali ever said to me. But if CeCe hit Ali… Bethany had blonde hair and she was dressed just like Alison. I killed an innocent person”. It wasn’t until 610 when Charlotte confessed to hitting Ali, that Mona realises she hit Bethany instead.)

“Did I get everything you need?” Mona asked Ali at the Lost Woods Resort, signifying Ali indeed was planning on faking her death as she had a runaway kit at the ready.

Charlotte hit Ali thinking she was hitting Bethany; thinking she was helping Ali fake her death. This is major. That was quite the mess, as it’s the opposite of what they had planned… Ali wanted to FAKE her death, not be killed! Thankfully Mrs Grunwald and then Mona came to Ali’s rescue, and she was alive.

However the problem was that Charlotte didn’t know Ali had 'faked’ her death - Charlotte thought Ali was legitimately dead. She hit her, and Jessica/Mary buried her! Looks pretty dead. Once Charlotte began seeing a blonde in a red coat, Charlotte became suspicious that Ali may be alive. (Marlene has confirmed on Twitter that the below was indeed Ali.)

Hence Charlotte organised the events at the lodge to find out if Ali is alive. By putting the girls in what seems to be a dangerous situation, Ali may come out of hiding to save the girls.

Clarification on what happened the night of the lodge fire:

Melissa sent Jenna and Shana to keep an eye on Spencer and also to find out who Spencer was going to meet - potentially Alison. Melissa needed to know if Ali is alive, because if she is, that means she buried an innocent person, and she may begin to see the repercussions.

Little did Melissa know, that Jenna and Shana had their own agenda. They were only accepting Melissa’s orders out of fear, as Mona confirmed in 401 (”they’re both afraid of Melissa”). Melissa’s orders to protect Spencer and see if Ali is alive went in one ear and out the other.

Shana lit the fire thinking Alison is inside, thinking she’s getting justice for The Jenna Thing (on behalf of Jenna whom she fell in love with).

Wilden was with Jenna and Shana, as he too wanted Ali dead because if she came home alive, he will get in trouble for doing dirty work as a cop (accepting Jessica’s bribery money to stay quiet on Charlotte hitting Ali).

So Charlotte killed Wilden, for Ali’s sake, and her own sake, as Wilden will throw Charlotte under the bus for Ali’s ‘murder’.

Melissa told Spencer in 404 that “Jenna and Shana didn’t light the fire, it was Wilden. They saw him”. Little did Melissa know that Jenna and Shana lied. They were merely trying to save their own assess; blame the dead guy for their own actions.

Below, we see the alliance forming between Jenna, Shana and Wilden. They all wanted Ali dead.

Another problem that night, was that Mona saw Ali… the exact person Ali was trying to escape from by faking her death (but didn’t know it). Ali did learn that Mona is A whilst on the run, however. So although Charlotte hit her, she did achieve her goal of faking her death nonetheless. In 212, Emily asked Ali if she knows who A is, to which Ali says “of course I do”. The confidence in that response… it’s almost like “the amount of effort I went through in order to find out… I faked my own death, Emily. Of course I know”. Ali believes Mona is weak, less superior, and won’t hurt the girls, so telling them won’t do them much.

GETTING AWAY WITH BETHANY’S MURDER

Although Charlotte and Ali didn’t actually commit the murder of Bethany that they had longingly planned, they needed to ensure that no one finds out about their intent to murder Bethany. If the police knew about Ali (and Charlotte’s) desire to kill Bethany, simple connection of the dots would say that Ali planned on faking her death and that Ali was NOT kidnapped. Faking your death is illegal, and so Ali creates the kidnapping story to play the victim.

So, how exactly did they plan on saving themselves?



One day whilst Alison was on the run, she met a guy named Cyrus Petrillo. In 510, Cyrus expresses that he and Ali used to have “so much fun together”. I mean, they were holding hands at one point. They genuinely liked each other.

Then Cyrus figures out Alison’s true intention of their relationship: Ali was planning to blame Cyrus for her kidnapping. He was furious at being used like this, and so he stabbed her in the thigh. That’s what the fight was about.

“There’s a warrant out for my arrest. That wasn’t part of the deal we made. I could’ve told the police the truth about you [not being kidnapped, and faking your death]. How we met. All the fun we had together.” - says Cyrus in 510.

Ali hands Cyrus a passport and a plane ticket. It’s like Ali has a load of these just laying around the house.

Ali just got this guy charged for her kidnapping. She sends him away, so that he can escape the charges. It’s a win-win for both of them: he flees, and Ali gets away with faking her death by intending to kill Bethany.

How else did they plan to be safe?

