“A” for Aria?

“I’m ‘A;’ ‘A’ for Aria, ‘A’ for Anonymous.” These are the words that have come directly out of Aria Montgomery’s mouth. “Hey, Big A, wait up,” is what Mona Vanderwaal, aka the original “A” once said to Aria. We all know that of all the Liars, Aria is repeatedly referred to as “the best at lying.” As a theorist, I consider myself to be one of Aria’s most faithful supporters, but even I must admit that there is staggeringly substantial evidence to lead one to believe that Aria could be “A” or at the very least that she could be on the “A team.” However, because I really don’t think Marlene King would make one of the Liars be “A,” I have not and will not look for any evidence against any of them. All the same though, I would like to share a few theories by other people who have done the work to show that “Aria is A.”

The Mirror Theory

70 Reasons in 15 Minutes (Keep in Mind, I don’t agree with the whole video, but most of it is pretty convincing.)

Now, if the above theories were true, then Aria would need to have reason(s) for being “A.” In season five, when Mona labeled the Liars with words describing why Alison chose each of them to be in her group, she labeled Aria as “caring/compassionate.” Generally speaking, most people who care a lot tend to go to extremes to prove they care and sometimes the line between right and wrong is blurred for these people and their big hearts. I suspect that if Aria is “A,” it is because she literally cares too much for her own good. Despite the dysfunctions of the group, Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer were best friends before Alison disappeared. While they were best friends, it was painfully obvious to Aria’s caring heart that they were incredibly mean to Mona, whose desperate desire was to be a part of their tight-knit group.

After Aria and her family left for Iceland and as she and the other Liars began to drift away from each other, I suspect that Aria and Mona began to form a long distance friendship. I suspect that Aria and Mona might have even already had some kind of a friendship. Because the “A” text messages started up again when Aria and her family returned to Rosewood after being gone for a year, I suspect that Aria and Mona might have had some kind of an arrangement planned so that the Liars would be friends again and include Mona in their friendship. When things didn’t go as planned, I suspect that is when Mona took her “A game” against the Liars to a whole new level.

After Mona revealed herself as “A” to Spencer and was locked up in Radley because of it, I suspect that the irrational side of Aria’s caring tendencies took over and led to her doing incredibly psychotic things for the sake of keeping her friendship with the other Liars intact. Things with Aria’s life, “A’s” behavior, and the Liars’ friendship tend to exist in parallel. When Aria’s life seems to be in a downward spiral, the Liars’ friendship tends to  become stronger and stronger, and then when the Liars’ friendship is strong, “A” tends to do the most damage. If my fellow theorists are correct, then these parallels are not coincidences, but proof that “Aria is A.” For me, the one thing that might convince me that “Aria is A” is that even Ezra, a man who credits love at first sight (despite his originally impure motives) for his relationship, suspected Aria of being “A” as seen in the picture below.

 

In conclusion, it is completely plausible that “Aria is A;” however, I do not believe she is “A.” If I am wrong, and she is “A,” then I believe it will be because compassionate people like her thrive off of the confirmation of genuine relationships. Therefore, in her desperation to know that she will not be abandoned (as she likely felt when she found out her dad was cheating and probably how she felt when Alison disappeared) she went to psychotic extremes to make everything work with her friends, her family, and with Ezra.

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Ezra Fitz & Mona Vanderwaal – Partners in Crime

It is a proven fact that Ezra and Mona worked together, for some unknown reason, for at least one period of time as shown in episodes 14, 17, and 20 of season 4. From these episodes, we know that Mona seemed to feel very intimidated by Ezra, while he seemed to feel very threatened when she tried to back out of their partnership. With four episodes left until we get our biggest and most important clue about “Big A” and only two seasons of the show left, I’m sure the question of “What the heck were Ezra and Mona doing working together!?” will be answered. Until then though, I’d like to present my theories about them: Ezra’s Book, Working as “A,” and Working against “A.”

