'Pretty Little Liars' Finale: Transgender Shocker, "A" Revealed
Ava Bailey [Warning: This story contains spoilers from Tuesday’s summer finale of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars.]
After more than five years and innumerable twists and surprises, Pretty Little Liars has once and for all revealed the identity behind the show’s mystery villain “A” in its season-six summer finale.
The episode revealed that “A” — who has been stalking and violently tormenting the Liars for the duration of the series — is Charles Dilaurentis, who is a transgender woman going by the name Charlotte. When Charlotte introduced herself to the Liars, she changed her name to CeCe Drake (Vanessa Ray).
Read more ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Creator, Star on Finale’s “Dead People,” “Absolute Closure” in “A” Reveal
CeCe explains that her father never allowed her to live the life she wanted, and he sent her to Radley to not have to deal with her. CeCe’s mom would bring her sister Ali’s (Sasha Pieterse) old clothes for her to wear and enrolled her in high school, where she met her brother Jason (Drew Van Acker), who did not recognize her. CeCe and Jason started dating, and when Jason brought CeCe home to meet his father — and CeCe’s father — Mr. Dilaurentis didn’t recognize CeCe either.
The Liars learned all about CeCe’s story as they watched a live stream of her conversation with Ali. The girls then chased CeCe to a rooftop, where she threatened to jump before finally turning herself in. Emily (Shay Mitchell) also learned that Sara Harvey (Dre Davis), her girlfriend, had been teaming up with CeCe as Red Coat and Black Swan.
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Pretty Little Liars has always been focused on the main characters learning the identity of “A,” but the show ended the episode by setting a new storyline in motion. The series jumped ahead five years, where Ali is now a teacher named Mrs. Rollins. The Liars burst into Ali’s classroom and revealed that someone is after her.
Pretty Little Liars will return for the second half of season six in 2016, and it has been renewed for a seventh season, so the new mystery will presumably become its primary focus as the girls leave high school behind. It was not immediately clear where the other girls have been living since high school or whether they have remained close.
What did you think of the reveal and the show’s choice of a transgender character? What do you think is happening to the girls in the time jump? Let us know in the comments.
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