S04.E24: A is for Answers

[Cranberry]

In the fourth-season finale, the girls get answers about Ali and the night she vanished after they come face-to-face with her.

Well, that was pointless. What did we learn besides that Mona knew Ali was alive all along and that Ali pushed Ian off the bell tower? Oh, and that Ali apparently never slept with Ezra or Ian. Right.

I just shook my head when Ezra got shot. This is the laziest way to "redeem" someone ever. Bet he'll have amnesia when he wakes up (despite being shot in the stomach) and won't remember who A is.

My new out-there guess is that Ali's mom is the character with a twin -- this would be sort of a spin on the book storyline where Ali had one. Jessica DiLaurentis's twin could have been the one to "kill" Ali, and Jessica couldn't go to the cops about it/reveal that she had a twin for whatever reason, so she buried Ali herself. Her twin could have killed Jessica tonight, planning to take her place next season. I could see it!

[hotspurious]

My new guess is that they are lying through their showrunner teeth, and Ali is the twin.

I want to say over AND OVER how much I hate the potential redemption of Ezra. Because he is icky.

 

[superman1204]

I completely agree about the Ezra redemption we have to look forward to.  How does him getting shot make him any less of terrible boyfriend/teacher/person?  If the writers want to redeem Alison that's one thing.  I am not thrilled with the idea, but Alison has spent the last two or three years running from A.  It's entirely possible that she revaluated what is important in life or grew as a person in some other way.  Ezra on the other hand was stalking the girls, what a week ago?  And the only reason he stopped was because Aria discovered his book.  To put it in words even a five year old could understand, when you say you're sorry because you are trouble, you're not really sorry.

Edited March 28, 2014 by superman1204

[Cranberry]

My new guess is that they are lying through their showrunner teeth, and Ali is the twin.

They did lie about Mona being A... or they definitely deliberately misled people into thinking she wouldn't be, in any case. Have they flat-out said that Ali wouldn't have a twin? I have stopped reading interviews with the showrunners because I was getting headaches from all the head-desking.

[Featherhat]

I think this is the only title of a TV show where when I read it I said "liar liar pants on fire!" as a first reaction weeks before the episode even aired. That's pretty much still my reaction. 

[DigitalCount]

They did lie about Mona being A... or they definitely deliberately misled people into thinking she wouldn't be, in any case.

I think the latter was pretty much absolutely necessary (and also, what they did); knowing the answer beforehand would diminish the level of tension that the series would have. They had to do something in order to make it seem as if the situation would be different, so they answered with odd terminology. It's largely the same thing they did with EzrA.

The title of this episode was somewhat accurate, however. It's not as if there weren't some answers that were clarified--Spencer did not attack Ali, Ali (possibly) didn't sleep with Ezra or Ian, Jenna is not A, A has an uncannily similar style of turns of phrase as Aria...to the theories thread? (should have some Spencering-related subtitle, methinks)

[AmandaPanda]

I am so over the Ezria being soulmates thing. He will never be anything but skeazy to me. I'll admit at one point I thought they were kind of romantic, but as soon as the whole Malcolm storyline came about, it snapped me out of that real quick. Even if it wasn't his kid, a 17-year-old should not be in a position to potentially become a stepmother to a child. It's just not right. 

Minus that, though, I was pretty happy with the episode. I wasn't expecting to get tons of answers, but I was happy with the amount we got. I am relieved Ali didn't sleep with Ian or Ezra, what with her being like 15 when she went missing. 

I love the idea that Mrs. D could be the one with the evil twin. My personal theory is that Mona has a twin, which I posted about in the theories thread. I think Jason is going to end up being the one who hit Ali, though. 

[DigitalCount]

I started a post on this earlier and it got eaten, but:

While it's extremely probable with Allison's account of events that Jason is the person who struck her (and I'm surprised that no one suggested this in-universe, but these girls have a blind spot when it comes to family), can we actually trust Ali's account? Not that I think she lied (which I suppose is possible, but to what end?) but she'd just been bashed in the head with a rock and was in the process of being buried alive.

Not only that, but I assume that "what have you done" was a phrase Ali had heard from Jessica on numerous occasions while hanging out with CeCe, so is it possible that whoever buried her alive said this, and her traumatized brain linked it to her mother because she was, well, traumatized?

