S06.E01: Game On, Charles

[AmandaPanda]

Did you notice when the girls were unpacking Ali's room, there were multiple yellow tank tops hanging in the closet? Exactly how many of these tops does he have? So far we know that he had Mona, Sarah, and Ali wearing them plus however many he had in the closet. I am now imagining Charles walking into a boutique and buying all the yellow ruffled tank tops. Did he buy them five minutes after Ali bought hers? Or did he go back after she disappeared? Or does he have a tailor who makes them for him? So many burning questions.

 

I remember reading an interview with the costume designer where she was talking about that yellow top. She said they bought 14 of them to keep in the wardrobe department. I guess we found the closet where they've been keeping all of them!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It's a good thing they had so many of those yellow tops since Mona's and Sarah's were definitely dirty!

 

The stupidest thing about Ali's plan was the original premise. She was talking about luring A so the police could catch him. During that scene in her living room, all I could think about was the fact that A has spied on them in their houses before, so why did she think he wasn't listening to everything that she and the police were saying about trapping A?

That was never Ali's real plan. There was no way the cops were going to just leave her alone, and A wasn't going to go near her while the cops were around. So she roped the cops into her pretend plan in order to set up her getaway from them, and Ezra, Caleb and Toby were all in on it. I thought the car conversation with her, Ezra and Caleb made that clear enough.

Yes, I know that Ali, Caleb, Toby, and Ezra hatched that scheme to get away from Rosewood PD, but my point was that if Charles happened to be listening when Ali was talking to the police (which is always a possibility since A is omnipotent and apparently has all of their houses bugged), he would hear Ali conspiring with the police to trap him, which would only anger him and possibly cause him to strike out at her or punish the other girls just for funsies.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Although, when Ali disappeared were Melissa/Ian/Jason 18 and in their senior year? If so, it makes a lot more sense that Charles would want to be his 18 year old self,

Part of me finds it hilarious that Charles is so hell bent on revenge and screwing with the girls that he is pretending to be younger so that he can go to high school again. Don't get me wrong - I'm not one of those bitter people who hated high school. I had fun when I was there, but the thought of voluntarily going back now is so repugnant to me. I know this is just one more creepy thing he has done in a long line of creepy things though. I mean, compared to commandeering that bunker in the middle of a state park and outfitting it with cameras and Dungeon Siri and completely replicating the girls' bedrooms and buying every yellow tank top ever made, going back to high school is barely a blip.

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

 I mean, compared to commandeering that bunker in the middle of a state park and outfitting it with cameras and Dungeon Siri and completely replicating the girls' bedrooms and buying every yellow tank top ever made, going back to high school is barely a blip.

 

OMG XD

[Mabinogia]

What I don't get about Charles is, he had to have gone somewhere around the time of those home movies. Ali doesn't remember him, no one in town seems to know who Charles DeLaurentis is or that there even was one. So where was he? Obvious answer, Radley. But if he's been in Radley since the time the girls were infants, then why is he so hell bend on torturing them? What could they possibly have done? And why the obsession with Ali? Does he blame her birth/existence for his getting sent away? Actually, that could make sense, if his pyscho behavior manifested in him trying to kill his baby sister so that he gets sent away. So was/is all of this always been about getting Ali? Yikes! This guy has WAY too much time on his hands.

[Black Knight]

Yes, I know that Ali, Caleb, Toby, and Ezra hatched that scheme to get away from Rosewood PD, but my point was that if Charles happened to be listening when Ali was talking to the police (which is always a possibility since A is omnipotent and apparently has all of their houses bugged), he would hear Ali conspiring with the police to trap him, which would only anger him and possibly cause him to strike out at her or punish the other girls just for funsies.

Actually, it would have made A happy with Ali rather than angry at her, because Ali's speech had told him to meet her at the kissing rock. So hearing that the police thought that they were going to trap A at Ali's house would have confirmed to him that the meet-up Ali offered at the kissing rock was not a trap, that she hadn't told the police the real meaning of her speech. I'm sure Ali assumed that A was listening in on her conversations with the police, and that worked perfectly to her advantage. By that A knew that whatever Ali was planning with the meet-up, it wasn't to lead A into the police's clutches. And I'm sure A's smart enough to realize that Ali had to do the phony conspiracy with the police in order to set up her getaway so she could go meet A without cops in tow.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Black Knight

[SadieT]

What I don't get about Charles is, he had to have gone somewhere around the time of those home movies. Ali doesn't remember him, no one in town seems to know who Charles DeLaurentis is or that there even was one. So where was he? Obvious answer, Radley. But if he's been in Radley since the time the girls were infants, then why is he so hell bend on torturing them? What could they possibly have done? And why the obsession with Ali? Does he blame her birth/existence for his getting sent away? Actually, that could make sense, if his pyscho behavior manifested in him trying to kill his baby sister so that he gets sent away. So was/is all of this always been about getting Ali? Yikes! This guy has WAY too much time on his hands.

