Who is “A”?

Pretty Little Liars main characters

By Daris Mendez

For five seasons, the teen drama “Pretty Little Liars” has brought secrets and has intrigued faithful viewers.

The anonymous and almost omnipotent stalker has been terrorizing Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale), Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson), Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell), and Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario) ever since the mysterious text was first received at their troubled friend, and cause of much drama, Alison Dilaurentis’s (Sasha Pieterse) alleged funeral.

The prospect of who exactly is “A” has been questioned since the pilot episode. Mona Vanderwaal (Janel Parrish), was revealed as A in the season two finale however, as the show progressed, it was clear that the “A” game was taken over by a “Big A.”

Numerous theories have been created by fans to explain who they believe this mysterious “Big A” is. The social blogging site Tumblr has become an “A” theory feeding ground; where fans of the show post their most elaborate “A” theories. Pretty Little Liar fanatics also post hundreds of theories and reactions on the show’s respective social media pages like Facebook and Twitter.

Before the premiere of the season five finale episode, even more theories and speculations as the show producers revealed that the identity of “A” would be revealed in the episode. The episode titled “Welcome to the Doll House” aired on March 24 and has been noted as “the beginning of the end” by the executive producer Marlene King, on Entertainment Tonight online.

“It’s the most important episode we’ve done so far,” King told ET exclusively.

“It’s just balls out, and really fun, new, and an interesting direction for the show” King continued.

Prior to the big “A” reveal, some Kean’s very own Pretty Little Liars fans joined in the fun and explained their own “A” theories.

“My theory is that Bethany isn’t really dead and she has been torturing for something Ally did” said Lynn Philippe, referring to Bethany Young, who was the young girl who actually died and was the body at Allison Dilaurentis’s funeral; it was revealed in season four that Alison Dilaurentis is in fact alive.

Freshman student Yordana Zapata finds that figuring out who is “A” is extremely complicated. At one point she believed that it was Paige, Emily Field’s, one of the girls love interest.

“I also think it could be one of the girl’s boyfriends,” Zapata said with a smile pointing to the haunting possibility that guys close to the main characters could be terrorizing them.

Richonda Feggins, an English major at Kean, as well as a very faithful fan believes that “Big A” is among the group of main characters. She believes that Aria Montgomery is the mastermind behind the threats and texts.

“My ‘A’ theory is based on Aria right now,” said Feggins.

“I go on YouTube a lot and I watch the videos and like it seems so obvious,” Feggins continued.

Feggins also based her theory on the clues that executive producer Marlene King gives to fans on Twitter. Feggins mentioned an instance where a fan asked who “Big A” was on twitter and King tweeted lightning bolts and kiss emoji’s.

Feggins pointed out that Aria’s character wore outfits with lightning bolts and kisses on multiple occasions and this clue is one of many that point to her.

This is how intensely fans analyze each episode to figure out who has enough motives to constantly threaten the main characters.

In true Pretty Little Liars fashion, in the March 24 season finale, a glimpse of who “A” truly is was revealed and the answer is one that not many expected.

“Charles is A,” was displayed as a hash tag during the last minutes of the season five finale. This mysterious Charles was speculated to be a long lost sibling to Alison Dilaurentis and the twin of Alison’s brother Jason Dilaurentis

This reveal has left even more questions and new expectations for the much anticipated summer premiere in June. Pretty Little Liars has also reportedly been renewed for two more seasons by ABC Family President Tom Ascheim. This renewal implies that even though viewers have an idea of who “A” is, this mysterious character will continue to shock fans for two more seasons.

---