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In the seven unpredictable seasons that Pretty Little Liars has gifted us with, we've all lived through dozens of theories about who A.D. is. Fans have been tricked by multiple red herrings; abandoned solid beliefs, based on our prime suspects turning up dead; and seen other characters die, come back, work for the A team, stop working for the A team, and even sacrifice themselves on this long and complicated journey for The Truth. While there's still a glut of characters who could be A.D. on PLL, there are also a lot of PLL characters fans thought were A.D., but definitely weren't. So, at this stage, I really don't know what to think anymore.
Because, as clearly proven by many of the characters on the list below, PLL can pull just about any damn twist it wants. While most of these characters were removed from the running of possibly being A.D. because they were killed, there's still a part of me that whispers, "Don't trust it, they could still come back." For the most part though, I'm pretty certain that all of these dead characters won't return shrieking like a banshee and unveiling their master plan in the finale. PLL is out there, but it still maintains some sense of boundaries.
For the characters on the list who are very much still alive, and possibly even still active in the main plot, it's hard to imagine the show pulling off such a twist where any of them could make for a believable, or satisfying, A.D. reveal in the PLL finale. Fingers crossed that's actually the case, guys. Because honestly, we've believed that all of these characters were A.D. at one point or another. And at some point, most of them proved otherwise.
1
Jason DiLaurentis
In PLL, if you're a brooding type of guy with killer abs, then you're definitely a suspect. Especially so if you happen to have a shed full of creepy photos of an underage girl (oh, Aria). But though Jason was a lot of things, he was definitely not A.
2
Ian Thomas
Ugh, nobody liked Ian. Probably not even Melissa, deep down. And though the Liars' suspicions that he was A didn't turn out to be right, he was still a shady piece of work who tried to kill Spencer and had an illegal affair with Alison while she was underage. So yeah, good riddance to bad rubbish.
3
Noel Kahn
Was Noel a total monster? Yes. Was he helping A? Sure, but he definitely wasn't Uber A. The whole accidental-decapitation kind of put an end to that one.
4
Sara Harvey
Like Noel, Sara was also sketchy as all hell and totally guilty of working on the A Team, but she definitely wasn't the big bad of the operation. And that's because she's totally dead, and A.D. is still totally living.
5
Maya St. Germain
Poor Maya. She was very much an A suspect in Season 1, but her shocking murder sort of put an immediate and definite end to those theories.
6
Nate St. Germain
Nate — aka Lyndon James — was an A suspect for a hot second there, but his truth was perhaps even more sinister than expected. He'd stalked and murdered Maya, and then proceeded to go after Emily and Paige in revenge for Maya's feelings for Emily.
7
Detective Wilden
I mean, Wilden is very much dead, guys. Unless he's texting and creating elaborate traps from beyond the grave (and wow, wouldn't that be a twist?), this longtime former suspect definitely isn't A.D.
8
Detective Holbrook
Holbrook was a nuisance, and though his sudden obsession for taking the Liars down immediately made him seem like a potential A candidate, his fall from grace, and subsequent shameful exit from Rosewood, proved otherwise. He was just a bad detective, guys.
9
Garrett Reynolds
It's hard to imagine that we all once suspected Garrett of being A, considering he basically died trying to share the truth with the Liars on the Ghost Train. But we did. We totally did.
10
Shana Fring
Sure, she was hardly innocent. She was also intent on killing the Liars (and shot poor, dear Ezra), but Aria also killed Shana. She's gone. And yet A.D. remains.
11
Mona Vanderwaal
Sadly, I don't have the 2,000 words spare to fully encompass Mona's complicated history with aiding and abetting A.D. throughout the show, and then coming through the other side again. She's always been a little unhinged, and definitely not trustworthy, but she's definitely not A.D., right? Because that would be so Season 2, guys.
12
Alison DiLaurentis
There's been multiple times throughout the show that we all thought that Alison could be A.D., only to discover that our suspicions are way off track. There's every possibility in the world that her overall arc is somehow bitterly tied up in whatever revelation the PLL finale has for us, but Alison being revealed to be A.D.? Nah.
13
Jessica DiLaurentis
Ezra's research totally made Mrs D. look like she could be A.D., and for a while there, it seemed like he could be right. Right up until she was murdered, which quite literally took that theory right to the grave.
14
Mike Montgomery
Mike has repeatedly looked so suspicious it's ridiculous. But considering everything he's been through (including playing along with Mona's faking of her own death), there's also been repeated proof that he definitely (or at least probably) isn't A.D.
15
Peter Hastings
Welcome to People We Thought Were A.D.: Bad Father edition. Peter was violent, secretive, and apparently quite the intolerable ladies man. And though his shady demeanor makes him suspicious, it doesn't make him A.D.
16
Kenneth DiLaurentis
Speaking of those bad fathers of Rosewood, Kenny D. also made himself a suspect for a while. Just for being so terrible. He was an horrendous father, but he definitely wasn't A.D.
So, just who exactly is A.D.? Am I A.D.? Are you? At this stage, it could be just about anyone. But it's (probably) not any of these guys, in the very least. We'll find out for certain when the PLL finale airs on Freeform on June 27 (as if you even needed me to remind you).