My therory was that Charles might have been responsible for Ali's broken arm that was brought up during the trial and that his parents sent him away out of concern for Ali's safety and thus his obsession with her. I don't remember the exact details but wasn't it said she broke it around 2? So he would have been like 7? Or is it 9? I forget how much older than the girls Jason, Melissa and now Charles are, but Ali wouldn't remember that...although Jason should. He has no reason to torture the other girls unless he's jealous they got to have Alison in their lives and he didn't? I don't know, I'm just grasping at straws here. Whatever they do come up with is probably gonna be pretty flimsy.

[Shangrilala]

Somebody pointed out Charles' odd preference for things from the 40s and 50s.  Yet, he's theoretically supposed to be a child of the 90s.  

 

Maybe the kid in the video isn't "charles."  That's something Spencer came up with and applied to the video.  

 

But maybe Charles is part of a different leg of the family - Mr. D's older brother?  Perhaps he had 2 twin boys and a baby girl, and Mrs. D just happened to be holding her and talking to her nephews.  We don't hear her say "Allison" or "Jason" or "Charles", right?  We hear her say "boys, come say goodnight to your sister" and then "what good boys you are."   Plus the style of the video is older, not something that would have come out in the late 90s.  

 

Whack job theory here and it's now fully coming together.

 

1)  Going back to Ali's halloween story about the girl stabbing her sister, and her mother finding her holding the knife.  Perhaps Charles had a family.  A girl and two boys.  And the girl flipped and killed her two brothers.  Charles and his wife lost everything.  They split up.  She remarried and gave birth to another girl, Sarah Harvey.  Charles in the meantime, started going a little crazy, and so...

 

2) The DiLaurentis family was frightened by all that they saw and witnessed.  They had their own young family to worry about, so they moved to Rosewood and cut ties from Charles, he makes Mrs. D increasingly uncomfortable.  However, Mrs. D. feels a guilt, hence her involvement in Radley and her commitment to her neice, taking her out, being called Aunt Jessica, etc.  The girl doesn't know she's actually an aunt or blood relative.

 

3)  In the meantime, Charles sees his brother and wife growing as a family.  Beautiful daughter, handsome son, both of which he lost.  He goes nuts and wants his family back and revenge for the life he lost.  

 

4)  Somebody who knows Charles gets concerned and call the DiLaurentis family in Rosewood, the night that Ali goes missing.  That's why we see Mrs. D on the phone asking for somebody to call her, she's very concerned, and her not wanting Ali to go out.  He's the one who hits Alison over the head, and she's so stunned, it's her husbands brother afterall, she doesn't know what to do, so she buries Alison crying "Why would you do that???"  Okay, this is a stretch but you could blame shock and horror at what she just witnessed.  

 

5)  Alison is gone, and he snatches Sarah Harvey.  Keeping her as his new daughter in the dungeon.  He then learns that Ali is alive and starts following her returned life into Rosewood, the girls, etc. and he learns about "A."   He becomes obsessed, steals the A game, and voila.  It leads us to where we are now.  So the original Rosewood A-team still exists, and this A is just...a psychopath.  This would work going forward because 

When the time jump comes along, and they somehow get the girls back to Rosewood, even though Charles as A is gone and in prison or dead or something, the original a team is still in tact for the time jump.

 

Oh, and Charles is ex-military where he worked in some tech/engineering capacity and that experience is helping him do stuff now. I don't know why, but in my mind that makes sense.  

Edited June 4, 2015 by Shangrilala

[AmandaPanda]

I have another theory for why Charles is so stuck in the 40s and 50s. Maybe Charles is responsible for Ali's broken arm. For reasons, his parents gave him up, thinking that he was dangerous to their family. He ended up in a foster home with older parents or got sent to live with an older relative. Whoever raised him was a child in the 40s and 50s and didn't particularly care for Charles, so they just gave him whatever old toys they had or only watched old movies or something. I just really think all the old references go back to whoever raised Charles.

[Mabinogia]

Whoever raised him was a child in the 40s and 50s and didn't particularly care for Charles, so they just gave him whatever old toys they had or only watched old movies or something. I just really think all the old references go back to whoever raised Charles.