Alison was getting flirty with Detective Holbrook at the exact time Bethany’s murder was high on the Rosewood Police’s agenda. Getting close with Holbrook may allow her the inside-scoop as to the police’s latest theories on Bethany’s murder. Ali was keeping tabs on him and therefore keeping tabs on Bethany’s case. If worse comes to worse and Holbrook latches on to Ali’s intent to kill Bethany, because they are supposedly “in love”, Ali may be able to lie her way out of it. Ultimately, Ali wanted to make sure her kidnapping story was being believed.

In the event the police do latch on to Alison’s plan to murder Bethany, she had her Holly Varjack passport (which Spencer found in her house in 513) at the ready, to flee the country. Alison gave Charlotte a passport in 501 to flee the country for Wilden’s murder. That parallelism tells us that Ali and Charlotte are willing and prepared to leave the country for murder, in the unlikely event they become suspects in Bethany’s murder.

Again, although Ali and Charlotte didn’t actually kill Bethany (Mona did), Ali’s priority is to ensure no one knows she planned on faking her death; she needs everyone to believe she was kidnapped.

Flying lessons with Duncan could potentially come in handy here, too. Not that Ali will fly her own plane out of town, but, you never know what you might need if the police come looking for you, or if you’re on the run.

Ali was also experimenting with her Vivian Darkbloom disguise, in case she ever needs to not be Alison DiLaurentis for a while.

And the final way Ali and Charlotte plan on getting away with it all…

Charlotte sure as hell did speak with Melissa that night. According to Charlotte in 320, Ali begged Charlotte to speak to Melissa, to find out where the NAT videos are. The conversation topic quickly shifted when Melissa told Charlotte “I just saw Spencer and Alison fighting. Spencer had a shovel in her hands, and now there’s a body lying over there. I think Spencer killed Alison”. Charlotte knew that Melissa must be talking about Bethany, and NOT Ali, because Charlotte had just hit Ali herself. Hence, Charlotte had every reason to believe that Spencer killed Bethany.

Charlotte told Detective Holbrook this in 424. “I know who killed that girl. The one you thought was Alison DiLaurentis.” Brilliant, because now, Charlotte (and Ali) can blame Spencer for the murder they planned.

Side clarifications: when Charlotte hit Ali, she was wearing a hoodie. She later changes into the yellow top for a very specific reason: to look like Bethany. They need to make it look like Bethany never died that night. Hence Charlotte told us in 610 that “Jason saw Bethany, he didn’t see me.” Jason did see Charlotte, but she was posing as Bethany. She lied, to keep the secret.

If you’re not convinced that Ali wanted to fake her death by killing Bethany (with the help of Charlotte), then this will totally convince you:



OUR QUEEN MONA VANDERWAAL GOT IT 100% SPOT ON IN 512

Isn’t this exactly what this entire post has been about? 512 is one of the most important episodes of the entire series.

How do we know that Mona’s theory is totally correct? Because right after she shared her theories, Charlotte kidnapped Mona to shut her up in order to protect her best friend and her cousin, Alison. Charlotte would not have done this if Mona could be proven wrong. God bless Mona for being smart enough to solve this mess years ago. (And good job Marlene, for having this all planned that far back!)

Alison popped by Mona’s house just to double check that her partner in crime, Charlotte, took care of their threat (Mona). Ali isn’t crying like everyone else for 2 reasons: she never truly did like Mona (”Mona played me like a fool”) but more importantly, she knows Charlotte never actually killed her. It’s just a temporary kidnapping.



Ali wrote the below message whilst in jail. Who could she possibly have been leaving this for? Hanna wasn’t yet in jail, and even then, why would Hanna need to see this? This was for the all-seeing Big A: Charlotte. Ali was telling Charlotte that although she kidnapped Mona to shut her up, she was too late. Mona had already told everything, and the girls knew. The girls know everything about luring Bethany to Rosewood.



Well the secret isn’t safe if she just kidnaps Mona and not the girls, isn’t it? Charlotte puts the girls in jail because Mona told them everything.

That’s why Mona copped it really bad in the dollhouse. Mona had the information required to get Ali in a lot of trouble. Charlotte needed to protect her cousin.

Evidently, Mona’s theories in 512 were right!!!

To further back up that Alison was up to something else, in early 5A, the girls are adjusting to their new life without A: Aria had just killed Shana. (Their true enemy was Charlotte, who was not in the country, but anyway…) Alison visits Ezra’s apartment asking for the remaining pages of his book; she says she needs to know what else he found if she’s going to stay alive. Why can’t she relax at an A-free life like the other girls? Why is she so paranoid even after A is dead? Ali was worried that Ezra uncovered the truth to her kidnapping story… the true version to this story revolves around faking her death and murdering an innocent girl named Bethany. If Mona could work out Ali’s plan later on in 5A, then the information is clearly out there in the wild to crack Ali’s code.