Ezra’s Book

Being the boyfriend of Aria, who was one of Mona’s five victims when she was “A,” Ezra knew about everything Mona did to torture the girls; he also knew that “A” knows everything. Therefore, Ezra’s “get the story at all costs” mind, probably thought that asking Mona for help would give him an inside look that not even being Aria’s boyfriend could give him. Second hand knowledge can only get a writer so far. To get the full story, one must go undercover and actually witness the story as it happens. Thus, Ezra recruited Mona to watch the girls for a different reason than torture. He wanted her to watch them for information to add to his story. I think that is why Mona initially started to date Mike. I think she was using him to get closer to Aria, because Ezra, having broken up with Aria, couldn’t be as close as he once was. Then things got complicated though, she actually started to fall for him (what is it about the Montgomery’s? Anyone of the opposite sex who starts to get to know them seems to fall for them almost immediately). Mona even told Ezra that things were getting complicated, and Ezra seemed to know it was about Mike, but his response was, “It’s always been complicated,” because he was in love with Aria, the same way Mona was falling in love with Mike.

Working as “A”

Many people theorize that Ezra has been excessively sketchy throughout the whole serious to have simply been writing a book. Mona has been proven to be psychotic and mentally unstable. They both knew Alison before she disappeared. They are also both the only people that Ali talked to “that night” whom she did not threaten and question about sending the “A” messages. They are the only people, other than the Liars and Toby, who have been in every mid-finale and season finale, as well. They both have tendencies of seeming extremely suspicious. Because we know that they have both done seemingly unforgivable things and been forgiven by Aria and Hanna anyway, it would seem that they would be the perfect culprits to continue the “A game.” Few people would suspect either of them of being “A,” now that they both have pretty evidence laden cover stories. That would be why they were working together in season four. Mona and Ezra were working together as “A” for a while, but then Ezra stole the game from her. (Marlene has tweeted that there is only ONE “A”) Mona could have thrown a fight, but she didn’t want to, because it would mean hurting Hanna again and hurting Mike by hurting Aria. Hanna was finally reconnecting with Mona in such a way that they had the potential of becoming best friends again and she and Mike were getting pretty intense in their relationship together. The last thing Mona wanted to do was ruin her friendship with Hanna again and ruin her relationship with Mike as well. Therefore, she didn’t initially fight when Ezra stole the game from her.

As things continued to heat up with her and Mike though, and as Alison reappeared to potentially steal Hanna away again, Mona started to look for “A” again. She wanted to prove to herself, the Liars, and most importantly Mike, that she really had changed and that’s why she was acting so sketchy. She was working with “A/Ezra” as a double agent in order to try to stop him.

Working Against “A”

Ezra is in love with Aria, Mona is not only in love with Mike, but also best friends with Hanna, and both Ezra and Mona have begun to grow pretty close to each of the other girls. Video and camera equipment is not cheap, and Ezra and Mona both had their own impressive collections of equipment. After giving up their original uses for their equipment, Mona and Ezra decided to join forces to protect the girls from “A.” As omnipresent as “A” is, I imagine that it would be impossible for Mona and Ezra to watch them so closely for their own reasons without also catching glimpses of “A” as well. “A” is clever, virtually undiscoverable, and incredibly sneaky, but no one is invisible to cameras and video cameras. At the very least, Ezra and Mona must be able to watch the videos back and trace “A’s” every move, thus being able to plot and plan ways to capture “A” in his/her tracks eventually. When Mona felt like she and Ezra had enough evidence on “A,” she decided to pretend to be on “A’s” side so that she could unmask him/her and gain the love and respect from the girls that she so desperately wants after turning their lives into living nightmares for two years. Both Mona and Ezra still feel guilty about what they did to the girls and feel as if, even though they’ve been told they’re forgiven, they’ll never fully redeem themselves unless they can capture “A,” reveal his/her true identity, and get him/her locked up forever.

Mike and Mona

Okay, so, I have a friend named, Courtney, and we are basically the walls on which we bounce our theories off. I share my theories with her and she shares hers with me. When we see each other, we seriously skip right over small talk and shoot straight into talking about our theories. We are very serious theorists. This morning, because I went to bed fairly early last night, I woke up to ten text messages from her where she was brainstorming and came up with a brilliant theory about Mike and Mona. I am going to share her theory here, but I’m going to share it more elaborately than her text messages could (due to space) and I am going to combine them with the theories that I have already shared, including the one that my best friend, Shelby, thought up. There’s basically two sides of the equation: 1) Mike knows Mona is alive. 2) Mike knows/thinks Mona is dead. And each of these sides have two or three of their own facets.

