Warning: This post contains Pretty Little Liars spoilers. If you haven’t watched the whole show, then proceed with caution.
A little note: In August 2014, I started watching Pretty Little Liars. That November, I started blogging about it until it ended in 2017. I haven’t watched it since, but people are still reading my posts in 2021. So, I’ve decided to add thoughts and comments based on the feelings and opinions I have in 2021. Because you’re reading this now, I want to thank you! Tbh, after the disappointment of the series finale, I felt like I wasted time writing these posts. Because you’re reading this, it doesn’t feel like a waste anymore. So, thanks!
(Unless otherwise noted, parenthesis indicate thoughts from 2021)
**Originally published on January 30, 2016. Republished on May 18, 2021. Yes, on a Tuesday in honor of the show originally airing on Tuesdays.**
I don’t have any new or complete PLL theories right now. (I was so over PLL at this point. It took a lot for me to even write about it.) I do have a thought or two about what has happened in Pretty Little Liars season 6B so far. Most of what I have to say is about what happened in the last moments of the episode that aired on January 26, 2016. That’s right. It’s time to talk about Spaleb. I have a group chat with two of my roommates and a friend. It is fully dedicated to Pretty Little Liars conversations. My roommate Ana and our friend, Courtney, shared how MAD they are about Spencer and Caleb. I shared how much I like it. ducks from the things being thrown at me by you furious Haleb and Spoby shippers.
Okay, now that’s out of your system, let me explain. Rosewood is one of the tiniest towns imaginable. I mean, there are like what? Ten families, that live there based on how many families show up in the show? They haven’t had many people to choose from. (Still not an excuse, but that may be why the young twenty-somethings went after the sixteen-year-olds.) That said, I will acknowledge they’ve been out of Rosewood for about five years. Aria has a new boyfriend. Hannah’s engaged. So, why can’t Spencer be with someone who isn’t, ya know, Hannah’s first (and only) true love? Well, let’s see. Do Aria and Liam seem happy? Sure, yeah, they could be happy together. But will Aria ever be able to talk to him about everything that happened in high school? Will he ever be able to understand why or how she became the woman she is? No, especially not when you can see in his face he knows Ezra was something much more than an English teacher. Can Hannah and Jordan be happy in their proposed marriage? They do seem happy. They could make it work, right? The same is true with them though that is true of Aria and Liam. Jordan will never be able to understand who Hannah is, and I don’t Hannah even wants him to understand. She’s still in love with Caleb. She’ll always be in love with Caleb. And they all need someone who was there for them in the worst years of their lives. They need someone who understands. And that’s why Spencer and Caleb make sense.
Caleb, Toby, and Ezra are the ONLY men who could ever hope to understand the girls. They were there when everything went down. They experienced it all with them. If they’re not psycho, Lucas, Jason, and Wren have a chance of relating a little too. That’s why it makes sense for Caleb and Spencer to be together if they can’t be with Hannah and Toby. They’ve had a connection since the moment Spencer was trying to break her laptop out of Ian’s desk. They went to high school in a small town where all the liars grew up and so it makes sense. In a town that small, it’s unrealistic the four liars (six, if you count Alison and Mona as I do) would never the same guy. At some point, one of the best friends was bound to date one of the same guys as one of the others. It makes the most sense for that same person to be Caleb. Aria doesn’t have much of a relationship with Toby or Caleb. Hanna and Spencer don’t have much of a relationship with Ezra. And Emily’s gay. Spencer and Caleb have always somewhat had a relationship. If anyone’s going to date the same guy it would be Spencer and Hanna. I grew in a small community. We all knew the same people and there were very few dating options. We all liked the same people. Many dated the same people and eventually married someone who dated someone else. It was bound to happen in Pretty Little Liars. (I still stand by these statements.)
You can deny it all you want, but Spencer and Caleb are cute together and good for each other. I don’t think they’ll be together for long though. All our OTPs will inevitably get back together, at least for a little while, before the end of the show. Still, Caleb and Spencer could be very good for each other. They’re almost total opposites. And for that reason, they could help each other become stronger, healthier. (It’s kind of like that quote from Rose in The Vampire Diaries. “It’s not just that she makes him a better person–she does–but he changes her too. Damon challenges her, surprises her. He makes her question her life, beliefs. Stefan is different–his love is pure. He’ll always be good for her. Damon is either the best thing for her or the worst.”) It’s not like they’re doing anything behind Hanna’s back. Hanna’s the one who put two and two together in the first place. Spencer didn’t exactly broach the subject on her own. She asked Hannah, who freaked on her, about how she and Caleb are. That’s when Hannah asked and it’s not like Spencer was going to lie? That would be a bad friendship. Hanna suggested Spencer explore her feelings for Caleb, so she did. That’s not a bad friendship. Hanna and Caleb broke up at least two or three years ago. No, she’s engaged to someone else. If that were me and one of my best friends had feelings for my ex, then I’d want her to figure out what she’s feeling. What if Hanna stays with her fiance? It would be crappy for her to keep Caleb and Spencer from potential happiness. If Spencer had tried to bury feelings, only that would have ruined her friendship with Hanna. Have you ever tried to hide your feelings for someone? Eventually, it comes out and it’s usually a mess. Spencer should be honest now before Hanna finds out later. I don’t think it will ruin their friendship one way or the other. I think it will make them stronger. It’s the perfect adult conflict that Pretty Little Liars is trying to give us. They’re not in high school anymore. Hannah and Spencer spoke like the grown adults that they are. If they want their friendship to survive, then Spencer can’t bottle up her feelings like she always has. She needs to let them out and figure them out. Besides, Hannah is engaged and Jordan seems to love her. So until or unless they break up (assuming they will) then Caleb is fair game.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on Spaleb vs Haleb. I’m sure a LOT of people will have negative feelings about this post. That’s because ships and OTPs make us irrational sometimes. We forget all good stories need to be realistic. Realistic for a story like this is having one of the girls be with one of the other girls’ exes.
(I still think Spaleb was one of the best things to happen to PLL. So much growth came out of that ship. I think they all handled it quite well.)
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Brittany Alexandria 