ABC Family/Eric McCandlessNow that the who is settled, it's time to get to the why of it all.
After five seasons, Pretty Little Liars finally provided fans with the answer to one of TV's biggest mysteries, revealing Big "A"'s name in the season five finale: Charles!
Of course, there's so much more to the story, and PLL boss Marlene King assured that answers are coming, and fast, when the show returns for its sixth season in the summer. Charles will be "unmasked" within the new season's first 10 episodes, King promises, exclusively telling E! News, "The Liars will be graduating. They will be putting this episode of Pretty Little Liars to bed."
And King revealed to us that a lot of fans have already correctly guessed Charles' backstory, saying, "Many are getting very, very close to figuring out the how and the why of it all. I've seen some very close theories online lately."
So we decided to round up some of our favorite theories left in the comments of several Pretty Little Liars' posts, from the crazy-good (Seriously, have y'all considered writing for TV?!) to the hilariously insane. (Note: we didn't fix ya typos. We're not commenters!)
9. How dare you!
The message: misswv6Yesterday: "Charles is Caleb. Now that would be the shocker of a lifetime."
Our take: After taking several minutes to calm down, can we just say HOW DARE YOU?! Listen, after everything he's done for Hanna and the girls this season, we'd put a ring on Caleb's beautiful, hack-savvy finger so fast he'd need a splint.
8. The forgotten hottie
The message: Notoriousreign on ONTD: "No Noel?? So rude."
Our take: We agree! (Also, miss your face and abs, Noel.)
7. Twinning part 1
The message: pllruinedme: "Backup theory: Charles could be Bethany's twin or a child of YET ANOTHER affair... close your legs Jessica Dilaruentis. (SP)"
Our take: LOL at that last part, but also, you do you, Jessica! Here's hoping you're getting lots of action in the after-life. But also, we do think the twin theory will come into play on the show, probably not with Bethany though.
6. Andrew, you're too new
The messages:
Amanda Henderson: "I think andrew is a he looks like jason he just started in these episodes and he just looks very suspicious."
Tasha: "My Theory is that Charles is Andrew Cambell because he was listening in on Melissa n her mom conversation...I think he doing the stuff he doing out of revenage bc he was give up for adoption."
Our take: While Andrew is pretty shady, was he introduced too late in the game to be big "A"? And come on, Amanda, give us some evidence.
5. Twinning part 2
The message: Pantless_deacon on ONTD: "Andrew's last name is Campbell. It's Campbell's farm. The Woman in the clip is Jessica D's Twin.The baby is Bethany. Andrew or Charles is after the girls to find out who killed his Sister."
Our take: So many twins, so little time. (Pause for a moment of silence for the Olsen twins' way-too-short-lived ABC Family series So Little Time.) Making Alison's mom the twin would be a good twist, but not sure about the motivation here.
4. He's been dead this whole time!
The message: Cupcake: "Has anyone considered that Jason has been dead for quite some time now? If we theorize that Jason and Charles are identical twins and that A has systematically been killing off anyone who knew Jason closely from his high school years then its possible that Jason has been dead since before season one. They painted Jason as a drug addict/alcoholic in his early years and yet magically he has only ever struggled with it once or twice in the series (most of which happened off screen.) If Charles killed Jason in high school then it would make sense for him to eliminate anyone who could identify that his actions, personality, and mannerisms changed. This would also confirm King's comments that we've known A since the first season and that its someone we're familiar with. Due to A's obsession with Prom its likely that he either missed it or killed Jason during/around their senior prom."
Our take: Whoa, just whoa. Poor Jason, if this one turns out to be true.
3. Twinning part 3
The messages:
Sarah Mitchell: "Charles is Jason's twin! So therefore, it's Ali's older, hidden brother. and Spencer's other half brother. It's not a secret really who Charles is, it's very, just put the pieces together. Charles was hidden and met Mona at Radley, that's when he took over being A after Mona. He could no longer be protected and that's why in another episode you hear Ali's mom saying she can no longer protect whoever she was talking too/about. It was Charles."
Kcpavlik: Charles is either identical or fraternal, it's not clarified which one yet. If he's identical, then he has been pretending to be Jason. If he's identical then I think he may be Andrew. Charles has a thing for dolls and dollhouse which stems from his desire to be a girl. I think he always wanted to be a girl, but wasn't allowed to so he become obsessively jealous of Ali. His parents then placed him in Radley and he continued to dress up and pretend to be Ali and then he escaped and wanted to get revenge on Ali and those close to her. I can't figured out how the girls didn't know about him, but those who really knew about him were murdered. Also if Charles and Jason are identical, then Andrew is helping Charles.
Our take: The rational part of our brain is telling us that Charles being Jason's twin is the best theory. But when has PLL ever been rational?! (And we love that about it.) And is it too obvious at this point, if this is the number one theory out there?
2. Revenge of the nerd
The message: Rachel Burton: "Marlene said she wanted fans to be able to piece things together. Yes, the blocks spelt out "Charles" and Mona's anagram in her book was "Charles Dilaurentis" but also "Nerd Lucas is the Liar". Lucas is Charles. Just a brother to Alison and Jason. Growing up Lucas/Charles either wanted to be like Alison or wanted to be a girl... which would explain 1. Mrs. D buying the two dresses (possibly) 2. His obsession with dolls/dollhouse 3. Why Alison hated Lucas so much, and him her. 4. Why Alison always called Lucas "hermy" and "Hermaphrodite" 5. Why he is making the girls act out prom, remember back at homecoming? He only went to photograph the event. Lucas is Charles, was shunned by the DiLaurentis family, and was who Mrs. D could no longer protect. **TO CLARIFY THE TWIN THEORY, THEY NEVER MENTIONED THAT CHARLES WAS A TWIN*"
Also: Check out this well-thought out (seriously, we don't think we've ever worked this hard on anything in our lives) theory posted on Tumblr. Warning: you will get chills. This is some Carrie Mathison-level investigating, y'all.
Our take: So crazy, so good, so creepy, so very PLL.
1. XOXO
The message: Our own! OK, ready for this? We think Charles is...Gossip Girl's Dan Humphrey, because it makes more sense for Lonely Boy to be Big "A" than it ever did for him to be Gossip Girl.