 

 

That makes sense. Maybe grandparents. Though I do fear that we are putting more thought and using greater creativity in bringing all these "clues" together than the show runners ever did. They probably think 50's stuff is just super creepy. lol Or maybe the old toys and things belonged to some Cold War nutter who built the bunker and died there leaving everything. Charles stumbled upon it all and just thought it was neat. But then, what would that mean about Charles' soul? Because we all know that keeping stuff from your past means you have a soul. So if you keep stuff from someone else's past, does that mean you stole their soul? LMAO

 

I have to admit that after this ep, I care less about it all making sense so long as it continues to be this creepy good because as insane as it was, I was riveted for the whole hour.

[luvly]

I think they thought if they just started burning things than Charles would release them and it went too far. Their plans are never the best. 

I don't think they thought he'd release them. As badly written as their repeated use of "he has a soul" is, I think the idea was that if he has a soul/conscience/isn't entirely evil, his humanity can be used against him. So the point of burning his things wasn't to get him to be nice to them, but to upset him so much that he gets thrown off balance and can't be the uber controlling, omniscient villain that he usually is. 

 

Wouldn't survival instinct kick in at some point?

 

 

Yes, anything is possible OBVIOUSLY... but I think people are making way too many rationalizations to justify something that just comes across as a blatant plot-hole on the writers' part. I mean, Sarah Harvey was free to waltz in and out of her room with her door unlocked (we saw it more than once, not just in the first scene, but for example when she brought Spencer food) and the girls were able to do so as well for three minutes a day. Based on that, why would A tie them up and prevent them from leaving? If that was his intention, wouldn't he have made his whole surveillance system more efficient in the first place?

Of course we'll still have to wait and see if they provide us with a plausible explanation in the following episodes, but I hope you see where I'm coming from when I scream "inconsistency"! It's just like Jack Shaftoe said: this A person is supposed to be an omnipresent and omniscient supervillain who's always a step ahead of his victims and yet he seems to make so many avoidable mistakes!

I just think it's too soon to call it a plot hole when this particular plot has barely been established. Sara Harvey seems to have been broken down by the time we see her and the girls played along with the charade when they first arrived, too. I have no problem believing that after they fooled A into thinking they were compliant and then attempted to escape, he decided to step up his efforts to keep them in captivity, whether it be through physical or psychological means. "Fight" isn't the only survival instinct. 

[mercfan3]

It's a good thing they had so many of those yellow tops since Mona's and Sarah's were definitely dirty!

 

 

 

Yes, I know that Ali, Caleb, Toby, and Ezra hatched that scheme to get away from Rosewood PD, but my point was that if Charles happened to be listening when Ali was talking to the police (which is always a possibility since A is omnipotent and apparently has all of their houses bugged), he would hear Ali conspiring with the police to trap him, which would only anger him and possibly cause him to strike out at her or punish the other girls just for funsies.

 

But she knows A is always listening, so Ali was counting on A knowing that that it was a fakeout by the things she said.

 

What is dumb though, is that Ali should have counted on A knowing that Caleb and Ezra were involved. 

[Peanut6711]

I still honestly can't get over the sheet thing and what seems to be a violation and the girls being naked. Granted we don't know of they were but the way they were holding the sheets implies that they were. That's a violation.

Yeah, and one of them was only concerned that A took their organs. I would seriously think if you woke up naked under a sheet while held captive that you'd be more concerned that you'd been violated and look under the sheet to check things "down there" rather than to make sure your organs weren't ripped out.  And even then you'd have to wonder where you'd been touched while being undressed. 

 

Maybe A is Josh Duggar ;-)

[Mabinogia]

They probably put in the organ harvesting line in the hopes that we wouldn't all jump to rape. I personally don't think Charles did anything to them in a sexual sense and believe, was it Spencer, who said he probably wanted to get a picture of them looking dead to send to their families just to fuck with them. They were probably topless but still had their underwear on which is why they weren't more freaked out about anything sexual, not that that would really matter but still, I think the show was trying to keep us from thinking what we all seem to be thinking. lol

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Yeah, and one of them was only concerned that A took their organs. I would seriously think if you woke up naked under a sheet while held captive that you'd be more concerned that you'd been violated and look under the sheet to check things "down there" rather than to make sure your organs weren't ripped out.  And even then you'd have to wonder where you'd been touched while being undressed. 

 

Maybe A is Josh Duggar ;-)

 

I obviously don't know the first thing about these predicaments (because well... why?) but is it possible that a woman would never realize she's being raped even if she's unconscious? Or that she would have no recollection it ever happened afterwards? I mean, that seemns like a pretty strong and traumatic experience... wouldn't that wake her up? Wouldn't that leave an indelible psychological trail in her mind?

