Line #106 Headscratchers/PrettyLittleLiars


1	[[folder:TV Show]]
2	* Why is "liars" in the title? What are the lies?
3	** It's a carry-over from the books. After finding the body of [[spoiler: Ian Thomas]], they try to take the police to it, only to find that it's disappeared and become known as "Rosewood's Pretty Little Liars." Also, they are keeping secrets about certain things. (The Jenna Thing, for example.)
4	*** In ''Killer'', the sixth book, they also claim that they saw Alison alive. Of course, no one believes them, and they end up looking like they're lying to cover up for Ian jumping bail, among other things. Amusingly, their "Liars" title actually ends up ''helping'' them in ''Stunning'' -- Emily uses it as a defense as to why they were at a crime scene, after having received an anonymous note.
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6	* I don't understand the timeline. The liars must have had the worst November senior year. The month would have started after the Halloween train, which was a special episode between season 3A and 3B, and would have ended with [[spoiler: Mona's 'death']] on Thanksgiving, which was the season five mid-season finale. November senior year lasted from 3B through 5A. I can't even begin to describe everything that happened to them during that time.
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8	* The attitude the Liars have with the video evidence was already stupid once (the video with Alison & Ian that they didn't even attempt to copy, leaving (supposedly) Ian free reign to get Spencer's laptop and cancel it) but to repeat it ''exactly the same'' with the videos found in Alison's lunchbox (Emily had them on her laptop AND NOWHERE ELSE, and not only did she leave her laptop unprotected, but even TURNED ON. Predictably, (probably) A cancelled them ([[NoKillLikeOverkill along with the rest of Emily's files]]). Stupid much?
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10	* Do these girls ever think anything through? They ''know'' by now that A is constantly watching them and will punish ''any'' mistake they make. Yet they all continue to do incredibly stupid things. One example being Spencer stealing then pawning her sister's wedding ring, only to have it turned into horseshoe. That was stupid enough even without A involved.
11	** I totally agree. My contention is not with Spencer's decision, but with the writers. How can the owner of a pawn shop or whatever it was, hand over one person's ring to someone else? (even if they suspected the ring wasn't Spencer's?) And then take Spencer's 2000 dollars and hand her a worthless horseshoe? What kind of idiot would give 2000 dollars for a horseshoe?? And does A have a camera in the pawn shop too? How else could A have known Spencer went there with Melissa's ring; it could have been anything, the Hastings are wealthy and probably have a lot of jewellery.
12	** It was implied that the owner of the pawn shop believed that Spencer had stolen the ring and wouldn't go to the police when the deal went south.
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14	* Hello, Emily, your father is a colonel or whatever in the US Army. They do not take kindly to their family members being stalked and blackmailed. Tell him everything and get it over with before you know... you get involved in another murder investigation or someone else gets run over or you end up in hospital with your sporting career about to get ruined by A.. oh wait, that already happened.
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16	* I've always thought it was ridiculous how A seemed to ''know'' everything, and how he/she had such impeccable timing. I mean, unless A was a spirit or something, or had magical 24/7 access into these girls heads, I couldn't see how the writers were going to explain A's omniscience.
17	** Eg: Remember when A snuck Ian's phone into Spencer's bag, and it rang just when she and Melissa were really starting to open up to each other... I mean, how could A have timed it so perfectly?? It was late at night!
18	** Or, worse, how on earth could A have known that Hanna's mom stole that money from her workplace? And that they hid it in a box of pasta? Are there cameras everywhere now?? Even inside the kitchen cabinets??
19	** And are random motel rooms bugged now too? Remember when Toby and Spencer "sleep" together, and then there's that mysterious green bag which turns out to have ''ice'' in it, with a note saying "you're getting colder".
20	** Also, the psychiatrist's office is totally bugged by A-Team (hey, that's a good name, now that we know A is more than one person...) Anyway, the shrink's office is also devoid of a security system or camera. It's easy to get in and plant Mr Fitz's diploma (?!) and a cake walk to get in, trash the place, get out, all without leaving finger prints. Really?
21	*** And apparently Mr. Fitz's place is also easy to break into... and he didnt ''notice'' that his ''diploma'' was missing. It was framed and ''hanging there''. Geez, when people are this stupid, no wonder they're such sitting ducks for A.
22	** Also, what was A doing that whole year when Aria and family were in Iceland? How did Aria's return trigger the A messages?? And did A start shadowing Aria the minute she landed? I mean, A knew that Aria had met and made out with Ezra Fitz before either of them knew they were going to be teacher and student.
