Pretty Little Liars predictions, take two
Mar. 24th, 2015 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12So, the last time the show revealed A, I predicted it would be Byron Montgomery and it turned out to be Mona Vanderwaal. I’m just saying that I’m not very good at this, so take my prediction with a massive spoonful of salt.
Nevertheless, I like to post my predictions publicly so that I have a record of them to refer back to. As such, I have come to the conclusion that Caleb Rivers is A.
My reasons:
-He absolutely has the technical ability to carry out all the hacking that A does; the Liars have frequently come to him for help in such matters and he’s shown himself to be perceptive and quick at any hacking, decrypting, etc.
-Likewise, he’s good at hiding, finding hidden spaces in public areas and so on.
-It appears to me that he keeps maneouvring Hanna into situations which further incriminate her for Mona’s murder, particularly all the business with the storage unit.
-In a similar vein, there was a point at which Aria came to him for help accessing some encrypted files or the like on A’s computer (?) and almost immediately after she left, she was attacked by A in Ezra’s coffee shop, restrained, and the laptop was stolen.
-Caleb was the one who urged Hanna to go to the police with evidence of A’s stalking and abuse, at which point all the Liars’ texts from A were deleted from their phones.
-Caleb showing up at the cabin when Ezra was trying to get Mike out of town was really suspious. How did he know they’d be there? Was his argument with Ezra calculated to get Mike to slip out? Was he working with Andrew (who is pretty obviously the mystery arrow-shooter) to herd Mike (and then Ezra) into a particular area, so that things unfolded as they did?
-I’m pretty sure it’s been Caleb in the black hoodie in every closing shot of A, although I wouldn’t swear to it. I made a point of casting my mind back to all those closing scenes and as far as I can tell, Caleb was never placed anywhere else at that point (whereas all the Liars generally are).
-Spencer’s line several episodes ago about Caleb being ‘essence of best boyfriend’ struck me as being rather bitter foreshadowing of just how wrong she was. Spencer loves to be right. She has a deep need to understand, to know everything, to put the pieces together: without this she feels unsafe and out of control. The show loves to torment her with how wrong she is.
Against Caleb being A:
-I can’t really work out what his motivation would be. He’s always seemed to adore Hanna and like the other Liars, and whereas Mona being A made loads of sense and a lot of things click into place, Caleb doesn’t seem to have any reason to be A.
-If he is A, how does Ravenswood (which I didn’t watch) fit in with all that?
I don’t really want Caleb to be A, because, as I’ve said before, his and Hanna’s is the only positive romantic relationship on the show, and I’d hate for it to have been a lie. If it had to be one of the Liars’ partners, I’d have prefered it to be Toby, whose behaviour towards Spencer has always struck me as fairly manipulative and controlling (likewise, Ezra).
In terms of the popular fan theory that Aria is A, I can see where it’s coming from (and the fact that apparently Lucy Hale is the only Liar actor who doesn’t know the identity of A also suggests Aria is A), and a lot of the ‘evidence’ for Caleb being A could equally apply to her (convincing Ezra to take Mike out of town, a lot of decisions she’s made, ostensibly to protect Mike may actually have been attempts to push the other Liars in certain directions, ‘losing’ Ali/Cece in the Christmas episode, ‘losing’ the laptop). That being said, the fanon that Aria suffers less at the hands of A is simply not true: she’s been in just as many life-threatening situations as the other three Liars, including in this season.
I would be extremely disappointed if Aria was revealed to be A, as I think having any of the Liars be A undermines and makes a mockery of the show’s core themes and narrative. The show’s emotional weight rests in the truth and resonance of the strong friendship between the four Liars, the love and trust they have for each other, and the way they support and strengthen each other in the face of appalling abuse, stalking, bullying and manipulation, and a world which ignores, diminishes or dismisses those things. This show is a celebration of female friendship — specifically that of teenage girls - and to reveal one friend as the source of the others’ torment and terror would be a betrayal of the very thing that makes Pretty Little Liars powerful. I would still watch, but I would be disappointed.
