u/DimensionInner8376

This is why season 3 is probably my favorite! Guys, watching these two GOATs constantly go at each other with verbal attacks, threats, counter-moves, manipulation and little jabs was pure entertainment to me. This entire rivalry strengthened both of them SO much from a narrative standpoint, because Spencer and Mona are both incredibly clever, competitive and manipulative characters, but they use those qualities in completely different ways. And most importantly, they both have that darker side that makes every confrontation between them so much more interesting.

I honestly think there was already something going on between them long before Mona was revealed as A, but obviously everything completely escalated after the reveal. And then Toby being revealed as a member of the A-Team raised the stakes even more for Spencer. Spencer had clearly gotten the upper hand over Mona at the end of season 2, but in season 3 the whole situation completely flips when Spencer discovers Toby’s betrayal. She’s already psychologically falling apart, and Mona, instead of leaving her alone, basically keeps ragebaiting her every chance she gets. The Decathlon is one of the best examples: Mona joins the team after Brad’s accident, competes directly with Spencer for captain, and even manages to beat her in the final quiz.

And the best part is that Mona doesn’t just want to win: she knows Spencer is already at her breaking point and keeps pushing exactly where it hurts. At one point Mona even contacts Wren because she’s worried about Spencer’s mental state, and Wren ends up bringing her to the Decathlon meeting. That’s where Spencer and Mona have one of their usual verbal confrontations, Mona keeps provoking her, and Spencer eventually completely loses control and actually tries to strangle her in front of everyone!

And from there, things get even crazier. Mona wasn’t done yet: Toby’s fake death and everything that follows contribute to Spencer’s complete breakdown, and she ends up in Radley. And THIS is where I think there was a HUGE opportunity to continue their rivalry. Spencer could’ve come out of Radley even more determined to get revenge on Mona, instead of turning her entire arc into yet another “Toby did it to protect you 🥺” storyline. Mona, meanwhile, keeps trying to manipulate her and even offers her a chance to come back to the A-Team, telling her that she needs her.

And that’s exactly why I think a Spencer who had genuinely continued down the path of revenge could’ve become SO interesting. When Spencer tells Mona that “this isn’t a game anymore,” the meaning was pretty damn clear to me: at that point, this wasn’t just about figuring out who A was anymore. It had become personal. Spencer didn’t just want to stop Mona anymore. She wanted to destroy her. And I honestly think a Spencer like that could’ve become one of the most dangerous players in the entire show.

I would’ve LOVED to see the two of them continue to orbit around the A-Team as occasional allies but sworn enemies, maybe being forced to work together whenever it benefited both of them, only to be ready to stab each other in the back five minutes later. And most importantly, I would’ve loved to see what happened if they actually declared open war on each other.

The crazy thing is that the show had already built basically everything: the rivalry, Toby’s betrayal, Spencer’s breakdown, Radley, the A-Team, Mona’s manipulation, and even the fact that Mona saw enough of herself in Spencer to actually want her on her side. As the series went on, Mona even started adopting some of Spencer’s traits, from the way she dressed to her more academic attitude, and she eventually openly said that she admired and respected Spencer.

So yeah, maybe I’m just way too invested in two characters staring each other down for three minutes, but Spencer vs. Mona is genuinely one of my favorite subplots in the entire show. They had two characters who could’ve literally destroyed each other psychologically, and instead, right when things were getting REALLY interesting, the writers started moving everything in a completely different direction.

What do you guys think would’ve happened if Spencer had actually continued down the path of revenge? If she and Mona had openly declared war on each other, who do you think would’ve won? Mona is strong and dangerous, but I still think a Spencer with absolutely no moral brakes left, completely determined to get revenge, would’ve been a fucking nightmare for her!

I need to do a big rant about how badly the writers wasted both Spencer’s A-Team storyline at the end of season 3 and Ezra A in season 4, because the more I think about them, the more I realize how much these two storylines could have completely changed the show. I’m not talking about “twists that would’ve been cooler” either. They could’ve raised the stakes in a way PLL rarely had the guts to do, especially because they would’ve had huge, permanent consequences for the characters.

