WARNING: Spoilers.



This is an episode by episode outline of clues supporting the idea that Melissa Hastings is the puppeteer and mad genius behind ‘A.’



Now it’s clear that Mona does most of the ground work in the earlier seasons, but there are numerous clues that suggest Melissa could be the one pulling the strings.



Bold text highlights running themes.



“Everyone will freak out because it’s so clearly in every episode.” –Keegan Allen



1x01

Hanna: So, what’s the occasion?

Spencer: Family dinner. We’re meeting Melissa’s fiance.

Hanna: Did Miss Perfect find Mister Perfect?

Spencer: He’s a med student, so everyone’s thrilled.

Hanna: And that’s not the right top. You need to turn heads.

Spencer: Away from Melissa? Please.

Hanna: She doesn’t always have to win.

Now we’re properly introduced to Melissa.



Notice Spencer’s body language: crossed arms signify vulnerability. It’s a defensive posture, representing a shield from oncoming attacks. It can also indicate lack of trust in the other person.

Melissa: Honestly, when mom said you’re converting the barn to a loft, I couldn’t see it. But, it’s beautiful. Job well done.

Spencer: Well, I’m glad you like it.

Melissa: And I totally appreciate you’re letting us move in.

Spencer: What?

Melissa: Wren and I are staying in the barn while I redo my place in the city.

Spencer: I’m moving in for junior year, Melissa. That’s the deal that I made with mom and dad. I got the grades, I did the internship, I gave up my summer because I wanted this!

Melissa: Well, you’ll just have to wait.

Spencer: Why can’t you stay in my room?

Melissa: We’re a couple, Spencer. We need our own space, and mom and dad agree.



Spencer: But they promised me!

Spencer: Does my sister know you smoke?

Wren: Does she have to know everything?

Spencer: I thought you guys weren’t moving in until next week.

Wren: Melissa wanted to get settled before classes start.

(Perfect timing to set up a big 'A’ operation before the “bitches” go back to school.)





1x02

Melissa: We’ve just started our first week at class, and I’ve already been nominated to serve on the business school’s leadership committee.

Peter: Melissa likes to play the game when she’s fairly certain she’ll win.

Melissa: Well, guess who I learned that from. [looks at Peter]



(The father worship theme seems important.)



Later on, Wren puts the moves on Spencer, and Melissa happens to be in the perfect spot at the perfect time to witness it.







1x03

Byron: You’re pretty far into it.

Aria: Yeah, I’ve got like sixty-some pages left, and I don’t want it to end.

Byron: You should read her biography next.

Ella: The father worship thing becomes a lot clearer.



(Nice to slip that in. All of the Mockingbird references are relevant.)

Veronica: You can’t avoid seeing people, sweetie. It is what it is.

Melissa: And what’s that? Sad, humiliating, pathetic? All of the above?

Spencer: Where’s dad?

Veronica: He left for the office.

Spencer: Already? So he ran without me? Why didn’t he just knock on my door?



Veronica: He was busy. He was helping Melissa dispose of some things that Wren left behind.



(Just a very strange choice of words. It almost sounds criminal. And we know Peter is good at disposing of potential criminal evidence.)







Spencer: Look, I get it. You’re upset and I feel for you. But don’t dump it all on me. Maybe you should be asking yourself why Wren felt the need to – I’m sorry, okay? I’m not perfect. But I don’t want to be accused of something I didn’t do.

This is interesting because as the series progresses, Spencer is repeatedly accused of things she didn’t do. Many of which place Melissa in a martyr or victim role, and leave Spencer saddled with guilt, self-doubt, and indebtedness to Melissa.

We have to wonder: is this by chance, or by design?

Spencer: Look, I need you to tell them what really happened.

Wren: I tried. They won’t return my phone calls.



Melissa: Wren called. He told me you went into the city yesterday to meet him. It was strange. At first I didn’t understand why he was telling me this, but then I realized he’s still trying to cover his tracks. And yours. Like I’m supposed to believe you took a train down there just to clear your name? You two deserve each other. I thought I was pathetic.



(Interesting how Melissa is able to have a conversation with Wren when he says nobody’s taking his phone calls. They obviously talked. So did Wren call to make an apology? Or did he call to make a report?)







Let’s jump to 2x13 for a minute… (pre-series flashback)



Alison: Wake up, Spencer. The big sister act is just that. An act. She’s such a martyr with that Hastings family crap. She works so hard to be perfect because she doesn’t want your parents looking beyond the glow of her halo. She doesn’t want them to see you.



Spencer: Melissa’s just trying to survive in this family, just like me.

Alison: Are you sure about that? Because it looks like she’s winning and you’re not.





