Entertainment

Sara May Not Be A 'PLL' Red Herring After All

by Rosie Narasaki

Ever since Pretty Little Liars aired its big Season 6 finale, fans have been working overtime, trying to figure out who the heck the new big bad is. No one is above suspicion of using the "A.D." moniker and being the one who took Hanna — everyone from Lucas to Wren looks like a potential suspect. But could the answer be right in front of our faces, though? Could Sara Harvey be A.D. on Pretty Little Liars, proving the Liars were right from the very beginning of Season 6B?

It's safe to say that she definitely has a lot of evidence mounted up against her. Sara's hands were severely burned in an incident the Liars witnessed, so she has a personal axe to grind. She also has some sort of mysterious, supposedly sisterly relationship with Charlotte, which has yet to be fully explained. Then, there's the fact that she lives in Charlotte's old Radley room, and has the accompanying access to the creepy secret Radley basement, not to mention functional underground tunnels that let her sneak around town. So far this season, she's also stalked Emily and the rest of the Liars and turned up at inopportune times — so she's definitely up to something.

For most of the season, Sara seemed like she was just a red herring for the real villain, but with this A.D. reveal, I'm starting to think we should've trusted the Liars' instincts. For more on A.D., Sara, and everything else PLL, check out Bustle's podcast Taking This One To The Grave.

What if Sara has motives beyond her hand injuries, and is somehow linked to Bethany Young? Now, this theory is getting a little crazy, especially since we already have an official set of twins on the show now, but Sara Harvey could easily be Bethany's twin, sister, or even, by some sort of logic-defying switcheroo, Bethany herself.

After all, fans have long wondered why Jessica DiLaurentis used to go to Radley to visit Bethany, who famously referred to her as "Aunt Jessie." Could this be because Mrs. DiLaurentis actually was her aunt — because Mary Drake was her mom? It's far-fetched, sure, and there are various reasons why it's impossible, but PLL has never met a seemingly impossible storyline it couldn't explain. We also know that Mrs. DiLaurentis had an affair with Bethany's father, which complicates things even further (and, if you take that one step further, could even serve as motive, should it turn out that Mary Drake murdered her own sister).

If there really is some connection between Sara, Bethany, and Mary Drake (familial or otherwise), it would definitely give Sara a real investment in the A game; something that's been missing since she was first dissatisfyingly revealed as Black Widow and Red Coat in the Season 6A finale. It would also serve to help explain her very complicated relationship with Charlotte. And hey, wouldn't it be nice if the Liars were right for once?

Image: Eric McCandless/Freeform