Starting with Spencer: I actually like the idea of Toby being in the A-Team. The problem was never the premise, it was what they did with it afterward. Betrayal by Toby, Radley, the drugs, working with Mona, joining the A-Team… all of that could’ve been the beginning of a much darker Spencer, especially if they had connected her to Bethany too. I would’ve made Spencer genuinely responsible for Bethany’s death by accident while she was under the influence of the drugs, with Melissa later covering everything up. Suddenly her breakdown, her obsession with Alison and her involvement in the A game would’ve had a completely different weight. Spencer could’ve become a victim, investigator, accomplice and potential threat all at once. THAT would’ve been a massive character arc.

And then Ezra. This is where I think they wasted one of the best candidates they ever had for A. Season 4 practically screams that Ezra could be A: the lair, the cameras, the files on the Liars, Alison, his suspicious behavior, all the information he somehow has… and then we find out he was just writing a fucking book. WTF? 😭 Ezra A would’ve been so much more than just a twist. It would’ve completely changed Aria and finally connected her storyline to the main mystery. And if they had connected him to the N.A.T. Club too, maybe making him part of that network of information and videos about Alison long before he ever met Aria, it would’ve been even crazier. Suddenly dozens of previous scenes could’ve had a completely different meaning.

And honestly, Ezra would’ve been basically a 10/10 character for me on a narrative level. Not because he would’ve been a “cool villain,” but because he would’ve had such a massive function in the story. He would’ve been Aria’s boyfriend, an apparently harmless person, a manipulator and someone directly connected to the Alison mystery all at once. Aria finally would’ve had a storyline that actually put her at the center of the main mystery instead of gradually reducing her to Ezra’s girlfriend.

The thing that drives me insane is that, literally, with BOTH of these storylines, I couldn’t get off the couch. I genuinely needed to know where Spencer and Ezra were going. And instead, one ends with a ridiculously cheesy and completely inappropriate Spencer/Toby reconciliation, while the other ends with a predatory stalker who had been spying on a minor supposedly doing all of this “for love” and to write a fucking book. Like… WHAT THE FUCK? 😭

And this is where I think the fan service comes in. “NOOO, YOU’RE RUINING SPENCER!” “I WANT EZRIA BACK!” Bro, maybe they were finally doing something interesting with these characters. Spencer becoming darker didn’t mean they were ruining her. Ezra being A wouldn’t have ruined Aria either. It would’ve completely changed her character and her role in the story. They could’ve actually explored the consequences instead of immediately resetting everything because certain couples had to get back together.

And for me, this was literally one of the beginnings of the show’s decline. That’s when my expectations started getting lower, because I realized PLL could build these massive storylines and then abandon them right when they were finally becoming genuinely interesting. I don’t care if the direction would’ve been different from what I personally wanted: if the writers had actually followed through with these ideas and made them coherent, I would’ve been completely on board.

THIS is character development. THIS is actually raising the stakes. This is what I want from Pretty Little Liars. Not couples magically reconciling through the power of love after things happened that should’ve completely changed everything.

Guys, I don’t give a fuck: if they had actually continued both of these darker arcs all the way through, Spencer and Ezra would automatically be among the best characters in the entire show from a narrative standpoint. I wouldn’t have needed more twists, more secret twins or another completely new A. They already had enough material to create two of the best character arcs in the entire series.

This is literally ragebait at the highest level.

Honestly, I wish Aria had stayed single for the rest of the series.

I would’ve loved for Ezra to actually be A in season 4 and then have him die in New York. That would’ve completely changed Aria’s character and finally forced her to move on instead of constantly going back to the same relationship.

With characters like Holden or Jason, I would’ve much rather seen her stay friends with them. Not every guy Aria had chemistry with needed to become another romance storyline. Aria being single could’ve been a huge step for her character. She could’ve finally focused on her career, her friendships and figuring out who she was outside of a relationship.

And more importantly, it would’ve given the writers room to explore actual storylines around HER. Her connection to Alison, Radley, her family secrets, or even something much darker involving A. There was so much potential to make Aria feel mysterious and unpredictable instead of constantly giving her another romantic storyline.

I would’ve loved a version of Aria where you genuinely started questioning what she was hiding and how much she actually knew about Alison, Radley and the A game. That would’ve been way more interesting to me than another relationship.

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but the whole “three blondes” concept is one of those things PLL had right in front of it and somehow never fully used. Alison, CeCe and Hanna could have been such an interesting parallel, and the “three faces” idea fits them perfectly. Three blondes, three different personalities and stories, but all connected through the same image.

