Guess who’s back, bitches?
On Tuesday, June 21, Season 7 of Pretty Little Liars and more importantly, A, the world’s biggest creep, returns to Freeform. This has long been rumored to be the show’s final season, one that actress Lucy Hale dubbed “the end of PLL as we know it.” Since the show so far has been marred with irrational plot twists, a severe lack of character development, and continuity errors, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Writer and executive producer Marlene King has promised this season will contain “the biggest body count we’ve ever had” …which is nice, we suppose? Safe to say, the fans would rather have answers than dead bodies, and it’s not uncommon for King to produce more questions in the end:
What I said was “This Uber A story that starts on January 12 will end when season 7 ends.” I did not say PLL will end. Just sayin 4 real.
— I. Marlene King (@imarleneking) December 23, 2015
After nearly seven years, we may have to say goodbye to The Liars. To celebrate the end of a truly tumultuous era, let’s look back on what started it all: creepy messages from A. From that first foreboding group text, to all the times that made us go, “Seriously?” — we’re showing you seven messages from A that made our skin crawl.
“I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything.”
Ahh, the pilot episode that started a national obsession. The series premiere gave us just a taste of what was to come: small-town drama, intrigue, and the fashion sensibilities of a one Aria Montgomery.
Here we see the Liars after the funeral of their friend Alison DiLaurentis. All four of their phones buzz and they realize they’ve received the same mysterious text message. Already our minds are pregnant with questions! Who is A? What does A want? How do the girls all know to start reading aloud at the same time?
“Dead girls can’t smile.”
While sitting in her high school English class, Emily Fields reaches for something in her bag. What she ends up grabbing isn’t a pencil. It’s a necklace, one that’s been presumably planted by A. The DIY project has been adorned with human teeth, along with the phrase “DEAD GIRLS CAN’T SMILE.” Looks like A had a little too much fun in summer camp.
“Nosey bitches die.”
Dr. Anne Sullivan, the therapist hired by the Liars’ families, comes close to uncovering their deepest darkests in Season 2. Somehow, A finds out about their sessions and breaks into Anne’s office to leave her a creepy message (in all-caps, no less). It’s too bad, because at this point in the story, Dr. Sullivan is the only rational adult who is willing to help the girls.
“I told you: Dead girls can’t smile. Stop looking.”
Keeping up with the human teeth motif: In the episode Bite Your Tongue, Hanna is at the dentist where she is drugged by A and left with a gruesome surprise. Since the Liars can’t stop/won’t stop, they find a note that A typed out for them, hidden inside of Hanna’s mouth.
“Sorry about losing my temper. My bad. Love, -A”
Poor bb Hanna. After getting hit by a car on the night of Mona’s party, Hanna is visited by the Liars while she recovers in the hospital. Hanna concedes that she wasn’t able to see who was driving the car; all she knows is that the person was wearing a black hoodie. The girls exchange theories about A’s identity when they discover this super creepy note written on Hanna’s cast. A is always one step ahead of them.
“It’s my turn to torture you.”
Before she goes missing, Alison gets some pretty scary messages from A. In a flashback scene from The First Secret, a package addressed to Alison is left on the DiLaurentis’ porch. She opens it to find a voodoo doll with the above message pinned to its head. Visibly shaken, Alison hides the note and doll in various places in her room. This flashback hints that Alison couldn’t be A; something Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily find out much later.
“Maybe he fools around with students all of the time…”
We first encounter Ezra Fitz, Aria’s teacher-cum-boyfriend, in a bar just outside of town. The two end up making out in the bathroom. Neither realize how old the other person is — Aria is a sophomore in high school; Ezra is in his early twenties. (Which we realize is quite problematic! And yet we continue to watch.) The following Monday, Aria learns that Ezra is her new English teacher.
She immediately receives the above text message, which means that not only does A know Aria and Ezra hooked up in a bar, A also knows about Aria’s secret regarding her father’s infidelity, and is there the exact moment when Aria finds out that Ezra is her teacher. This is where we start to think: Should A stop focusing on petty drama and start working for the C.I.A.?
Catch every new creepy message on Pretty Little Liars starting Tuesday, June 21 8pm.