The final reveal of Pretty Little Liars and the identity of the mysterious A.D. was a huge surprise to a lot of fans. While just about everyone who watched had their theories about who the leader of the A-Team might have been and whether or not it was someone we already knew, not a lot of people saw this big twist coming. Considering the fact that the entire show was full of so many twists and turns, it was only fitting that the identity of A.D. was something that no one could have predicted.
Throughout the course of the series, fans online had a lot of different theories about who might have been leading the A-Team. One of the most popular theories was that it was Aria Montgomery, one of the Liars. There was a lot of evidence to back this theory up and people really believed that this could have been the twist that the show was building up to.
To see 5 reasons Aria should have been the leader of the A-Team and 5 that Alex Drake was perfect, keep reading!
Should’ve Been Aria: Hanna Was Targeted
Although all the Liars had it bad throughout the series and were on the wrong end of the A-Team’s tormenting at different points in the series, there were definitely a few that had it worse. Throughout the course of the show, so many bad things happened to Hanna, and a lot of them were worse than the other Liars got.
Although this could be explained by Mona being one of the members of the A-Team and having a close relationship with Hanna, it’s still a little strange. Considering Alex didn’t know Hanna, why have so many schemes target her? The leader being someone close to Hanna, like Aria, would make so much more sense.
Alex Was Perfect: Spencer’s Family Drama
Drama with the A-Team isn’t the only thing that Pretty Little Liars showed. There was also a whole bunch of drama with the characters’ families and the people around them. When it came to family drama, no one could beat what Spencer went through.
The fact that A.D. turned out to be Spencer’s secret, vengeful twin sister, really tied together all of Spencer’s family drama. The fact that Spencer was adopted and was born out of a serious scandal was a huge reveal in the series. Her having a twin sister that she never knew about that had been adopted by a separate family brought all of her family drama together.
Should’ve Been Aria: The Black Swan Dress
In the season finale of the second season of Pretty Little Liars, the Liars attended a masquerade dance, and each of them wore a gorgeous dress and matching mask. When you look at all the Liars together in their masquerade dresses, Aria’s definitely stands out.
In that same episode, Spencer finds sketches of a Black Swan costume in A’s lair, and then the Liars spot someone wearing the same costume at the ball. It turns out that it was Melissa who was blackmailed by “A” into wearing the costume. Dedicated Pretty Little Liars fans noticed that Aria’s dress had a striking resemblance to an alternate version of the poster for the movie Black Swan.
Alex Was Perfect: It Was A Unique Twin Twist
In the novel series, Alison had a twin sister who stole Alison’s life, leaving the real Alison bitter and out for revenge. There were a lot of tiny clues throughout the series that Alison might have a twin in the show, but the writers insisted that the show would not be following the same twist that the books had.
But, there was a twin twist in the TV series - just not Alison’s. Although Alex Drake may have been a seemingly random twist, this was a pretty unique way to keep the secret, vengeful twin in the series without following exactly what the books did with Alison’s twin sister.
Should’ve Been Aria: Mona’s Season 2 Clue
With seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars, it can be hard to remember every little thing that happened in the earlier seasons. But, there’s one scene from the second season that not many fans have managed to forget about.
Mona was on the A-Team at this point, which really draws in the attention of the fans. In the school hallways, we see Aria walking, and Mona runs up behind her. Mona calls out to get Aria’s attention by yelling, “Hey, Big A!” and while “Big A” could be a simple nickname, it was also the name given to the leader of the A-Team at that point in the series.
Alex Was Perfect: Aria Wouldn’t Endanger Her Friends
Although the messages that the Liars got started out as harmless threats to reveal their secrets, they started to get pretty dangerous. The A-Team often put the Liars in physical danger and they even threatened their family and friends’ lives and reputations at different times.
It’s hard to deny that we loved to see that drama play out on the series, but we also have to admit that it wouldn’t have made too much sense for Aria to be on the A-Team in that case. While Aria did seem pretty questionable at different points, she also didn’t seem like the type to endanger those close to her like that.
Should’ve Been Aria: Alex Came Out Of Nowhere
One of the most fun parts of watching Pretty Little Liars was definitely seeing all the crazy twists and turns. Things we could never have expected or seen coming would happen regularly on the show, and that was a lot of fun to experience and see!
But, sometimes the show went a little too far. There were some things that happened that were just never explained and other things that seemed to just come out of nowhere with no real explanation behind them. The Alex Drake twist was a lot of fun to see and definitely unexpected, but the lack of clues throughout the series made it feel somewhat random.
Alex Was Perfect: Aria Was Obvious
There were a lot of theories about who “A” might have been throughout the series. Some of the red herrings that made us suspect different characters throughout the series were explained, and as it turned out, they weren’t that sketchy after all.
But, there were so many things that made it seem like Aria had to be “A” that it started to seem like the obvious twist. So many fans suspected it, and it was among the most popular theories around Tumblr, Twitter, and the rest of the Internet. Because of this, there’s no way that the writers would have used that twist.
Should’ve Been Aria: A’s Selfish Stunts
Some of the things that the A-Team did, especially with regards to Aria, were kind of selfish. These things made it seem like it would have made perfect sense for Aria to have been behind them.
For instance, Aria knew about her dad’s affair and chose to never tell her mom. Instead, “A” broke the news to her, saving Aria from that awkward conversation. And when Aria found out about Ezra’s son but refused to tell him? The A-Team was there, threatening to take care of it for her.
Alex Was Perfect: It Ended The Show On A Twist
Despite the fact that Alex Drake’s existence may not have been the greatest plot twist of the decade, it was still a huge and unexpected one. What would be a better fit for the ending of a series like Pretty Little Liars?
The whole show was plot twist after plot twist. Alison’s fate, each member of the A-Team, and all the other major reveals and surprises throughout the series were just building up to this major plot twist. Alex Drake being A.D. was the best and most surprising way to end the series.
Next: Pretty Little Liars: 10 Worst Things Alison Ever Did
