Why Wren Can't Be Charles On 'Pretty Little Liars'

Last week, the internet found itself in a real-life A situation. Someone who claimed to have insider knowledge of Pretty Little Liars was threatening to spill the beans, but it wasn't information about Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. It was the supposed truth about A's identity. So I have put up a big spoiler alert here, just to be safe. According to these so-called "Drunkgate" spoilers, Wren is Charles DiLaurentis. However, I'm not buying it — and not just because the entire situation has essentially been debunked.

Last week, a Reddit AMA popped up from someone who claimed to have been a Production Assistant on PLL and was fired after failing to pass a mandatory drug test. In retaliation, they allegedly decided to take to the Internet and spill some secrets from Season 6. You can read the whole thread here (it's long), but I did so you don't have to. The gist of the claims is this: Wren is Charles, he's been tormenting the Liars because they took Ali away from him, he was committed to Radley, and the institution let him "play pretend" as a doctor to keep him happy.

Sure, this now-deleted Reddit user elaborates about the plot, some of it makes sense, and some it if aligns with theories I've formed myself, so part of me is kinda like, "yay I was right about this!!!" However, it sounds like this Reddit user was a pretty little liar too. The team behind PLL was super quick to squash all of these spoilers, as Entertainment Weekly reported a statement from ABC Family that reads, "All of the info on the site is false. No crew member was fired from PLL and we believe it is just a fan spreading incorrect information to rile up the fan base." Showrunner I. Marlene King also released a short statement on Instagram.

But even if the spoilers hadn't been refuted, I still wouldn't have believed them, because there's just too much evidence that Wren isn't Charles. For more on Big A's identity, check out Bustle's Pretty Little Liars podcast, then let me educate you about why this Wren theory is so far off-base.

Where Has Wren Even Been?

Nothing drives me crazier than when the grand master villain is completely unseen 75 percent of the time. It makes building suspense essentially impossible. Wren hasn't been around in literally years. The last time we saw him, physically saw him, it was Season 4 Episode 10, "The Mirror Has Three Faces." Sure, last season Spencer went to visit him (and Melissa) in London, but she didn't even see him, just his roommate. It'd be a cheap trick to have him unmasked as A, considering he hasn't been seen in 44 episodes.

44 EPISODES!

Forty. Four. Episodes.

The Family Ties Are Too Weird

With Wren turning out to be A/Charles, things just get even weirder and creepier, especially in the DiLaurentis family. For one, look at the family resemblance between Wren and Jason. I can see it. However, now look at Wren stacked up next to Ali. I'm sorry, but they look absolutely nothing alike. Then again, Ali and Jason are biologically half-siblings, so what happens if Ali and Wren are also half-siblings? That would mean...

The Family Ties Are Too Weird, Part 2

Wren could potentially be the son of Mr. Hastings, just like Jason. Wren was also engaged — ENGAGED! — to Melissa, and this would make her his half-sister. And sure, the two broke up, but now they are back together, and I don't think PLL wants to head into that territory at all. Even if they don't bring it up necessarily, viewers will be thinking about the possible implications.

His Obsession With Ali Doesn't Make Sense

This is directly related to the "spoilers" released in the Reddit post. According to this user, Wren is obsessed with Ali and wants to make her his living doll. When he couldn't get Ali, he took the other Liars in her place.

But just why would Wren have become obsessed with Ali? The story that Mr. DiLaurentis told her is that Charles went away while she was still a baby after trying to drown her, and he just a young child himself. There have been no mentions of Wren knowing Ali, so when exactly would he have developed this obsession with her? They would have never interacted after he was sent to Radley, and something doesn't add up.

Seriously, We've Never Seen Wren & Ali Meet

Think back over the course of PLL (including the last 44 episodes that Wren has not appeared in) and you'll realize that the two have never crossed paths. I don't think Charles will end up being someone who we've never even seen speak to Ali.

His Timeline Is Off

The spoilers say that Wren has only been "pretending" to be a doctor, yet we've seen him work at multiple hospitals now, each time with a spiffy badge. I doubt the hospital staff would just let Charles wander around the halls, pretending to do doctor stuff, when he is potentially a danger to others. And bear in mind that when we have seen Wren in the hospitals, it's been post-Ali disappearance. Don't you think Radley would have known about Ali's disappearance, and maybe then stopped Wren/Charles from wandering the halls so freely? And if he put up a big fight about it, they would have, oh I don't know, sent him somewhere else?

Also, let's consider that Wren has a British accent, is probably actually British, and likely really went to Oxford. So what the heck would he have been doing in Rosewood that summer during Ali's disappearance anyway? When we first meet him, Wren has just graduated from Oxford, so that means the year before he would have been a rising senior. And more than likely not in Rosewood for the summer. Of course, not everyone agrees with me, and the video below shows exactly how Wren could be Charles.

The long and the short of it is this: the Reddit AMA was pretty convincing. Or it was, until the user disappeared from the site, deleted their username, and then refused to hand over verification to the MOD of the thread. The tale they weave about Wren may be convincing, but I'm not buying it. And yes, that means we still have no idea who Charles DiLaurentis is, and will just have to wait until Pretty Little Liars tells us in the Season 6 finale.

Images: ABC Family; Giphy (6)