Edited June 4, 2015 by Giuliano Lanzilli

[Black Knight]

Well, the girls were knocked out by gas. If you're knocked out, you're knocked out. Think of undergoing surgery under anesthesia.

 

But you can generally "tell," afterwards, if someone's been inside you, and the girls have all had sex, so they're familiar with that feeling. I wouldn't expect ABC Family to allow any dialogue to this effect, so I just assumed that the girls silently "checked" and felt nothing. We're still left with the creepiness of them having been undressed and potentially pawed at, but like someone said upthread, at this point the bar is set so low that they're just happy if they're still in one piece.

 

A did have two other girls there he could force to do his bidding, so I prefer to think that Mona or Sarah handled the undressing of the girls and laying them out.

[GaT]

I just don't- like many others- understand what Charles end game/point of this torture has been. I don't quite understand what his motive is.

But that's been the major flaw of the show the entire time, what is the point of A? Why are they doing what they do? We've never got an explanation, & I'm betting "Charles" is just another red herring.

Edited June 5, 2015 by GaT

[Mabinogia]

Oh I agree, having anything done to you when you are unconscious and did not approve of it is a total violation and incredibly creepy. Even if it was Mona or Sarah and not Charles, it's still gross. And I do think that it is incredibly normal for anyone's first thought to be "was I raped/violated" which is why it is hilarious that Emily's first thought was that her organs were harvested. It kind of shows how far gone these girls are after years of being tormented.

 

I wonder if TIIC realized, though, how that scene was going to look to most people. Like, did they intend for us all to first think "OMG were they raped?" It seems obvious, but the fact they didn't bring it up at all is odd.

[mercfan3]

I've felt there have been scenes before that have hinted rape (The Ali/Cyrus ones, for instance.) And Jenna/Toby was clearly rape. 

 

But as creepy as it was that he saw them all naked...I guess it didn't bother me as much because the girls didn't automatically jump to that conclusions (And they likely would have if they had been..) and he's seen them all naked before. 

[Lady Calypso]

Honestly, if you think about who A really is, you can't really win, especially with this episode. If A is Charles, and Charles is Andrew/Jason's twin, and if A has had this lair since Ali went missing, then that means that A would have been planning this for years. That also means that a, what, 18-20 year old kid would have been planning all of this? That is disturbing and makes very little sense. Not to mention the who, what and why questions come into play. He would have had to be seriously disturbed and then it becomes the question of how he can afford all of this. It makes more sense (not that this show makes sense to begin with) that an older man/woman has planned this and maybe just has young adults/teenagers helping out. But then that becomes just as disturbing, if not more so, because of everything that's happened and what the girls have been through. Why the obsession with teenage girls? So, which is better in the long run? A young adult around their twenties planning and performing all these acts, or an older adult? Sure, it could be a mixture of both but Lead A has to have planned all of this since Ali's disappearance. Actually, before her disappearance which means he's been doing this for a long time to a then fourteen year old girl. 

 

The premiere was well done, though. It feels like a different show and I don't see how it could have gone any other way. At this point, the show kind of has to go deeper because A has been building up to all of this. At least the girls weren't raped, but the psychological and mental torture has to be just as bad. I buy that Mona is a victim because I don't think even she can fake that terror for all those months that she's been kidnapped. I buy that she's a victim now. But the one thing I'm not buying? Sarah Harvey being a victim. I fully believe she had been kidnapped and was a victim at first. But now I can see her doing this stuff willingly, ala Stockholm. I think she knows exactly who's behind it and I don't think she's going to talk. Not until the end of the season, obviously. I mean, she would obviously still be a victim, but I guess it depends on her story and what's gone on with her all these years.

 

I am interested in seeing what happened to the girls in the room. I agree that it makes more sense if the girls were forced to torture each other, and maybe just psychological torture regarding their families. Anything else would just seem too out there, even for this show. But yeah, them snapping back from their fear and going 'ok, let's go continue what we were doing three weeks ago and finis this' didn't fully make sense. I can chalk it up to the poor writing and perhaps this premiere should have been a bit longer, even by just twenty two more minutes. 

 

As for them not going to find a way out before, I can see Charles/A gassing them right around the time of the generators going off just to make sure that they don't try to escape, but I could see him stopping that punishment and the girls being too scared to leave their rooms.

 

It seems like Mona was trapped in the well/hole for most of the three weeks, just judging by her mental state. I think she's going to be, and probably should be, the most scarred of them all. She managed to stay strong for all that time, though, so good for her. But yeah, that whole 'no, I'm defying you...oh look, the alarm is going off, we better go' moment was weird. Not that I can't buy it because just think of Pavlov and the whole classical conditioning theory, but it was just really off to me.

