I know, I know... How dare I take so long to delve into the episode of Pretty Little Liars when A 2.0 was fiiiiiiinally revealed.
But if you follow along with the show, I'm sure you can understand why. And if you follow along with me, you know that Finale Fever really burns me out, and I sometimes need to take a break from all things PLL. The premiere of 6B is coming soon, though. And along with it, Pretty Little Liars is skipping right over college, picking things back up in Rosewood five whole years after the events of this episode.
So.
In typical Finale fashion, we started off with the Liars chasing a black hoodie, begging him/her not to jump.
And then we travel back in time to the exact moment we left the Liars in
Last Dance. The girls were at prom, trying to find Alison. When Toby and the others left the girls to their own devices, they spotted a girl in a red hood and decided to follow her.
Turned out, it was Mona.
She totally knew that Clark was an undercover cop. Mona was also tracking texts between Alison and Charles, and they seemed to be coming from Carissimi Group HQ. So Mona, Emily, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Sara left to investigate.
In a hideout not too far across town, we saw who we can assume to be Charles dragging Jason's limp body.
Cut to a small room where Alison woke up. She noticed the bars caging her in, and then the bodies of her father and brother on the floor.
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| The Liars at Carissimi HQ (c/o PLL Wiki) |
Over at Carissimi headquarters, the girls were trying to enter a room with a security keypad. Mona suggested trying Mrs. DiLaurentis' birthday, but that didn't work. Sara piped up, telling the Liars about how her captor would bring her a red, white, and blue cupcake once a year. Only, it was never on the 4th of July, it was on September 7th. Spencer tried the code and the door opened. All the girls entered except Sara. When Emily questioned her, she claimed she was going to wait outside and the door quickly shut.
Inside the room, Mona powered up the machine in the middle of the room and a hologram appeared before the girls. It was a live feed, playing back exactly what Ali was experiencing at that very moment.
A very familiar voice told Alison, "Don't be so dramatic, Ali."
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| CeCe Drake reveAls herself as A (c/o PLL Wiki) |
And then CeCe Drake turned around.
Ali wondered how CeCe could betray her after all she had done for her, but CeCe told Alison that she gave her a passport and a plane ticket, and that was pretty much it.
From there, we watched along with the Liars as CeCe Drake explained how she came to be A.
We flashbacked to a young Charles DiLaurentis. Alison was sad and crying, so Charles ran her a bath, because a bath always made him feel better. Then the story played out much as Kenneth DiLaurentis explained. Only, it didn't seem as sinister coming from CeCe. The whole thing seemed like a big misunderstanding.
But that didn't stop Jessica and Kenneth from dropping Charles DiLaurentis off at Radley, in a heartbreaking scene. I mean, the teddy bear? So sad.
Alison was confused, but CeCe went on to explain. Charles liked to wear dresses, and asked his mother for them often. He would model things from Jessica's closet. Jessica didn't mind, but when Kenneth found out? He was furious.
So, Charles DiLaurentis went to Radley. Jessica and Aunt Carol visited, but Kenneth never did. Seven years went by. When Alison turned 12, Jessica bought her a yellow dress and bought an identical one for Charles. While playing dress up on the roof at Radley with Bethany Young, Marion Cavanaugh came up to the roof as well. Charles hid, afraid of what Marion would say if she caught him. Bethany claimed she would handle it, and proceeded to push Marion to her death. In an instant, Bethany turned on Charles, blaming him for the incident and calling him a freak.
Jessica paid off Wilden to make sure Marion's death was ruled a suicide. Charles was diagnosed with intermittant explosive disorder, which according to CeCe was a correct diagnosis for Bethany. She was put on all sorts of tranquilizers as a result. Eventually, the doctors realized their mistake, and Charles was let out for a funeral. Charles "died," and Charlotte was born in his place. Charlotte was excited that Jessica had accepted her as her daughter, but she still insisted she go back to Radley.
Just then, an alarm sounded, pulling the Liars back from CeCe's story to their present location. They watched a red coat walking, which confused the girls since they figured that Alison and CeCe were the only two red coats.
CeCe continued to explain more to Alison. Back at Radley, Charlotte poured herself into books as a way to escape. She was given permission to attend college classes. One day, she called in a bomb threat and went to Rosewood High. They were taking yearbook pictures, so Charlotte sat for one too. She met Jason, but didn't dare tell him that she was his sister. So, she made up the name CeCe Drake on the spot, and introduced herself.