Mike knows Mona is Alive.

He is working with Alison.

He knew Mona is “A” before they started dating. Therefore, he was either playing her to make her think that he really cared about her, when in fact he did not. Or, he had an Ezra moment, when he started out just using Mona to find out her secrets, only to find that he was truly falling for her, thus making everything a million times more difficult. Should this be the case, it would explain why he always gets defensive over Mona, while still saying, “She wasn’t a kind person” and basically saying she was an awful person. Because despite it all, he loves her anyway.

He dated Mona before finding out she is “A.” It’s kind of like Aria in the “Ezra’s writing a book and he’s been using me since the very beginning” scenario. Mike is blinded by love. Despite the fact that it hurts and sucks that Mona only started to date him because she was using him, he really does love her and he dares to believe that she loves him too.

He’s working with Mona.

Mona is (still) “A” (again) because in the beginning, her original intentions were simply to get rid of Alison and recruit Hanna. However, when Aria came back to Rosewood, Mona knew that her return would likely mean that she and Hanna would reconnect with the other girls, thus leaving her in the background. She couldn’t handle the idea of losing her best friend, so Mona decided she would do whatever it takes to keep Hanna as a friend. Somewhere along the way, her desperate need for a friend has driven her to do things she would have never imagined herself doing. Now it’s too late though, she’s too far into the game to change now. She must succeed in what she originally planned to do. Thus, she recruited Mike to be on her team. While in the process of recruiting him, she started to fall for him, and she knew that wasn’t good, because Aria wouldn’t stand for it. So, she plotted to convince Mike that his sister and her friends were the bad guys. Then, when she disappeared, it was an act to make Mike truly believe that the girls were evil. Therefore, Mike is now working to find Mona’s body and pin everything on the girls, because that’s what his lovesick heart believes is the right thing to do.

He is blinded by love. Enough said.

Mike knows/thinks Mona is dead.

“A” has convinced Mike of numerous things.

“Miss Aria You’re a Killer, Not Ezra’s Wife.” Is it just me or did it sound like some kind of a double forewarning when Mona said that to the girls? I never thought it meant that Mona was on the “A Team.” Now, I think it meant that Mona would eventually try to pin things on Aria and her friends. This could be what the forewarning was. Mona, or “A”, is trying to pin her alleged murder and everything else on Hanna and the other girls.

Where’s the body? “A” obviously knows where Mona, or her body, is. There’s no way “A” doesn’t know, especially since it seems incredibly likely that Mona is “A.” “A,” or Mona, wants Mike to find her/body. I don’t know why, but it is possible.

Mike is working with Alison. Assuming Mona is dead, Mike would be working with Alison for one of two probable reasons. Alison is the killer and she is trying to keep Mike as far away from the trail of evidence as possible, thus keeping the liars as far away as possible while they are on a wild goose chase to follow Mike and keep him out of trouble. OR, Alison knows who did kill Mona, whether she knows who “A” is or who “A’s” helpers are, Alison certainly knows something. AND/OR, Mike is in reality in love with/secretly dating Alison, and was simply using Mona to find answers about “A” or to keep Alison out of trouble because of the answers or “answers” Mona found.

Finally, Mona prepared him for her death. Mona knew that the closer she got to sniffing out “A,” the more likely she was to be number one on the hit list, so she found answers, has a bunch of clues, and left some not only for the liars, but also for Mike, because she does/did love him and wanted to make sure he was safe and happy with her gone.

Expansion on Previous Posts Based on New Evidence

Okay, so now that we’ve been given a few more clues and since a lot of the cast and crew for PLL are talking, I’ve got to reevaluate some of the potential scenarios for future PLL episodes. We’ve gotta talk a little bit more about the barrel. Then we’ve gotta talk a little bit about some of the characters who are becoming a lot more developed right now. And, later we’ll talk about the characters most likely, or most suspected, of being “A.”