23	** And what the hell kind of town is this... don't they believe in security systems? Especially after what happened to Alison? I would have thought that every family with a young daughter would have run out to buy security cameras and alarms. But NOPE... that security in Rosewood homes is lax is an understatement. Windows are left wide open, doors can be easily unlatched, people can enter homes by stealth with their eyes closed (note the pun? Jenna reference... tee hee since she is one of our villians). Not only can they film the girls, but also plant things, like lipsticks, messages, incriminating evidence... and deleted things from laptops, or replace laptops with yearbooks. Have they never had CSU sweep the area?
24	*** Adding insult to injury is the fact that Emily's house has an alarm system (mentioned in 2.08), while the rich and paranoid Hastings apparently haven't bothered to install such a thing either in their home or the lakehouse.
25	** And what was the deal with Emily's cereal in Season 2 Episode 10? The box she chose just happened to be the one A had tampered with? Can you even imagine the preparation that must have taken? First, collect enough "As" from a big box of Alpha-Bits. Second, replace the mini box Alpha-bits with all As plus threatning message. Third, re-seal the cereal box liner with such finess that Emily doesn't suspect anything until she lifts her spoon. Fourth, re-seal the mini box of Alpha-bits. Ok, so let's say someone went to all that trouble... how did they know she would choose Alpha-bits? Was that the only cereal available in their cafeteria? Not to mention, even if you explained away all of that, there'd be no way to guarantee that Emily would pick the one specific box of Alpha-Bits that they tampered with. This is impossible to have planned, basically.
26	** And how the hell is A always one step ahead? Like recently, A removed page 5 from Ali's autopsy report. I mean, not only is A an omniscient mindreader, he/she is apparently a pre-cog too.
27	*** The finale took this up to 11. Apparently, A can not only leave a huge box on Spencer's porch with no risk of being spotted, A can also break into Emily's car and leave the doll, again with no fear of being spotted. Is A a team of MI-5 trained ninjas?
28	** In the early "Homecoming" episode, the PLL's order Chinese food and the cookies that come with the meal have a message from A. Let's assume that A bought the cookies online and didn't need to make them, as such sites exist. How did A know the PLL's would be ordering Chinese just before homecoming, which was presumably a spur of the moment decision? How did A add them to the bag, without a trace?
29	** And now has the ability to replace Chinese food with worm filled dirt.
30	* Now, with the NAT club revelation, the girls have concluded (which frankly they should have done long ago) that A is more than one person. Ok, now the ''impeccable'' timing might be explained--- there is one person watching each girl. Let's just suspend disbelief here and operate under the assumption that these four teenagers are important enough to be monitored 24/7. But it still doesn't explain how they receive perfectly timed messages at ''school'', or how, when they have whispered conversations, a text or note appears out of nowhere. I mean, unless the girls ''themselves'' are bugged, (or A has managed to outfit their phones with a high tech bugging device) that kind of precision in timing is just not possible. And I totally agree that the girls should tell their parents everything. I mean, Ian is dead... and as much as I respect teenagers (like Harry Ron and Hermione) I really think they should tell their parents... all this about how "no one believes them" because "they're pretty little liars" is just stupid. I mean, what have they ever done to earn that distinction? They all seem to have a great relationship with their parents.
31	** I think phones and computers bugged is the only reasonable conclusion at this point. It's odd that the girls haven't thought of this yet.
32	*** They did, in episode 2 of season 1. It didn't help at all though.
33	** The reason they won't tell isn't that they fear they'll be disbelieved, but that they fear A will hurt their parents. They don't want another Dr. Sullivan on their hands.
34	* When the therapist the girls are seeing realizes who A is, why could she not tell Emily over the phone and have her pass it on? Why was it necessary for her to have all of them meet her in person? Especially when she knew for a fact that A was listening to her.
35	** We know that A and Dr. Sullivan were working together though (though Dr. S was probably coerced), it may have just been a set-up in order to get the Liars to play A's game and end up with the murder weapon.
