Pretty Little Liars – Ali’s Verdict – So Many Questions and so Little Time

Like millions of other addicted fans, I watched the ‘pre-finale’ of Pretty Little Liars last night. I don’t know why but I thought we were going to get some juicy reveals in this episode but instead we got more questions.

Perhaps that is the success of this show – that it constantly sticks the viewer in more questions. Even after a few have been answered, the answers only seem to lead to more questions.

Theories about who A is, abound on the Internet and you could easily spending a week reading them and still walk away with nary a clue. I marvel at how detailed some of the theories are and the obvious dedication some of the theorizers have for the show.

As a mystery lover and writer I cannot resist a puzzle – probably why I got so hooked by this show – but I also have lots of questions, especially when things just don’t quite make sense.

Why, why and why again?

I’m hoping these questions will be answered in the much anticipated finale next week but if they aren’t I may have to write Marlene King to get the answers:

My first question goes back a few seasons and to date hasn’t been answered:

How could Bethany’s remains been mistaken for Ali’s (back when we thought Ali was dead) in the first place? The remains were found a year or later after Allison’s disappearance. Due to decay and degradation of the body, it would not have been recognizable and DNA tests would’ve had to have been run to determine the identity of the corpse. Instead, we have a funeral for Ali and she’s buried and then seasons later they determine it’s actually this Bethany girl. Seriously? How does that make sense? And did they fire the Medical Examiner for such an obvious display of incompetence?

Why wasn’t Allison given bail when she was arrested for Mona’s murder? Murder is a serious charge and not all accused murderers are given bail however…Ali is a minor, has no independent source of income and does not have a record and doesn’t appear to be a flight risk. She could have been put under house arrest with one of those ankle bracelet doohickies if they thought she’d flee. It seems unrealistic to put a young teenaged girl in a prison while she awaits trial.

Why was Hanna arrested? If for being an accomplice in Mona’s murder, why wasn’t she tried with Ali? If Hanna is a supposed accomplice, why then wasn’t she tried with Ali? And like Ali, she is a young girl, has no money, not a flight risk, and could have been put under house arrest. The courts tend to be more lenient with juvenile offenders and are generally reluctant to put them in a hardcore prison. And if Hanna wasn’t going to be tried with Ali, then why hasn’t her trial proceeded?

Now that Ali has been found guilty of killing Mona, why is Hanna still in jail? Shouldn’t that have exonerated her? Also, why didn’t the cops/DA go to Hanna to see if she’d flip on Ali, since they think she was an accomplice? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Why are both Hanna and Ali in a prison as opposed to county lock-up? Typically defendants awaiting trial are held in county lock-up, not prison (although maybe what the show is portraying is supposed to be county lock-up? Doesn’t seem that way to me though.) And while we’re on the subject of juvenile offenders, why wasn’t there some kind of hearing to determine whether or not Ali/Hanna would be tried as adults?

Why didn’t Ali’s attorney build her defense around the fact that the police never found Mona’s body? It’s difficult to prove murder when you don’t have a body. The tape that shows Mona being attacked may not even be admissible. Most defense attorneys would challenge the tape because there was no way to authenticate it. Who made it? Where did it come from? Was it planted in Mona’s house? All of these things would have occurred to a criminal defense attorney. Yet all the woman does is complain about what a bad defendant Ali is and how hard it is for her to try the case. Why didn’t they change attorneys? I wouldn’t go into court with such an insecure attorney, especially if my life was on the line, would you?

Why didn’t Ali’s attorney rip into Lesli Stone? This made no sense. The girl makes up a story and the attorney didn’t even question her. She didn’t ask for any kind of proof of being ‘stalked’ by Hanna. They didn’t introduce the supposed post card into evidence. The attorney did no background check on this girl and otherwise made no attempt to impeach her testimony. I’d fire this woman in a heart beat.

Why didn’t Ali’s attorney do follow up redirect testimony after Ali looked like a liar over the archery award? Any criminal attorney would do redirect and try to repair the damage after she’d had a 10 minute recess to discuss the issue with her client. Yet she leaves her flapping in the wind. Ali should/could get an appeal based incompetent representation – maybe that’s what the writers are planning? I hope so.