1x04

Hanna: I wish I had a sister smart enough to steal papers from.



Spencer: Using Melissa’s paper was supposed to be a stop-gap. If I ask Sheldrake to withdraw the essay, he’ll know something’s wrong.

Hanna: Spencer, what makes you so sure you’re going to win the competition? Oh, right. I forgot. It’s in your DNA.

Someone films Wren and Spencer from the Hastings yard. Not hard to guess who that could be.



Spencer: I know I never wanted to hurt Melissa. I know sometimes it looks like North and South Korea between us. But, she is my sister. That still counts.





1x05

Spencer takes Wren back to the motel. Upon her return, the girls find a mini tombstone on the kitchen island and in Spencer’s room, they find a message written in lipstick. 'A’ has been in the house.



The next morning, a text comes in with an attached video of the prior night, filmed from inside Spencer’s closet:

“Ever wonder what’s going on when your back is turned?” -A



“Never turn your back on a Hastings.” -Jessica DiLaurentis



It may not be easy for the “bitches,” but if Melissa was the one to pull this stunt, it had to be extremely easy for her. Simply hiding out in her own house, doing some filming from Spencer’s closet and writing a couple of messages.



Easy A?



Spencer: Are you asking me to throw the match?

Peter: Spencer, I’m asking you to just look at this as a means to an end. If he wins, I win. Got it?

Two points: 1) Peter seems to be an “ends justify the means” kind of guy, which is a dangerous, slippery slope. And 2) sometimes a loss is actually by design, in order to secure bigger wins in the future.



Keep this in mind as you see Melissa appear hurt and play the martyr/victim role again and again. She would have adopted the same mindset as her dad. Are Melissa’s “losses” actually part of a bigger plan? An A-game plan?



Peter: Why are you looking at me like that? I just did what I had to do.

Spencer: To win?

Peter: Don’t give me that attitude. You’re just as driven and competitive as I am. Don’t pretend you’re not.

Spencer: You know what? You’re right. I am. I’m just not sure it’s a thing that I want to celebrate anymore.

(Spencer has a moral and ethical problem with this kind of behavior, which makes her the odd duck in the family.)





1x06



There truly are no coincidences in Rosewood. Miss Perfect herself shows up at Homecoming to deliver a speech and to monkeywrench Spencer’s relationship with Alex.



Apparently, the Homecoming Queen who was originally supposed to speak has become mysteriously ill and could not attend, leaving the job to Melissa.



Melissa: Oh, by the way, they posted the winning Golden Orchid essays online, and I had a chance to read yours. Or should I say mine.

Spencer: Look, I’ve already told mom and dad. And they think a retraction would be more of an embarrassment for us.

(Implies the Hastings value reputation higher than integrity.)



Melissa: I’m talking about Spencer, you know, dating you to piss off our dad. She’s always trying something new to make him crazy.

(Moving along with the father worship theme. Melissa is daddy’s girl for sure. And this just shows her vindictiveness and immaturity.)







1x07

Spencer: I really have to explain about last night.

Alex: Don’t worry, your sister already did that.

Spencer: No, my sister lied.



(That happens a lot, as we’ll find.)



Alex: Your sister took one look at me at Homecoming and thought I was there to park her car. People act like this. Doesn’t matter if you’re queen bees, or worker bees.



('A’ stays quiet in this episode. And Melissa does not make an appearance. Hmm.)







1x08

TOM SAWYER = TOM SAW 'YER



Maybe?



Aria: Ian?

Hanna: Wait… Melissa’s Ian?

(Okay, so 'A’ is watching by proxy today. And they even announce whose puppet he is. Awesome.)



So Tom “saw yer.”



Ian Thom saw yer.

Cute.





1x09

All of the 'A’ texts in this episode appear to have been sent by Mona, not Melissa. Again, Melissa does not appear.



Big A takes a day off?





1x10

Spencer: I don’t know when this war between us got started, Melissa, but can’t it just be over? I’m only sixteen, and I’m tired.



Melissa: Is this you trying to fix what you broke with Wren?

Spencer: No, I’m just trying to do the right thing.

(More of Melissa victim-blaming her sister. Again, is this by design?)



Aria: Since when are you mending Melissa’s relationships?

Spencer: I kind of owe it to her.

Emily: What’s she ever done for you?

Spencer: It’s more about what did I do to her. I’m the reason she and Wren broke up.

(No, actually Wren is the reason she and Wren broke up. Sigh.)



So this whole debacle places Spencer in a position of guilt, inferiority, and indebtedness, now feeling like she owes Melissa the world. And we’ll see this pattern repeated again. Is it by chance, or by design? Would Melissa orchestrate this stunt with Wren, as part of some plan to keep Spencer beat down emotionally?