36	** I doubt that. Knowing A, it's more likely that she was blackmailing Dr. S than that she was a willing participant. Dr. Sullivan says "I did everything you asked", implying that she was taking direction from A, as opposed to working as a partner. Plus, A handed her a folder with something in it, which I would assume was information she had on Dr. Sullivan. Also, the look on Sullivan's face was closer to the look of a victim than that of a co-conspirator. If you accept the theory that she was being blackmailed, it makes her decision make even less sense. Consider this: If she was being blackmailed when she was realized A's identity, she would never have told them that she knew who A was in the first place, because she'd be afraid of what A would do. Which means there was no reason at the time why she couldn't just say A's name over the phone. (As long she's revealing to A that she knows her name, she might as well say it out loud, after all.) By insisting on meeting in person, she gave A time to get to her.
37	* Why are the girls STILL keeping 'A' a secret? They assume that 'A' will reveal all their secrets, seemingly missing the fact that by playing 'A's game they're generating more secrets than they would've ever had. They're convinced A will ruin their lives, but the only thing 'A' had on them was the Jenna thing, which they could've honestly said was Alison's plan all along. Now with the events of the second season's summer finale, should they continue to keep their silence, not only will they suffer more than ever before, all four girls will be carrying the IdiotBall.
38	** Emily is on record as using HGH, her parents would never trust her again if they found that out. She also forged a letter from Danby, which is kind of serious business. Aria is having an affair with an older man who could potentially get arrested and definitely fired from his job. It would also completely ruin her family. Hanna's mom stole money from a bank, which is obviously illegal, and Hanna suffers from bulimia which would be humiliating to reveal publicly. Spencer was already a person of interest, so the Jenna thing would only make her look more guilty. It definitely makes sense, in perspective, why the Liars wouldn't A spilling all their secrets, and it's meant to be ironic that by doing everything they can to keep those secrets buried, they only make things worse.
39	* How did Jackie expect to get away with plagiarizing a paper on Théodore Géricault? The academic community studying Romantic painter is absurdly small. Did she think nobody would notice? On the flip side, how did A figure it out? Is A, in addition to being an omniscient ninja, a student of French art?
40	** A was shown to be learning French though, which explains how A would know what the original paper was about.
41	* The constant {{Continuity Snarl}}s, especially regarding Toby. It is established in the ''second episode'' that he was always the creepy kid that no one liked. Then the Prequel episode where Alison met Jenna showed that Emily had already been sorta friends with him (which can be passable since Emily is a nice person) and the latest episode gives us this wonderful flashback where [[spoiler: Alison of all people was in a possible relationship with pre-Jenna Toby.]] This is also coupled with the fact Toby is his present-day Bishonen self in the flashbacks and not radiating the creepy aura he supposedly always had is just plain RetCon especially since other characters are always consistent with their past selves (Hanna is fat, Mona and Lucas are nerdy, etc...)
42	** It's safe to assume that his mother's suicide, his father's subsequent remarriage and especially his relationship with Jenna are what made him the creepy outcast we meet in season one. All of that happened past Allison flashback.
43	* Why did Emily keep the keys to Wilden's place instead of putting them in a place where everybody had just looked while they weren't paying attention or, you know, just make a quick copy of them, and ending up costing her mother her job? So far the only answer I have is 'She's TooDumbToLive'.
44	* Okay a couple of things have caught my attention. First off the Jenna thing: In the books the prank involved a firecracker while in the s1 flashback Ali states that she is using a stink bomb. Um I get how a firecracker could cause Jenna's blinding but a stink bomb? People were always setting off stink bombs at my high school and no one was ever blinded nor did the building ever catch fire. To make matters more complicated the wiki constantly states that a firecracker was used in both the show and the books. Secondly in season 1 the girls learn of Toby and Jenna's incestuous relationship by reading Toby's therapy file but wouldn't a therapist, upon learning of such a thing, have informed their parents? Yet according to the show the only people who actually know are Toby, Jenna, the girls, Ali, Ian, and probably A.
45	** Regarding the firecracker/stink bomb thing, remember ''Alison'' called it a stinkbomb. She was probably lying. Also there were ''actual'' firecrackers kept in the place she threw the "stinkbomb" so the reason things got out of hand was because those caught fire (I'm not saying a stinkbomb could set off firecrackers, but there was a chain reaction either way). And as for the therapy file...did anyone ever actually report that file missing? Or trace it to Hanna? If the therapist doesn't know they read it, what's there to report?