Mona is probably the biggest reason I think this concept actually had something behind it. She was obviously obsessed with Alison, but after Alison disappeared, she constantly compared Hanna to her and started seeing Hanna through Alison. The show also played with the idea of Hanna and Alison being mistaken for each other. Then you have CeCe, who is connected to Alison and her image in a completely different way. So you have Alison as the original image, CeCe as another version of that image, and Hanna as someone who gradually becomes her own version of it. Mona being connected to all three makes the parallel even more interesting.

And this is exactly why I've always thought Hanna being the third Red Coat was such a wasted opportunity. Hanna was already one of the best characters in the show, and adding Red Coat to her story could've taken her arc to another planet. She didn't need to secretly be A or become a villain. She could've had her own reason for using the Red Coat identity, while Alison and CeCe represented completely different sides of the same symbol.

That's what makes the Three Blondes concept so interesting to me. It's not just “three blonde characters.” It's three different reflections of the same image, with completely different motivations and personalities. PLL had the pieces for something really cool here and just never fully committed to it. And if Hanna had actually been the third Red Coat... yeah, I would've eaten that shit up.

Do you guys see the Three Blondes concept as a huge missed opportunity too?

For me, definitely Aria and Jenna. They already had this really interesting tension between them, especially in that pottery scene in 2x03. The whole scene is so uncomfortable because Aria is talking to Jenna while knowing everything that happened between her and Alison, and then Jenna recognizes Aria’s voice and the whole vibe completely changes. I always felt like that could’ve been the starting point for something much bigger.

I would've loved to see that tension slowly turn into an actual friendship and genuine bond over time. Not immediately, obviously, but maybe Aria slowly realizing that there was more to Jenna than what she and the other Liars thought, while Jenna gradually started trusting Aria. Considering everything they both went through because of Alison, I think there was actually a lot they could've connected over.

Instead, the writers basically never did anything with it, which is such a shame because I genuinely think Aria and Jenna could've had one of the most interesting friendships in the show.

What’s a duo you wish PLL had actually developed into a real friendship?

This is connected to my theory about the original plan of the show, where MelissA (Black Widow) and CeCe (Red Coat) were the real masterminds behind the murders, blackmail and cover-ups that had been poisoning Rosewood for years.

Personally, I think there was WAY more narrative potential behind Jenna and Noel than just making them another filler romance. Obviously the writers never explained their situation properly, but I think they could have played a much bigger role throughout season 3. What I loved about them was how ambiguous they were. You never really knew how much they knew, who they were protecting or which side they were actually on, and that could have been connected to the whole Maya storyline. My theory is that Maya knew Alison was alive and that someone was hunting her because of what she knew. Nate was obviously Maya's stalker, but I think he could have also been working with A in some way. I also think Maya, Jenna and Noel had a much deeper connection than the show ever showed us, and that Jenna and Noel were giving Maya a place to hide at the cabin because they were trying to protect her.

We already know Jenna was afraid of someone, and in my theory Melissa and CeCe were threatening and blackmailing her because of everything she knew about Maya, the NAT Club, that night, the cemetery and Alison's body. So I think Noel could have been dragged into the same situation because of his connection to both Jenna and Maya. He could have become another target of Melissa and CeCe while they were trying to eliminate the loose ends connected to the NAT Club and cover up their own involvement. Again, this is obviously just my interpretation, but I think it would explain why Jenna and Noel always felt so strangely connected to the bigger mystery without the show ever really explaining why.

And honestly, even just as a couple, I found them way more interesting than people give them credit for. They didn't last that long, but I genuinely felt more chemistry between Jenna and Noel than between a lot of the Liars and their partners during the later seasons. They had an actual dynamic and, more importantly, there was always this feeling that something else was going on underneath their relationship. It's such a shame that the writers eventually reduced both of them to cartoonish villains instead of developing that ambiguity. Noel's death in particular felt incredibly stupid to me, like the writers simply didn't know what else to do with him anymore.

I know people always say “PLL should’ve just followed the books”, but honestly bro, I completely disagree. I actually LOVE that the show went in its own direction. The problem wasn’t that it became different from the books. The problem was that the show created its own mythology with SO much potential and then kept fucking around with it.