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| CeCe Drake is born (c/o PLL Wiki) |
Alison must have given her a weird look with that information, because CeCe quickly claimed that they never did anything at all. But it was the only way that she could be close to them. Before the trip to Cape May, her secret was found out by Jessica. CeCe hoped that Kenneth would accept her, but Jessica admitted that she told him Charles had died. CeCe was about to decline the invitation to vacation when Kenneth DiLaurentis introduced himself, completely unaware that CeCe was any relation to his family.
CeCe went on to explain what happened the night that Alison went missing. Jessica had a habit of buying Alison and CeCe matching clothes, so on the night Ali disappeared, she bought a matching yellow top for CeCe, who still lived at Radley. That night, Bethany stole CeCe's clothes and snuck out. CeCe was afraid Bethany was going after Jessica, so she snuck out in an attempt to help.
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| CeCe Drake/Charlotte DiLaurentis realizes her mistake (c/o PLL Wiki) |
Thinking that she was hitting Bethany, CeCe accidentally hit Alison. That's why Jessica DiLaurentis looked so shocked. The Liars wonder who killed Bethany, when Mona admitted that she had been the one who hit her. Blinded by her rage against Alison, Mona hit Bethany with the shovel, then took off when she heard someone coming.
Jessica buried Alison's body with CeCe just out of view. She called on Wilden to take CeCe back to Radley, and paid him with a huge envelope of cash. CeCe lost her privileges to leave Radley, but claimed that it was okay when the craziest girl showed up who told the best stories.
Mona.
While taking her meds at Radley, Mona thought CeCe was Alison, something she admitted to the girls after she got out. The red coat Mona thought she saw on Alison was actually CeCe in a red bath robe.
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| CeCe Drake as "Red Coat" in Radley (c/o PLL Wiki) |
Through all the stories Mona told her, CeCe got to know the Liars. But she didn't like that they seemed happy that Alison was gone. CeCe could tell that Mona wasn't ready for the game to be over, so she propositioned that they play it together.
Then CeCe told Alison about seeing a blonde girl in a red coat watching the girls.
Alison.
CeCe told Ali that she had watched her mother bury her, but she still got the feeling that it was Alison. So, she put the Liars in danger in an attempt to draw Alison out of hiding. She used Sara Harvey as a decoy red coat the night of the Lodge Fire. Sara was supposed to keep Mona busy while CeCe trapped the girls. But Shana showed up and everything went wrong.
But the plan still worked.
CeCe knew that Alison was alive, so it was time to cool it with A and let Alison come home to her family. When the Liars killed Shana in New York, CeCe stopped acting as A. But the game had become so addicting, CeCe had to keep playing.
Alison called CeCe out for trying to strangle her in her home, but CeCe claimed that she only did that because she was afraid to lose Alison. She also claimed that she never really hurt anyone. But she did admit to killing Wilden. He had found out that Alison was alive and was going to expose everything.
CeCe then revealed to Alison and the Liars that she had to be sure that Wilden wouldn't hurt their family. So she had Sara Harvey dress up in the Black Widow outfit to make sure that he was really dead. CeCe looked up to the camera and apologized to Emily, just as the Liars realized what Sara's betrayal meant. Sara had never called Tanner, and it was likely she was the red coat they had seen on the camera.
Spencer quickly figured out that Sara was trying to do something to hurt the rest of them, and they needed to get out of the room. While Mona and Spencer got them out, CeCe continued talking to Alison.
Before leaving for New York, CeCe claimed that she went to visit Jessica, but found her dead. She hadn't been the one to kill her, but she did her best to bury her.
Emily, Hanna, Spencer, and Aria were just leaving the room when Hanna urged Mona to come with them. She told them that she had to hear how the story ended, but she'd catch up with the others. The girls hurried to Radley, searching for Sara.
Back in the room, CeCe went to press the button on her manual remote, but nothing happened.
Spencer had diffused the bomb, and Alison ran past them, informing them that CeCe was headed to the roof and she needed their help. Sara tried to make a break for it, but Hanna didn't let her. She told Emily that she had just been trying to keep her safe, but Emily knocked her out and the girls ran after Alison.