46	*** Hi,OP here. First off, yay the StinkbombFirecracker thing finally makes sense to me, thanks! Now as for Jenna and Toby's...relationship I meant that it seemed like the therapist knew before the file went missing as it was already noted in the file itself and if that was the case wouldn't he have told the parents? In fact shouldn't Jenna have been upset that Toby told, considering how desperate she was to get Ian's video before anyone else could see it and blow the whistle on her. On the other hand there are a whole bunch of other inconsistencies in this (and pretty much every other show/movie series/book series) so maybe I should just chill. Oh and to answer your question, yes, the break in was reported (the police are there when Hanna tries to return the file the next day) but no one ever seems to connect it to Hanna or the other girls.
47	*** I'm not really sure how Doctor-Patient confidentiality really works but I don't think the therapist is allowed to report anything unless Toby is a danger to himself or others. Of course, that stuff probably should have come out in the open anyway after Toby was accused of murder since the "danger to others" thing is in effect but I think that could be handwaved by saying Toby's relationship with Jenna has nothing to do with Alison so it should be irrelevant to the case. Also, remember the file told them that Jenna and Toby only had a relationship, not who instigated it. The video was much more revealing, hence Jenna wanted it (she wanted the file too for that matter, but settled for the liars telling her that it was destroyed). But yeah, this show is way too inconsistent sometimes (especially in the early episodes since it feels the producers weren't sure if they want to follow the book or make their own stuff).
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49	* Where in the hell are Toby and Jenna's parents?! I haven't seen season 4 yet so maybe they show up there but shouldn't they have have turned up sooner? Jenna is blinded and later goes through major eye surgery, Toby spends most of season 1 as suspect #1 in Ali's disapearance yet not once do we ever actually see any parents. The closest we get are Toby and Jenna mentioning them sometimes and the whole Toby's biological mother comitted suicide thing.
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51	* In season 1 who is the blond girl that Spencer sees in Maya's bedroom window? This happens in the books too but neither version really explains what's going on. This takes place while Maya's family lives in the Dilaurentis house and they are black so it can't be Ali, Courtney, or Cece (in the show). Is Spencer just hallucinating or something?
52	** In the books it's probably either [[spoiler: Mona (she was blonde in the books) or Ali on an excursion from Radley, like all the times show Mona snuck out. I can't speak for the show, though if I had to guess it was probably either Ali, CeCe, or A in a wig.]]
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54	* Perhaps I'm wrong but was there was supposed to be some connection between "A", Mrs. Potter's death, and the James Leland impersonator?
55	** I think that's just a dropped storyline. There are a lot of dropped storylines that were started in season 1 and leaded to nothing. You could tell that there was more to this Potter/Leland/lasagna box storyline (I am guessing that shit was supposed to go down with Ashley).
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57	* Why is it that Ezra is treated like a pedophile for dating Aria (okay yeah a teacher dating his student is pretty wrong) but no one raises an eyebrow over Garret (who's about the same age as Ezra) dating Jenna?
58	** I think you answered your question. The problem with Ezra and Aria is not so much the age difference, but the fact that Ezra is a teacher at Aria's school, AND to make matters worse, she is actually a student in his class. This makes for some serious abuse potential, and it's why I never hopped on the Ezria bandwagon; their relationship means that he controls Aria's grade and her standing within the class. He might favor Aria in class, giving her better grades than students who work just as hard if not harder, or vice versa if the romance soured. (I don't think Garret's necessarily the same age as Ezra, for what it's worth; I actually think he's a bit younger.)
59	** It's not just "pretty wrong", it's literally illegal in most countries. Even if Aria were 18 and Ezra taught at her school but she wasn't in his class, it would be illegal in the UK and possibly in the US. It's an abuse of power for all the reasons listed above. Also, the age gap when one party is a minor is squicky to a lot of people. It's not the number of years, it's the life experience- Aria hasn't even finished High School or had to fend for herself in life, whereas Ezra's been through college and teacher training and is an adult supporting himself.
60	** That, and there's the fact that the show frames Ezra/Aria as some sort of forbidden, epic romance, while Jenna's relationship with Garrett isn't portrayed in a very positive light.
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62	* So how did Ian, Garret, Jenna, and Melissa get into the Dilaurentis house and up to Ali's bedroom without Ali's parents noticing?
63	** Bad/absent/inattentive parents. No, really. Ali's dad was probably on one of his ever-present business trips, and [[spoiler: her mom was shown to be busy dealing with something, implied to be the news of Bethany's escape. She was occupied enough that Ali walked out without being noticed, anyway, and given that Jessica probably wasn't just sitting in the living room by the door and stairs all night, I don't doubt that IGJM could've gotten up to Ali's room.]]