ALI AND CHARLOTTE ARE THE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS OF THE SERIES



So Charlotte lied in 610. She was indeed A, but Charlotte’s pivotal lie was saying that Jessica took her back to Radley after Charles’ funeral. This couldn’t have happened, because Charlotte had a roommate and was even in the Rosewood High yearbook. Saying she went back to Radley after Charles’ funeral was her way of making the girls feel sorry for her, hoping that way they will forgive her for playing the A game. She was free to roam the streets of Rosewood.

For an episode that was supposed to culminate 6 years of rich story, it was kind of disappointing that the girls who went through A’s torture were not even present during the A reveal, and instead, were locked behind a sci-fi screen. This was actually by design, because Charlotte and Ali knew that if the girls were physically present in the room, they would poke holes in their story.

What story?

Yes - all of 610 was pre-rehearsed between Charlotte and Ali. It seemed very formulaic, didn’t it? Ali asks a question, Charlotte answers it. As already discussed, Ali knew Charlotte was born as Charles. Well it didn’t stop there, because Ali knew Charlotte stole the A game from Mona, too. They were putting on a performance for the liars who are watching on the screen in the other room. They were telling the girls what they wanted to hear.

Because Ali and Charlotte are human, they made mistakes in their scripted story; mistakes that we know as plot holes. All plot holes from 610 are instantly cleared once they reveal in 7B that Charlotte never went back to Radley after Charles’ funeral, and that she was putting on a show for the liars. The plot hole of Marion’s death has already been cleared, as discussed earlier.

Note the camera in the below shot: Marlene, as director of 610, made a clear effort to show that Charlotte and Ali are putting on a show for the liars, with a prepared script.

Look at the girls. They are practically believing every word Charlotte is saying, with no evidence to back up any claims. I’ll give it to Ali and Charlotte - the story they put together had some degree of logic. But there were deliberate lies to gain the girls’ sympathy, and these lies created plot holes. Ali and Charlotte think they’re getting away with it all.

The biggest plot twist of the show will be precisely that Alison knew Charlotte was A (and was helping her!) the whole time. The thought that one of the liars was aware of who A is, is certainly a lot to take in at once. I’m not downplaying it - I understand the severity of this claim. I understand this re-defines the show as we know it. I’m scared the writers aren’t going to ‘go there’ in just 10 more episodes, but it truly does just make so much damn sense. Let’s explore.

Why was Ali doing this? Well, Mona got it right again in 512. God bless Mona.



“Alison would’ve gotten bored with any one of you, but all together… She assembled the perfect group”, said Mona.

“For a sociopath to manipulate”, finished Spencer.



Mona points out the below:

Smart - Spencer

Loyal - Emily

Admiring - Hanna

Compassionate - Aria

… which perfectly coincides with this:

This is Charlotte’s game, and Ali was playing it with her.



You are probably thinking to yourself that it can’t be true, because Ali has clearly been A’s target many times.



Firstly, please don’t forget Ali and Charlotte’s insanely close relationship. It’s not possible for girls this close to have a secret that big between them.

Secondly, it clears one of the shows biggest plot holes: if Charlotte loved Ali so much, why did she send her to prison? We know why Charlotte sent the girls to prison: they knew too much of Mona’s information.

Bravo Ali, for putting on quite the performance here:

This was Charlotte’s way of telling the girls: “stop saying Ali is A! Stop saying Ali killed Mona! What’s it going to take for you to leave my team-mate alone, do I need to throw her in prison?”

Besides, Charlotte had Ali arrested for a murder that never even happened. The stakes were extremely, extremely low. Only Alison DiLaurentis could pull of that performance, crying like that.

We are talking about the girl who said this.

Going to prison would clear her name straight away.

We are talking about the girl who left Rosewood, when Charlotte clearly told her that “if you leave Rosewood, I will kill you”. That was a fake threat to scare the girls. Charlotte would never hurt Ali. She even pretended to strangle Ali in her living room so that Emily can find her, and get scared.

Need I also remind you of this slip up? Ali signed -A out of habit.



And in 301, Emily received the below text. Are we really going to believe this was from Charlotte… someone that Emily had never met before? Alison just loves messing with the girls!

To provide further evidence to Alison knowing Charlotte is A, we can look at the Ali masks. The mask maker Hector Lime said that Alison ordered masks for all her “friends”. Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily sure as hell didn’t receive any masks, so who are Ali’s “friends”? Well to find out who Ali’s TRUE friends are, let’s just look to the past and see who exactly is in possession of an Ali mask:



Well would you look at that… the A team are Ali’s friends: Charlotte and Sara Harvey (who received the mask from Charlotte).