How the heck did Tanner end up in charge of the Rosewood Police Department? Tanner came in as an FBI agent originally. I actually don’t remember why – maybe because they thought Ali might’ve been kidnapped? At any rate, the FBI doesn’t just swoop in and take over a local murder case. And local police departments are not happy to yield to the FBI in their investigations and do so reluctantly. This makes no sense. Tanner should be experiencing lack of cooperation from the police, not obedience. And how does a local murder constitute a federal crime?

I know it makes for good TV but why were the other liars arrested? Again, since Ali was found guilty of Mona’s murder, why are the other liars being arrested? And how could they arrest them without their parents present? The girls are all still minors in the eyes of the law and can’t just be swept away to jail without parents being informed. And since one of the liar’s moms is an attorney, a defense attorney at that, she’d have them arraigned and bail posted before Tanner could send Toby out for more coffee.

What are your questions?

Okay, those are the questions that are driving me up the wall, aside from “Who the frick is A?” and when we really know?

What questions do you have? What bothers you about Ali’s trial/verdict. What do you think will happen in the finale. Do you believe we’ll really get the big reveal we’ve been waiting for?

Dying to know what y’all think.

Writer Chick
Copyright 2015

Something in the Air?

Every now and then, you hit a rough patch in life. It always seems to come out of nowhere and often comes when it seems you are just about to hit your stride. Whenever that happens I find myself getting wound up into the twisty road of ‘why’.

In the last few weeks, lots of stuff has been swirling all around. A friend of mine is very concerned about their parent, my friend Kelly, as most of you know, was in a very bad car accident, Roomie’s friend was just diagnosed with cancer and still other friends are having difficulties too, to a lesser degree. It makes me wonder, is there something in the air?

I tend to be a little supersticious, or maybe just paranoid – but this is very unsettling to me. Although, this year has been filled with lots of changes, some good, some bad, generally speaking my life tends to be even and calm. When something gets in the mix that riles that up, I look inward to see if there is something I’m doing that is causing it. In this case, it wouldn’t seem so, since most of it is happening around me and isn’t specifically about me. Which makes it worse because there is precious little I can do about it, except watch it unfold.

Since Kelly’s accident, it is nearly impossible for me to not to think about it and her most of the time. I find it hard to concentrate on the rest of my life but know that I must. I will be no good to her or anyone else if I steep myself in worry and concern and don’t focus on the daily tasks that are necessary to get on in life. Yet, when I do this, I feel guilty as though I am letting her down. Truth be told, I felt that way the entire time I was in Seattle. Not only could I not fix things (an unrealistic goal, of course, but that has never stopped me) but I was so distressed and upset personally, that I spent much of my time there trying not to fall apart around Kelly and her family – especially her children. Consequently, I spent a lot of time out on their deck, late at night, crying when everyone else was asleep.

Maybe that is the normal response to situations like this, I really don’t know – the last time I had someone in my life in a critical and dire condition was when I was twelve years old and my grandfather was in and out of the hospital. From that standpoint, I should count myself as lucky, because most of the people in my life are healthy and happy and doing well.

I could just adopt the view that sometimes things just happen. That is true enough, yet still, with Kelly it shouldn’t have happened – not because she is my friend or because she is a good person – but because it just doesn’t fit. She is an adventurous woman, an excellent driver, very perceptive and intuitive and doesn’t fit the profile of someone who would get into an accident. I just can’t get that out of my mind. I just can’t stop wondering what happened – was she upset just before the accident, did something get her so riled up that she wasn’t paying attention? These questions and many more swirl around in my head whenever I think about it but I find no answers – and may never.

As far as I can tell, Kelly wasn’t aware of my being there and/or if she was, she didn’t know me. It’s possible that that part of her memory is gone and she may never know me again – except in the context of now. As though life came along and decided to pluck parts of her life away from her and is holding them hostage for an unknown ransome.

And though it’s futile and not well-advised I can’t but help to ask, why? Why Kelly? Why now? Maybe someday I’ll find the answer but for now, I am stuck with only the the continuous and never ending winding road of questions.