First, let’s talk about the barrel. In two previous posts, I talked about how Mona, Holbrook, Melissa, Jenna, Paige, and Sarah (Ali’s alleged lookalike) could possibly be in the barrel. However, after recent developments, I must contract some of my previous mentions. Holbrook is definitely not in the barrel. He is alive and probably not well. He seems like he’s gone crazy or something. I don’t know what Alison, or maybe “A,” did to him, but he is not the man he once was. He’s actually kind of psycho, not a “This guy is definitely “A”’ kind of psycho, but “this guy belongs in Radley,” psycho. Jenna is also probably not in the barrel, because in an interview, Keegan Allen (Toby) said that he doesn’t think there will be a scene with him and Jenna any time soon because Tammin is spending a lot of time with her daughter. Tammin has been posting a lot of pictures of herself and her daughter in Australia (their homeland) the last few months, so maybe it’s true. Maybe Jenna just isn’t around right now. At this moment in time, I think it’s most likely Mona or Paige in the barrel, but who knows?

Now, what the heck is going on with Mike? He’s been acting a little psycho too. Maybe he’s just angry that Mona is dead, or missing, or whatever. Or, maybe he’s working with or for “A.” Whatever he’s doing, he’s certainly hiding something, and I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to figure out what is going on! Then there are Ezra and Toby who are like totally not acting like the amazing boyfriends we know they can be! They both seem to be pushing their girlfriends away and I just can’t figure out why! Toby joined the police force so that he could help Spencer and the girls, but he seems to be doing nothing but pushing them away. Now, there could be a perfectly logical reason for this. He could know a lot more than he’s leading on to, because he is a police officer, and he just doesn’t want to drag the girls into it. That’s perfectly logical, and quite frankly, I hope it’s true! The girls are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but it is still totally romantic for the boyfriend to swoop in and save the day! Then there’s Ezra. Sure, his reasoning for suggesting he and Aria break up is perfectly reasonable, because he doesn’t want to stand in her way for new and exciting experiences, especially after she missed out on so much during high school, but haven’t we already been here and done that? I mean, gosh! He definitely already played the “Why don’t you try to be interested in your peers” card! I can understand why he thinks Aria meant at least a little bit of what she told Jackie, and it’s probably true that she does realize she missed out on a lot for Ezra, but I don’t think she ultimately cares! She had chance after chance, especially after finding out about the book, to cut herself loose from her relationship with Ezra, but she has chosen him EVERY TIME! I wouldn’t at all be surprised if they do legitimately break up again this season, but we all know they’ll back together again. If they don’t there will be a LOT of upset fans and I don’t think the creators of PLL are the kind of people to willingly leave their fans angry and broken.

Finally, who is most likely and most suspected of being “A?” Mike, Jason, Mona (assuming she’s still alive), and Alison are the most likely to be “A.” Toby, Ezra, and Caleb are the ones who know the most about the girls, and they could very likely be “A.” And the girls are each the most suspected of being “A.” However, Noel Kahn, CeCe Drake, Jenna Marshall, Melissa Hastings, Lucas G., Wren Kingston, and the Hastings parents are still super sketchy and unexplained as well. Who’s to know? I don’t know… Right now though, if I had to pick my top 3 suspects, I would pick Jason, Mike, and Mona (not necessarily in that order) for my most suspected. I’m trying to keep my theories open-ended for now though. That way, at the end of season 5 when we have all of our important clues, I won’t be close minded to any of the possibilities.

“Kisses,”

OG

P.S. As of two seconds ago, I just watched a new promo for next week’s episode and saw that Andrew (the brainy kid who seemed to like Spencer) is back and probably tutoring Aria. To be honest, I always thought he was kind of strange too…. He also keeps coming back at random times…. Maybe “A” has just trained me not to trust anyone, or maybe I’m onto something… I don’t know, but I’m sure his reappearance has to mean something…. Maybe Aria will date him for a while? She’s already dated the popular bad boy (Noel), an older college guy (Jake) and had a fling with that other guy (Riley), and she’s had a LOT of history with her “bad teacher,” she might as well date the brainy guy, right?

P.P.S My brother just watched last night’s episode of PLL and suggested that Holbrook could have possibly been the angry guy talking to Mona the night before she was murdered while she was talking to Leslie… SO, that’s a theory! Especially since we now know that Holbrook is kind of crazzy and super psucho!

