Entertainment

What Did Charles Do To Ali?

by Christine DiStasio

Fine, I'll admit it — I'm having a hard time calling Mr. DiLaurentis a liar right now. Early on in Tuesday night's "Don't Look Now," Mr. DiLaurentis revealed that Charles died in Radley and I wasn't sure whether or not I believed his story. Which obviously meant that I was questioning him like any good PLL fan would. But, at the end of the episode, Mr. DiLaurentis revealed that Charles tried to drown Ali on Pretty Little Liars when she was only 11 months old and that's why he was sent to Radley. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time believing that Mr. D could make up such a disturbing story just to cover up some big secret. So, did Charles really try to hurt Ali?

I know, it seems like I've really switched sides quickly with my opinion on Mr. DiLaurentis' story. But it really did seem like he was finally telling the whole truth when he told Alison the story about how her brother tried to drown her in the bath tub as an infant. According to Mr. D's story, he put Ali in her crib for a nap and went outside to the garden and when he returned, he found Ali crying in the bath tub, while steaming hot water poured out of the faucet, and Charles looked on as his baby sister nearly drowned. I'm sorry, but no parent would make that up just to throw their children off the scent of a major family secret. It's just too much.

So, what does this mean about Mr. DiLaurentis' involvement in the Charles mystery? It seems entirely possible that he has no idea what happened to Charles after he was sent to Radley. The incident with Ali definitely means that Mr. D was involved in making sure his son was sent away, but his subsequent "death" is something that he knows nothing about. After Jason's flashback to finding his mother at Aunt Carol's house, it's clear that Mrs. DiLaurentis protected Charles after he "died" aka escaped from Radley and was hiding him in his deceased aunt's house after she told her husband that he died. Maybe Mr. DiLaurentis isn't so bad after all — but that still doesn't explain why Charles wanted his baby sister to die and that's the most chilling part of it all.

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Image: Eric McCandless/ABC Family