And finally, do you really think THIS is how Ali would react to her friend detonating a bomb right in front of her? Oh please. Spencer pressed a couple buttons and that made her think she disarmed it. The bomb was never active. Charlotte was not going to kill herself after having just gained everyone’s sympathy, which is what she needed in order to go to a mental hospital instead of prison.



However, Ali running from A in New York was out of genuine fear, as Ali knew that it was not her teammate Charlotte on the roof in New York. At that moment Ali knew there was actually a hooded figure after her. And there was; Shana. Ali was genuinely scared for her life when Shana walked on that stage holding a gun to her head - Shana worked separately to Charlotte.

Rather than say Ali could not have been playing the A game with Charlotte because Ali suffered over the years, we need to look at each individual event. A holistic approach/comment is not possible here! I’ve explained a few events, but I’ll move on because there’s so much more.

If you’re still not convinced Ali was on Charlotte’s A-Team the whole time, let me remind you who Alison DiLaurentis is.

- she bullied Hanna about overeating.

- she was kissing Emily just for practice.

- she drove Mona to develop a personality disorder

- she threatened many times to divorce Aria’s parents

- she threatened to ruin Spencer’s relationship with her sister over boys

(A material, isn’t she?)

- she made the girls pass a test in order to truly be her friend - a test that was situated in a haunted house.



- she has been continually making comments throughout the series that make no damn sense.

You all know much more about that night than you think you do.

Telling the truth to the wrong person at the wrong time is how I ended up where I am.

I want to come home, but it’s still not safe for me.



… what the hell!? These comments throughout the series make no sense. Ali is telling us, that combined, the girls were able to work out that Ali’s transgender cousin hit her with a rock and then she was later saved by a psychic? Ali is telling us that she’s scared of Ezra, the author?

She is playing with the girls. She wants them to think about her every day of every hour. Throughout the series Ali is causing mystery just for the sake of it. Her comments have proven to mean nothing. She loves the attention.

- she made the girls go on a wild goose chase in Ravenswood to reveal herself as alive. Rather than reveal herself as alive then and there, she makes the girls chase her around Ravenswood, only to ask them “did you miss me?” instead of telling them “I’m alive, I’m okay! I’ve missed you all!” She is so self centred… she thinks the girls missed HER, rather than her miss THEM.



One statement that does have meaning… She’s practically telling Aria she’s on Charlotte’s A-Team.

No one can convince me that this girl is not A material. Alison DiLaurentis epitomises why this show is called Pretty Little Liars. She deceived her friends all these years; she knew Charlotte is A and she helped her. Can we not forget that a flashback revealed Jessica telling off Alison for playing too many games with Charlotte?

How else did Charlotte know absolutely frickn everything about the girls?



Sorry Emison shippers - this is precisely why I haven’t been a massive supporter. I still believe those kisses were for practice.

This is exactly another reason why Charlotte kidnapped Mona in 512: Mona’s theories were so damn right, beyond luring Bethany to Rosewood! Mona worked out Ali is on the A-team (quote Mona: “Ali is A”), and Charlotte needed to shut Mona up. Again, 512 is one of the most important episodes of the series.

(I would like to give credit to @uberaalison for a few points I’ve made about Alison. Please go give this amazing person/blog a follow, and I thank them for inspiring me to look deeper at this character.)

POST TIME-JUMP: AVOIDING PRISON



As emphasised, Charlotte and Ali lied in 610. Why? Emphasising mental instability reduces the conviction and the sentencing. (Not me speaking, but legal systems in general.)

Did you ever find it odd, that Charlotte willingly revealed herself? The genius, who spent years avoiding getting caught, handed herself over to the girls? “Oh, you caught me! Well done girls!” It doesn’t work like that. The A-mastermind doesn’t just give up the game - she had a plan: tells the girls a really sad story, to get admitted into Welby instead of prison.

Why Welby? What’s at Welby? Archer Dunhill, her lover.

At the very beginning when Charlotte stole the game from Mona, she met someone named Archer Dunhill, and she fell in love with him. Charlotte told Archer to take on the alias of the deceased Doctor Elliot Rollins, and to wait for her at Welby, so that when she arrives there, he can get her out. (The ID was provided by Jenna, which she confessed to in 706).

The girls were too close for comfort in 6A: they wouldn’t stop looking into a Charles DiLaurentis. Charlotte decided it’s best she gives herself up now by telling a sad story, and then Archer will get her out of Welby within no time, rather than getting caught red handed (without the opportunity to tell a story, and then go to prison for the rest of her life).