Possible holes in this theory include Jessica's desperate assurance that Ali was definitely dead and she didn't need to ask questions. Presumably, she was so sure because she buried Ali herself.

Or maybe that's a red-herring.

Edited April 2, 2014 by DigitalCount

[AmandaPanda]

 

While it's extremely probable with Allison's account of events that Jason is the person who struck her (and I'm surprised that no one suggested this in-universe, but these girls have a blind spot when it comes to family), can we actually trust Ali's account? Not that I think she lied (which I suppose is possible, but to what end?) but she'd just been bashed in the head with a rock and was in the process of being buried alive.

There are so many unreliable narrators in this show. Whenever we find out an "answer" as to what happened, I don't even know whether to believe that's what really happened. Even when it's something that is happening in real time, I have to question from whose point of view we're seeing things. I can't decide if I think it's awesome or infuriating to constantly question everything.

[Shangrilala]

Every time I write a comment to this thread I get confused all over again, so I'm going to just throw down my questions even though there are plenty of other plot points that make them incomplete/incoherent.

Mona:  Was she Ali's A?  Or did she adopt the A persona after helping Ali?  Or was she on the side of the A-team all along, in which case, why did she help Ali escape if the ultimate plan was to kill her?  (makes no sense, unless A and the murderer are two different people). 

Noel Kahn:  Somebody remind me from season 1.  Why did he write "I see you -A" on the car?  Wasn't he a part of the A-Team?  Did that ever get answered?  How did he flip to Ali's side?  Or is Ali the twin theory and they writers are just bullshitting the viewers (which to be honest, is the only theory I can come up with that makes sense - they are sticking to the books)

How many people knew Ali was alive?  Cece, Shauna, Mona, there's speculation about Maya, Noel, and maybe Ian?  (I found his "What are you doing here" statement a little too blase, as opposed to "holy crap, aren't you dead?")  Did Jenna know she was still alive?  The Hastings, if they knew that it wasn't Ali in that grave?

And finally - why, exactly, am I supposed to trust anything that Ali says?

[superman1204]

 

Mona:  Was she Ali's A?  Or did she adopt the A persona after helping Ali?  Or was she on the side of the A-team all along, in which case, why did she help Ali escape if the ultimate plan was to kill her?  (makes no sense, unless A and the murderer are two different people).

From what I understand, the writers want us to believe that Mona was Ali's A and she worked alone.  Even though at the end of season 2, she said to Red Coat (one of them) "I did everything you asked" or something like that.  So either the writers decided to retcon that part, or they are trying to miss lead people into thinking Mona worked alone.  Personally I always liked the idea that all of the people out to get the girls are in some way related to A, not directly working for A in some cases, but that A was helping or encouraging them to go after the girls.  If nothing else it makes more sense than having like half a dozen unrelated people stalking Alison and the liars.

Noel Kahn:  Somebody remind me from season 1.  Why did he write "I see you -A" on the car?  Wasn't he a part of the A-Team?  Did that ever get answered?  How did he flip to Ali's side?  Or is Ali the twin theory and they writers are just bullshitting the viewers (which to be honest, is the only theory I can come up with that makes sense - they are sticking to the books)

The "I see you -A" thing was Noel being a dick.  He knew Aria was hooking up with Fitz and he was pissed that she didn't want to be with him, so he wrote the message.  The A was meant to stand for Aria or he didn't have time to finish writing out her name.  Either way he wasn't A because Mona got him suspended by putting test answers in his locker.  Also I have no idea when he started working for Ali.  I think that is supposed to be one of the little mysteries they answer during the season to make it feel like the storyline is being moved forward.  Also I totally agree about the twin theory.  They are running out other options, useless they want to make the one of the mothers uber-A and I just can't see that working.

And finally - why, exactly, am I supposed to trust anything that Ali says?

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Because people only tell the truth about the night Alison didn't die?  At least half of what we know about that night is from people who were suspected of having killed Alison (Byron, Garrett, Jason) and provided no actually proof.  Honestly I hope that next season the girls do start to question Ali's account of events, but its entirely possible the writers will just move on to other storylines.