Nevertheless, I like to post my predictions publicly so that I have a record of them to refer back to. As such, I have come to the conclusion that Caleb Rivers is A.
My reasons:
-He absolutely has the technical ability to carry out all the hacking that A does; the Liars have frequently come to him for help in such matters and he’s shown himself to be perceptive and quick at any hacking, decrypting, etc.
-Likewise, he’s good at hiding, finding hidden spaces in public areas and so on.
-It appears to me that he keeps maneouvring Hanna into situations which further incriminate her for Mona’s murder, particularly all the business with the storage unit.
-In a similar vein, there was a point at which Aria came to him for help accessing some encrypted files or the like on A’s computer (?) and almost immediately after she left, she was attacked by A in Ezra’s coffee shop, restrained, and the laptop was stolen.
-Caleb was the one who urged Hanna to go to the police with evidence of A’s stalking and abuse, at which point all the Liars’ texts from A were deleted from their phones.
-Caleb showing up at the cabin when Ezra was trying to get Mike out of town was really suspious. How did he know they’d be there? Was his argument with Ezra calculated to get Mike to slip out? Was he working with Andrew (who is pretty obviously the mystery arrow-shooter) to herd Mike (and then Ezra) into a particular area, so that things unfolded as they did?
-I’m pretty sure it’s been Caleb in the black hoodie in every closing shot of A, although I wouldn’t swear to it. I made a point of casting my mind back to all those closing scenes and as far as I can tell, Caleb was never placed anywhere else at that point (whereas all the Liars generally are).
-Spencer’s line several episodes ago about Caleb being ‘essence of best boyfriend’ struck me as being rather bitter foreshadowing of just how wrong she was. Spencer loves to be right. She has a deep need to understand, to know everything, to put the pieces together: without this she feels unsafe and out of control. The show loves to torment her with how wrong she is.
Against Caleb being A:
-I can’t really work out what his motivation would be. He’s always seemed to adore Hanna and like the other Liars, and whereas Mona being A made loads of sense and a lot of things click into place, Caleb doesn’t seem to have any reason to be A.
-If he is A, how does Ravenswood (which I didn’t watch) fit in with all that?
I don’t really want Caleb to be A, because, as I’ve said before, his and Hanna’s is the only positive romantic relationship on the show, and I’d hate for it to have been a lie. If it had to be one of the Liars’ partners, I’d have prefered it to be Toby, whose behaviour towards Spencer has always struck me as fairly manipulative and controlling (likewise, Ezra).
In terms of the popular fan theory that Aria is A, I can see where it’s coming from (and the fact that apparently Lucy Hale is the only Liar actor who doesn’t know the identity of A also suggests Aria is A), and a lot of the ‘evidence’ for Caleb being A could equally apply to her (convincing Ezra to take Mike out of town, a lot of decisions she’s made, ostensibly to protect Mike may actually have been attempts to push the other Liars in certain directions, ‘losing’ Ali/Cece in the Christmas episode, ‘losing’ the laptop). That being said, the fanon that Aria suffers less at the hands of A is simply not true: she’s been in just as many life-threatening situations as the other three Liars, including in this season.
I would be extremely disappointed if Aria was revealed to be A, as I think having any of the Liars be A undermines and makes a mockery of the show’s core themes and narrative. The show’s emotional weight rests in the truth and resonance of the strong friendship between the four Liars, the love and trust they have for each other, and the way they support and strengthen each other in the face of appalling abuse, stalking, bullying and manipulation, and a world which ignores, diminishes or dismisses those things. This show is a celebration of female friendship — specifically that of teenage girls - and to reveal one friend as the source of the others’ torment and terror would be a betrayal of the very thing that makes Pretty Little Liars powerful. I would still watch, but I would be disappointed.