Fury

If you know me and or you’ve read any of my previous posts (even though all but one is related to Pretty Little Liars) then you probably know that I am the kind of girl who prefers emotional chick flicks or romantically entangled mysteries to action stories of any kind. I don’t watch scary movies, I mostly watch hero movies for the romantic side, I rarely watch any action movies, and I don’t think I have ever watched a war movie. Tonight I did though, and if I’m being honest, I only watched it because Brad Pitt is hot, Logan Lerman is one of my celebrity crushes, and Shia LeBeouf ain’t too bad either. Yes, I watched “Fury,” completely unaware of what it was actually about, for the simple fact that three of the leading actors are attractive. I should be ashamed, but I’m not, because as it turns out, I really like this movie. Sure, it had more blood, gore, war bombs, and F-bombs than I would have liked. However, it was a phenomenal story with a general plot about a seasoned war veteran (Brad Pitt) who takes a young kid (Logan Lerman) under his wings to guide him in the ways of war and to explain to him why so many men risk their lives in the line of duty. We see by the end that courage, faith, love, and loyalty, are the only things keeping this men in the war.

The first, and hardest, lesson Don (Brad Pitt) has to teach Norman (Logan) is how to be courage. Norman is just a young kid who was originally trained to write about 60 words a minute, but now he’s been thrown into the line of duty and he is petrified. He doesn’t want to be in the war, not fighting it at least, but he has to, because it’s his duty. Don, initially frustrated that he has to train this kid, roughs him up a bit by yelling at him, calling him names, and hitting him a bit. He even forces Norman to kill a man, but it doesn’t work. Norman is still afraid and weak, so Don tries a little harder. He pays more attention to Norman and realizes that he’s a sensitive guy with a soft exterior and even softer interior.

So, when Don sees the opportunity to show Norman that soldiers, at least American soldiers, aren’t heartless pinheads, he does. While in a town after attacking German soldiers, Don sees a woman peeking through a window and takes Norman to investigate. He knows that this woman is hiding someone. When he sees that the woman is hiding a younger girl named Emma, his heart softens, and he tries to treat them with as much dignity as possible, while at the same time, making sure his and Norman’s needs are met. He requests, or really orders, the woman and the girl (who is about Norman’s age) to fix them food, so they do it. While waiting for the food to be ready, Norman sits down at the piano and starts playing a beautiful melody that the girl hears. She walks up to him and starts singing along. When Don sees that Norman and Emma have a connection, he sends them to the bedroom. In the bedroom, they talk and quickly manage to fall in love. Before anything can go any farther though, Don is ordered to take his team back outside to discuss further moves. While outside, the German’s bomb the city, and the house that Emma was in was blown up. Norman rushed over to her and found her dead. In that scene you could see in Norman’s eyes that he would be much more willing to fight. It was as if falling in love, even if for a short time, filled him with enough courage to keep moving on.

Another character, dubbed Bible (Shia LeBeouf) for his unapologetic faith and quoting of scripture is in the war for one thing and one thing only, faith. Almost every word out of his mouth is quoting scripture or praising God (though he does also drop the F-bomb as much as any other character). Many times he states that the only reason he and the other guys are still fighting is because God isn’t done with them yet. Though the guys do get annoyed by all of his Jesus references, they also seem to be encouraged and motivated by them as well.

The final message I got from the movie is of loyalty. Don, aka “Wardaddy,” is as loyal to his men as any man would be to his woman. He literally takes bullets to fight for his men and his country. He is constantly reminding himself and his men that the only reason he is there and the only reason they should be there is because of loyalty. He tells Norman, aka “Machine,” that the main reason he is there is because he promised his men a long time ago that he would keep them safe, and he did. Until his last dying breath, he was fighting to keep as many men safe as possible.

I may have gone into this movie with the girly reason of watching attractive guys do whatever it is I expected them to do (I didn’t really have any expectations really), but I came out as a true fan of the movie and the story. I highly recommend that everyone, especially every American, watch this movie so that you can have a small taste of what it’s like for our men and women who serve to keep us safe and free. I feel like a piece of my soul died in that movie, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because if a war movie doesn’t tear you to pieces in one way or another, you probably need psychiatric help, because it’s just not American to watch a movie like this without coming out with a little bit of yourself torn up and a whole lot of yourself full of American pride!