 

As for the whole Ali + the BFs thing, I can only think that A jammed the signals and calculated how much gas it would take to get from Kissing Rock to Tyler State Park. 

 

This season seems like it'll be interesting, despite the fact that it'll probably create huge plot holes at some point. It's more interesting than any of the other mysteries have been the past couple of seasons though, and I do like my dark psychological torture storylines, so it better be decent. And I swear if Aria's only major change is that haircut....seriously, I even think the girl gets off too easy, though it's been getting better since last season. Give Lucy Hale some actual work! She's more than capable of performing well! 

Edited June 4, 2015 by Lady Calypso

[Perfect Xero]

Did Ali's car run out of gas? I assumed that A just did his/her hacker magic and shut the car down remotely.

 

For some reason I find it funny that Jason was in the episode for no reason other than showing up with takeout and having Toby point a gun at him.

[starrae]

I figure Mona or Sara could have taken the girls clothes off and posed them. Also he went through two Ali dolls, but he really wanted the real thing. 

[SadieT]

I figure Mona or Sara could have taken the girls clothes off and posed them. Also he went through two Ali dolls, but he really wanted the real thing. 

 

I don't think Mona helped A with the morgue thing. When the girls wake up and Mona comes in, Spencer asks how long they were unconscious for and Mona tells them a few hours and says that's all she knows because she's been in her room until then. So unless she's lying, she wasn't out in the morgue laying the liars out and undressing them because she was locked in her room. That still leaves Sarah as a possibility though. 

 

Another minor thing I've been wondering about... when all 5 girls are locked outside after their failed escape plan, Spencer tells them that when she was standing next to Charles, he felt familiar to her and that she thought she might somehow know him in a sense. At this point Spencer hasn't figured out Charles is a DiLaurentis, but Mona had because she was the one who left the index card with the anagrams on it. As Spencer is talking about how he seemed familiar like a pen pal or someone she met when she was little, Mona is questioning her about if there's anything she recognized about Charles but never does Mona say, "oh by the way, his last name is DiLaurentis if that rings any bells." Why wouldn't she divulge everything she had already figured out to see if any of it was familiar to Spencer? Unless Mona assumed Spencer already figured out the DiLaurentis part and was just operating on the assumption that they were on the same page. I don't know, but I thought it was odd that Spencer had to figure out both his first and last name on her own when Mona was there and knew the whole time but just never said anything and Spencer never asked. Later after their 3 week torture lockdown while Mona's in the hole, Spencer has her eureka moment and realizes it's Charles DiLaruentis and gets to show off her super impressive etch-a-sketch skills but she could have saved herself some trouble if she and Mona had just compared notes earlier. 

Edited June 5, 2015 by SadieT

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Another minor thing I've been wondering about... when all 5 girls are locked outside after their failed escape plan, Spencer tells them that when she was standing next to Charles, he felt familiar to her and that she thought she might somehow know him in a sense. At this point Spencer hasn't figured out Charles is a DiLaurentis, but Mona had because she was the one who left the index card with the anagrams on it. As Spencer is talking about how he seemed familiar like a pen pal or someone she met when she was little, Mona is questioning her about if there's anything she recognized about Charles but never does Mona say, "oh by the way, his last name is DiLaurentis if that rings any bells." Why wouldn't she divulge everything she had already figured out to see if any of it was familiar to Spencer? Unless Mona assumed Spencer already figured out the DiLaurentis part and was just operating on the assumption that they were on the same page. I don't know, but I thought it was odd that Spencer had to figure out both his first and last name on her own when Mona was there and knew the whole time but just never said anything and Spencer never asked. Later after their 3 week torture lockdown while Mona's in the hole, Spencer has her eureka moment and realizes it's Charles DiLaruentis and gets to show off her super impressive etch-a-sketch skills but she could have saved herself some trouble if she and Mona had just compared notes earlier. 

 

It's been speculated that the card with the anagrams on it in Mona's room might have been a plant.

[eXiled]

For some reason I find it funny that Jason was in the episode for no reason other than showing up with takeout and having Toby point a gun at him.

I'm always thankful when Jason shows up for no reason. He's my favorite piece of PLL eye-candy (other than the Liars themselves).

 

Between PLL and the return of Devious Maids's Remy Delatour, I'm looking forward to summer.

Edited June 5, 2015 by eXiled

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Between PLL and the return of Devious Maids's Remy Delatour, I'm looking forward to summer.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you because 

Remi is set to leave the DM set this summer at some point along with Valentina.

[eXiled]

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you because 

Remi is set to leave the DM set this summer at some point along with Valentina.

I never hold my breath. I don't read spoilers, either. But thanks.