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65	* By the end of the Pilot we know that Ali is ''dead'' but then why does "A" continue wording the texts as though he/she is Ali? This is espcially confusing in the fashion show episode as in the message on the over head A refers to Ali's dresses as though they belong to "A" herself but just earlier "A" called Ali an evil bitch monster by hijacking the slide show. The hell?
66	** It's been hinted that A is/was fascinated with Ali. That's why he has creepy pictures all over his lair. Also, it might be because A wants to be ironic. If you really think about it, A and Alison aren't that different, both using Liars' secret for amusement. Also it was revealed that Mona was the main A from season 1 to seasons 2 and she pretty much wanted to be Alison so...
67	*** Didn't it finally get revealed in Season 5 that [[spoiler: Alison is A? That would make all the texts worded as if they were from Ali Fridge Brilliance, since it was her all along and then she changed the phrasing of the texts to confuse the Liars.]]
68	*** Even if [[spoiler: Ali was A (which is still NOT technically confirmed, it's just the conclusion Mona and the Liars came to, with arguments existing both for and against), it's the fact that the new A stole the game from Mona, and ironically most of the texts worded as Ali-messages were sent prior to said theft.]]
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70	* You know how "A" had to pick the lock on Peter Hastings' Desk to steal the gun? Well Peter had to unlock that same desk drawer when he finally discovered that the gun was missing and to do that he would have had to relock the drawer after "A" picked the lock,so why didn't he notice that the gun was gone earlier when he relocked the drawer?
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72	* So apparently Toby was the A Team member that Dr. Sullivan met at the diner which may explain how they know each other and how he helped her at the end of S2 but then WHY doesn't she tell the girls that Toby is part of the A team or that there was a whole A team rather than just one teenage girl with mental problems?
73	** Lucas helped Mona once or twice without actually being A. Dr. Sullivan probably assumed that Toby's situation was something like that, with him being blackmailed/bribed/otherwise-convinced to act as a go-between for Mona and Sullivan. Alternatively, Toby told her the truth and she kept his secret, which would be a weird plot, but then, it IS Rosewood.
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75	* Mid season 2 Jenna apparently goes off for her eye surgery but later she returns still blind in both eyes. Then later she does get one eye done and Toby says that the other eye is going to be done later. Okay so far so good but then there was that business with Jenna pretending that the surgery had failed and after that all of a sudden BOTH eyes can see but Jenna never got surgery on the other eye! I suppose it could be argued that she got the other eye done between seasons 2 and 3 but then how could Jenna drive in the S2 finale if only one eye sees?
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77	* In season 3 it's revealed that one of the windows of the psychiatric hospital day room is wide open, presumably it was Mona's plan B after the staff discovered that someone was letting a patient sneak out at night. But don't such institutions usually have bars or alarms on the windows specifically to keep the patients inside the hospital?
78	** It's implied that Rosewood Sanatorium is not run well at all, so a window left wide open may well go unnoticed.
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80	* What is it with all the gay / bisexual women on this show? They can't ALL be put there in order to give Emily someone to have UST with, can they?
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82	* And why are there so many gay women in Rosewood? I mean, it's kind of weird and unrealistic. So many gay women and not one gay man?
83	** It's not weird or unrealistic. LGBT women exist everywhere. Even in Rosewood. As for the men, I'm sure they exist, they're just not relevant to the plot right now...
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85	* How much trouble could the girls actually get into for the Jenna thing? ''Ali'' was the one who got the idea and threw the damn stinkbomb/firecracker into the shed. True they should've tried harder to stop Ali (though it's unlikely that they could've) but they technically weren't responsible for what happened were they?
86	** Legally, they'd probably be fine. They might be worried about the social repercussions. Rosewood is one of those places where everyone butts into everyone else's business. Imagine the hell that would break loose if Spencer (the daughter of a well-known Rosewood family) or Hannah (daughter of a politican) were to be associated with something like that.
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88	* In Season 1, when the Hastings learn that Spencer dated Ian it puts suspcision on Spencer but not Ian? How does that work? The Hastings don't believe her about Ian but shouldn't the fact that Ian dated Spencer make Spencer's claims that he dated Ali more plausible?
89	** Presumably they'd be more likely to believe Ian was a creeper if they were hearing it from somebody other than Spencer, who they probably assumed was only saying he dated Ali to try taking some heat off of herself.