Is this Melissa’s idea of winning?



Melissa: I was thinking about what you said earlier, about being tired. You and I hating each other has become a lot of work.

Spencer: I didn’t know that we hated each other. I just… I thought we didn’t like each other.

Melissa: [awkward silence; changes subject]

(So here we have Melissa playing nice, but basically admitting she’s hated her sister forever. Wow.)







1x11

So Ian is back. At first Melissa isn’t sure she wants to have coffee with him. Next thing you know, they’re married and having a baby. Oh yeah, there’s nothing strange about that.



But we’re led to believe Ian killed Alison. We’re led to believe Ian is using Melissa. But could it actually be the other way around?





1x12

'A’ causes Alex to break up with Spencer, finishing what Melissa started at Homecoming.



Isn’t it strange how 'A’ doesn’t want Spencer to have a happy relationship? No, not really. Not if you already suspect Melissa is 'A.’



And another cheeky game reference appears. Seems like 'A’ is driven and competitive and obsessed with winning, especially over Spencer.

Does this whole thing come down a competition between sisters?







1x13



Aria: 'A’ saved my relationship.

Hanna: Yeah, well 'A’ tried to kill me.



Spencer: Because 'A’ thought you saw her. 'A’ clearly knows now that you didn’t.



[Melissa walks in.]

Melissa: It’s nice to see the posse together again.

Aria: The posse?



Melissa: This is me playing nice, Aria. Spencer and I have called a truce.

Hanna: Well, I’ll play along. How does it feel to be married?



Melissa: It feels like I don’t have to try so hard all the time.

(Yes, it must be relaxing to have Ian do the dirty work while drawing suspicion away from herself. And Ian ends up murdered to keep the truth hidden.)



Also note that posse has dual meaning. It can mean a search party, or a gang of criminals.







1x14,15



Another “'never turn your back on a Hastings” connection.



Spencer’s laptop mysteriously disappears. When she finds it, the video of Ian and Alison has been deleted. But 'A’ leaves her with this still image of Alison.

The picture jogs Spencer’s memory, planting a seed of self-doubt and guilt that will haunt and torment her throughout much of the series, as she wonders if she could have possibly hurt or even killed Ali after their heated argument that night.



It seems part of a deliberate program by 'A’ to make Spencer doubt herself and her own sanity, which (later on) lands her in Radley.

Spencer: I guess I was scared. I mean this going to sound crazy but, I think that I didn’t tell you because there was always a part of me that wondered if it was my fault.







1x17

Hanna: Okay, so your sister’s pregnant? How’d that happen?



Spencer: I figure pretty much the usual way.



Emily: It’s not really a 'how’ question. It’s more of a 'why’ question.



Spencer: I mean, I guess Melissa could have gone all maternal, but I doubt it.



(Why? Because a fake pregnancy is a brilliant cover. Wear some pads, buy some vitamins, print out some fake sonograms, and use fake hospital visits as a cover story while taking care of A-business behind the scenes. Genius.)





1x18

A fake trophy (yet another game reference) with rat’s blood is planted in the right place so that Spencer will turn it in. Next episode, she’ll become a person of interest. Once again, 'A’ is especially vindictive towards Spencer.

Rats will be thematically significant through the series. At the end of the episode, we see a caged rat named after each liar:

Except the “Spencer” cage is empty, signifying the rat was killed for the trophy set up.







1x19

Spencer: Have you talked to Melissa?

Peter: Yeah. We talked to Melissa, and Ian. They weren’t that surprised.

Veronica: In hindsight, your sister saw it coming. And we should have, too.

(Yeah, no shit Melissa saw it coming. She’s 'A.’ They’re just about throwing it in our faces at this point. Let’s all sit down and celebrate Melissa’s brilliant insight.)





1x20

Spencer: What’s it like to run away?

Toby: Cold. Didn’t you ever run away?

Spencer: Once. I think I was seven. My sister and I had an argument over something, and my parents took Melissa’s side.



(And nothing’s changed since then.)





1x21

Veronica: You have to be careful about who you associate with.

Spencer: So what, I’m just supposed to ignore him [Toby]? Not speak to him?

Veronica: Yes.

So 'A’ indirectly screws another one of Spencer’s relationships. Not only is she forbidden to speak to Toby, but the bloodstained sweater planted in Toby’s house has fibers from Spencer’s bracelet, which makes it look like Spencer attempted to frame Toby.

Melissa can’t have a non-dysfunctional relationship, so why should Spencer be allowed?



Spencer: So did you tell the police that you [and Ian] stayed on opposite sides of the hotel? Or were you even at Hilton Head?