 

I'll take whatever I can get of Drew Van Acker, even if its tiny bits.

[Peanut6711]

Another minor thing I've been wondering about... when all 5 girls are locked outside after their failed escape plan, Spencer tells them that when she was standing next to Charles, he felt familiar to her and that she thought she might somehow know him in a sense. At this point Spencer hasn't figured out Charles is a DiLaurentis, but Mona had because she was the one who left the index card with the anagrams on it.

 

Spencer would have figured out "Charles" is a DiLaurentis from the video clips at the end of the finale since Mrs. D is in it.   I assumed the "he felt familiar" line was supposed to be a hint at him being Andrew who Spencer obviously knows, although whether it really is or not, who knows since PLL loves red herring clues. Andrew is the "must be A" of this season just like Ezra and others have been in the past.  As long as they keep getting renewed I'm sure it will change again.  

[Jack Shaftoe]

 

I buy that Mona is a victim because I don't think even she can fake that terror for all those months that she's been kidnapped.

 

Well, she did fake catatonia for months between seasons 2 and 3... Of course, one would wonder why she would fake her terror in the last episode when the Liars weren't even around but I wouldn't put any twist past these writers.

 

 

Honestly, if you think about who A really is, you can't really win, especially with this episode. If A is Charles, and Charles is Andrew/Jason's twin, and if A has had this lair since Ali went missing, then that means that A would have been planning this for years. That also means that a, what, 18-20 year old kid would have been planning all of this?

 

Hilariously, the Rosewood police had no trouble whatsoever believing that an 18 year old was the mastermind behind the kidnapping of no less than four people on the way to the freaking prison. This being Rosewood, they might turn out to be right about the age of the mastermind, if not the identity.

 

 

Yeah, and one of them was only concerned that A took their organs.

 

My first reaction to that scene was yell (as usual of late) "Emily, you idiot!" because organ harvesting with the victim being kept alive and not even noticing is an urban myth. Then I realized that in this show A is probably capable of stealing people's organs even without knocking them out, so it was a legitimate fear.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Jack Shaftoe

[Mayadog]

Is everyone still positive that the two boys in the video are twins?  I didn't get that impression, it looked like they were close in age, but not twins.  That's all I have to say since you brilliant posters have already covered my thoughts on this epi

[AmandaPanda]

I think a lot of the reason people thought he was a twin was because we assumed someone in the show is going to have to be a twin. They could very well just be close in age to each other. That could also help with the theory that Andrew is Charles. He might not be the same age as Jason, but he definitely looks like he's older than a high schooler.

[mercfan3]

Just a note though...if the baby is Ali/Sarah/Bethany..then Andrew can't be A because Andrew would be a baby as well. I mean, considering he's the suspect of the month, he's obviously not A...but that's pretty obvious, really.

[raytch]

I can't wrap my head around Andrew being A Or his helper.

He started acting sketchy after the liars asked them to drive him to see Cyrus, and he saved them from the confrontation with Cyrus outside the bar. I can totally see Andrew being puzzled by this and knowing Mona's history with the girls, Ali coming back to rosewood and coming up with a stupid lie about being kidnapped, and then Mona being murdered and Ali being in jail for it.... Maybe this lead him to do some digging on his own and that's how he came up with Charles Dilaurentis. He really is smart after all, and unlike Caleb or any other boyfriend on this show, A Wouldn't have seen him coming because he was never of that importance in the liars life. Of all the people who could have planted the anagrams in Mona's mirror, he would make the most sense.

I still feel like the scene from season 5 where Caleb, Ezra and mike are being chased through the woods is very misleading. If Andrew was shooting arrows, couldn't he be shooting arrows at Ezra and Caleb because he thought they were trying to hurt mike (especially that Ezra has all his sketchy research history)? Or he was shooting at whoever took mike?

I don't know this scene confuses the hell out of me. Anyone has any thoughts on this?

As for his disappearance after the liars were arrested and the diaries we saw this episode. This could be A using Andrew as a divergence for the cops.

[raytch]

One more thing.
The thing that puzzled me the most in this episode was the Sara Harvey reveal.

I know a lot of people think it's Bethany because she could draw. But I don't think she's Bethany simply because 1) Sara went missing the next day and by that time the gazebo hole had been cemented, meaning if Bethany was buried by Melissa she stayed in that hole for a whole year; 2) I don't think the writers are going to complicate the storyline more than it already is so late in the game. They only have 10 episodes to wrap this up and it seems like the liars will only be after the big question of who is Charles / A?

