History Headscratchers / PrettyLittleLiars

** Bad/absent/inattentive parents. No, really. Ali's dad was probably on one of his ever-present business trips, and [[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.]]

** 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. [[/folder]]

* 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. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't such instatutions usually have bars or alarms on the windows specifically to keep the paients inside the hospital?

** In the books it's probably either 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.

** Bad/absent/inattentive parents. No, really. Ali's dad was probably on one of his ever-present business trips, and 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.

**** Even if 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 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.

** 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 Mon and Sullivan. Alternatively, Toby told her the truth and she kept his secret, which would be a weird plot, but then, it IS Rosewood.

**** Because 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.

** Ezra's 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. [[/folder]]

* 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? [[/folder]]

TV SHOW:

* 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?

LITERATURE:

** 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.

*** If that's the case, why didn't the police immediately recognize it wasn't Ali when they found the body? [[spoiler: Bethany and Ali]] don't look THAT much alike.

* How exactly did Courtney's therapists come to the conclusion that she had Paranoid Schizophrenia and Ali was just a regular girl? I've looked up Paranoid Schizophrenia and there is WAY more to the disorder than claiming you're 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?

** Legally, they'd probably be fine. They might be worried about the social repercussions. Rosewood is one of those places where everyone butts into to everyone else's business. Imagine the hell that would break loose is Spencer (the daughter of a well-known Rosewood family) or Hannah (daughter of a politican) were to be associated with something like that.

** "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.

* How is it that no one is able to tell Alison and Courtney apart? Yeah I know they are identical twins but even their family,who should know them best,cannot differentiate between the two. They are able to switch places WAY too easily,their parents at least should have noticed that something was off. Apparently even DNA doesn't help, since in the first arc the police identify the dead girl as "Ali" but from what I understand (although I could be mistaken)not even identical twins have the exact same DNA(very similar but not the same)so shouldn't a trained analyst be able to determine that the girl in the grave was NOT Ali,even if they didn't know there was a twin?

** Well the Liars can be forgiven since A) They hadn't known there was a twin, B) They never knew real Ali that well pre-switch so they probably never got physically close enough to be able to memorize every minute detail of her appearance, C) it had been years since they had seen Ali so any minute details different between their Ali and Real Ali wouldn't have been noticed, D) it had been years and people change so when Real Ali posed as Their Ali any minute differences could be passed off as puberty or body modification. As for her family well... from her behavior in Ali's Pretty Little Lies I don't think Ali's mom was a good mother, beats me on her dad and Jason though.
*** OP here. You've got a point about the girls themselves and maybe Ali's parents are just that clueless,considering how eaisly Ali manipulates them in Ali's Pretty Little Lies and how easy it was for Courtney pull a twin switch but that still doesn't explain how the crime scene tech's failed to determine that the girl in the grave wasn't Ali. It's specifically mentioned that the body was identified as Ali through Dna but I'm pretty sure that identicle twins don't have the same Dna(they certainly don't have the same fingerprints or footprints). That's a rather extreme mistake to make,espcially in the middle of a murder investigation.
*** ...Um, are you serious? Identical twins DO have the same DNA. Hence the term "identical". The body was likely too decomposed to use any fingerprints.
*** OP again. I just looked it up and yes I was mistaken about the DNA thing,oops.

*** OP again. I just looked it up and yes Iwas mistaken about the DNA thing,oops.

*** ...Um, are you serious? Identical twins DO have the same DNA. Hence the term "identical". They didn't know that the girl in the grave wasn't Alison because the body was too decomposed to do a DNA sample. They most likely went by dental records, or someone in the police department messed with the documents.

* ...Um, are you serious? Identical twins DO have the same DNA. Hence the term "identical". They didn't know that the girl in the grave wasn't Alison because the body was too decomposed to do a DNA sample. They most likely went by dental records, or someone in the police department messed with the documents.

** "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,though I am still baffled as to why Jenna belived being blind was preferable to what Toby was doing,surely blindness is just as bad(then again I've never been in that sort of situation so I can't really talk)?

** 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.

* 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 eaiser, so why the whole scheme with Courtney and the firecracker?