BY FRANCESCA LEWIS
Lesbian.com
Hot on the heels of a sensational season finale, which seemed to begin to unravel the show’s central mystery, Pretty Little Liars showrunner I Marlene King has come clean about the identity of ‘A’. Taking to twitter late last night, King made an explosive announcement:
Throughout its five year run Pretty Little Liars has confounded and delighted fans with its Lost-rivalling neverending twists and false revelations. The show’s villain, known only as ‘A’, terrorises Alison, Spencer, Aria, Hanna and Emily with menacing texts, infuriating pranks, cruel misfortune and the ever-present threat that their darkest secrets will be revealed. Many characters have been accused of being ‘A’, from boyfriends and girlfriends to family members and even police detectives, and some characters have been involved in Big A’s plots, most memorably Mona Vanderwaal who worked with ‘A’ in season one. The true ‘A’, however – the mastermind who orchestrated so much misery for these poor, lovable, extremely well-dressed teenagers – has remained a mystery, until the season five finale in which ‘A’ was semi-revealed to be Alison’s secret half brother, Charles. King’s confession in the early hours of this morning, which informs fans that not only is Charles’ reveal a red herring, but they are the true ‘A’, sent the entire fandom into a state of ecstatic confusion.
In a subsequent tweet that had teens and pop culture nerds typing so fast their thumbs may fall off, she detailed:
The scope and details of this announcement are as yet unclear. It seems unlikely the random fan would be able to play the central villain in the show, but the tweets do appear to say that the first person to create a solid ‘A’ plot will be chosen to take part in the show in some way. The response to this revelation on Twitter has been phenomenal, with actors from the show tweeting cryptic teases and Brandon Jones who plays Andrew playfully lamenting:
Personally I always hoped ‘A’ might turn out to be a crazed groupie of Emily’s from her swim team days, a la seminal early noughties masterpiece Swimfan. Or a woman scorned by an incorrect spelling on her latte served by Emily at The Brew. Or maybe the ghost of Emily’s girlfriend Maya, terrorising her from beyond the grave, Ravenswood (#RIP) style. Basically anything that revolves around Emily. Now I might kinda get my wish – PLL fans, get tweeting!
Oh, and Happy April Fools Day! #Gotcha
Disclaimer: Obviously these tweets are fake – neither I Marlene King or Brandon Jones tweeted any such thing!
Francesca Lewis is a queer feminist writer from Yorkshire, UK. She writes for Curve Magazine and The Human Experience as well as writing short fiction and working on a novel. Her ardent love of American pop culture is matched only by her passion for analyzing it completely to death.