(Oh she was there, alright. But it wasn’t an enjoyable stay.)







1x22



The girls plan a sting operation to catch Ian coming after the videos. Meanwhile, Spencer and Melissa are in an auto accident with a car that comes “out of nowhere,” which puts Melissa in the hospital. But if Melissa is indeed 'A,’ this taunting text suggests she planned the accident herself.



Again, remember the example of Peter taking a loss on the tennis court in order to pick up a bigger win in the workplace. This is how 'A’ operates. It’s also how Melissa operates. Nobody suspects the victim as being the puppet master. Truly, nothing is as it seems.



Melissa uses the lost phone ruse to send Spencer to the church alone, right into Ian’s waiting hands.



Spencer: Look, there’s been an accident.

Ian: Yeah, I know. I got the messages. I’ve just been waiting for you to leave the hospital. Melissa would want me to take care of this. She’ll understand.

Ian isn’t phased that his dear wife was in a car crash, suggesting it’s part of the plan. He gets messages because Melissa’s phone being “lost” is a ruse.



Spencer throws the thumb drive and runs off. Ian gets the drive and then chases Spencer up the bell tower.

Spencer: I gave you the videos, what more do you want? My mom knows I’m here! She knows I’m in the church!

Ian: You picked a perfect place for your suicide. You didn’t mean to hurt Alison, huh? It was an accident. You pushed her and she fell.

Spencer: Is that what happened?

Ian: She just hit her head, and she never woke up.

Spencer: Alison died of suffocation!

Ian: Yeah, the letter that I put on your computer won’t answer all the questions, but… it’ll answer enough. The guilt was just too much for you.

Spencer: Please, if you love my sister you won’t do this!

Ian: I’m doing it because I love her.

There’s a struggle, and a Black Hooded figure [Alison] intervenes.

Ian: [to Alison] What are you doing here?





(Not “what are you doing alive?” No. Because he already knows she’s alive. And that “I’m doing it because I love her” has some seriously dark implications behind it. Early next season, Ian himself will end up “suicided” almost exactly like he tried to do to Spencer, with a fake note confessing to Ali’s murder.)



So that’s it for the first season. The clues just get piled higher and deeper in the later seasons.







Thoughts



Melissa has been caught sending an 'A’ message; she’s been Red Coat, Black Swan. She has been entangled with all three confirmed NAT Club members, two of which have been murdered. The only surviving member is Jason DiLaurentis, who happens to be Melissa’s half-brother and Peter’s son. She disappears off to different places and pops in at opportune times, and she never seems to be where she claims. She often appears to be the victim of various circumstances, which helps her elude suspicion. She’s got the means; the brains, her father’s money, and she is a master of deception. She uses one lie to cover up another. Her parents shelter her and always take her side. She props herself as Spencer’s protector, but she doesn’t have a very credible reputation, and what has she really done?



Melissa has everything she needs to be Big A.

We end up getting so distracted by everything else; all of the personal agendas, webs of lies and cover ups, multiple Black Hoodie / Black Gloves scenes that are not necessarily 'A,’ people who are not 'A’ doing shady things, and so on. And we get distracted by Spencer always being the person of interest, doubting her own sanity, cracking up, etc. when all along Melissa is the Hastings we should be keeping a close eye on!

Is this why Big A tries to recruit Spencer for the A-team? Why Spencer, and not one of the others? It’s not because Spencer’s “the smart one.” It’s because she’s family! It’s because she’s so much closer to the truth than she realizes, and it’s because she will persevere until she gets all the answers! If 'A’ can manage to turn her against her friends and bring her on board, then 'A’ wins by default.



But Spencer won’t play ball. She won’t sell out her friends like that.



So Big A turns up the heat. Gets Toby on board with the A-Team, destroying yet another of Spencer’s relationships, nearly beyond repair. This leads up to Toby’s fake death, all ordered and orchestrated by Big A, which sends Spencer into a meltdown and gets her locked up in Radley. And isn’t it interesting that this is all perfectly timed to happen while Spencer’s parents are out of town and can’t make it back to help? And who shows up at Radley to rub it in and twist the knife, telling Spencer she’s “unwell?” Melissa. Again, A's agenda seems very personal and vindictive towards Spencer in particular.



Ali Ali, Oxen Free!



It’s a hide and seek game.



Remember how hide and seek was always Spencer’s favorite game to play with Melissa? Spencer claims it was her favorite because she always won.



'A’ hides behind texts, and masks, and black hoods.



Is that what all of this comes down to? A Hastings sisters’ game of hide and seek?



If so, Spencer will win, but it will be a sad day when she learns her big sister is Big A.