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91	* How was Garret ever implicated by page five of Ali's autopsy report? Ali was smacked upside the head with a shovel, Garret smacked a tree with a field hockey stick and may have never even touched the shovel.
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93	* Who is [[spoiler: in Alison's grave?]]
94	** It's revealed in the 100th episode; it was a 17-year-old Radley patient named Bethany Young.
95	*** If that's the case, why didn't the police [[spoiler: immediately recognize it wasn't Ali when they found the body? Bethany and Ali don't look THAT much alike.]]
96	*** Because [[spoiler: a) decay does crazy things to a body and the face attached to said body after a year, b) Jessica ID'd Bethany as Alison, and c) someone, probably A, switched their dental records, which are apparently the other half of what they used to confirm who was dug up.]]
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98	* Did we ever find out who pushed Ian off the belltower and messed with his body?
99	** Yes. It was [[spoiler: Alison, trying to protect Spencer.]]
100	*** Actually, [[spoiler: Alison]] only pushed him off. Ian survived and walked out of the church himself, then he committed suicide (the pain of his injuries was probably too much), and A just took advantage of the situation and wrote a fake suicide note.
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102	* Even if he didn't really do it, Toby is a convicted arsonist (during said incident someone also got serious harm caused towards them) who also is not even 21. And yet, he apparently became a cop in the space of what had to be a week in this show's timeline. Where is the sense in any of that?
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104	* So Wilden was involved with the A team (he was one of the Queen of Hearts on the halloween train and he set the fire at the lodge) but why? Everyone on the A team hates Ali, yes he knew her (as he was on that trip to Cape May with Ali and Cece) but was there ever any indication that he hated her or wanted revenge on her? Just what motivated Wilden to join/help "A"?
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106	* As of the season 5 Christmas special, how the hell are Ezra and Aria able to be out in the open with their relationship? She's still ostensibly 17 and therefore Ezra could be charged with corrupting a minor. Does Rosewood just not care that a teacher is dating a student?
107	** Ezra's [[spoiler: no longer a teacher but rather the owner of the Brew]]. I'm pretty sure that as long as the more, shall we say, interactive side of the relationship doesn't become public knowledge, simply dating each other would technically be legal. At this point, it would be just as acceptable as Jenna dating Garrett was.
108	** The age of consent is 16 in many states. The problem probably wasn't so much age as the fact that he was her teacher.
109	** I'm not sure about Pennsylvania, but next door in Ohio the age of consent is 16 but it doesn't apply if you're in a position of authority over them (Teacher, Boss, Coach, etc.) So if they didn't find out about them dating while he still worked at the school they would be fine.
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111	* Back in season one Spencer turned in one of Melissa's papers as her own. The paper is so good that her teacher enters it into an essay contest which it won. But if the paper was that good and Melissa turned it in herself during high school, how did no one except Melissa herself realize that it wasn't Spencer's paper?
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113	* How is Jenna able to drive in a 4th season episode? She's been blind for maybe a year or two and she's in high school, meaning she should be 17 at the time. Obviously, she shouldn't have a legal license but how did she ''learn'' how to drive? She shouldn't be able to but she's driving around ''by herself'' on a regular basis. Maybe she learned right after her successful operation, and didn't believe she'd lose her eyesight so quickly afterwards. That brings up the issue that she's ''still pretending to be blind.'' No one would teach a blind girl to drive. She had to have gone out of her way to get driving lessons without pulverizing everyone and everything else even with her RECENT surgery.
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115	* If season 5 still takes place in 2011, ''how'' could the school have a ''Frozen'' watch party when it came out ''two years later?'' And how could Hanna be dancing to "Bang Bang" which came out ''four years later'' in 2015?
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119	[[folder:Book Series]]
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121	* Ok the second "A" [[spoiler: The real Ali]] mentions how [[spoiler: Courtney ruined her life by sending her to a mental institution in her place]], blinded Jenna, had an affair with Ian when he was already dating someone else and much too old for her anyways, but considers the worse thing she did was changing her girl posse? I don't get it. In fact I don't get the whole particular grudge against the four girls, I mean the first "A" had a pretty solid thing against the four, but really after [[spoiler: killing her twin]] why take it out on them?
122	** I always assumed it was because they helped cement [[spoiler: Courtney's]] deception. When they broke into her yard with the intention of stealing the Time Capsule flag, they encountered [[spoiler: Courtney, and mistook her for the real Ali. She didn't know who Ali's friends were and she needed someone to help verify her identity, so she buddied up with the girls. Basically, it was partially their fault that Courtney was able to take over Ali's life. If I were in Ali's position, I'd be pretty pissed about that too.]]