Again, it made no sense for Big A to voluntarily hand herself over to the girls. She did this because she had a plan to fall into the arms of Archer and avoid prison.



“He knows everything about me. My family. My upbringing. Everything I’ve done. Everything. And he loves me. And he wants me out of here just as much as I do.” - Charlotte, 706.

Archer is no doctor. He took on the alias of a doctor merely to get Charlotte out of there, so he is not qualified by any means. When Charlotte arrived at Welby after finally declaring game over, Archer is supposed to help Charlotte get better. But of course, his true agenda is to get Charlotte out of there. He made her (falsely) pass all her tests and he organised court hearings (in “two weeks instead of six months”). During their ‘therapy’ sessions, Archer learns that Alison is now in possession of all the money Charlotte had when they first met. Archer wants it back, as he believes it belongs to the beautiful woman in front of him. Archer convinces Charlotte to allow him to take it all back from Alison. “But honey, I wouldn’t be doing anything wrong. It WAS yours. You worked hard for that. How are we going to start our new life together when I get you out of here? I’m not a real doctor, we have no money. We need that money back, Charlotte.” Charlotte was exposed to those feelings of manipulation all over again… not that she ever truly did get better, because Archer wasn’t treating her. Although Alison is her cousin, best friend, and partner in crime, she hears Archer’s valid claims and accepts his proposal to take Ali’s money. Archer begins seducing Alison.

This may all sound extreme that a man is willing to do this, but don’t forget in 620 he said… “I would have done anything for Charlotte”. He was the only man Charlotte had ever loved, according to Mary. That may be precisely why Charlotte agreed to even go against Alison here and take her money. Your first love is always the strongest.

“It’s like Rollins had an exit strategy for him and someone else”, said Emily in 703. Yes, he did. That someone else was Charlotte. Hence the passports and money. He was going to get her out of there and flee the country; go start up a new life elsewhere together.



In 706 Charlotte says to Archer: “I can’t thank you enough for being here. I don’t know what I would’ve done if…” She is thanking him for waiting for her at Welby. She doesn’t know what she would’ve done if he didn’t pretend to be her doctor to get her out of there. Perhaps go to prison?



“They used to come to the Bed and Breakfast all the time” and “I saw them kissing once, but I’m not supposed to tell”, says Eliza in 703. “I’m not supposed to tell” is because Charlotte is going against Ali; her long time partner in crime and cousin. Charlotte told Eliza to not say a word after seeing them kiss. They’re supposed to be doctor/patient working together to help Charlotte get better!!!



And then… someone killed Charlotte. Archer went through SO much just to be with her. He took on a fake alias, pretended to be her doctor for years and even agreed to steal someone’s money. And all of a sudden, the girl is dead?

Mary tells us the truth in 705: “As we [Archer and I] consoled one another, he began to share his suspicions [of Ali’s involvement in Charlotte’s murder]. I never agreed to [punishing Alison to the extend Archer did]. Archer told me that Charlotte wanted me to have her money and that, for me, was justice. But… he wanted vengeance. I tried to talk him out of it but he was intent on taking an eye for an eye.”



Archer wanted vengeance for Charlotte’s murder, as the love of his life is now dead. As Mary said, Archer wanted an eye for an eye. He wanted more than just her money; he wanted to see Alison suffer the way she apparently made Charlotte suffer. Mary did not think it needed to go that far, hence:

Archer: you being here is not part of the plan.

Mary: well neither is what you’re doing to that girl.

Archer: you’ve got what you wanted. The money is yours.

Evidently there is a disagreement as to how far they should go to avenge Charlotte’s death.

THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN SOMEBODY WATCHING. MANIPULATING.



This is the writers speaking to us, through the character of Mona. The writers are telling us that we need to look at someone who has been there since the beginning. We also know it needs to be someone who at least has a connection to Charlotte, as this person is supposedly avenging their death.



There’s only ONE person in the entire show that fits these criteria: Melissa. Notice I never said Melissa Hastings.

“I have been protecting you since it started. Since before it started.”

Assuming “it” is in reference to the A games, what exactly has Spencer needed protection from, even before the A games started, when life was much simpler?

“You don’t understand, you’ve never understoond!” - what, Melissa? What doesn’t Spencer understand? Her true relationship with the Drakes. Spencer doesn’t remember it! And Melissa is trying to ensure Spencer never finds out, for it will break her heart. Melissa is a firm believer that love connects family, not blood. And there is no love with the Drakes. In fact, the entire Hastings family doesn’t want Spencer to know about her relationship with the Drakes. I quote Veronica Hastings here whilst she was on the topic of the DiLaurentis’ in 504: “your dad and I had an understanding that we’d never involve you in all of the…” Go on Veronica, finish that sentence. “…in all of the Drake/DiLaurentis drama”. Spencer belongs with the Hastings. This is what Melissa is talking about - she has been protecting Spencer from her truth since forever… since “before it started” - since before Mona began the first game.