On the roof, the scene from the beginning of the episode played again. CeCe didn't jump, and claimed that it was Game Over.
In the next scene, the girls had met at Alison's house just as they were about to leave for college. They all shared a sentimental goodbye with Spencer quoting Winnie the Pooh, "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
After that, we flash forward five years to Alison, who is now a teacher. She's writing "Mrs. Rollins" on the board, just as Aria rushes in and says, "He's coming for you." Emily and Hanna rush in to say the same, fo
llowed by Spencer who says, "It's too late. He's already here."
Thoughts, Theories, and Random Facts
Since it's been so long since the episode aired, I went back to my Tumblr and found some of my initial thoughts on the episode.
After it’s all over… Spoilers!
- Sara Harvey certainly went from 0-60 and then on the floor really fast! Go Emily!!!
- I like the fact that we finally got all the answers that we wanted, but I think that the last part where CeCe said Game Over could’ve been done a little bit differently.
- Definitely sad to see the Liars all go their separate ways, but glad it was all about the girls. No boys in sight!
- At the end, the girls rush to Alison who is now teaching, I’m guessing at Rosewood? She’s Mrs. Roll… something now, and they all come to warn her that he’s coming for her…
- He Who?
- The girls see a flash of Sara Harvey at a grave… makes me wonder who? I know they’ve said that they all come back to Rosewood for a funeral. Could it be CeCe’s funeral? One of the parents?!?
And then...
- So… CeCe Drake is really Charles DiLaurentis and Sara Harvey is the other Red Coat. CeCe hit Alison. Mona hit Bethany. Melissa buried Bethany.
- Coming down to it, CeCe seems to be a little soft while Sara seems to be more of the crazy one.
- I like the feeling of closure that we’ve gotten from this, but what is Sara’s real deal? She seems like she’s a little bit crAzy. I feel like Claire was really telling the truth about her. She would take two things away for every one thing that she gave you.
- Aaaand Bethany Young… That was anti-climactic.
- If they wanted to, they could still pull a switch between CeCe and Bethany for the time jump. Like Bethany killed CeCe that night and took over for her. It would really be similar to the books though, it would be nice to see them do something new.
- Who is the “He” that is coming for Alison?
- Why do the girls come back to Rosewood?
When it comes down to it, CeCe Drake was always at the top of my suspect list. I know there was a huge backlash over the initial reveal and I kind of understand why. I mean, the main thing about following the show and coming up with theories is the idea that we can correctly guess A and his/her accomplices from the evidence we've been presented. I feel like there wasn't much suggesting that CeCe used to be a guy. I don't really think anyone had an issue with the transgender part of the storyline, it was the way it was executed at the last minute, with all the clues coming in 5B and 6A. That was a little disappointing.
After the Finale aired, Marlene went on to answer a few of the less obviously answered questions, and I thought it was pretty cool that she did that. I mean, she didn't really have to. But whoa, did she catch so much backlash for this reveal.
I can't really say that I hated the episode, because I did feel a good bit of closure from it, and excitement to see that little flash forward at the end. I am, however, curious to see where the story goes from here.
We know there's an Uber A, but we have no idea if they only start up in 6B, or if they were in charge the entire time and CeCe was working for him/her. There were a certain number of mysteries left hanging, which leaves me wondering if we can really believe everything CeCe said. Maybe she just took the fall for someone else? I'm sure that Jessica's death and a few other little tidbits will carry over, but I wonder if any clues exist from Seasons 1-6A about Uber A. Will we be starting from scratch in 6B?
It's kind of funny how we still have so many questions, even after the reveal of CeCe Drake/Charlotte DiLaurentis/Charles DiLaurentis as A. But I guess that's what makes PLL so much fun to watch. There's little end to all the theorizing!
I plan on tuning in for the premiere of 6B next week. Do you? I can't say that I have any hopes or expectations at this point. I've tried to steer clear of spoilers, photos, really any talk about the flash forward at all. Well, other than the special that aired in November. I can't say for sure at this point whether I'll be doing in-depth recaps or just posting my thoughts on the episodes from here on out. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I might get really into the mystery again and surprise myself. Who knows! I'd love to hear what you thought about this episode, or what you're thinking about 6B and the time jump in the comments!
-S