123	** Maybe so but that seems a bit extreme, not to mention they were innocent (at least in this); they didn't know that the searching for the time capsule flag would have such consequences.
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125	* Why did [[spoiler: Alison (the real one) visit Hanna??]] It's never hinted that she was trying to harm Hanna or anything, and it's later established that she HATES the Liars [[spoiler: so why visit her, and actually be sort of nice to her (the only thing she does is comfort her and say "I'm okay. I'm okay")]]??
126	** You have to remember, she LOVES messing with the Liars' heads, she did it for lulz.
127	** Also, she was probably always planning to [[spoiler: fake-befriend the girls once she was allowed to come back to Rosewood officially.]] Mentioning [[spoiler: the hospital visit]] helped her win Hanna's trust when she [[spoiler: returned as "Courtney." The real plothole is how Alison was even able to go to the hospital, as this happened before Ian was arraigned and thus before Ali's parents pulled her back out of The Preserve. Iris makes it clear in later books that Ali never tried to visit Rosewood earlier because The Preserve doesn't give out-privileges to patients who are known to carry grudges against people on the "outside"... Then again, they also had lax enough security for Nick and Ali to abduct Iris from there in the next book, so it's not a stretch to think that even pre-"A" Alison could sneak out if she had to.]]
128
129	* Okay so the first things that "A" catches them doing seems like Ironic Echoes of the secrets that only "Ali" knew [[spoiler: Spencer was kissed by Ian and made out with Wren, Aria conducted a secret relationship with her teacher the way her father did with his student, Emily kissed "Ali" and Maya]] ...except Hanna. How was her secret echoed in what she was doing?
130	** In the show it makes more sense; both the bulimia and shoplifting were messed-up coping mechanisms that Hanna learned from her Queen Bee BFF of the time. It's stranger in the books, since it's shown that bookverse Ali was actually trying to help Hanna work through her bulimia problems rather than start them, and I'm not sure if the shoplifting=attention thing from the show was in the books or not. However, it could still be argued that even in the books those acts were both Hanna's way of dealing with her problems.
131
132	* [[spoiler: Courtney]] never tried to drown Alison in the books, where is that idea coming from? I think this Alison apologist has [[spoiler: Courtney and Alison]] mixed up.
133	** Huh? Are you referring to the prequel book, Ali's Pretty Little Lies? Yeah in that book Courtney says she tried to strangle Ali rather than drown her as previous books said but there are two possible explanations: 1.Ms. Shepard just forgot what she'd previously written or 2. Ali lied about what happened when she told the others about Courtney. Given that Ali's Pretty Little Lies strongly implies that Courtney was never actually insane and Ali manipulated things to make it seem that way, it's not too far fetched to assume Ali lied.
134
135	* What was up with that magazine detailing Hannah's stay at the psychiatric centre? Was it real or not? Hannah seems to think it is but if such an article WAS published, the hospital would be in so much trouble it's not even funny. However if it's fake (which seems to be implied) where did it come from? Iris specifically mentions that such magazines are contraband and if Iris is responsible how did she get Hannah's medical information or make such a convincing fake magazine? Before someone says a computer, was it ever specified that the paients get computer privilges? Even if they do, they would likely be closely monitered so Iris would have likely been caught. "A" could have made it but wasn't it mentioned that Iris never gets any vistors? Which brings me back to where the magazine even came from in the first place...
136	** Iris mentioned early on that she has "someone" who sneaks the magazines in for her. At the time, it sounds like it's just a random Preserve nurse she's swindled into doing it, but the reveal that [[spoiler:"Courtney" [=DiLaurentis=] was her old roommate, and the real Alison,]] indicates that she likely had "A" bringing them to her.
137
138	* In ''Deadly'', it is revealed that [[spoiler: Nick and Ali]] have planted evidence to frame the girls for Tabitha's murder and for being A, including rerouting all text messages through the girls' cell phones, planted their fingerprints on all physical evidence, and faked a security video of them committing the murder. The part about the cell phones, fine, but how is it possible to falsify the fingerprints and the video well enough to fool the FBI? The video especially - even if [[spoiler: Nick]] were a professional visual effects artist, it's very hard to imagine that level of deception realistically working.