Just look at the face of concern when he’s confronted with Radley files in 525… is the secret about to come out when they open that lid?

Let’s not forget Mary’s conversation with Spencer in 701.



Mary: I know enough about your family to know that they are excellent secret keepers.

Spencer: why would they keep you a secret?

Everyone in the Hastings family is working hard to protect Spencer from her ugly truth. No one wants her to know she is adopted. They want her to live in the present and be happy with the Hastings.

How does Melissa know this about Spencer? Melissa is a Drake as well. She is Mary’s third and final child, and she knows it. The doctor who delivered Mary’s babies clearly stated that he “delivered two of her babies” - that wording is very ambiguous, implying there could be more than just Charlotte and Spencer.



It was heavily alluded to in 701 that Spencer and Melissa are biological sisters. It would make no sense for Mary to tell Spencer that “you and your sister look so much alike, almost like twins” if Melissa is not also one of her children. Mary then proceeds to ask if Spencer is close with Melissa, like any mother would hope for her children. Mary’s fascination with Melissa tells me there is more to their relationship, and there is. I am dying for a scene between Melissa and Mary.

Peter is the biological father of both Spencer and Melissa. He kept both girls, with his wife Veronica, whilst Mary went off to Radley. Peter and Veronica wanted to raise them as the perfect Hastings. That involved totally erasing their history and connection to Mary… you know, the woman who was ‘responsible’ for the death of a baby whilst babysitting. Who knows what Spencer’s birth was? Melissa’s birth name began with an A. Alyssa, or Alessia Drake, perhaps?

MELISSA IS AD

Have you noticed how AD has a very different agenda to that of Mona and Charlotte when they were A? AD/Melissa is NOT here to ruin relationships, trap mothers in basements and send messages exposing secrets. She doesn’t care about any of that petty stuff that Mona and Charlotte once did. Melissa has her own agenda.

Melissa killed Charlotte, and she wants the girls to hand over a name to her so she can get away with the murder.

I know what you’re thinking. “Melissa killing Charlotte is too obvious. It’s too easy. Therefore it’s not happening.” We need to stop thinking like this! The writers told us CeCe is A back in season 4 when they showed her face under the hoodie, and we all said “oh CeCe is in a hoodie? Easy, she’s not A”. Look where that got us!

Yes, Melissa did kill Charlotte. Innocent people don’t lie about where they were on the night of a murder (thanks for your lie detection skills Caleb). Melissa did use the metal rod from her suitcase. No, 6B wasn’t as pointless as we all thought. Actual answers in the season of fillers/romance!

If the writers pointed the finger to Melissa in 7A, it would be fresh in our minds. They gave us the answers in 6B, hoping we’d forget about it by the time 7B comes. Smart move by the writers - because I’ve seen about zero theories on Melissa killing Charlotte, yet there is just so much damn evidence. Of course, it’ll be the person that the writers built up; the person that makes sense, rather than a person with zero clues. And right now, Melissa is the only person with actual clues towards being Charlotte’s murderer.

Melissa wanted Emily to touch the rod, to get her finger prints on it, so that Emily can go down for Charlotte’s murder. Melissa doesn’t care who she throws under the bus for her crime. ANYONE. She’s supposed to be the perfect Hastings. She can’t have a murder on her resume. We saw how Melissa reacted recently to the thought that her employer potentially knew about her video confessing to burying Bethany… she was about to pass out!

AD had an obsession with getting the killer before election night. This sent alarm bells ringing in my head to re-watch the election episode, and see who is making their presence known. Lo and behold, the only character is Melissa. Melissa was sick and tired of the girls not handing over evidence, or a potential killer’s name to her. Her temper started to boil, and so she has the idea of giving them a deadline with consequences if they don’t follow through. Maybe then, the girls will do as told.



Spencer says: “that was Melissa [on the phone]. She’s sending her love for the 10th time this hour”. The writers are very subtly teasing Melissa’s involvement. No other character made subtle features during the election night!



Veronica then says “I swear she’s more nervous than I am!” Clearly Melissa is constantly checking in on Spencer/the girls to see if they’ve made progress on handing over a killer, so that Melissa can move on with her life.

Look at the wording above.

“Thanks for giving me Hanna” - Melissa did warn the girls: “give me the killer by election night, or YOU LOOSE.” Because they didn’t hand over a killer, they lost. Because they didn’t hand over a killer, Melissa takes Hanna; the most recent person who made a confession.