This said, if Sara Harvey was kidnapped the next morning as a replacement for Ali, it means that Charles / A's plan was not to kill Ali but to kidnap her.
In the season 2 hallowed episode, Ali gets texts from Mona who is already harassing her at this point, then when she gets home she finds a squashed pumpkin with a note on it "NEXT TIME IT WILL BE YOUR FACE"
The other texts she had been getting throughout that episode were playful mean (dying to know who I am? It's my turn to torture you etc...)
The burlap mask who attacked her at the 313 haunted house could have not been Mona, but Charles /A himself, especially since we see someone inside the house earlier after the Radley cab takes off.

Also. The note on the pumpkin was a lot more aggressive and it hinted murder which was never Mona's style.

Then on the night of The Yellow Tops Ali gets a text "tonight is the night I kill you " which could mean one of the following :

1. A wanted to "KILL" Ali that night:
Make it seem like she's dead so no one will look for her when she's kidnapped to the dollhouse. Which would mean the 2 yellow tops and the Bethany letter exchange were a set up by A.

2. Someone did want to kill Ali that night and A wanted to kidnap her. This someone could be Bethany judging from her session tape found at Radley earlier as she seemed to hate Ali. The 2 plans clashed because Bethany hit Ali thus forcing Mrs. D to bury her and Charles hit Bethany who was later buried by Melissa, which resulted in Bethany being dead and mistaken for Ali who managed to save herself that night and disappear with A thinking she died. Then him stealing the game from Mona when she accidentally spills that Ali is still alive while doped on meds at Radley.

This would also start to explain A's actions in season 3.
Digging up the body so he can check if it really isn't Ali in the grave, and so no one knows it's not Ali in that grave.
The lodge fire in the finale :
Get Spencer to join the A Team so she could offer him the liars on a plate.
Get the liars to be sitting ducks to draw Ali out, that way he gets all 5 liars in his dollhouse in one move. (episode 3.21 Emily goes looking for Toby in Bucks County - where we learned the dollhouse is this episode- , sees Red Coat heading out of the workshop and the guy working there knows her name, I'm guessing that was a hint that A Had been preparing for their arrival to the dollhouse).
Things don't work out because: Melissa finds the invite, shows it to Jenna and Shana, and they figure out that it's a ruse to lure Ali out there OR they see it as an opportunity to corner the liars and get the NAT videos back. Either way, they go to check things out .

Side Note: when Melissa tells Spencer everything she knows in season 4, she says she was investigating the Ali masks because she speculated that she was still alive

What both Melissa and A did not know was: that Shana was angry at the liars for what they did to Jenna and thus starts the fire. Which A drags the liars out of except for Hannah who's saved by Ali herself because A's plan to lure her out did work after all. 

Side note: Mona said she was pulled by Ali as well, but it could be Red Coat in the Ali Mask since she was knocked out.

 

The loose end here is why Melissa said it was Wilden who started the fire. Was Wilden there? Or did she assume he was because of the Halloween train, but was wrong because he was busy getting killed that night? Maybe Shana was the one blackmailing Wilden so he'd start the fire then when he didn't show up she had to take matters in her own hands?

Another loose end is Wilden's overall involvement with A, but he could have been threatened by him since A was killing all the NAT club members. Garett was killed. Jason survived but realized it wasn't safe so he made a run for it. Wilden was also killed that night possibly because he wanted out, since the last time we saw him talking to Hannah he just wanted his car back, he was done playing games with her. OR, as I said above, he was being blackmailed by Shana who had already turned on Ali at that point.

 

Back to Sara Harvey, since she was already in A's custody, he could have been sending her out in a Red Coat and Ali mask to do the dirty deeds for him: talking to Mona at Radley (Mona said whoever stole the game from her was always wearing a RC and Ali mask), digging up the grave, pulling the liars out of the fire, going to Wilden's funeral in season 4 as Black Veil to plant Ashley's phone in the casket, and stealing the RV lair from Mona to officially have everything she knows.

 

Am I making any sense at all?

I'm more concerned with connecting the dots on the events more than giving A a name at this point. For all I know it could be Wilden back from the dead or something as whacky, but I think Sara Harvey's reveal was to particular help us connect those dots. 

Edited June 6, 2015 by raytch

[Mabinogia]

Andrew isn't A, obviously but I would assume he's helping A? He wasn't listening to conversations in last season finale, but yeah it's another red herring.

 

 

I'm going with Andrew is undercover FBI or something. Because, why not? He's clearly not A since the Rosewood PD thinks he is and they are never right about anything ever. If Rosewood PD says it's going to be a hot, sunny day, I'm wearing a parka and rainboots. Just sayin'.