139	** The police are insane and/or stupid. At least that's what I'm starting to believe. I mean don't they have people who specialize in examining photo and video evidence and who would surely be able to determine if a video like the one of the girls supposedly murdering Tabitha was real or not? Not to mention that when investigating a crime the police tend to look for a lot more than fingerprints (such as hair and skin). As for the fingerprints I got no idea. Maybe Ali and Nick wore gloves and maybe they got the girls' prints from somewhere and put them on everything (I don't know if anyone could realistically do that but it's a possibility and I wouldn't put it past Ali) but that still doesn't explain how only the girls' prints showed up when realistically their family members' prints should have shown up on some things like the hand written notes. Speaking of aren't the police supposed to have handwriting experts too?
140	** The video was explained to have likely been done by paying randoms who looked like the girls to re-enact the "murder." As long as their faces weren't in full view, it could pass without any special effects at all – it is confirmed that the police were able to tell it was fake once they had the real video [[spoiler: of Nick]] to compare.
141
142	* Is it ever mentioned which twin is older?
143
144	* Why didn't Jenna just tell her parents that Toby was molesting her? He was already down to his last chance before being sent away and telling their parents would have been easier, so why the whole scheme with Courtney and the firecracker?
145	** You honestly expect a terrified eleven year old girl to make the rational choice? She was clearly scared of what he might do in retaliation.
146	** "What he would do in retaliation?" Um when was Toby ever implied to be violent? He molested Jenna and peeped in windows but there is never any indication (that I recall) that Toby was ever violent. Besides surely the parents would've sent him away as soon as possible after hearing what he did and if that had to be delayed for some reason protect her from Toby? Besides if he did anything worse afterward as retaliation that would just get him in worse trouble. However I see your point about Jenna being scared and not thinking rationally.
147	** She was still scared and worried that he might get violent since he’s willing to molest her who knows what he’s capable of.
148
149	* How exactly did Courtney's therapists come to the conclusion that she had Paranoid Schizophrenia and Ali was just a regular girl? There is WAY more to Paranoid Schizophrenia than claiming your twin sister told you to pretend to be her or else. For example hearing voices and thinking large groups like the government secretly put tracking chips in your brain or something, Courtney NEVER exhibits any of these symptoms (not to mention if she was schizoprenic she probably wouldn't be able to pull off switching lives with Ali). Ali meanwhile apparently has no problems KILLING people, having already killed at least five different people (Courtney, Ian, Jenna, Tabitha, that girl at the burn center) or least manipulating others to kill for her. Yet COURTNEY is the one everyone belives to be crazy? Yes she attacked Ali but isn't it normal for siblings to fight?
150	** The diagnosis didn't come from what the girls told them; their accounts just made it clear that something was wrong with one or both of them. They ran various other tests after - we're never given the details one what kind of tests, but whatever they were, Courtney's terror of her sister caused her to test as paranoid schizophrenic.
151
152	* How was Alison able to kill Courtney, Jenna and Ian without anyone noticing a seventeen year old running around Rosewood?
153	** First she was only fourteen when she killed Courtney, second it’s made clear that it was dark and nobody noticed that night since it’s clear nobody else saw Nick that night. Third, it’s made clear that Nick helped Ali with the latter two.
154
155	* Okay two things. How did the police come to the conclusion that Hanna killed Graham via overdose while he was at the burn clinic? Remember that burned girl Hanna befriended? The one who was found dead around the same time Graham kicked it? Well it was said she was dead for a week before she was found and yet "Kayla" was still in her bed interacting with Hanna and probably other people during the week when she was supposedly dead. To top it off her bed was right by Graham's room. Gee that sure is weird, maybe the police will look into it? Oh wait they're just gonna blame Hanna without investigating or anything. Really? Also shouldn't the damn police be able to determine how many people did or didn't attack Tabitha by looking at her body?
156
157	* How much time has passed? The book mentions 3 years in reference to the liars and Ali’s friendship, but at other points in the story it’s 4 years.
158	** It's just over three years between Ali's disappearance (the end of seventh grade) and the beginning of the first book (right before the start of junior year). Books 1–8 happen over the course of a few months (the first half of junior year), then there's a timeskip of about a year, and then 9–16 happen over the course of roughly four more months (the second half of their senior year). So anything in the second half of the series takes place 4–5 years after she goes missing. You also have to keep in mind that the girls were friends with Alison for two years before her disappearance, so even in the first few books, some of the things they mention would've happened four years earlier instead of three.

Context Headscratchers / PrettyLittleLiars