Like, look at the ideas this show came up with. Red Coat. The NAT Club. Radley. Spencer at Radley. Maya’s death. The Dollhouse. Cape May. CeCe/Charlotte. There was genuinely enough material here to build one insane seven-season mystery. And that’s what kills me. Most of these ideas weren’t bad at all. Some of them were GREAT. They just kept getting introduced, developed halfway, changed, abandoned and replaced by another mystery. What the fuck was the point of building all these huge storylines if you weren’t going to actually follow through with them?

Imagine if the NAT Club had been the backbone of the entire show. Alison, Jason, Ian, Garrett, Jenna, Wilden, the cameras, the blackmail, all the secrets surrounding Rosewood… you could connect SO many things through that one storyline. Same with Red Coat and Radley. Instead of constantly changing who knew what and who was behind what, you could have had this huge mystery slowly coming together over seven seasons. And the characters could’ve actually changed because of it. Spencer becoming darker and learning how to manipulate A, infiltrating the other side, playing the game herself, getting revenge and eventually hitting A where it actually hurts? Bro. That could’ve been INSANE. Hanna as the third Red Coat? I’m still obsessed with the three blondes idea. Emily could’ve had an actual long-term arc instead of slowly getting pushed away from the main story. Aria could’ve had her own identity outside of Ezra. Melissa, Jason, Jenna, Lucas, Noel, Wren, Wilden, Garrett… all these characters had something going for them and then the show would basically go “okay, bye” until it needed them again. Toby and Caleb are probably two of the clearest examples. Both had so much potential and eventually became way too defined by Spencer/Hanna.

And honestly, this is where the “PLL had too many characters” argument doesn’t really work for me. The problem wasn’t the number of characters. The problem was that the show stopped knowing what to do with them. Someone would be suspicious, get involved in a mystery, become a red herring, disappear for ten episodes and then randomly come back because the writers needed another twist. Like… just give these people actual motivations and consequences?? 😭 Toby’s mother storyline could’ve been important. Caleb could’ve remained his own character instead of becoming Hanna’s boyfriend + computer guy. Emily had connections to Alison, Maya, Jenna, Paige, the Dollhouse and her family that could’ve carried entire seasons. Spencer could’ve actually been permanently changed by everything she went through. Even CeCe/Charlotte could’ve worked incredibly well without the Charles storyline. Keep Charlotte as Big A, keep the DiLaurentis connection, Radley, Alison, her resentment and obsession with control — just PLAN IT FROM THE BEGINNING and actually make the clues mean something.

And then you have the stuff that I genuinely would’ve thrown in the fucking trash. Ravenswood and the supernatural direction? Goodbye. Ezra’s book storyline? Bye. The Emily/Alison egg plot? WHAT THE FUCK. Secret Spencer twin? Absolutely not. And later seasons needed way less romance being used as filler and way more actual mystery and character development. Mary Drake is another example of something I think could’ve worked as a concept if handled properly: introduce her as another branch of the DiLaurentis family after Charlotte’s death, give her an actual reason to be there and let her search for Charlotte’s killer. And A.D. could’ve been an interesting final mystery too. Just without Alex Drake.

The other thing that really pisses me off is how A changed. Early A was terrifying because A didn’t need to do some Marvel villain shit. A knew your secrets. A watched you. A could ruin your life with one text or one photo. That was the scary part. Later on, A became so ridiculously elaborate that sometimes I couldn’t even take it seriously anymore. The more the Liars learned, the more dangerous A should’ve felt. Instead we got increasingly insane shit that made A feel like a cartoon villain. And don’t even get me started on the timeline. Bro. This show built an entire mythology around family histories, disappearances, Radley, identities and things that happened years before the pilot and somehow the chronology became a fucking crime scene. If you’re making a seven-season mystery where dates and ages actually matter, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHEN THINGS HAPPEN.

So no, I don’t think PLL needed to follow the books. I think it needed to follow itself. That’s the frustrating part. There was already an incredible version of this show hiding inside the show we got. Keep the ambitious ideas. Connect them. Let characters evolve. Let actions have consequences. Stop introducing mysteries just because you need a twist. Stop turning every interesting character into a love interest or plot device. And for the love of God, WRITE THE FUCKING TIMELINE DOWN.

Because honestly? If everything had been planned from the beginning, I genuinely think Pretty Little Liars could’ve been a 10/10.

What do you think? Drop your own theories in the comments!