 

Though now that I think about it, maybe he is related to Sarah Harvey and has been tracking the girls because he thinks they knew where she was, did he kind of start showing up after they talked to her friends? Oh, who knows. Who cares anymore? They "mystery" is the least compelling part of the show now. Now it's all about friendship, scares and the pretty.

 

Yeah, I still can't quite get how all the pieces come together. Where does Bethany fit into this? It's been so long and convoluted, I forget, was Bethany confirmed as the dead body they thought was Ali? There was an actual dead body, right? They thought it was Sarah? My head hurts trying to remember what actually happened and what was faked by A.

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

I'm going with Andrew is undercover FBI or something. Because, why not? He's clearly not A since the Rosewood PD thinks he is and they are never right about anything ever. If Rosewood PD says it's going to be a hot, sunny day, I'm wearing a parka and rainboots. Just sayin'.

 

Though now that I think about it, maybe he is related to Sarah Harvey and has been tracking the girls because he thinks they knew where she was, did he kind of start showing up after they talked to her friends? Oh, who knows. Who cares anymore? They "mystery" is the least compelling part of the show now. Now it's all about friendship, scares and the pretty.

 

Yeah, I still can't quite get how all the pieces come together. Where does Bethany fit into this? It's been so long and convoluted, I forget, was Bethany confirmed as the dead body they thought was Ali? There was an actual dead body, right? They thought it was Sarah? My head hurts trying to remember what actually happened and what was faked by A.

 

And where does Cece fit into all of this? And Noel, who was allegedly being blackmailed by Ali and shows up once every three seasons? And Mike, Aria's only-half-existent brother? And Garrett and Wilden and the Black Widow and the 35 Red Coats? That's what happens when a bunch of writers decide it's better to make shit up as they go along rather than plan ahead. The bolded part is so very true!

[CloudySky]

I really liked this episode. It was an awesome surprise that the new season was already on because I stopped following PLL sites and spoilers so I completely forgot. The confusing suckage of the last 2 seasons has caused me to not think about/question too many things and jus try to enjoy it. When it's boyfriend drama and obvious red herrings that's challenging. But this episode was very engrossing and creepy as hell.

 

Emily watching horror movies has been a running joke throughout the series so I think that's where the organs comment came from. Considering the implications of the liars being naked it was a little misplaced but don't think the writers thought of it like that.

 

I was a little annoyed that we didn't get any of the parents in the episode other than boring Mr D. but the newsarticle about Ashley and Caleb's promise made up for it a little. There better be at least one parent each in the next episode though...!

 

I think I'm one the only one who wouldn't have minded if they'd been raped. I mean, it horrified me when I thought that's what happened, but I thought it was fitting that it would culminate to that and take things to the next level.

 

Psychological torture by making them choose who to hurt is the next best thing. I don't even think the buttons would do anything other than a fake screaming tape, but they wouldn't know that.

 

Maybe A also played video on a loop of their peers trash talking them and saying the drama queens deserve everything they get. It would fit the theme of their old selves in their old clothes. And that's why they brought up what they used to call Lucas etc. and that they're not those people anymore.

 

It was interesting that Ali went for Emily's hand, but Emily was all business like "who is Charles Dilaurentis". It would be kinda fun if Alison is the one hopelessly in love with Emily this time around and Emily is hardened and pumping her for info.

 

I thought it made total sense that they were empowered when they got together again and decided to take action. They're always weaker on their own and strong as a unit.

 

Don't trust Mona and don't like her in the victim role. She works better as a villain. It amused me that Aria seemed to be her bestie in the bunker. Reminded me of how nothing ever happened to Aria when Mona was A.

 

Still think this whole thing would have been better if Ezra was The A. Can you imagine?

[Kendra143]

I wish Ezra would be A too...

[Giuliano Lanzilli]

Can someone please explain to me how the girls started the fire in A's lair? It must've been something involving the projector because it didn't seem like any of them had a lighter or anything (also why would they have one in a life-sized dollhouse)? XD

[AnJen]

 

Can someone please explain to me how the girls started the fire in A's lair? It must've been something involving the projector because it didn't seem like any of them had a lighter or anything (also why would they have one in a life-sized dollhouse)? XD

 

It was the projector and film; film, especially old film, is flammable, and Spencer intentionally stopped the wheel from spinning, so that the hot light from the projector would begin melting and set fire to the film. 

 

I don't particularly understand the "A has a soul" thing; for all anyone knows, A is just obsessed with Ali and had a bunch of DiLaurentis stuff in his room as a shrine or something...I just think it's weird that the girls are all jumping onto this. A had a home movie with Mrs. D in it...that proves nothing except that Mrs. D once let someone film her while she was near children? Nothing in the video shows that they were her children, or that they were children we'd know?