BlondieLeigh

You need to!!!!

PDH18

So we're going to find out who big A is by the end of season 6 and then have a whole other season. I'm happy about that!

KRM

So Troian and Ashley know the identity of A*. But Lucy and Shay don't?

*Setting aside that we know Mona was actually A, for awhile... in a behind the scenes tug of war against the other A, Allison, with the the sinister author (puppet master?) Ezra looking on from the shadows, whose full role in all this is still tbd.

Okee.

BlondieLeigh

I like that it seems that some of them know, because that means we really are finding out soon

KRM

Marlene said by the end of Season 6.

My definition of "soon" is next week or tomorrow.

The end of season 6 seems like...I'll be riddled with arthritis and on my third and fourth hips by then.

Simone_

Hey guys, I didn't watch it yet, but I found this ist about stuff we learned frm the episode (: Don't know if it has been posted yet.

I honestly don't see how they're going to make a whole season with A being revealed though, I mean, wtf? I hope it doesn't turn into a very bad soap

BlondieLeigh

Thanks for the list

I think it would be easy, tbh. They have to deal with immediate and long term aftermath, and if they're following the books, A being unmasked doesn't mean it's over. The liars think she's dead and then realise she isn't. They do seem to be going that way, imo.

She said before the start of season 7, that doesn't necessarily mean season 6. The cast being told now suggests that it's sooner than that. If we weren't finding out until next season, the cast wouldn't need to know yet, because they wouldn't be filming it until next year.

Simone_

Oh that's true, A being unmasked doesn't mean A stops tormenting them Or that he/she/it is defeated. Lol, I wonder what A's gonna do when he/she/it gets unmasked.

BlondieLeigh

If they go with the books, the liars will think A is dead, and that of course, gives A a huge advantage

t2727

And it'll freshen up the story if they do that - almost a reboot of the show.

BlondieLeigh

It also means they won't need to bring in a new anonymous A. It'll be the same one, only different because the liars will know who it is, they just won't know where or how to prove it.

KRM

Well they've done that already with Mona and Allison.

So that probably leaves...

BlondieLeigh

They haven't already done it. The way it worked in the books, is that the liars worked out/were told that Alison was A, then believed she had died when she hadn't. It's different because they saw it as A being dead, not Alison, and they haven't done that on the show yet. As long as the girls thing big A is alive, they know it isn't over, but if they think he/she is dead, it changes everything, they let their guard down, and that leaves them vulnerable both before and after they work it out.

After the Mona reveal, they never really let their guard down, they knew she was alive, they knew things didn't add up etc. The book route would change that.

KRM

But as soon as they work out that Big A is still alive with the first stunt, text, blackmail, etc then you lose much of the valuable unknown factor. They might be in for a shock but they can only be surprised once. We'd have to discover that A was still alive right away because otherwise nothing would be happening and everyone would be going about their merry A-less lives. This "twist" is not going to pull one over on the viewers since they're going to expect that A hasn't died since the show isn't ending. I think the mystery is a big part of what drives this show and if it's just the Liars trying to prove something that's already established then you kinda lose that.

I'm not sure how it leaves them vulnerable after they discover Big A is still alive. After all they would have an advantage over previous seasons because they actually know the identity of A. You're saying they won't have to "bring in a new anonymous A" then how are they going to infuse the show with the important mystery factor? The whodunit aspect has really been the bedrock of the show. What would the fans speculate and form theories about? I think it's possible to move beyond "who is A" but they'd have to add a new mystery, a new unknown, or a new antagonist. I tend to become a bit weary of the whole little A, Big A stuff. I think when we get the reveal there should be no doubt that this person is the real A, the real Slim Shady.

Personally, I want them to stick to their guns on the Ezra reveal. I still remember this promise from a producer: ‘Pretty Little Liars': Is Ezra A? — EP: Ezra Reveal Is ‘Very Real’ | TVLine It doesn't make sense that he would have a spy HQ, a luxurious hideaway cabin (and he had money trouble, ha!), and that kind of extensive elaborate surveillance set-up just to pen a book. No way. You can't expose those sorts of deep dark cracks in a character and then push the reset button. It would make sense for him to be manipulating people to create real life events as source material for his book...much like the writer that commits the perfect murder in order to inspire his writing. Perhaps with Ali being the co-consipirator. This was subtly hinted at in one flash back scene. Of course when the book is done she could become expendable. The writers have laid the groundwork for that story to work if they're willing to go there.

Of course, there's the Bethany mystery and what importance that will play in unraveling the mystery. I guess in the book she was Ali's twin (but named Courtney). I also don't understand Jason's relationship with his sister. He was hellbent on solving the mystery of her disappearance but he doesn't seem to like his sister very much. What does he know? Did Ali kill her mother? The writer's seem to want us to think so. Wearing her mother's dress that she wore at her own funeral was a very macabre thing to do.

BlondieLeigh

I don't think the unknown factor is all that valuable It would be stupid to go there again, imo. It's much better if they know who it is, but don't know where he/she is or how they can prove it, because that makes it so much more frustrating for them. The girls post-A lives won't be all sunshine and roses, either, there's so many issues that would stem from it, within themselves (PTSD, guilt etc.), with their families (dealing with the lies and their actions), legal ramifications (they were stealing police files/breaking and entering etc.). A being unmasked will create a whole new mess, and by the time the girls have got through that, they'll be realising that A isn't as dead as they thought.

They'll be vulnerable even after they work it out because the whole time they have thought big A is dead, they would have been distracted by everything else. Big A wouldn't have been, she'd have been planning her next few moves and they won't know what they're in for because they wouldn't have even considered it a possibility. The mystery being who is getting extremely tedious, it's about time they changed it and had it be a where and a how, and let the who fall into the background and become a minor thing (who helped?).

The Ezra story is done. As far as they're concerned, they delivered on the promise of the reveal being real, and tbh, they did, Ezra is an appalling person, he's just not A. All of that extra stuff was unnecessary overkill to make it seem like he was A, he was never actually going to be.

I'm pretty convinced Bethany is Alison's twin on the show, too There's no way around her being Jessica's child (Jessica wouldn't have been able to take her out of Radley if she wasn't), and she was mistaken for Alison. Radley is corrupt, so it's not a stretch to believe the records were tampered with. Jason spent years adjusting to the fact that his sister was dead only to find out it had all been a lie Makes perfect sense that he'd be off with her. Alison was with the liars when Jessica was killed, so she couldn't have actually done it, but if she is A like she is in the books, she probably did order the killing.