Melissa is smarter than that: she knows Hanna is lying as it’s her own freaking murder! Hence all of this happened:



Melissa told Hanna that if she wants the pain to stop, all she has to do is tell the police exactly what she told her earlier. Luckily Hanna escaped. Thank god!

Through all this, the million dollar question still remains:

WHY did Melissa kill Charlotte?

First, let’s look at the relationship between Melissa and Charlotte.

Note: Melissa does know that Charlotte is her sister, evident in her saying to Hanna in 617 “who gave that twisted sister phone privileges?”



1) Charlotte and Melissa had an ongoing relationship (as they are family). It possibly was strengthened at Rosewood High, as Charlotte was prom queen the same year of Melissa’s prom.

2) They continue their friendship into summer at Cape May - Melissa took a photo of Charlotte, Ali and Wilden on a boat.

3) Melissa and Charlotte spoke together ‘that night’. (That’s because Ali called Charlotte and told her to speak to Melissa, asking for the NAT videos. I guess Ali was too scared to talk to Melissa directly.)

4) When Charlotte first met Spencer, she greeted her as “Melissa Hastings’ little sister”. Very odd greeting, which teases a history with Melissa. That history is their family connection.

1 to 4 above have been planted across the series to tease Melissa is connected to Charlotte. No other character has such a connection. This connection I speak of is the family connection; sisterly bonding!!

5) Wren says that Melissa called Charlotte to say that Mona is in Radley. (Side note - here’s proof that Charlotte never went back to Radley after Charles’ funeral. If Charlotte were a patient there, she wouldn’t need to be told about Mona being there. Since Charlotte was no longer a patient there, and she was using the new alias CeCe Drake, she needed a visitors pass - plot hole cleared!) Melissa believed that her sister, Charlotte, would serve as a good role model to Mona. She wanted Charlotte to help Mona get better so that Mona can get out, and she can talk to her about Bethany Young.

6) Charlotte calls Wren to tell him that Melissa buried Bethany Young, causing Wren to end his relationship with Melissa as he couldn’t look at her the same.

We very rarely get scenes with the Melissa and Charlotte, but their names constantly pop up in the same sentence. This can’t be a coincidence.

Charlotte never truly did get better as she was being treated by Archer, who is not a qualified doctor. She even kept her dolls of the girls, all those years after declaring game over, as we learnt in 703.

Rewatching 617, it became extremely clear that Melissa killed Charlotte.



"That scheming nut job who made your life a living hell has now moved on to mess with mine. Who the hell gave that twisted sister phone privileges? How does someone with her resume get put under penthouse arrest? A leopard never changes its spots. If she’s willing to tell Wren [about Bethany Young], who else is she gonna tell? We all have a past, Hanna. Aren’t you curious what she plans to use against you?”

Additionally, killing Charlotte served as protection to Spencer, as Melissa learnt of Charlotte’s intentions to tell Spencer about their true relationship as Drakes. Again, Melissa is protecting Spencer, like she always has been, since before it started.

I believe Melissa wrote the essay that coincidentally aligns with how Charlotte died, and Spencer thinks it’s her essay. We have seen Spencer take Melissa’s essays before. Just because it has Spencer’s name on it, doesn’t mean she wrote it. Spencer was too paranoid at how bad this could look for her, to look past the fact that Melissa is its true author.

If Melissa loves Spencer, then how do we explain this?

There were 2 gun shots heard in the house. The first gun shot was Jenna shooting Spencer, and the second gun shot was Melissa aiming to stop Jenna from shooting Spencer. I believe the second shot (Melissa’s) hit no one. And Melissa kidnapped Jenna to punish her for shooting Spencer. Jenna thinks she’s safe with AD, because AD is avenging Charlotte’s death, but she’s wrong. Jenna has been kidnapped BY Charlotte’s killer.

So Melissa is AD because she wants to get away with killing Charlotte. What’s that “G” word that should be coming to your mind right about now? A GAME. If you’re expecting AD/Uber A to be a ruthless killer seeking revenge for something the girls did to harm them, you need to lower your expectations. I mean, Freeform itself is trying to warn us by the title of their video. It’s a game of “who can I blame for the murder I committed?” There are no merciless psychopaths on a murder spree in Rosewood.

Garret says to Spencer in 302 that “there’s a lot you don’t know, Spencer. Some of it you don’t want to know. Someone that you know well has you completely fooled. People lie but… medical records don’t.” When they were dating, Melissa confided in Garret and told him about their connection to the Drakes, and this is what Garret is talking about. Garret really needed a lawyer to get him out of prison, and so he blackmailed Veronica. “Take my case, or I’ll tell everyone about the Drakes”. That’s why Veronica took his case without pay. Then Garret is released, and later is killed on the Halloween Train, which Melissa was on. Melissa sees Spencer having one-on-one private conversations with Garret, and fears the secret is coming out. Melissa killed Garret, protecting Spencer from her truth.

In 317 we see “A” burying the Queen of Hearts mask, who we know was Melissa. This can’t be Charlotte - why would Charlotte care about burying this mask? Melissa is in possession of a hoodie!

THE TWINS

Peter is the biological father of Charlotte - he had an affair with Mary, thinking he was seeing Jessica as per normal. Mary did this to get back at Jessica for being the world’s worst sister. Mary is the innocent one and Jessica is satan in disguise. Jessica organised electro-shock therapy for Mary (very inhumane) and took Charles away from Mary the very second she was born. As Mary said, she didn’t even get to hold Charles at the hospital. Jessica even told Mary that Charles’ grave was real - Mary did not know her child was transitioning. Jessica wasn’t giving a cause of death, and even went as far as to say “you gave birth, but he was my son”. And let’s not forget the Teddy incident, where Jessica blamed Mary for the death of a baby whilst she was babysitting. Mary was born first and Jessica was born jealous.

Hence Peter tried to shut down Radley throughout the series: he is embarrassed of his affair with Mary, after already having had Jason with Jessica. He is trying to erase all evidence of it. It really does seem that Peter is the father of everyone in Rosewood!

As we learnt in 7A, Jessica was searching for Ali the whole time. How did she know to search for Ali, if she buried her? Kind of an odd reaction. Peter wanted to give Jessica a little bit of hope that maybe her daughter is still alive, and so Peter told Jessica that Melissa buried a body (Bethany) that night too. That of course implies something is going on; perhaps Ali made it out and someone else died?

Peter and Jessica’s understanding is that he will not tell anyone about the mess with Mary, if she does not tell anyone about Melissa’s secret.

After Jessica got confirmation in 424 at the police station that Alison is alive, she nearly sent this email to Peter:

Ali is alive, yet Jessica buried her…

And so in order to save her own ass, Jessica was going to say that Melissa buried Ali, and Melissa didn’t want to take that risk. Melissa proceeded to murder Jessica.

No wonder Peter lied to Veronica about taking Melissa to a bed and breakfast the night Jessica was killed - Peter is helping Melissa cover it up. Veronica gets bad vibes (trust issues), and files for divorce from Peter, taking Spencer with her, leaving her killer ‘daughter’ behind.

RANDOM FINAL NOTES

Noel killed Sara Harvey, because she was going to tell the girls that he is a bad guy. Sara saw Noel helping Charlotte in the dollhouse, and she knows how dangerous he can be. Sara was murdered right after she said to Emily “I want you to be safe. Please, don’t come back. I’m talking about…”

Jenna said in 706: I read about Charlotte wasting away in that hospital. So I reached out. I figured she’d welcome a visit even from a stranger. But I wasn’t a stranger. Mona had told her everything about me. I was a celebrity. This doesn’t seem to align with the pre-time jump, whereby Shana told Spencer that Jenna fears CeCe? The truth is that Jenna did not know that the Charlotte DiLaurentis that she read about in the paper was the CeCe Drake that she feared. She went to visit this girl, and was surprised to see the face that awaited her. Jenna and Charlotte eventually bonded once Jenna realised she doesn’t need to be afraid of Charlotte anymore. Ian’s reasonings for committing suicide can be read here. Mona’s reasonings for being A can be explained here.

Uber A is the smartest of all, according to Marlene. Arguably, the smartest person on the show is (Mona, but she’s already been A, so we are left with) Spencer. The only person smarter than Spencer is her sister Melissa, which the writers teased in 225. She is playing a game. She has been there since the very beginning, always watching. Never sent A messages, but always watching. She can be connected to EVERY single plot in the show. No other character can. She has A’s tone, referring to the liars as “bitches” in 324. Melissa has been protecting Spencer since before it started, and now she needs someone to take the fall of the murder she committed. In 711 she declares it is “play time!” with the girls - she really is getting sick and tired of them not handing over a potential killer so she can walk free from her own crime.

If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to say THANK YOU! For my final theory ever for PLL, I couldn’t be more proud. So many loose ends were covered here. I will admit, I was scared to post this for my bold claims about Alison and Melissa in particular (more so Alison). If I’ve left out any storylines, it’s because the post is already long enough, but also, I don’t feel they’re significant to the overall plot. Please remember that this is more than 2 months of work, and so rude messages will be deleted and you will be blocked, whilst constructive feedback is invited and encouraged. I sincerely hope you enjoyed my final efforts. That’s it from me… I’m all ‘theoried out’. Goodbye PLL theories, it was fun being a detective for 7 years!